I have always been an advocate for splurging on your wedding photography. Have once told a clients to reduce my fee cost and add it to get a good photographer for her wedding. It shows how their importance of having a Pro handle your events. Let’s face it, pictures are the only memories left after the event is over.
The memories of your special day are preserved even better when you have good pictures to show for it.
But it can be quite disappointing after spending so much money for your special event and your pictures come out looking ‘bleh’.
I have had my fair share of disappointing photography and this led me to writing about this topic.
As planners, we tend to select vendors based on a number of things, professionalism, experience, attitude and most importantly, the actual work of these individuals amongst other things.
When I am hiring a photographer, this is what I expect:
1. Ideas
Don’t just leave the client or planner to suggest everything, give ideas for photoshoots (be reasonable with this, don’t list just the expensive hotels, give options).
Ask questions, what kind of look would they like to have, etc? Give ideas as to picture poses and all. The client is paying for your experience and expertise too.
Not everything is point and snap!
Outfits not properly laid out, scattered bridal party arrangement, table settings not properly aligned, it won’t cost you anything to align or arrange them properly before taking a decent picture.
2. Good Attitude
Attitude for me is almost everything. You are frowning face or being in a hurry or just being nasty or rude???
There is nothing rushed about photography, your job requires patience and a lot of it too. You should be able to make your client feel at ease around you.
Make them feel special because you are their personal paparazzi for that day.
3. Punctuality
If I play my part by creating an event timeline, then you should play your part by abiding by the timeline.
4. Delivery timeline
Please and please, we understand that you need between 4 weeks to 8 weeks to deliver your deliverables but please try to work within the timeline stated in your contracts.
Having to deal with the pressure from clients after the event is not funny at all.
5. Quality of Pictures (editing)
There is always room for improvement. It is sad to pay so much money for a good hotel or a good location for a prewedding shoot and the pictures afterwards are poorly edited.
Understand angle photography as well, there are some angles that naturally makes some photos come out better.
6. Team work
We understand that the lead photographer cannot always be at all events but please ensure that when sending a team, they understand and know their craft.
We cannot recreate a wedding day for instance, so capturing important moments is very key to event photography. Don’t just send anybody that is available.
7. Hygiene
You are going to be working closely with your client and people. We cannot afford ‘smelling anything’. If you need mints or a body spray every now and then, then come along with some. Thank you.
8. Being able to work with surprise photographers
Once in a while, the parents of the couple sometimes feel the need to bring their own photographers on board without informing the planner.
This is not always planned and can cause a chaotic situation sometimes but hearing the main photographer rant all day about this or saying things like, “I don’t work like this” can be very annoying.
We are trying to manage the situation the best way we can and a little coorperation can go a long way.
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