Questions You Actually Need to Ask Your Wedding Photographer

There’s certainly not a shortage of articles with lists like, “10,001 Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer Before Booking!” for couples planning their wedding day. It seems like so many different publications have their own list of arbitrary questions couples should be asking their potential photographer, but do all of the people writing these articles have any actual experience as a wedding photographer?

Websites like The Knot or other inspirational sources like Pinterest are full of these lists, and I know exactly when a couple we’re chatting with is going off of them. Hey, we get it! Arturo and I know that wedding photography is an investment, so you want to learn all that you can before making your decision. I’m not saying that there aren’t some good suggestions on those lists, because there are! There are some nutty ones too. Why waste precious minutes going over details that ultimately won’t make a difference or benefit you in the end? Your time is valuable, especially while you’re in the middle of wedding planning and trying to find the perfect photographer who fits with the two of you! 

The following list of questions is what Arturo and I have found to be most significant while chatting with our couples about their wedding photography. In the first section you’ll find a few good suggestions from the lists you’ll see online, and others are REAL questions asked by our REAL couples!

ASK THIS, NOT THAT

Instead of: Have you shot at our venue before?
Ask this: Are you experienced with working in a variety of settings and lighting conditions?
This is a question Arturo and I have gotten in the past, and we 100% know it’s usually from one of those generic lists I mentioned earlier. What’s actually much more important is if your photographer knows how to handle different settings and lighting situations. Check out their blog or portfolio to see the types of settings they’ve worked in. Is there variety in their photos between natural light settings (ex. portraits outside) to darker settings (ex. church ceremonies, barn receptions) to lighter indoor settings (ex. ballroom or tented receptions)? An experienced photographer will know how to handle different settings and lighting situations while creating consistency in their body of work.

Having photographed weddings since 2010, I’ve worked at a wide variety of venues and settings in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon, and more. While I can’t claim to have it all, I’ve had plenty of experience in dark churches, ballrooms, beaches, barns, wineries, and other outdoor settings over the past decade. Arturo and I work in new and unfamiliar settings all the time, but we can quickly assess the lighting and figure out how to make it work best for us and our photography style. We enjoy working at new venues because doing so allows us to flex our creative muscles a bit! All in all, the point is that you fully trust your photographer’s skill and experience.


Instead of: Will I own the copyright to my photos?
Ask this: Will I be able to print and share my photos?
Let me start off by explaining that there’s a difference between copyright and printing rights. Copyrights are the photographer’s legal ownership of the photos they take, while printing rights give you, the client, the freedom to print your own photos and share them online! Think of it this way: you purchase your favorite movie on Blu-ray and you can watch it as many times as you want. If you have a digital copy of it, you can keep that on all of your different devices. However, since you don’t own the copyright to it, it is illegal to burn it to another disc and share or sell it to others. Photographers rarely hand over the copyrights to their work, but if they do it’s for a premium price.

Printing rights are what couples are actually interested in when they ask this question. Arturo and I give our couples a print release (print rights) to the photos from their engagement session and wedding day, as do many photographers we know. However, each photographer is different, so be sure to check with your wedding photographer to learn exactly how and where you can use your images!


Instead of: What equipment do you use?
Ask this: How would you describe your style?
If you’re a photography enthusiast, by all means, feel free to talk shop with your photographer! However, if you’re unfamiliar with photography equipment, your time would be better spent asking your potential wedding photographer about their style and approach. Are their photos light and colorful, or more on the darker and dramatic side? Are their portraits more posed or candid? How do they work with their couples to get the photos you see on their website?

A professional will know their equipment in and out in order to achieve their own unique photography style. I have friends who all use different brands of equipment from Canon to Nikon to Sony and more— there are a ton of options on the market! What’s most important is that a professional photographer will know how to use their cameras, lenses, flashes, etc, to achieve their desired results and aesthetics. In the end, whether it’s Canon, Nikon, or any other brand, it doesn’t matter. All of these systems produce beautiful photos when used correctly.


Instead of: Can we give you a shot list?
Ask this: How will we create a shot list together?
In the early years of my career as a wedding photographer, I received many shot lists that were definitely copied straight from Pinterest or Google searches for “wedding photography shot list”. These included things like, “groom with groomsmen” or “bride and dad walking down the aisle”. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: these are standard shots for wedding photographers. Crazy, right?

All kidding aside, I understand that you may have been dreaming about your wedding day for years and scouring inspiration images on Pinterest as you plan, but please, please, please do not give your photographer a super long, detailed shot list. I say this for a few reasons, the first one being that you’re hiring a creative to document your day. Photographers are artists and creative thinkers, so giving them a shot list stunts their creativity because they’re worried about capturing every post on your list instead of being able to have fun with their craft! To go off of that point, each wedding photographer has their own posing style, which means we don’t want to copy the ideas of other photographers.

As much as you’d like to give us a list for each part of your day you want to be photographed, we also have a standard list in our own heads of shots we get at every wedding for each part of the day— I’m talking about everything from details and getting ready to the first look to wedding couple portraits to wedding party and family photos to the reception and more. That being said, most of the time what’s on your list is already on ours.

Arturo and I are lucky that our couples don’t give us long, demanding lists because they trust our process! Are we open to a few photo requests from our couples? Of course! Do you want a specific pose with your college roommates? Maybe you and your new spouse have a funny pose you always like to take together. We’re more than happy to accommodate those requests. Arturo and I send our couples a Wedding Day Information Questionnaire a few weeks before their day; this gives them the opportunity to list out important family groupings and other important details of their wedding that they want to be documented. Using this, we create a personalized shot list that fits THEM and THEIR day! Remember that each photographer is different, so ask about their process about this aspect of working together.


Instead of: Do you have a list of references I can call?
Ask this: Do you have reviews or client testimonials I can read?
Some blogs and magazines will tell couples that photographers shouldn’t hesitate to give out a list of references for you to contact. I respectfully disagree, because our clients’ comfort and privacy are important to us! However, Arturo and I are proud of the reviews we’ve received from our past couples on The Knot, Google, and Facebook, which is exactly where I send our potential clients to read about others’ experiences with us. Reviews with any service-based company will reflect if the clients loved (or were displeased) with their experience. In the event your potential wedding photographer doesn’t have any reviews, ask them for testimonials that previous couples have personally sent them.

THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

How much experience do you have photographing weddings?
Weddings are complex, perfectly planned events that have many moving parts and require attention to many details. The more experience your wedding vendors have, the better! Does your potential photographer know how to keep the photography timeline on track? Can they wrangle large groups of people for portraits? Are they prepared to handle a rainy wedding day? Like I mentioned before, it’s incredibly important for you to trust in your photographer’s approach to a wedding day, but don’t be afraid to ask them if they’ve had experience with any of these things.

I started photographing weddings when I was still in college, and now I’ve been doing so for over a decade. 10+ years of experience has given me plenty of on-the-job training and taught me things I never would have learned in my photography classes in college!


Can you help us with our timeline?
I love it when we get this question! Wedding photography timelines are my jam, and I help each one of our couples to create one so Arturo and I can document everything that is important to them on their day. Remember the Wedding Day Information Questionnaire I talked about earlier? This plays a HUGE factor in helping me build our couples’ timelines!

Your photographer should have enough experience to have a general idea of how a wedding day flows. When they combine that with knowing what’s important to you on your day, you can easily work together to create a timeline to fit your wedding!


What do you love about photographing weddings?
Your wedding day is an important one, so be sure you’re booking a photographer who loves weddings and whose heart is in the game, rather than doing it solely to make money (it sounds crazy, but they’re out there!). I could go on and on about why Arturo and I love photographing weddings so much, but we keep it short and sweet. We share a few of our favorite parts of the day, and also explain why we love getting to work with couples during this beautiful time in their lives together!

Do you include an engagement session in your wedding packages?
Engagement sessions are such a benefit to the two of you and play a vital part in your experience with your photographer. When I first started this business I decided to include them in each of our wedding collections for a wide variety of reasons, with the key ones listed below. Even if your photographer doesn’t include an engagement session in their wedding packages, ask them if you can add one on.

The top reason Arturo and I include an engagement session in each of our wedding collections is because I want our couples to get to know us, and we want to get to know them! Years ago when I was first starting my business and assisting many different photographers at their weddings, so many of the people I worked for didn't know their couples… the wedding day was the FIRST time they were meeting them. I knew that I wanted to get to know my couples BEFORE their wedding day arrived, and an engagement session is a perfect way to do so!⁠⠀
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As a follow up to above, I want our couples to get a vibe not only for how we work but also to gain some experience in front of the camera before their wedding day! A good photography experience is based on trust and comfort, and so much of that is established at your engagement session.⁠⠀
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Perhaps most importantly, engagement sessions are FUN! Having professional portraits of the two of you shouldn't feel like a chore or burden. Instead, they should be easy-going and carefree! The engagement session gives you the opportunity to relax without feeling the pressure of a wedding day photo timeline.


What happens if you get sick or can’t make it to our wedding?
Wedding photographers are people too, not robots or big businesses without a face and countless employees. I don’t say this to scare you, but instead to remind you that we’re human and have immune systems that can be compromised as well! Don’t sweat it though, because a professional will have a backup plan just in case something happens and they (sadly!) can’t make it to your wedding day. I always assure our couples that Arturo and I are part of an extensive community of photographers who we can call upon to fill in for us if needed. Once again, every photographer is different so be sure to ask your photographer about their emergency plans when you chat with them!


Do you have insurance?
Insurance is important for any business, and wedding vendors are no exception. Professional photographers should have their businesses registered with the state they operate out of, while also having liability and equipment insurance to protect themselves and you.

I hope you find this list helpful as you search for your wedding photographer!  What questions do you think are most important to cover with a potential photographer during your first meeting? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shaina Lee Photography is a husband and wife photography team serving Connecticut, New York, and beyond.  We specialize in timeless, elegant, and romantic weddings while celebrating all couples in love. 

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