I got so many great, great items from photographers that I am splitting them into two posts – before you book & planning and wedding day & after.

Without further ado, here are some Things that your Photographer wishes you knew: before you book & planning.

*Please do your research.  Anyone can buy a nice looking camera and photoshop, put an ad on Craigslist and say they are a photographer.  But do they know how to USE that camera?  Do they know how to USE photoshop?  Just because someone says they do, doesn’t mean that is the reality.  Look closely at their pictures, ask to see more than one wedding, ask for references and make sure that you get a good vibe from them and they are telling the whole truth. Everyone started somewhere and was new once but do you really want to be this person’s guinea pig?

*Both bride and groom should attend the photographer interviews.  Even if the groom says he doesn’t care who you book, once the wedding is over and the pictures are all that is left, he WILL care.  On top of the end result, the photographer is going to be with you alllllll day long and if personalities clash, that is going to show in the pictures!  The best way to prevent that is to make sure that you click before you book.

*If I don’t respond to your email within 12 hours, please don’t freak out.  I often have on-location shoots that take me out of the office.  Sometimes I might even take a day off!  If you email over the weekend, don’t be shocked if it takes until Tuesday for me to respond – I am probably shooting over the weekend and then may take Monday off since I worked Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

*We charge what we charge for a reason – it is based on what we provide, our experience and how much work we put in processing your images and more.  Please don’t schedule an appointment with us if our lowest package is equal to your whole wedding budget and expect to negotiate us down.  It isn’t going to happen.  And please don’t say that “so and so studio” will do the ‘same thing’ for $1000 less and ask us to match – trust me, they ARE NOT doing the ‘same thing’ as we do.

*Trust your gut.  If you love a photographer’s pictures so much that you want to steal their sample books and show them to everyone you know, fair chance you will love your own pictures.  Go with someone you LOVE and trust they will create pictures for you that someone else will want to steal and show to everyone too.

*We love to hear that you like our work and that you want to book with us but until you have signed the contract and paid the booking fee those are just words.  Often we get multiple inquiries for the same date so if you really do like our work and want to book with us, please book with us now, not in a month.  On a similar note, if you do wait please don’t get angry or nasty with us that your date is no longer available because another couple booked it.  You made your choice to wait, they didn’t – simple as that.

*Please, please, please read your contract in full.  Don’t skip reading because it bores you because if you sign it, we WILL hold you to the clauses within.  Just because you didn’t read it all, doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to you!

*Please hire a professional planner.  Don’t trust this once in a lifetime day and all that money to a friend or family member who ‘loves to plan events.’  Again, Craigslist is probably not the best place to look for a true professional unless you relish being a guinea pig.  Having the help of a planner will make your life, my life and all your other vendor’s lives so much easier before, during and even after the wedding.  Even if you can only afford an hour or two of their time, having someone get you on the right path is so very valuable and will really make the planning process so much easier.

*Plan your wedding with purpose – from the dress to the details to the vendors your choose, make sure that there is meaning behind each decision you make.  It will make looking at those amazing pictures that I am going to take for you that much more special in 20/30/40 years.

Check back tomorrow for Things that your Photographer wishes you knew: Wedding Day and After.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under EDEP Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.