9 Things I learned about Hiring a Wedding Photographer

The wedding is finally over and I have time now to reflect about the week of insanity that lead to a 6 day Indian wedding.  I even have withdrawal. Ever since the 8th morning, the day after the wedding, I was already missing the fun, the friends, and flurry of excitement.

And of course I missed the 50+ cameras owned by friends, constantly shooting. In that, two were very special, one was a professional photographer, Christopher Grant, who flew from Sweden to be the official, on call, photographer. The other, was a dear friend, Andrew, who also hailed from Sweden to provide backup and support.

Even though I do photography in my spare time, I focus mainly on time shots or landscaping and macro. Portraits and wedding are not my forte. Chris and I spoke a lot about the shots and in return I learned a lot about having a wedding photographer.  He was on call for 6 continuous shooting days, and that required planning and patience.

1. Choose someone you like and want to work with. If you and your photographer have a good working chemistry, hire them. They will get great shots from you. There maybe that stellar Vogue-esque photographer but if he/she annoys you, your shots will be ruined. You will spend a lot of time with the photographer and since Indian weddings last several days, you want to have a great rapport.
2. Create a collection of photos you want taken at the wedding and give it to your photographer. This way, he will know what you really want to have. For me, we still forgot some favorite shoots and will have to do them later in a studio or outdoor environment.
3. Talk to your photographer about the photos you want, need, must have. Have a few thorough discussions and use that collection of photos as a starting point.
4. At the wedding, let your photographer be the bad guy if the time arises. Sometimes you need ten unadulterated minutes of peace and quiet to get a beautiful photo. Empty a room, run off somewhere, put on guard dogs at the door, do anything to give yourselves a few minutes of peace.
5. If your photographer will shadow you full time (makeup, dressing, walking, talking), be aware of good posture, lighting, and frame of facial expressions.
6. After the wedding, let your photographer get his work done and don’t nag. If you agreed up a date for delivery, contact them if they failed to deliver after, not before.
7. Sign a contract to hammer out all the details. Also take into accounts rights ownership and distribution.
8. Smile and be natural. Don’t force smiles if the camera is shooting; the best shoots are when you don’t know about them.
9. Enjoy your day and let your photographer do his job.  You don’t and should not micro manage.

Most of all, speak to your photographer several times before hiring and spending big bucks.  If you click, hire them, if you don’t, forget it.  You want a happy day and a good working relationship.