Here are 5 tips on how to hire a wedding photographer.
Tip #1: Chemistry
Are the photographer your speaking with fun? or to salsey? Do they listen to you or talk about themselves?
This is important because you want someone who matches your personality. No matter how good their work is with out personality it can go down hill fast. If your photographer does not show interest in you and your fiancé they will not show interest in your wedding photos either.
Thats why we always ask couples to tell us more about themselves, how they met, and what they enjoy doing together as a couple. We love to know every couple and honestly we love to hear stories for it help us approach your engagement session and wedding photography thats unique to you and your fiance.
Tip #2: Contracts & Insurance
AAAHHH CONTARCTS!!! MY SOOOUULLL!!! haha. Some people really think that though. Ok all jokes aside It is important your photographer have contracts and insurance in place. With out these legal forms you are putting your self and your wedding at risk.
An example will be if your venue requires an insurance policy from your photographer in order to conduct their service to photograph your wedding. If your photographer is not insured this will result to you having to search all over for a photographer who does, in which will add even more stress and headache on you and we do not want that. Thats why we strongly say to ask your photographer in the first meeting if the have liability insurance.
As for contracts you will want to get that from your photographer before you put down your deposit (if any). The contract typically states the clauses such as the package you chosen, the deposit percentage, emergency replacement if things occur, etc. Basically a list of scenarios of what can happen and the solution to it. Also you want a contract because if the photographer does not show up or not giving you your images back you can file for court with proof. You always want to make sure your covered!
Tip #3: Gear
Now this is a huge thing brides don't ask often or at all. Us photographers will invest in the most high end gear to capture your wedding with amazing quality that will leave your draw dropping. Other photographers will spend less in gear and will have mediocre shots in which you could have hired your friend and their phone to capture your wedding.
know that your wedding will be captured with quality gear by asking your photographer to send their gear list that they will use to capture your wedding and a link of the most recent wedding or engagement session they captured to make sure the quality you want is there. Trust us you don’t want to see your photographer coming with his phone or an old kodak camera so make sure that their gear are able to take the images you seek.
Tip #4: Expectations
Picture this you are now officially married to the love of your life and you receive a text or email from your photographer to a link of your images. You are excited and been waiting patiently and as soon as you open the link you began to feel puzzled because the images look blurry, either to dark or to bright, unflattering pics and angles you don’t like, and so on.
Express the exact shots you expect from the photographer. this way he or she can let you know if its do-able. Don't think all photographers can produce the same. It allows us to know more about the shots you want. This is super crucial. Communicate with your photographer on the exact vision you want. If you are not sure on what your vision and style is at the moment, dont stress, your photographer should be able to help you discover that. We say "should" because most don’t. What we do is more of an exercise that will help paint the picture clearer. If your photographer can not help you bring your vision then take that into consideration. You want a photographer that know how to help bring that out.
Tip #5: Price
Ok so here is the part some may not mind while others panic quickly. So wedding photographers can be as low as $500 and up to $10,000! YES 10K Weddings are real! So why so much for just holding a camera pushing buttons for 8-12 hours right? Weeeellll you see it is more to then just showing up and pushing buttons.
To put things into perspective lets start with the $500 wedding photographer. At this range the photographer is new with little to no experience at all, its a hobby to them or a side hustle. Be cautious of this because you don’t want your wedding to be a practice run. They will not know how to handle the obstacles that will come in weddings. If you are presented this price ask them why are they charging $500.
Now as for the 10k wedding photographer you are looking at a fully business operating photographer with massive experience, education, and edits your images with skills and knowledge to make your photos pop. They have shot so many weddings that will you feel comfortable knowing that they will make situations that look impossible possible. Also this is their full time job so they eat sleep drink weddings! haha!.
We are not saying to go out there and spend 10K on a photographer but to sit down with your fiancé and discuss how important wedding photography is to you both. From there you will know how much to start budgeting. Typically wedding photography prices are between 2,500-7,000. It all depends on what is included in your package and taxes that plays a role in the overall price.
Contact Us!
If you would like to reach out to us with any questions you can email us at info@tdmproductions.com or in the Contact tab above you can fill out our form! Again congratulations and looking forward to connect with you both! 🙌