After getting engaged there is just sooooo much to do! Between figuring out your budget, guest list, where you want to host the big day and how you want to capture the day, it is super easy to get overwhelmed with the tasks and not ask enough questions to your photographer to ensure that you are going to be safe in the worst case scenario! That is why, I have compiled this list of questions, I feel I am rarely asked, yet are SUPER important conversations to have regardless of who you book with for your wedding day!
What is the difference between your camera and mine?
If you want to see what I have in my camera bag, check out my other blog, but the biggest difference between my camera and the one on your phone is my ability to change focal lengths, the size of the sensor and my ability to control light using my flash, and settings on my camera (aperture, shutter speed and ISO).
First of all, the sensor size is the first thing that comes to mind when looking at the difference between my camera and a phone camera. To be exact, the phone camera is the 1/2” orange box in the middle of the image below, while my sensor is the full frame black box encompassing the entire image. With this size, it means that I am able to create larger files where more information is captured per image, which translates to better quality prints. At the same time, it means that the range of light that I can capture before going either fully black or completely white is significantly larger
Do I have the right to print my wedding photos?
While I do offer print rights to my clients, not all photographers allow this, which means that you will be required to pay for either a full digital file or for prints of each photo, which adds up really quickly when prints start at $4 for a 4×6. In this scenario the photographer will give you a really small file that would be barely usable for online posting, or a watermarked file that you would never be able to print at a store. Thus, I would suggest you discuss with your photographer about what what your costs will be after your wedding for prints.
The reason that photographers do this, is so that they can maintain the quality of their work when you showcase it to their friends as a lot of the instant prints at places like Walmart and Costco do not colour correct properly and thus will print the image in a manner that is not intended by the photographer when they are editing.
What happens if I lose my wedding Photos?
This is a huge topic! I personally have my wedding photos backed up on two hard drives, my google drive and a USB, but not everyone thinks of this. What happens if you misplace that USB with all of your moments from your big day in a move, or your kid flushes it down the toilet? This is why it is super important to store your photos in more than one spot at all times. At the same time, if you do lose your photos, will your photographer still have copies of them for you? Personally, I store all my photos on my two hard drives (both raw files and edited jpgs) and automatically back everything up on each drive. This means that if one drive fails, I will have another to pull from, while I replace the old one. Once both of the drives are full, I store them in two separate locations to ensure that if something happens to one location (fire, break-in, or drive failure) I will still have your moments saved for the next few years.
What happens if I can’t make it to your wedding?
Worst case scenario I have a death in the family, or I am injured to the point that I can’t perform my job at your wedding. In this scenario, I have a number of other friends in the industry, where I would be able to get to fill in for me. I would run the decision by you to ensure you are happy with the choice and assuming that I am still partially functioning, I would still edit your images once the wedding is complete in order to maintain my editing style on your final product. If you are not booking with me, I would strongly recommend for you to have this conversation with your photographer so that you are aware of your choices if this situation should arise!
How do I go about buying an album
While I do provide my images for you to print as you wish, I also have a number of major printing vendors that I work with to provide high quality albums. I would strongly recommend going with your photographer in this situation as they have experience crafting album and have checked out the local and often times receive some discounts from these vendors. Thus, it saves you time in researching the vendor options and the prices are usually not that much higher than what you would pay on your own. I will leave this topic here as it is the only up-selling I will bring up.
Do you have any specific lighting requirements?
The biggest thing here is that not all venues are equal in terms of lighting! And the other question is how much of your reception do you want captured? If you are looking for a photographer to just capture the ceremony, some group shots and some of the speeches in a glass box in the middle of the summer, you will likely not need to ask this question, but if you are having your photographer stay for the reception and you are at an indoor location, I would always bring this up to the photographer! DJ lights are super helpful to provide some sense of mood in the room, but they also help provide some light to help the camera focus better, making my job a bit easier. At the same time, are you in a barn? Because this provides a different challenge due to the yellow cast of light that will be picked up if the photographer bounces the light on the walls.
At the end of the day, I would let your photographer know what to expect in terms of lighting so that they can plan accordingly and give you an idea of what they have planned to properly light your photos at that time of the day!
What happens if we move our wedding date after the deposit?
This is a hard topic as a client or photographer because usually there is a not so awesome reason behind why the date is being changed. Between someone getting sick or the couple breaking up, sometimes these things happen, but rarely do we talk about them – besides skimming over this part of the contract.
While each photographer is different in the way that they operate their business, the general rule is that once the deposit is paid, if the client decides to move the date they will lose the deposit. More specifically, in regards to how I handle this situation is that I will do my best to make myself available for the new date – if there is one – but if not, I will only keep the deposit if I am unable to fill that date with another booking. The reason I do this is because I have likely turned away potential clients with a deposit already paid, but if I am still able to fill the date, I don’t want to punish the client by taking advantage of a terrible situation for them.
Overall, I hope you learned something in terms of protecting your self on such a big day while. At the same time, if there is something you are unsure of let me know as I would love to answer your questions and expand upon the current blog!