Photographer Second Thoughts - What To Ask? (long)

Hi Tiger Bride! If I were in your shoes, I would ask if he/she has samples of the invitation suites they have done before, what direction do they give when shooting, etc. I think you’re smart to bring samples of what you are looking for and bring samples of what you do not like, just so they see exactly what you want. If the invitation suites need redone, worst case scenario you can always have them done by another post wedding (although not ideal of course). Photo pose samples may be another idea to discuss at your meeting (I like this, not that, I prefer a lot of posing direction, etc.). Hope your meeting goes well and they reassure you they can deliver your vision!! ❤️

From what you have said, it doesn't sound like this photographer has a ton of experience. I've never heard of a photographer not having any standard packages that could be customized to fit your needs. His/her lack of social media presence also makes me think he/she hasn't been actively involved in the wedding planning industry for a long time. Also the fact you refer to him/her as chill to mean sounds more like he/she is very hands off meaning he/she isn't going to be the type of photographer that has specific poses or anything like that. I would definitely try speaking with him/her about what exactly you are looking for, but keep in mind he/she might not like being told you want A or B pose or what C or D type editing. Photographers have their own sense of style so trying to dictate that style might not work. I also am curious how you knew you'd actually mesh well with this photographer without having any type of meeting/phone call. I never would've booked such an important vendor without talking to him/her first. Additionally with your wedding three months away, I think the chances of finding a new photographer that you will love are pretty slim. Vendors are pretty much booked for 2021 because of a lot of weddings being moved.

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I can't really answer why we didn't have a phone call with them beforehand. I will say though, most of our vendors I have communicated with primarily through email; I think I just naturally gravitate toward asynchronous communication.

When we were booking our first few vendors, we had just moved across the country, both started new jobs (mine was/is very demanding), both had long commutes. The wedding is back where we came from. So I think we went into it knowing that meeting vendors, seeing things in person probably wasn't going to work out since we were/are so far away. We have planned the entire wedding long distance, with only a visit or two back since (and none since covid).

Photography is important to me and I spent a lot of time looking at galleries, but was very frustrated by how many of them looked so washed out. Some of the ones we liked were way out of budget, others were very inflexible - one photographer insisted we HAD to do an engagement shoot, even after I told him we lived 1,000 miles away and that probably wouldn't be feasible. We were also dealing with other vendors, like caterers, who insisted certain things had to be done certain ways, food in particular quantities, etc. At the time we were trying to be creative and keep the wedding under $10k, and so flexibility in vendors was important because we wanted someone who would do our day our way.

I regret not checking to see if photog #1 was available on our new date when we postponed, but I liked that our photog (and all of our other vendors) were completely flexible with postponing, no extra fees, no more money at the time, etc. Compared to everyone else I felt very fortunate.

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Thank you!! This is really helpful.

If I were in your shoes, I would ask to see their portfolio or some sample photos. If they can't/don't have anything to show you then ask if you could do a mini session to see how you and your partner work with the photographer. Our photographer is doing our engagement shoot at no extra cost, so maybe you could ask that the "mini shoot" be included and just have a half hour shoot or a couple photos. Hope that helps!

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Oh, I have access to their entire portfolio! That's what I meant by "as I've looked at more and more galleries I'm seeing some things I don't like." I've been through probably every photo this photographer has ever posted and routinely check back to see if new ones are uploaded, lol. I think that's part of my I'm in my head so much.

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I totally get trying to plan a wedding where you don't live. We got married 4 hours from where we live in a town neither of us knew much about. Both of our families live in two different states so we picked something in between them which meant we had no clue anything really about the area. I did have phone conversations with pretty much every vendor before we booked then where we asked very specific questions such as some of the concerns you have mentioned like posing. I would definitely see how the photographer is when you have your meeting and hopefully he will be open to suggestions for poses. I know our photographer specifically asked us if there were any poses or things we liked so I sent her three ideas I liked on Pinterest. Otherwise, I let her do her thing. Good luck

Ok girl...I’m going to break it down for you as I work in the industry and am a bride. You deserve direction and guidance. Also the fact that there are obvious inconsistencies in their editing style is a bit concerning. Does this mean write them off entirely? That’s up to you to decide. Research questions to ask your photographer, and decide what is important to you on the day! And maybe have a consultation to see if they are a good fit,