10 Questions You Need to Ask Before Hiring a Colorado Wedding Photographer

January 13th, 2025

10. Ask to see full wedding galleries.

Here's the thing, we all know social media is a powerful tool. Chances are if you're currently looking for a wedding photographer, it's because you've seen them on either Instagram, Tik Tok, or maybe even Facebook.

The biggest downside, however, is like everybody else business owners want to show you their highlights. They show you the best parts of their best weddings, and not the not-so-pretty reception photos they struggled with. Asking for a couple of galleries to review gives you a chance to see if your wedding photographer or elopement photographer is really worth their weight.

9. "Do you specialize in photographing weddings?"

Say you have a friend that does STUNNING concert photography. Their work is incredibly vibrant, full of life, with lighting work that could make a grown man cry. The issue lies here: How do they operate when the action isn't going? Do they know how to properly and cautiously hang a dress? Do they know how to go along with a timeline that's 8 hours long and will likely stray every now and again? Same goes for family photographers, landscape photographers, and newborn / family photographers. All of these are artists in their own rite, but they shouldn't be trusted with the biggest day of your lives. In the same way, you wouldn't trust me to take your newborn baby photos.

It's important to have somebody in your corner that knows exactly what they're doing so they can support you as best they can. Wedding photographers specialize in your big day.

8. "Have you shot in this area or

at this venue before?"

This one definitely isn't the end of the world, but it should still be on your list!

If your wedding photographer has intimate knowledge of the venue your wedding will be taking place, that's a huge advantage.

Consider this: you're currently living outside of Colorado and you're planning an intimate Colorado elopement in the mountains. Which would be more beneficial, somebody who currently lives outside of Colorado but wants to do your wedding for cheap? Or a photographer who hikes through Rocky Mountain National Park for fun on their weekends and knows how to access the hikes that aren't well documented?

The same is true for a venue, although on a much smaller scale. Your wedding photographer may know all of the good secret spots at your Colorado venue.

7. "How long have you been

photographing weddings?"

Personally, I believe any wedding photographer that's been shooting for less than 2 years is still considered a 'green' photographer. There's still so much to learn and so much they haven't gotten to properly experience. I know a couple of 'wedding photographers' that have photographed less than 5 weddings and are currently charging $3,500 as a starting package. That's insane.

New photographers are finding out that with a decent camera and a well curated social media, their 6 months of experience can be quite lucrative. The bottom line is that it's just not fair to couples. Couples are going to hire these photographers with the idea that their photos will look like the photos they've posted on social media, but that's why we always point back to number 10. Always ask to see galleries before you book.

6. "How many weddings have you photographed as lead photographer?"

This one kind of ties into question number 7, with a slight twist. A lot of photographers when they're first starting out get their experience by doing what's known as 'second-shooting'. Second-shooting is when a photographer shoots with the main ('lead') photographer at a wedding and takes photos. A lot of newer photographers use this method to build their portfolio, which there's absolutely nothing wrong with. However, a lot of newer wedding photographers will use these photos (which they're allowed to do) and not disclose that they second-shot making it seem like they took lead (also allowed to do, although kind of sneaky). Asking this question will give you a better idea of how experienced they are.

5. "Do I get the download

rights to my hi-res photos?"

A well-known practice is for some photographers to photograph the wedding for a low sum of $500, then supply their clients with 50 photos. We'll say in this example each additional photo they want from their wedding is $20. If there are 500 additional photos and you want to purchase the download rights to all of them-- well you can see how pricey that may be. The $500 you paid now turns into $10,000, and yes, I've seen this happen multiple times. Other wedding photographer's business practices include access to all of the deliverable photos included in the price you pay your photographer.

4. "Do I get the print rights to my photos?"

Similar to the last question, most photographers include printing rights to their delivered photos. This means if you decided to take your photos and walk to Walgreens to print your photos, you could (PLEASE don't do that).

Some photographers, however, don't. This means in order to print any photos it must be done through the photographer, most of the time at a steep mark-up. Most of these photographers do this because they don't want to their clients and other people to see your beautiful photos printed out on sub-par Walgreens prints.

3. "Do you have a contract?"

For most people that don't deal with contracts every day, 'contract' sounds like a big, scary word. HOWEVER, contracts not only protect the photographer in the case something goes horribly wrong, a good contract will give you the same amount of protection.

A photographer that doesn't use contracts is a HUGE red flag. If they don't use contracts it means you're not protected. Stay protected, make sure they have a contract.

2. "What is your turnaround time for my full wedding gallery?"

The typical turnaround time for a wedding gallery is anywhere from 4-12 weeks depending on the photographer, family situations, and most importantly, if it's busy wedding season or not.

My busiest wedding season was October of 2023, I had 13 weddings that month. My turnaround time was 8 weeks per wedding, which is fairly standard.

1. "How would you describe your wedding photography style?"

When I talk to most couples about this, they actually have no idea there are so many different styles! For example, there is documentary, editorial, fine art, and traditional. Documentary style does a better job of not interfering with the day and letting it unfold naturally. Fine art and editorial are both the type of photography you typically see on the cover of Vogue. They're very posed, very pretty, and very specialized. Each have their own pros, each have their own cons. It's all a matter of what you prefer, nobody else.

Additionally, you have editing styles. These can range from dark and moody, true to life, to bright and airy. If you're a bright and airy kind of person, chances are you don't want to find a dark and moody photographer.

Long story short, find somebody whose editing style you really enjoy and go with it.

Have a great wedding season!

Christopher