Questions to ask TOG? Help?

Cake flash. Going to smash my phone in a minute!

Did you say cake?? ?

Are you bothered if they have visited the venue before?

Both who are coming have photographed there before. The second one only recently. It's quite a dark venue, not helped by it being in October so knowing they could get nice lighting was important as majority of photos will be taken inside or on a covered terrace x

This was a big selling point for me with my TOG (even if I am wobbling). He knew my venue inside out as well as my car hire company ( a lot of my photos will be based around my camper vans) and was able to make a lot of suggestions for different pictures and the best places to capture them based on time of day and also time of year.

That's great and the only other question I could think of.

ETA just clicked you are the Lady with the amazing venue!

Why are you wobbling lovely?

If disk of images, what filesize and will they be watermark free

Following an issue on a wedding recently, ask what transport they have should their car break down (I had an electrics issue before Sandysounds daughters wedding and had to use a spare car)

Do you put a limit on the amount of group shots? If so how many?

What if it rains, what is your wet weather plan. What lighting do you carry. Do you use off camera flash?

What is your attitude to guests also taking photographs?

Have you worked with the registrars/minister before?

Will the images be available online in a private area where I will get first viewing?

What cost are additional prints for guests?

If proceedings run late, what would be your approach (charges?)

Hope these help..

Peter

My photographer is lovely and very professional, he's been in the business for years and I have no doubt he will do an amazing job based on his previous work and word of mouth recommendations. However, his style is very formal.... and I'm not. I know I'm being silly because we discussed it at the time and he said he'd do a lot of candid shots and less of the lined up posed ones, in fact, apart from his knowledge and experience, what sold him to me was when he explained how he would get some photos of my autistic son who will not even look at a camera. I think actually Daffodil, what made me wobble was the lovely pic you have of the groom with his face in his hands as the bride walks down the aisle.... I want THAT picture and he doesn't have any like it in his portfolio lol

He sounds lovely and very accommodating. It's great you were able to tell him your concerns and he took that on board and said he's do more candid shots then.

You are not being silly as it's one of these things that you will view after the wedding so it's perfectly normal to be worried about it.

Of course it is highly important for him to get the shots of your Son and his experience and personality shone through here!

Damn that picture in my signature ?. You are not the first to say that and it will be possible for him to get (dependent on the venue restrictions). If he is allowed to stand at the front then there will be nothing stopping him getting the first look.

Have you seen a whole wedding that he has shot so you can see what type of pictures he takes during the ceremony? Perhaps ask to see a couple to put your mind at rest?

Thank you! I think I just needed to remind myself of why I said I wanted to book him in the first place. I am going to ask for another at some of his work not shown on the website which I'm sure will put my mind totally at ease again. I guess I just needed something to wobble about and since I'm totally in love with my dress, my venue and my camper vans, the poor photographer got it!

? Poor Photographer!

Yes he might not have thought to put ceremony photos on his site which is why you are not seeing them. To see a full wedding will give you a perfect idea of what you should receive, including extra candid shots of course.

Hmm.. your photographer sounds nice. It makes it a little hard to say this, but I think it speaks volumes that you love everything about your wedding except your togs style. I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn't want to look back in years to come and kick myself.

Spot on.....

Peter

This is a good point Icklefee. No other Groom of mine has reacted quite like this (he was very emotional bless him). I'm assuming though, you know that your H2B might not react like this but what reaction he does make, you would like to know your Photographer will 'try' and capture and that is your point. You have just got to be prepared that it will probably be of the side of his face like Bill said unless you have a second shooter. The focal point, before I took the one in my signature, was actually the bride looking at the groom.

Firstly cake is always great. ?

For me the whole idea of going to the trouble of meeting your tog, is to see if you like or 'click' with them. It's hard to 'click' with someone during an interview. The tog likely knows you have gone on the internet to find out 'what to ask'. It's why they have FAQ on their blogs.

Pretty much all of those questions can be dealt with in a simple email before the meeting. I would probably scrub off "how many weddings have you done" as it's a little irrelevant if they have clearly done more than a few. Someone who's shot 10 weddings could quite plausibly provide better pictures than someone who's shot 100. Seeing a full set of pictures and being able to judge consistency is much more important.

Personally I would ask questions more along the lines of how did they get into wedding photography. Hopefully they give you an answer that indicates they are still passionate about what they do. Do you or H have a worries about being photographed? If so let the tog know, then are they reassuring or do they look worried themselves?

Then just have a good general chinwag and eat ?

Ahh man I never get cake at my consultations! Jammy buggers!

Did someone say cake?

Maybe for the lower end market. But if you are a tog producing strong work with a good reputation, some of these internet questions would feel either silly or borderline insulting, and not really conducive to building a good relationship.

Yeah but as a professionals we should expect them. The bride and groom usually don't do what we do and get lists out of magazines.

The only time I get a little bit peeved is when couples ask me 'if that's my best price'.

Like I would deliberately over price my quote and run the risk of not getting the booking lol.