If you are looking to hire a Wedding Photography Team, we are sure you have many questions. We compiled this list of frequently asked questions to help you know what you should ask a photography team and to give you our answers to these questions.
Do you work alone?
We, Matt and Holly, personally photograph every wedding we book. If something needs to change we will notify you as soon as possible and do everything we can to replace ourselves with one of our trusted networked photographers. We also teach a few interns every year. They are given the opportunity to attend weddings if they want to learn. We always make sure it is ok with you before we have an intern booked to come to your wedding. The benefits are you get a third photographer for free!
Are you willing to travel?
Yes, of course! We would travel the world with you! But travel fees do apply to events farther than 100 miles.
How many pictures do we get?
The number of photos you get mainly depends on the length of your coverage. We are not narrowing your photos down to a certain magic number. But we typically give between 1,500-2,000 photos. The photos that don’t make the cut are ones where you aren’t looking, something gets in the way, it is an exact duplicate, or the flash doesn’t fire.
Do you edit all the photos we get? Do we get raw images?
We never give raw images to clients. We have basic edits that we apply to all photos. Any photo that you select for your album, prints, or other products will be (upon request) gone over with a fine-tooth-comb, editing out stray hairs, unflattering shadows, blemishes, garbage off the street, etc.
Do you go crazy with your artistic edits?
Look through our portfolio and you’ll see our editing style. We like to give a polished, timeless look to our photos, but we never want to take away from the reality of the event.
Can we get a black and white image in color?
Absolutely! We want you to love your photos, all of them. If you’d rather have one in color, or a color in b&w, we’re happy to accommodate. However, you should know that we use our trained eyes to decide which looks better.
How many photos will we get and ow long does it take you to edit so many photos?
We never ever limit the number of wedding photos we take because this is your day and we are documenting your memories. It isn’t our right to eliminate your memories. An average wedding receives between 1,000-2,000 photos. The least we’ve ever given was 700, the most was 3,000. Our goal is to keep the edit time within two weeks after the date of your event. However, depending on workload, number of photos, and schedule we give ourselves up to two months. But we promise to never ever let it take longer than two months no matter the variables!
Can we request to get a DVD with every image taken from the entire event?
In short, no. We aren’t working towards a specific number when cutting photos. The only ones that don’t make our final selection are the bad or exact duplicate photos. These are not kept in any way, and are thus not available upon request.
Do you come to the rehearsal dinner?
We typically do not go to the rehearsal dinner. If it is extremely important to you that we go, specifically to document the rehearsal and dinner, we can be hired at our hourly rate.
Do we feed you at the reception?
Though we bring protein bars and water to keep the “shakes” away. Dinner for two photographers is part of our compensation for your event. Trust me, you don’t want shaky photographers and no-one wants photos taken of them while they are eating the delicious wedding meal your venue planned. Side note: Holly has a strict Gluten Free diet. If your caterers cannot accommodate to this, please let us know so we can pack a dinner for Holly.
What is the Online Proofing Gallery?
An online proofing gallery is a folder within our online gallery that is designated specifically for you. Within your folder there will be photo galleries for your engagement photos, getting ready photos, ceremony photos, Group and creative photos, and your reception photos. Any photography work we do for you will be displayed in this folder. The great thing about these online galleries is that they are easy to view from any device, they make it super easy to share your photos among any preferred social media platform, and they offer easy print ordering that supports our studio. On top of those benefits, you have a means of protecting your valuable wedding photos from a hard drive crash. When you are ready to download your images, we give you a password and it is easy to download your special photos onto whatever device you desire. If an online gallery makes you a little nervous, we are happy to password protect your gallery.
Do all weddings get the same number of photos?
There are many variables that determine the number of photos received. Like we said before, we do not work towards a specific number because we don’t want to eliminate good photos. We do have a bare minimum number of 600 photos; however, our average wedding gets around 1,500 photos.
What kind of equipment do you use?
We own multiple cameras that all come to the wedding (just in case). The ones we primarily shoot with our Canon 5D Mark iii’s. My favorite lens is Canons infamous 70-200mm IS ii 2.8. Matt loves the 24-70mm because of it’s versatility. Other lenses we use: 100mm Macro and a 35mm 1.4. We also have multiple off-camera flashes, lights, and modifiers to ensure we can light any situation.
How long have you been in business?
We started Fivefivephotos in 2010, with our first wedding in December of 2011. We loved it and had 7 weddings/events that first year! We instantly loved photographing real life.
Can you hold our date?
The only way we will hold a date is if you have signed our contract and given us your retainer fee.
How much is the retainer fee? Does it go towards the balance of my investment? If I have to cancel my wedding is this refundable?
The retainer fee is $1000, and it does go towards the balance of your investment. As soon as the fee is given we will turn down all other clients for that day, so it is non-refundable.
When is the balance of our wedding investment due?
We must be paid in full a month before the date of your event.
Can we make payments?
Absolutely! As long as you are paid in full a month before the date of your event.
If we decide to hire Fivefivephotos for our event, when should we book?
To ensure your date will still be available we suggest you book as soon as possible.
Do you offer military discounts?
Most definitely! Matt is a proud veteran. We personally know the difficulties that military families go through, and we are so grateful for the sacrifices made for our freedom. We will always offer military a 10% discount to a couple if one of them is serving or has served in the military. We do require you show us proof (your military I.D.).
If we run over our package allotted time, will you stay?
We would love to stay and party with you all night long while taking as many photos as you want. If that goes past our contracted time, we will check with you to make sure we have the green light to start charging by the hour. We will go over the extra hours spent at your wedding when we have you over for your reveal session.
Will it bother you if my friend who is an aspiring photographer takes photos?
Of course not. We were there once too! Give your friend our number. We love to give photography tips! But we are professionals who know how to get the photo under any circumstance, and we are not afraid to politely, and kindly ask someone to move if they get in our way.
