25 Wedding Photography Interview Topics

by Steve Schlesinger

About ten years ago I wrote the article "twenty-five  questions to ask a wedding photographer.   It was so hugely successful that it was linked up to many websites and even some bridal magazines used it for their articles.  To this day some wedding photographers have "borrowed" the questions and answers and changed them around a little and claimed it as their own work.     All we can say is that our ideas both in writing and photography get stolen all the time.  Thankfully we're full of good ideas and now have more experience and wisdom to make this topic even better!

The times have changed, and there is a need for a new set of questions.   With a simple list of questions you get simple answers.   You ask "Do you bring back up gear?"  They answer  "Yes."  Instead if  the questions you ask  revolves around the topic of disaster plan and their  answer is "I've got a cell phone with a 2 megapixel  camera" well that is a plan, and that is backup gear, but it doesn't exactly  give you that warm fuzzy feeling, does it?

In order to avoid simple questions that lead to  simple answers  this time we'll focus on topics.    There are more topics than you can really cover with a wedding photographer, so it's wise to pick and choose what is important to you.    For a lot of wedding photographers their work is sold on a vibe and a feel.   Some don't like being asked questions because  it interferes with their mojo.      If  they get defensive this  means  they've got something to hide.    Don't worry about looking uncool.   What is really uncool is bad wedding photography that you spent good money to buy.   For the most part people will be receptive to your questions and a good photographer always appreciates a well informed client who does their homework.

This article has taken half a year to write, and it's still work in progress.  If you have any ideas and suggestions including helping to proof read it ( I was educated at California public schools and a state college, so please go easy on me) please drop me a note.    The topics are broken down on five different pages,  Please click the links below to read the topics you find of interest.  The topics are independent of each other, thus you don't need to read them in any particular order.  Just hit the backspace key to come back to this page, or click the link at the top of each page.

I've had so many compliments on the original document and felt bad the day it had to be removed because the information was too old and too stale.    So many people thanked me for the first article as it helped give them ideas about searching for  a wedding photographer.  I've always felt the website was lacking with the article gone, and I am certainly excited that it's back.    The intent and scope is really about helping people find the right wedding photographer for them.   With the article, you  can ask deeper probing questions, and be empowered to make better decisions about your wedding photography.  Feel free to write to me if you have questions or need clarification on anything  Good Luck!

Topics 1-5

# 1.      Experience

# 2 .     What happens if my photographer gets sick? Have they ever missed a wedding? Have you ever subbed a wedding photographer?

# 3.    How do the payments work? 

# 4.     Can you please describe your style? Do you do other types of photography besides weddings? How were you educated in photography?

# 5.     How many photographers will I need for my wedding?

Topics 6-10

#6.      Tell me about your equipment

#7       Have you been to my church/ reception site before?

#8.      Engagement portrait sessions. 

#9       Payments

# 10    Tell me about your plan for my wedding day.

Topics 11-15

Topics 16-20