Onward with Wedding Photography Info: Services that should be provided!
- Your photographer should always discuss a shot list with you. I can't recommend this enough. While your photographer should be trained to arrange and execute any sort of group shot on the fly, a shot list ensures that the moments and people that are most important to you are accounted for. Just like a schedule of events is important for ceremony musicians and reception bands or DJs, it is also helpful for a photographer for planning purposes. The better we know the order of your day, the better we can photograph it! And as helpful as it is for a photographer, the real benefit is that it takes the pressure off of you! For example, you won't be standing in the middle of your family formals, trying to remember which photos have already been taken and which still need to be. The photographer will be checking off a list of photos you've already laid out, making sure that each family setup you've requested is taken care of. It can be very simple or very detailed, it's up to you! Be wary of photographers who try to talk you out of using a shot list or refuse to use one... your preferences and requests are first priority!
- Your photographer should offer secure online gallery viewing after the wedding. In this age of technology, this is a simple request, and benefits everyone involved... for you, it allows you to view your images from anywhere, and share the password with friends & family so they can view them, as well (especially those who may not have been able to make it!). For the photographer, such a gallery would drive traffic to their website, resulting in future clients and additional print orders from the wedding. It's an added bonus if people can order prints directly through the website, because then you don't have to gather people's orders and money and then distribute the photos once they're printed... they can do it on their own!
- Lastly (and maybe most importantly), your photographer should include a CD of copyright released images in your package. For the premium prices you pay for a wedding photographer, you should own the images afterward and be able to use them as you please. Some photographers will hang onto these digital "negatives" and retain exclusive printing rights, then charge premium prices for prints. The good thing is, there are enough professional, cutting-edge photographers out there who have abandoned this archaic practice that you won't have a problem finding one you love who will happily oblige.
That's it for today... one more installment in wedding photography, and then we'll move on to another wedding service, to be announced!! :)
Until then, Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, and I'll see you soon!
Cory
P.S. Btw, Matt is TOTALLY right on when he says to ask photographers about their training. You'll definitely get to know photographers better based on their answers!
P.P.S. I'm getting married in THREE AND A HALF WEEKS! EEK! :D
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