HOT TOPIC

HOT TOPIC:Photography

When hiring a photographer, what key questions should we be asking? Photographer Jason Little says...

There are many questions that could and should be asked or at least, to make yourself aware of. Some of these could really help make your choice a lot clearer and some are purely academic and will likely never be an issue but knowledge is always a powerful ally.

WHAT IS THE STYLE AND APPROACH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Have a really good chat either on the phone or in person with your prospective photographer. Are they very relaxed and calming, are they controlling, do they take charge of the whole process or take direction from the bride and groom, are they flexible and adaptable should the weather not be favourable?

You spend a large portion of your day with this person/people, having someone that you feel at ease with can make the whole experience so much easier. A good photographer will be mindful of the time, will have discussed a time sheet with you prior to the wedding day which you can relay back to your stylists to help the process run as efficiently as possible, and above all, be fun, charming and enjoyable to be around – this also makes for totally ‘real’ candid pictures!

DO THEY HAVE A PARTICULAR ‘STYLE’ OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW DO THEY PRESENT THE FINAL PICTURES IN TERMS OF THEIR PERSONAL STYLE. We live in a stylised and filtered world these days and whilst you might love the idea of having finished pictures that encompass this, just be mindful of trends. It’s not a bad thing, just something to be aware of so you always look back at your pictures with absolute adulation rather than an air of tiny regret. Most couples prefer the idea of having very natural reportage pictures and there’s a skill to people watching and being aware of a moment that could arise. Some pictures, although may look totally candid, can in fact be manipulated/set up without it being obvious. This is all done in such a way to create an emotional response, giving you captivating pictures.

You also need to check if the photographer edits the pictures and if so, to what extent. Some people may have a desire for fully airbrushed magazine-style pictures however, these often come across as ‘obviously’ airbrushed. I’d suggest this is possibly not how you want them to look as you will know it’s not reality. That said, the skill of being able to tweak a picture through editing and enhancements in order to encompass the natural beauty, whilst not even being aware that it has been retouched is of great benefit.

My suggestion to clients is to keep the album pictures as timeless as possible so you appreciate them just as much in years to come.

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN PACKAGES, WHAT’S THE CHARGE, HOW LONG ARE YOU THERE FOR, HOW MANY PICTURES DO YOU TAKE ON THE DAY, IS THERE A LIMITATION OR DO YOU JUST KEEP SHOOTING AND SHOOTING, HOW MANY PICTURES ARE WE LIKELY TO RECEIVE AND HOW LONG BEFORE WE SEE AND RECEIVE THEM? THESE ARE ALL GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK. One of the biggest questions of all (and normally the first question) is the price. It’s totally understandable that everyone has budgets they need to calculate and set in place and as such, would need to ascertain how much a supplier charges. Prices are of course, not always equal and whilst in general you would expect this to denote the skill level and years served within the industry, this is not always the case. I’d suggest enquiring with maybe two to three photographers of differing price levels so you can see what you are getting different for your money. You may strike gold with the first one you see and feel totally at ease with them, love their work and find the price to be within the level you felt you could justify.

Whilst cheap doesn’t automatically mean substandard, there may be underlying reasons why a supplier is cheaper. Have they been in the industry for long, do they have a kit bag of equipment deemed

professional enough for your special day, do they have insurance and all the other points we raised earlier. All I would suggest is, try not to let an amazing photographer slip through your hands for an amount that you might regret later.

HOW LONG SHOULD WE SET ASIDE FOR PICTURES? This is often overlooked or under appreciated. Couples sometimes worry that guests will get hungry, bored or even fed up waiting until mealtime. This really isn’t the case as guests love to chat, chill, relax, have a drink etc.

A good photographer will be skilled enough to work with the time constraints given and will advise in a pre-wedding chat what to expect and can be achieved in the time allotted. We always recommend a longer period as it gives you time to relax and chat with your friends and family rather than being whisked away really quickly.

A good rule of thumb is around 2.5 to 3 hours from the start of service until the meal is served. A registry service is generally 20-25 minutes and when it’s time to eat, the venue would tend to start calling people to seat around 25 minutes before service. This then leaves around 1.5 hours from the end of the service to call up, enabling plenty of chill-out time with your loved ones. It also gives us more time to capture lots of laughing candid pictures which are always huge crowd-pleasers.

WE ARE CAMERA SHY AND REALLY DON’T LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING PHOTOGRAPHED! At least 90 per cent of wedding couples ‘dread’ the idea of posing for the camera as they don’t consider themselves photogenic. Personally we relish this outlook as it gives us the perfect opportunity to show them just how beautiful they can look in a picture that is skilfully taken. This is achieved by generally keeping the shoot very casual, walking and chatting, asking you to stop and whisper cheeky things in each others ears – it’s posing without posing and you almost forget the camera is there! element of negative experience or story about the group shots and are worried this could be something the guests fear and find a chore. We’re fully aware that in general, some family and friends would prefer not to be called up for pictures so instead we take this opportunity to have lots of light-hearted fun with them. As a general rule, we’d suggest choosing around 8-10 different group shots. That said, all weddings are unique and it’s important to capture memories of all the people you’ve asked along.

WE’RE HAVING A CHURCH WEDDING, IS THERE ANYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW? Churches generally don’t have the most flattering of light inside. The vicar would always prefer very little photography (and sometimes insists on none at all). In general they pretty much always insist on no flash photography. It’s your responsibility to discuss this with your chosen venue in advance as we can not be held responsible should they refuse us from taking pictures on the day. Personally we always make a point of meeting with the church as early as possible and introducing ourselves in a very friendly manner, we switch our cameras to silent mode, we refrain from using flash and try to stay in one place for the majority of the service whilst using a long lens where possible.

DO THEY SHOOT WITH JUST ONE CAMERA AND ONE LENS? You may think this totally irrelevant, but consider the possibility of equipment failure during the wedding. Quality camera gear is generally very reliable but you never want to tempt fate. Your photographer should carry, not only a second camera of equal quality but also a range of lenses to cover different situations and again in case one should fail during the day. Some photographers may not have invested money in such areas and whilst their rates may seem very appealing, this could be an area they have omitted and could be why one supplier is higher priced than others.

DUAL MEMORY CARD, BACK UP PROCEDURE & OFFSITE STORAGE This is an area that very few couples would ever know about, however it could and should be classed as one of the most important. Your photographer’s camera needs to have a dual memory card slot and you need to check they shoot to both cards at the same time. What this means is, if one memory card fails or becomes corrupt (memory cards are not perfect and are subject to failure) you need to know they have the security of the same files on the second memory card.

You want to check they back up to two different hard drives when they return to the computer as this will ensure they have the same safety once the files are downloaded and finally, they should have an off-site storage (normally Cloud) facility to alleviate the risk of fire or theft.

Jason Little, Photographer | Jason Little Weddings 07979 498 698 | www.jasonlittleweddings.com