Journal

THE

5 Questions To Ask Your Wedding Photographer

A couple of weeks ago I met with a potential bride and groom at my home office. I always get a little nervous when meeting people for the first time but then I remember my experience from ReStart and tell myself I can handle anything. This bride-to-be and her groom-to-be came prepared with a wedding binder in hand filled with all things wedding. It kinda reminded me of the ‘Friends’ episode where Monica pulls out her wedding binder that she’s had since she was a kid. Needless to say, she was on top of her planning! And I loved it…until she pulled out a list of questions. *insert unknowable future here*

Turns out, the questions weren’t all that bad and I had already answered a few of them already! Score. So I asked Maura and Joey if I could share some of their questions they asked for todays blog post… 
1. How long have you been photographing weddings? How did you get into wedding photography?
I photographed my very first wedding in 2006 so I have been photographing weddings for almost 7 years. I worked alongside another photographer for 3 years and that really opened my eyes to the world of weddings. My family loves the outdoors so originally, I wanted to be the next Ansel Adams and shoot trees and all things nature. Once I started working with the other photographer shooting weddings, I realized the business aspect of photography. It just so happened to be an added bonus that I really enjoyed photographing weddings!

2. How would you describe your working style?

Professional with a flair of fun. It’s your wedding day after all, so why not have a little bit of fun with it? šŸ™‚

3. Have you ever worked at our wedding site before? If not, do you plan to check it out in advance? 

If it is close by, then yes I would most likely check it out in advance. If not, I show up early to scope out the locations that would best work for photos so we can get as many photos as we can in the time we have. It’s always good to have a plan right? (looks to binder šŸ˜‰ I’ll also check out the venues photos online as well to get a glimpse of what I’ll have to work with. 

4. If something did not go according to plan the day of the wedding, what is your general back-up plan? Do you have backup equipment? What happens if you are unable to shoot my wedding for some reason?

This is a 3-part question…but good questions to ask your photographer. 

a. If something did not go according to plan, which things have, I dive deeper into my wedding-zone-mode and try my hardest to make the best of the situation. For example, if the ceremony starts late and cuts into our photo time, I either ask the wedding coordinator for as much time as possible or ask if I can steal the bride and groom away to get sunset photos which take no more than 10-15 minutes. It’s all about how well you work under pressure. Thank you college!

b. Yes, I ALWAYS have back-up gear. 

c. Knock on wood that anything happens where I fall deathly ill and cannot get up out of bed to shoot your wedding. IF that happens, someone who I trust to shoot my own wedding will take my place. 

5. Do you shoot in digital or film format? Both?

I’ll always have a soft spot for film since that it was I started on, but I shooting weddings digitally. 


Thanks for letting me use these questions Maura and Joey, I cannot wait to photograph your wedding in June of 2014! šŸ™‚

Happy Thursday! 



comments +

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join me on Instagram where I share photos of recent work, behind the scenes footage of what Iā€™m up to, and of course my fur children.

@ryangreenleaf

follow along