What to Ask Your Photographer Before Booking!

Your photographer is entrusted with a very important job--capturing your child's special day so that it can be remembered for many years to come. It is essential that you feel comfortable with your photographer's personal and artistic style, and learn about essential details before booking. These questions should assist you in making your decision:

1. What is your price? What does this price include? In our area, photographers can range from $1000 all the way up to $5000. Some include an album and proofs, some don't include albums, some include a certain number of enlargements, some include all your images on cd. If an album is not included, be aware that the album alone can sometimes cost up to $1000+ extra.
2. Do you shoot digital or traditional film? (My personal feelings on this are that digital photographers generally take LOTS more pix than traditional film photographers. As you know, many people close their eyes during shots, have a funny look on their face, etc. With digital, a photographer can take multiple shots of the same pose without worrying about wasting film. In the end, you end up with a larger choice of photos. In addition, digital allows for the wonderful world of PHOTOSHOP, which is a wonderful thing!).
3. Do you offer the digital photos on cd/dvd afterwards? (I definitely wanted the photos on CD to make digital albums and prints).
4. What is your style--traditional or photojournalistic? (Personally, I like a mix of both, leaning toward photojournalistic to capture the joy of the event).
5. What type of albums do you offer? (Ask to see samples)
6. Have you done bar/bat mitzvahs before? (Actually, my photographer had NOT done a Bat Mitzvah before, so if they haven't, make sure you clue them in on what to expect).
7. Can they do the photos for the invitation/announcement (pre-Bat photos?)--How much does that cost? Images on cd for that session?
8. How long will it take to receive the photos after the Bar/Bat Mitzvah is over?
9. Will the photos be available online? This is a very nice service that some photographers offer--wonderful for sharing the event photos with your guests.
10. Finally, just check out their portfolios and make sure you like the style of the photos.

Once you have decided on a photographer, make sure you get a written contract that explicitly states the date and time span that you expect the photographer to be at your event, as well as what is included in your overall price. Locking in the contract with a deposit is always a good idea as well. If anyone has any comments or additions to this list, please email me and I will add them to the list.

Comments

[Toronto Photographer]

Nice guide. One thing about albums. Sometimes it's impossible for us to show albums. Because we custom order them with engravings and such. Maybe a big studio can afford one,but Spending $400+ per album to show varieties is a bit too much.
I sometimes have photographs of them though.

Cheers,
Dmitri