20 Wedding Photography Questions Answered

By David Parrish

Posted: 07/10/14

Category: Wedding Tips

Not only is this post great for us to answer the most common questions we are asked, but these are also great questions for when you are hiring your wedding photographer.

 

1. Is photography your only job?

For Jada, yes it is. She spends 40+ hours a week taking pictures and editing them.

For David, no it is not. He is also a web developer. He works on building websites during the day and editing and taking pictures at night.

 

2. Do you provide a written contract?

Yes. Once you decide that you want to book us, we will send you a contract. This protects both of us and lays out all of our terms.

 

3. What if we want a specific shot, will you be willing to capture it?

We love creating beautiful images with others. We value your opinions and ideas as much as we value our own. We will try hard to capture every shot you request; however, we cannot guarantee it. Sometimes mother nature, lighting, or guests make it impossible to capture specific shots.

 

4. How would you describe your style?

For weddings, our main goal is to document your wedding day. Our style is a dash of photojournalism with an artistic flare. We pay close attention to the way we compose every photo we take.

Because there are two of us, we are able to provide two unique perspectives of your wedding day. David captures, tightly cropped very intimate moments throughout the day while Jada is taking more wide angle shots that show the ambiance and details of your wedding. Our styles blend together seamlessly to provide you with full documentation of your wedding day.

 

5. Do you use a flash during the ceremony?

No, we do not use a flash during the ceremony. We understand that weddings are a spiritual event first and foremost. We try to be as respectful and inconspicuous as we possibly can during your ceremony.

 

 

6. Where do you stand during the ceremony?

This is different for each wedding. Before the ceremony starts, we always ask the officiant if they have any special restrictions or rules that they would like us to follow. Some officiants are very lenient and others a little more strict. We follow their guidelines and document your ceremony accordingly.

 

7. How much is your deposit?

Our deposit is 40% of your total package price. To create your own package click here.

 

8. When is the remaining balance after deposit due?

Each client is different when it comes to this. Some of our clients like to get it out of the way and send us a check a week before the wedding, and others feel more comfortable giving us the check the day of their wedding. In short the answer to this question is, you can pay the remaining balance at any point as long as we receive the check before we start shooting the day of your wedding.

 

9. Do you charge for travel?

We charge a mileage fee round trip for any wedding more than 30 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. If your wedding is more than 2 hours from Richmond, we ask that one hotel room be provided for us.

 

10. What happens if one of you is sick?

Both of us are completely capable of shooting a wedding on our own. We just work best as a team. We will work through light sicknesses like a cold. If there is a rare case that one of us cannot make it to your wedding day, we will reach out to our network of photographers and bring a second shooter that we respect.

 

11. What will you wear on my wedding day?

We dress for the occasion. We want to blend in with the crowd as much as we can.

 

12. Do you book multiple events on my wedding day?

When it comes to weddings, we only book one a day. You hire us and we are yours that day.

 

13. Do you have back-up equipment?

Yes. We have two of every piece of equipment. We also have a trunk full of tools that can help us out in any situation.

 

14. What happens if my reception lasts longer than what I paid for?

If we notice that your reception is about to go over the amount of time that you pay for, we will talk to your wedding planner or parents to see if they want to add more hours. If so, we will invoice you after the event.

 

15. How many photos will I receive?

Depending on how long the wedding is and how many events happen during the wedding, we try to give our clients between 600-1300 edited, color corrected, and high resolution images. Every wedding is different, so it is hard to ever give an exact number.

 

 

16. Do I receive every photo you take at my wedding?

During your wedding day we over shoot like crazy. We do this to make sure that we capture all of the important moments. Not all of them always look great. Sometimes people’s eyes are closed, the framing is off, or the photo maybe out of focus. We will only give our clients the best quality images of the day.

 

17. How long will it take to get my photographs?

We try to get your photos edited and back to you as soon as possible. However, it depends on the season. May, June, and October are the most popular wedding months, so if your wedding is during those months it may take a little longer to receive your photos. We will check in with you throughout the editing process, show you sneak peeks via our facebook page, and keep you updated on the status of your photos.

 

18. Do you edit your photographs?

Taking the photograph is just half of the process in photography. The other half is color correcting and editing. We go through each image that we have chosen and fix blemishes and edit colors. We want to ensure that our photographs are the highest quality possible and will print beautifully at any size.

 

19. Do you back-up your photographs?

Yes. During the wedding all of our memory cards go into a waterproof case in David’s pocket. As soon as we get back from the wedding, we sit down and put the images on two hard drives. One is a working hard drive where we edit the photos, and the other lives in a safe. Once we finish editing the photos, we put the edited files on our server.

We recommend that you also back-up your photos once you receive the flash drive from us.

 

20. Do you print the photographs? Do you make albums?

Yes. We work with a fabulous printer who does an exceptional job. Our computer monitors are calibrated to match their printer, so we guarantee the absolute best printing results for your photos. However, you will receive personal printing rights and are also welcome to print your photos independently if you would like.

We do make albums. Once you receive your photos, we will work with you layout the album. You will be able to view a PDF format of the layout and approve it before the album is ordered.