Interviewing a photographer

beka0404

We'd like to book a photographer within the next month, and I've narrowed the choices down to 3. I've been emailing back & forth with all three, have been following their blogs for over a year, I have pricing info and I think I have a good gauge on personalities... But I should probably still meet with them in person, right? How does the whole "interviewing a photographer" process work? What kind of questions should I be asking? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I feel totally awkward about the whole thing. ("Oh, hai! I've been blog-stalking you for years!")TIA!!!

hkiesling

Definitely meet with them in person.  We typically met either at their studio if they had one or at a Starbucks.  Ask about back up plans/methods, how they will dress, where they want to be seated at dinner, who has the rights to the photographs, how long it will take to get the photos back, if retouching is included, if you get ALL the photos or just the ones they pick out as being the best...I'm sure other posters will get the rest.

beka0404

I should add that we've covered a lot of ground in the emails - I have the majority of the technical info.Thanks again!

veijes

I definitely recommend meeting with a photographer in person! I was in the process of picking a photographer and loved her work, she was great in emails and everything! Then we met her and I didn't like how the interview went, it was all about her and she didn't even let me get a sentence in. She sounded mechanical like she had rehearsed the whole thing, when I had already researched everything on her and just wanted to meet her and see how she was as a person. So we didn't click and my searching started all over again (BTW she is a great photographer and other people have used her and happy with her service, she just wasn't for us). I would almost say that I liked being able to shoot with a photographer before choosing, that's what we did and were very happy with our pick!

veijes

Oh one more thing! Ask the photographer to bring some of their work, especially a FULL wedding album from just one wedding so you can see their work from start to finish! The photographer I had met with (stated above) didn't bring any of her work...just a contract...weird! And she has done amazing work so I thought it was odd she didn't bring any to show us so we could see the quality of her work in person!You can also ask them when they plan to get there the day of? Any safe precautions they use with the memory cards, etc.

mrs.katematch

I like to find out what they love about their job -- what they love to photograph, what moments of a wedding they love to capture, what sort of lighting and colors make them get jazzed, etc.And yes, personality is important.  You won't be emailing on the day of your wedding, will you??  Nope, it's all in person!!!  That person is essentially a paid member of your bridal party.  Get to know them and click before hiring.

Maria92609

I suggest talking with them about what YOU want in your pictures to see how they react to your vision.  When I talked to two photographer about the fact that I wanted lots of very natural looking pictures of people and people's reactions, interactions, etc. and fewer obviously posed and artsy pics of rings, flowers, cake, etc., one was very accomodating to that request - he talked about how he could help facilitate that vision, showed us samples of what he could do that matched that vision, etc. The other tried to sell me on how beautiful the artsy shots are.  Admittedly, the artsy shots are beautiful, but it's not what we want our photographer to spend time on. I was much more impressed by the photographer who sold us on how he could do what we wanted in a very professional and artful way.  It made our decision vey easy.  Good Luck!

kclepire

Yes - definiately meet with them.  I met with 6 photograhers who's blogs I liked and had been emailing with them, but I only liked 2 of their personalities.  This person will be with you most of your wedding day so you want to make sure you click with them.  Had I gone off of emails and the person's blog I liked the best I woulda ended up with the one that I couldn't wait to be out of the interview with and I think i woulda went crazy on the wedding day.  1 photographer was telling me that some of the things I wanted to do on our day was not right and also that she helps the day move along.  She told me that at the wedding that she just did that she told the DJ to hurry up with the first dance because everyone was getting antsy and that she wanted to leave and be done for the day.  Another one just kept talking about how he wanted to photograph at our venue because he hasn't been there before and never once talked about photographing US.  I would defiantly meet with them.  Also - photographer book up very early so you may want to jump on this soon.

Bimbi284

Def meet them in person. As others have said, even if you've gotten the details from them via e-mail, personality is key! Before meeting with the three I was looking into, I was almost positive I was going to choose one of them. After meeting them all, I completely changed my decision to someone else based on the personality. Make sure you ask each of them the same questions.

flower_lover

Here are some additional questions:- how do you feel about family members taking pictures over your shoulder? (at my brothers wedding, the photog was VERY crabby about this, to the point of ruining the mood)- how many pictures do you take per hour?- will you allow us to add to the contract that you will provide us with untouched copies of ALL photographs you take? (at least 2 Knotties have had HORRIBLE issues because the photographer retouched ALL of their photographs and the bride did not like the result. And the photographer did not keep the untouched copies, so the brides were basically screwed. Not good)- how long after the wedding will we receive our photos? What compensation do you provide if you do not deliver in that time frame? (Also Knotties who have waited months for photos, so good to address this up front).Last, I'd ask them if they're open to revising their contract. DH is a lawyer, and we revised our contract with our photographer to look out for our best interests. We noticed that all photographers contracts talk about how much money YOU have to pay THEM if you cancel the contract, however, none of them stated how much THEY pay YOU if they cancel, ruin all the photographs, etc. We added language that stated what would happen if the photographer cancelled up to 2 months prior to the wedding, within 2 months of the wedding, within 1 week of the wedding, and also what compensation they would provide if our photographs were ruined. The photographer we used was happy to add this language, and we had no problems with her fulfilling the contract. I'd be leery of a photographer who won't add this language.

NuggetBrain

Yes, definately interview.  We met up with the photogs we're going with and they were so nice and fun - we did a little shoot as well before we signed the contract so we could see how they give direction and whatnot - it was nice to get that interaction.  Also, I liked in his contract that he included the fact that if they lose our pictures (or even just a set of them) they will pay us 250% of the cost of our package.

beka0404

I'm late on saying thank you, but THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who responded - I have compiled a list and I feel like that area of planning is under control. Knotties save the day again!