When checking out photographers keep in mind, in no particular order:
– How many photos they are offering you for the price. Often they will say a minimum number like 150, 300 or whatever. If you get an album Find out if you make the final selection of photos in it and are involved in the design or not – some photographers make the choice for you, which can be handy or annoying!
– Work out what they mean by ‘high resolution images’ – get the pixel size if possible, as some of them have been known to supply images that are ok for facebook and 8×10’s but not for wall enlargements – you might have to pay more and go back to the photographer for a big size print.
– Ask what retouching is included. Make it clear if you want your pics retouched or not.
– ask if there are additional services (a 2nd disk of photos, more advanced retouching) and what price they might be.
– How many hours of photography you get for your money and where these hours are allocated (getting ready, ceremony, any afternoon do, wedding reception, first dance, waiting around all night for the driving off at the end of the day bit).
– Does your photographer expect to be fed at the reception if he covers it (this is fairly normal, to treat them as a guest as few people want to be photographed when eating)
– Read the contract with care so that you know what penalty you will have to pay if you need to cancel (illness, family problem etc) or move your date or venue.
– Make sure they have a confirmed backup plan to supply another photographer to you if the orig person is too ill or something, to shoot your wedding.
– Make sure they have adequate insurance, in case the memory card gets lost or they drop a lens on someone’s foot or thier car breaks down and they never get to the service. A serious photographer will have some insurance.
– Some companies will supply a 2nd shooter so they can cover the groom getting ready etc. See if they do and if its in the costs.
– Make sure the contract includes a product delivery period which is acceptable to you. Some of them supply ‘taster’ photos for facebook and also on their own web sites but don’t do the main photos until some time later. Make sure you have a date for the whole delivery as wedding photos 6 months after the wedding are not much fun as most people don’t want to see them/buy them that long after the event.
– If you are private people, find out what the photographer puts in the contract about what he can use your photos for – advertising for his business, putting up at wedding fairs, selling to other people, pages in his web site.
– If you are outgoing, see if the photographer puts samples of all the weddings they cover on their business page blog or just some – if you expect to be up there, make it clear.
– Ask if they include a free engagement shoot. This gives you chance to practise posing and feeling at ease with the process before the wedding. Wear something that you wont cringe at in 5 years time and that does not clash with each other or the setting!
– Trash the dress sessions are sometimes possible, where basically its a fashion shoot for fun after the event – its often wading around in water in the wedding attire, posing in scrap yards, running through long grass type stuff.
– look at samples of the weddings they have shot before and ask to see the whole collection of images from a wedding, not just the best 2 or 3 photos from each event – anyone can get lucky for a few and have the rest pretty mediocre.
– Find out how long they have shot weddings and how many.
– see if they belong to any professional photography associations that accredit skill levels.
Hope this helps. I expect I have missed some stuff off but its all I can remember off hand.