I’ve been a photographer in Chicago for just over 10 years, and I’ve been photographing weddings in Chicago for about 6 years. As you can imagine, it can be hard for recently engaged couples to find the right wedding photographer. In order to help make sure you know what’s involved in hiring the right wedding photographer, I’ve put together the following list of questions. After reading the following information, feel free to visit my website or use the contact form above with any questions you may have.
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QUESTION #1: Will you be the one shooting my wedding?
Some photographers work in studio environment, meaning that there are a group of photographers they will pull from. One of those photographers will be selected to photograph your event. It’s very important to ask this question, because sometimes the pictures you are shown as part of an initial meeting are not photographers from the person who will be photographing your event. In the event that the studio your working with says another photographer will be covering your wedding, make sure to ask to meet with that photographer and make sure you have a chance to look at their work. You should also have them add the name of the photographer into the contract to make sure they don’t change anything.It may be as simple as asking for a link to their “about” page on a website so you have a good understanding of their background. For me, I am always the lead photographer at my weddings. I will work with assistant, or “second shooters” based on the complexity of the wedding, but I will never “outsource” a wedding
QUESTION #2: Are digital rights included in the package. If so, when will I get them?
Most photographers these days offer digital rights. This basically means that you have the right to print your images without paying anything to the photographer. Some photographers include this in their normal package, but other photographers charge an extra fee for this. These fees can range anywhere from $250-$2,000. It’s important to ask this question before signing a contract since you want to know all the costs that are involved. For me, I include the digital rights in my packages and I deliver them to each couple with their wedding album. If someone decides they do not want to order a wedding album, I then charge a one time fee of $750. Make sure you read the contract and see what it says about digital rights. To see what my contract says, click here.
QUESTION #3: How long have you been photographing weddings? How many weddings have you done in Chicago?
Most people when they meet with a photographer ask “how long have you been a photographer”? This question is a little mis-leading because there are many different kinds of photographers ranging from wedding photographers, photojournalists, sports photographers, commercial photographers or nature photographers. Each type of photography requires a different skill set and equipment. You want to make sure that your photographer has been shooting weddings for at least a couple of years. There isn’t a right or wrong answer on how many years, the key is to make sure that you’re comfortable with the experience your photographer has. As a guideline, you probably want to make sure your wedding photographer has at least 20 or 30 weddings under their belt.
QUESTION #4: How long after my wedding will I be able to look at my pictures?
Your wedding is going to be one of the most exciting days of your life, and part of that excitement is looking at the picture from your wedding day. So it’s really important that you know how long your wedding photographer will take when it comes to finishing your pictures. From my experience in the Chicago wedding market, photographers take on average between 3-6 weeks. For me, I always try to finish everything in 2 weeks or sooner. In fact, about 95% of all the weddings I photograph in Chicago are finished within one week of the event.
QUESTION #5: Do you work with any assistants?
Each photographer has a different approach to photographing your wedding. Some come from a background of photojournalism which means they’re used to working independently and traveling with light equipment. Others may come from a studio background which means they’re used to working with more equipment which means more setup time. Some photographers will say that they will offer a 2nd or 3rd photographer as part of your package. Understand that sometime the 2nd or 3rd shooter may be seasoned photographers, or sometimes it may be an assistant who is just getting starting in wedding photography. Either approach is fine, but the whole point here is to just understand that you’re not always comparing apples to apples. Don’t get into a debate that goes something like “this other photographer said he’s bringing 1 assistant and a second photographer… can you do the same?” Like I said before, each wedding photographer has a different approach to getting great pictures. So my best advice is to focus on if you’re happy with the work of the main photographer who will photograph your wedding.
QUESTION #6: Do you carry liability insurance? If so, how much?
There are many wedding venues in Chicago that require that photographers carry liability insurance. What is liability insurance? It basically means that your wedding photographer has insurance in case something goes wrong at the reception site. What could go wrong? Well imagine if a guest trips over some light stands and breaks their leg, or what if a charger overheats and causes a fire at the reception? The question is who will pay for the damage? And with liability insurance that’s all taken care of by the wedding photographers insurance company. Some venues require wedding photographers to carry a $1 Million policy, which basically means that the insurance company will pay up to $1 Million if something goes wrong. For me, I have a $2 Million policy which I feel is plenty of coverage. Most wedding photographers in Chicago have liability insurance, but if they don’t, be careful… this may be a clue they’re not a seasoned wedding photographer. Make sure they are able to provide proof of their liability insurance since some wedding venues in Chicago actually require a copy of the policy in order for the photographer to cover the event.
QUESTION #7: Do you shoot digital or film?
A couple of years ago this question would be a little more challenging, but today I would venture that about 95% of all Chicago wedding photographer shoot with a digital camera. The benefits of digital are… you can take endless amounts of pictures,you can look at your pictures right after you take them to make sure they’re what you were going for, and they’re easy to distribute to people since they’re in a digital format. I’ve been shooting on a digital camera for about 9 years now and I’ve never experienced anything bad happen with my digital gear. Every so often you hear a horror story about a wedding photographer whose digital files were corrupted or erased. While this technically can happen, the chances of it happening are very rare. I would say there chances of something like this happening are less than 1%.