You have a difficult decision, possibly the biggest decision you will have to make for your wedding day. Choosing your wedding photographer! We are pretty certain you’ll have many questions to ask your Sarasota wedding photographer.

It’s a daunting task because this person will capture your day, will capture your love, and will also be the person pretty much directing the day even with a wedding planner present.

As photographers, we can tell you that we don’t just sit back and snap pictures from a distance (yes, we do some of that too). We are literally directing the bridal party, making sure everyone is on time and knows exactly where to be, picking shooting locations and are with you the WHOLE time.

You want someone that is confident, bold at times (this ensures the best pictures!), and of course an expert of their craft. Great wedding photographers are a pretty penny that is worth every cent.

The reason is because the pictures will last forever and will outlast anything at your wedding. We are not saying that because we are photographers, but logically this is the truth.

To eliminate some stress from this very important decision, we lay out some questions to ask your photographer. These questions will give you a better understanding of the company and give you the best bang for your buck or thousands of bucks in most cases.

Before you start looking for a photographer, make sure you have a date for your wedding set. We book clients up to 2 years in advance, and if we or any other photographers are booked already, you wouldn’t want to waste your time asking these questions with them. Below are some questions to consider asking:

• Will you be taking the pictures? Tarah and I always shoot weddings together, we come with every collection but some Photographers have “associates” shoot for them. In our opinion associates are not the way to go. They do not own the business, they do not usually plan the wedding with you, they usually just show up, shoot, and they are off to the next job. Since we are the owners and photographers, we make it a point to have excellent customer service, associates do not have that skin in the game.

• How long have you been a wedding photographer? This is pretty important, for obvious reasons like the quality of the work but also non-obvious reasons, such as having years of business experience which may show insight to how well they treat you as a customer. We have about 12 years as photographers and business owners

• What packages do you offer? Most photographers will give you a price range at first and packages may be talked about only at the consult. You can contact us directly for our wedding packages at: https://www.fallbrookstudios.com/contact-fallbrook-photography/

• Is wedding photography your speciality? Photographers may claim to be Jack-of-all trades. If photographers do “everything” (Weddings, babies, kids, seniors, quinceaneras, parties, family, mini sessions, and so on), they do not specialize in anything, which can be a HUGE WARNING SIGN. Wedding photography is a discipline which needs total focus and energy. The wedding photographer must focus pretty strictly on becoming an experienced wedding photographer by going to expos, reading books and forums, and keeping up with the industry. It’s impossible to do all that and shoot pictures of everything. We are only wedding Photographers

• How do you show our pictures after the wedding? Do you use a website or do we come in to preview them? We do both, usually it’s via a website gallery in which you can send to friends too!

• Is the website available for family and friends to view, download and purchase pictures? In our case, yes!

• Can we purchase a disk with all the images from the day? YES, we do this for you! You get every image! In most instances, photographers will not allow every picture to be put on disk.

• How long do you store the images for? We store them forever!

• What is your cancellation policy? This should be in the agreement you both sign, Read the agreement fully. In our instance, if you change you date, and we are available for that date we will still shoot your wedding, if we are unavailable only the retainer is forfeited.

• Is a deposit required? If so, when and how much? Our retainer is 25% due at booking. The retainer goes towards your package.

• Do you provide an engagement shoot with your packages? Get the engagement shoot!!! We can’t stress that enough. Read why in the link. https://www.fallbrookstudios.com/should-we-book-an-engagement-shoot/

Here are just a couple of tips to find your perfect photographer:

• Make sure you guys connect well. All of you… This person or people in our case will be with you ALL day and night, you have to like them. 😉

• Make sure there is an agreement that includes your package, a time table (when you will receive your products) and all the normal obvious stuff. Run-away if there isn’t.

• Make sure you like their work and that you are not just hiring someone because of a recommendation. There are times where we refer potential clients to other photographers because our style may not be what we think they want.

Other than all that, don’t be scared to contact us with any questions. We may even blog your question if we think it will help others. 🙂

Cheerio! 🙂

Vince and Tarah