5 questions to ask the wedding photographer

I remember when my husband and I were planning our wedding back in 2018. And I was googling “questions to ask the wedding photographer” as I was getting ready for video calls with potential photographers.

I did my homework diligently, as I normally do because I wanted to make an informed decision. But looking back, so many of the questions I was advised to ask were, to be truly honest, completely useless in helping to make a good decision. Questions like “what gear do you use?” and “what do you wear on a wedding day?” did not really tell us whether that photographer was a good fit for us or not.

So, I’m here to share a minimalist yet essential list of questions to ask the wedding photographer to truly help you gather useful information to make an informed decision.

Before we get started, I just want to point out that an in-depth look at the photographer’s portfolio is a must before any meeting. Because, at the end of the day, your goal is to have a collection of truly beautiful images that speak to you and remind you of your wedding day with feelings of joy and nostalgia. You need to love the images the photographer produces in general. Otherwise, you will feel disappointed with your own photos. Believe me – I have been there.

Question #1: How do you describe your photography style?

This is a question you will see in most blog posts about questions to ask the wedding photographer. My apologies for starting this list without presenting you with a more creative option. The reason I start out with this question, though, it is because is THAT important.

BUT, I will present this question with a new point of view. That is, it is not a question to gather information on what the photographer’s style is. Rather confirm the information that you already know.

HUH?!?!

Remember that I just mentioned the importance of doing an in-depth look at a potential wedding photographer’s portfolio prior to contacting them?

During this ‘analysis’, you can already see his or her style, and naturally, come up with a few of your own words to describe it. Well, that is, if the photographer’s work is consistent and has a well-developed style. Many pros, unfortunately, don’t produce such work. But for those who do, you can ‘see it’ through their work, almost immediately. There is a thread that ties the images together in a harmonious way.

If the words you come up with speak to you, then you know that you might have your potential wedding photographer. 

Then, during the call, when you ask the wedding photographer to describe his or her style, the purpose is to confirm your own observation. That is, if the way the photographer describes his or her work is aligned to the way you see it, perfect. If it doesn’t, then you might need to flag this photographer as a potential no-no.

The words you come up with and the photographer uses do not need to be exactly the same. The idea here is more about matching the overall feeling of the work. For example, the words I use to describe my style are genuine, timeless, and emotive. But a word that I hear often about my images is natural. And this description is aligned to my work given that I use natural light, I have a natural, classic aesthetic (=timeless), and I use a natural approach to posing and body language. I also often hear storytelling, which is also very aligned to the work I produce, given the genuine moments that I am constantly seeking. So, whenever people use words like natural and storytelling to describe my work, it makes my heart sing with joy. Because it confirms that I am producing the work that I have intended.

Developing a photographic style is a journey of artistic self-discovery. For some, it is a shorter journey than for others. But it is a process that takes time. It comes with mastering photography techniques, studying works of art to identify elements that one loves, and being confident to express his or her own vision. So, not all photographers that you will find during your search for your ideal wedding photographer will have a well-developed style just yet.

Some might know what they want to express. But they do not possess the technique to express it. For instance, I see a lot of photographers describing their work as ‘light & airy’. But in fact, it is not. It is just ‘overexposed’. That is, they just make a mistake in how they expose the image. So the image looks overly bright, which is not what light & airy is. To be honest with you, when I was starting out, I made this exact mistake. And I didn’t even see it because I hadn’t developed ‘a photography eye’ just yet. Other photographers might describe their work as ‘refined’, which is what they intend to achieve. But the combination of colors, the composition, and the posing they display in their images is not yet refined. 

The issue for YOU, as the client, when it comes to a photographer that is not yet delivering the style of images that they intend to is that: they might use the words that you want to hear. But if those words do not match what they produce, you will not see it in the actual results of your images from your wedding day. And this will likely give you a bitter taste whenever you see your wedding photos.

In sum, my advice here is just to pay attention to how you describe the photographer’s work is aligned to how they see it. If it is well-aligned, then you are much more likely to get the wedding gallery in the way that matches your expectations.

Question #2: What is your photography approach on the wedding day?

This is one of the most ESSENTIAL questions to ask the wedding photographer. It will inform you what to expect of the photographic experience on your wedding day. 

By ‘photography approach’ I mean the degree of how hands-on or hands-off your photographer is for getting the photos that will be delivered in your final gallery.

It is important to know that some photographers (photojournalists or documentary photographers) will let moments unfold naturally most or all the time. While other photographers (lifestyle, editorial, traditional) will be directing interactions, poses, and where to stand much more often. The more hands-off approach tends to value authenticity, storytelling, and genuine emotions.

Whereas the more hands-on approach primarily values the way people look. An easy way to spot these photographers is through their website. Hands-on photographers tend to display a lot of editorial work. 

So, which one is the right one?

Well, it depends on what YOU like and value. 

When looking back at your wedding photos, what do you want to see? 

The stories? How did you feel? The joy and love surrounding you and your guests on your wedding day? 

Or…

Do you want to look magazine-cover pretty? Do you want to have everyone looking nicely into the camera and smiling? 

In terms of the experience, what do you expect?

Do you want to enjoy most of the time of your wedding day with your guests and significant other? Do you want to even forget that you hired a wedding photographer?

Or…

Are you OK with dedicating a larger portion of the day for your formal portraits? Do you want to interact more regularly with your wedding photographer and have him or her feel like an essential part of your day?

I will be honest with you – I love the results from BOTH approaches! That is, I love stories and authenticity, but I also love looking beautiful. BUT, I do lean more towards stories and emotion. Because I value things that are intrinsically genuine much more than what looks perfect. But this is just me.

For this reason, as a wedding photographer, my approach is about 80% photojournalistic and 20% curation of beautiful images. I want couples to feel the real emotion of their wedding day. But I also want them to remember how beautiful they looked. Most of the day I will not interfere with the scene and just document it as it naturally unfolds. During the bride & groom portraits, group formals, and the details shots, I do some directing and adjustments to meet my artistic vision of what looks aesthetically pleasing. But I still try to keep things natural. And I am always, always on the lookout for genuine moments and expressions. 

So, what is that YOU love? There is no right or wrong. It is what works for you as a couple.

But I highly suggest inquiring the potential photographer about his or her approach AND doing an in-depth analysis of their portfolio. 

Just a note of caution to look out in the portfolios you examine. Usually, photographers who are hands-off do not like posing. I have heard many saying so. This means the bride and groom portraits are often very flattering and it lacks in variety of poses. On the opposite side, those who are very hands-on tend to show ‘candid moments’ that nothing is really happening, with no strong emotion or interesting story. People look stunning. But you cannot really feel the emotions, like love and joy, that the bride and groom experienced on their wedding day. Ideally, you need to find a photographer who is good at delivering both types of images, storytelling/documentary and formal portraits. But it is up to you to decide which aspect you want to be predominant in your final wedding gallery.

Question #3: What does your work process look like?

By ‘work process’, I mean the standard step-by-step that the photographer usually guides couples throughout the experience. Hiring a wedding photographer is not only about having beautiful, professional photos of your wedding day. It is also about the experience: from inquiry until the very final delivery of your prints. That’s I highly recommend for you to include in your list of questions to ask the wedding photographer what his or her process looks like.

With this question, I recommend you to be savvy. Just pose an open-ended question and pay attention to the answer. 

A photographer who offers a high-end client experience would normally describe some, if not all, of the following steps:

• At least one call or in-person meeting to get to know you and gather information about your wedding day. But usually, the more attentive the photographer is, the less they emphasize how many meetings are included in their package. Instead, they just offer unlimited access to him or her. The more you and your photographer get to know each other and interact, the more relaxed you will be in front of the camera. This equals to beautiful photos. A good photographer knows that and capitalizes on this knowledge, thus encouraging as much interaction as possible versus limiting to one or two calls.

• An engagement session. Most photographers offer it as an add-on. But good photographers know this is an essential part of the experience and it includes in all collections without additional charge. Because the engagement session allows for everyone involved to get comfortable with each other, and for you to feel confident in front of the camera (an extension of what I mentioned above). 

• Some sort of wedding magazine or digital guide that walks you through the whole process. And it offers tips and practical information on what to expect. The better informed you are, the better the photographer can do his or her own job at a level of excellence.

• A questionnaire (either online or by phone) to gather information to create a customized timeline of your wedding day. The goal is to ensure that your day (and photographic experience) progresses smoothly.

• Scouting of your wedding venue before your wedding. This is one step that most photographers will skip because it does take a lot of their time. But, unless he or she shot in your chosen venue before, scouting the location to identify the quality of the light and where to have your formal portraits taken is a must to ensure your photographer is ready for your day. Seasonal photographers included.

• A sneak peek into your gallery within the first week of your wedding day.

• A conversation to fully understand what you want to do with your images + a design consultation for ordering prints and/or albums. Here, it is NOT about pushing you to buy products. Not at all. But it is about providing a high-quality service that helps you decide how to best make use of your wedding photos in a way that works for you (versus letting your images sit on your computer without being hardly seen).

Does it mean that to experience a high-end experience you need to hire the most expensive photographer? Not at all! Any strong professional should strive to deliver an amazing, attentive, luxurious, and first-class experience regardless of how much they charge. At least, this is my opinion. 

Question #4: What is the minimum number of photos that you deliver?

This is not a question that you will often if you google “questions to ask the wedding photographer”.

But here is why I find it important. The answer you are looking for is not really the number of photos. Rather, it is whether the photographer values quantity versus quality. One thing that I see A LOT. Photographers do not like to choose a photo from a sequence of similar images. Simply because it takes a lot of mental effort and time on their side, not to mention technical skill, to make a strong selection of images. So, they deliver many nearly identical photos to their clients and let them choose which one they want. This not only overwhelms clients with too many options. But it also dilutes the quality of the final gallery. Because the great images are lost in the middle of many, many average ones. 

In contrast, a good photographer does not impose the selection of the images on the client. Instead, he or she takes upon him or herself the task of choosing your photos to only deliver the very best. After all, the photographer is the one who possesses the technical knowledge to decide which photo works best in terms of composition, light, color, story, and body language. And, well, you are paying for this knowledge to be put into good use.

So, whenever you hear a wedding photographer insisting that they deliver a large number of photos, be aware that this probably means that this photographer values quantity over quality. 

I personally believe that it is better to have a few dozens of beautifully composed and luminous images versus hundreds of snapshots that nearly any guest can take. 

As a rule of thumb, luxurious, high-end photographers who photograph as a team of two will deliver around 50-70 photos per hour of coverage on a wedding day. 

Question #5: How many weddings have you shot in your career? 

Full disclosure: I find this question the least important out of this list of questions to ask the wedding photographer. Because I find that the priority should be to find a wedding photographer whose work you LOVE and speaks to you. And someone who makes you feel at ease and cared for. Some less experienced photographers are naturally talented and have worked hard to develop their skills. While some very experienced photographers might have stopped taking the time to learn and refine their skills as they are so busy running their business.

But, I also understand that it is your wedding day we are talking about here. There are no do-overs! So, experience is an important factor to take into consideration when making your decision.

I prefer the question “how many weddings have you shot?” versus “what is the number of years that you have been in business?”

Why? Because a photographer might say that he or she has been shooting for 5 years. But imagine this photographer only manages to book a few weddings each year. I’ve seen this happening and it is not uncommon. Then he or she might be much less experienced than another photographer who has been only shooting for 1 or 2 years. But who has shot more weddings in that time frame. To acquire real experience, it is not so much about the number of years. But it is about the number of weddings one has shot, in my opinion. 

The number of weddings is an indicator of how experienced or inexperienced the photographer is. And this information can help you set your expectations accordingly, in addition to assessing if what they are charging matches their level of experience/expertise. Some photographers start out of the gate charging high prices because they know that people tend to assume better quality when the price is high. It is a business strategy. So, it is up to you, the consumer, to decide if the price tag is good value for your money based on what he or she can deliver and the level of experience that he or she possesses. Or if you are getting much less value than what you are investing. 

Final thoughts on the questions to ask the wedding photographer

The purpose of this list is not to exhaust all of the questions to ask the wedding photographer. It is giving you the essential questions that can help you make an informed decision before booking. The information you gather during this meeting + the level of comfort you feel when chatting with the photographer + your in-depth analysis of his or her portfolio. This all combined can help you make a decision with confidence if the photographer is a good fit for you or not.

After you book, there are plenty of other questions to ask the wedding photographer. Here is a list from Hitched, the wedding website. However, a photographer who is well-organized and has a work process in place will likely answer most of your questions before you even ask them. 

I am a Toulouse family and baby photographer. But I also photograph a selected number of weddings per year and I am glad to help you in your search. If you have any questions, you can contact me. You can also check my wedding portfolio.

What to do next? If you are getting married in the south of France and still searching for a venue, why not check out one of my latest posts on wedding venues near Toulouse.