Wedding Photography: Asking The Right Questions

Let's say you were given 10 minutes to conduct an interview with Britney Spears. What would you ask her? This is the challenge journalists and other people who conduct interviews for a living are faced with every day. With a limited amount of time available, what subjects do you want to address, what questions will best support those subjects, and how do you best frame those questions so you get the best answers. Of course professionals are trained and experienced in making those kind of decisions. For a new bride to be, knowing what to ask or what to look for in a photographer for her wedding is most likely something new.

I recently received a long list of questions from someone who was (is) considering me for her wedding. There were 59 questions. My assumption is that this questionnaire came from some book or website, written by someone who most likely sat at a desk and tried to come up with every conceivable question you could possibly think of to ask a photographer. Many of the questions were fine and legitimate: What is your primary style? Will you be the photographer who actually takes our pictures? Can you provide current samples of your work? But just as many of the questions were annoying: How many lenses will be used and what type and size? What kind of software do you work with? Do you shoot in color, black and white or sepia tone or all three? (I only point this one out because I am not aware of any photographer that shoots in sepia tone; which goes to the mind set of the person who put this list of questions together).

Asking questions is important. Asking the right questions though is a sign of respect and thoughtfulness. As a photographer who takes my time and my profession seriously, I am not about to answer a 59 item questionnaire that ultimately doesn't get to the right questions: Do I like this photographer's eye and style? Am I comfortable with this person? Will they provide me with the end product that I want (this presumes you know what is important to you)?

My response to this person was that if she finds a photographer who answers all 59 questions, do not hire them because they have way too much time on their hands. Maybe this was all a test, just to see how photographers deal with this kind of questionnaire. And maybe I failed the test. I guess my thinking is that I would like to help educate prospective brides and grooms, and help them identify what is important to them when it comes to their wedding. If you have lots of questions, questions that were provided to you from a book or from some website, I would encourage you to take that list (let's say it's 59 questions) and narrow it down to 6. Which 6 would you most like to know the answer to. Then rewrite or ask those 6 questions using your own words. That way you and the photographer you are interviewing will both know that you know what you are talking about, and consequently what is important to you. The best way to do this though is in person. A lot of the other questions, perhaps even the annoying ones, will either be answered in passing, or you may realize that the answers to those questions are just not important.