10 Things to Consider before Hiring your Wedding Photographers

Here's the top 10 Things to Consider before Hiring your Wedding Photographers. Enjoy!

I am a professional newborn, event and wedding photographerss, a Professional Member of Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI). I like to share a few pointers to couples who first start out planning their wedding. The purpose of this article is to give (you) bride-to-be and/or groom-to-be more information to think about before making their decision on the photographer.

Here are few questions for thoughts...

1. Does the wedding photographer have their ABN?

Running a photography business is just like any other business. Professional wedding photographers would have registered for ABN. Having an ABN does indicate that this photographer is serious and should have been in the business for some time, hence having an ABN. The simplest way to know if a business has an ABN is via their web address. For example, www.scottgohphotography.com.au, having the “.au” indicates that this business has an ABN. An ABN is a requirement to register a web address ending with “.au”

2. Does the wedding photographershave insurances cover for their equipment?

I have seen professionals/semi professional who accidentally drop/damage their camera while on the job. What happens if these photographers demand $ from you as you may be liability to a certain extend for what had happened?

3. What sort of camera equipments are they using? 

I am aware that only professional/amateur photographers know what is good or bad. Personally, I used top grade Canon lenses with top-tiers camera bodies (with equally good backup). I believe all my clients deserve to be in front of my L-series canon lenses for the price that they have paid. L-series lenses are the "Luxury" series normally used by professionals. Of course I am aware that there are other third parties lenses that perform as good as the Canon L-series. If your ceremony is in a church that flashes cannot be used, then the L-series fast lenses may be the only capable lenses to capture your wedding in low light condition. Do you want to pay >$1000 and found that the photographers are only using beginner DSLR with kit lens for your wedding?

PS: Here is the link to my professional equipment.

4. Do they have equally capable camera backup?

Malfunction in camera is rare these days but it can happen. Do you want to risk your wedding with photographers without a solid backup camera? If they do have backup camera, is it as good?

5. Does the camera body have memory card backup function?

I am only familiar with the Canon camera body series. Only the Canon 1d-series and the latest 5D camera bodies have backup facility. With a click on the camera shutter, the photo can be saved in 2 different memory cards. If 1 card is lost, I still have the next. Not only can camera fail, memory cards can fail as well. What is going to happen if your photographer tells you that your wedding photos are lost because the card is corrupted? There is a few ways to prevent this from happening but different photographers are different.

6. Does the wedding photographer offer a backup photographer?

Photographers are not made of machine and we do get ill. So what happens when your only wedding photographer is really sick and are not able to photograph your wedding? Will there be a replacement?

7. Who owns the copyright of the photographs? 

Strictly speaking, the photographers own the copyrights to all the photos that he/she has taken. In the past, it's a common industry practice that photographers do not release these copyrights to clients and you have to pay more to own the copyright for your own usage. But this still exists with some traditional photographers. I believe that wedding moments are yours to keep and yours to share, hence no restriction are put on the photos that client received. Clients are free to distribute them and use it for any purposes. Make sure you ask this question. wedding photographers

8. Watermark/Logo and High resolution images? 

Some wedding photographers (being a businessman who runs a photographic business) are smart enough to label all photos that are given to their clients with the photographer's watermark/logo. Extra payment will be needed to get a copy of the images without their logo. We provide our clients with high resolution images without any watermark/logo.

High resolution is a very subjective issue. Photo resolution differ from camera model to model. Our high resolution images are at least 2000 pixel width. If you really want good size resolution photos. Do check with the wedding photographer what is the resolution given.

9. Colour vs B&W? wedding photographers

I heard from people that their wedding photographers gave them images either in B&W or colours. With a single image, you either receive a B&W or Colour photos (not both).

I believe that clients deserve all the images in both Colour, B&W. We also provide a third set of processed edited which we call "Artistic". Hence, with a single same image, our clients will receive it in Colour, B&W and Artistic style (All processed). You can always convert a colour photo into B&W or artistic. But you can never convert a B&W back into colour.

10. Lastly, Engagement/Pre-wedding Photography?

Test them out. Couples love to show their love to their friends and relatives. Photography is a form of expressing this. This is often mistaken for engagement party photography. Photos from the engagement session can be shown in a slideshow in wedding receptions. It can be printed onto album to showcase it in the reception or canvas printed in the living room. Couples will often learn how to pose together comfortably. By having experiences photographing together before the wedding day helps minimising photography stress during the actual wedding day. Posing in pairs is different to teenager studio photo shoot. Poses are photographer style dependent. It is (always) enjoyable with memories that will last you forever. It's often a way to know your photographer (wedding) and perhaps conclude any strengths and weaknesses of the photographer whom you are entrusting your BIG day to. Yes, can you test the photographer before the big day? wedding photographers

Are you still unsure? It is often worth testing your wedding photographer out in an Engagement session before the actual wedding day.

In conclusion, I hope i have shed some lights in helping you deciding on a good and reliable photographer. Enjoy your hunt for your wedding photographer. By the way, South Australia does have some very good professional photographers!

Cheers, Scott

Member of the Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) [The only international member in South Australia] Accredited member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP) 0416500989