What to ask a Wedding Photographer | Victoria Vancouver Island BC

What are the advantages of hiring a professional photographer?

One of the main reasons is experience.
A professional wedding photographer will have all the right modern equipment, and these days that means that he or she should have the most recent digital photography equipment. The modern digital cameras take many months, if not years, to fully understand their capabilities in order to take most shots with the correct exposure and framing.

A professional wedding photographer has had experience with many weddings and can guide you through the day ensuring you are having a great time and are feeling at ease. A professional has experience with making the wedding day flow smoothly and on time.
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So I want a professional wedding photographer, what do I do next?

The best thing to do is a Google search for wedding photographers in your area. Based upon their online portfolio, package price, and look and feel of their site, pick your top three favorites. Once you have picked your three potential photographers, you can then email all of them and wait for their replies.

A professional photographer will usually reply within two days upon receiving your email. The very best always call you to follow up, and to formally meet you over the phone. Make sure you talk to the wedding photographer on the phone to see if you get along with them, and that they make you feel comfortable.
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What questions should I ask a wedding photographer?

Once you have confirmed that the photographer is available on the date of your wedding, ask the photographer detailed questions about the package you are interested in. Make sure that the photographer has an available PDF download of all the packages with clearly outlined details.
These details would include:
Package cost with GST included (GST is now 6% and all professional photographers must charge this tax).
Deposit amount (A deposit is usually required to hold the date for you and is paid when you sign the contract).
Remaining amount paid on wedding date or when the photo package is received.
Make sure that you get a clear understanding of extra add-ons that you might like in the future, such as extra prints or online albums.
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How much does wedding photography cost in BC?

Prices for a good professional photographer range from around $1200 - $6,000 depending on the photographers experience and the size of the wedding. We cannot express how important it is to make sure that you are hiring an experienced photographer.

Make sure that the company has a large portfolio of many weddings, and that the style and quality of the photos are to your liking. Also, make sure that the equipment of the photographer is shown on the website! (You can do a Google search on the name of the equipment to see the review and see for yourself if the equipment is professional or not.)

Prints should range from $10-$45 per print. The top photographers use the best in studio equipment. (We use a $4,000 professional digital printer that can print up to 30 inches for example.) Making a quality print takes serious experience with 'pantone' color profiles, and experience with Photoshop CS2, as well as the quality of the print paper.

We charge $35 per print as we have a streamlined print process that took us much money and time to perfect. Even with that price, we are only making a 20% profit, so be wary of people who tell you a fee of $10 per print, as they could be going to Wal-Mart to have your prints done for $7. The paper we use is rated not to lose color for 120 years.
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Why is a professional photographer so expensive?

This is due to the amount of time invested in education, equipment, websites, and brochures, legal contracts, incorporating the company, quality suits, advertising, insurance, professional photography memberships, a new car to transport you to and from photo locations, costs associated with the work vehicle, printing equipment, albums, photo paper, accountants, business phone lines, studio costs such as rent, electricity, h20, studio insurance, health insurance, employee benefits, and much more.

The average cost to start and run a proper photography company is about $65,000+ and about 2-5 years to grow a client base. Ad on another 2-3 years to gain ranking with google and you can start to see why they are so "expensive". In reality most professional wedding photographers do not make much more then a bartender after costs. The established top 5 or so companies in a city have a real love for photography, because to get to the top takes many years of very low income and a ton of work!
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How much time will the photographer spend at my wedding?

The amount of time that you need is up to you.
One thing to note is that the price difference for a professional for a few hours and a full day should be small. A professional photographer needs to book a minimum amount per weekend and would not book a two hour wedding as they most likely would be giving up a full day wedding down the road.

That being said, Arbutus Photography is a flexible wedding photography company. We find that some of our fondest memories are of younger couples on a budget. We accommodate this range of budgets, as we do not want to shut out people in there 20’s, as we are all in our late 20’s ourselves!
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What are digital negatives and do we get to keep them?

Digital Negatives are the original 'on camera' processed files. These should be stored on a DVD or CD in the highest quality .jpg photos for easy processing.
A professional photographer should always give you a full copy of all your digital negatives on DVD or CD. Arbutus Photography has always given all the digital images on CD or DVD to our clients; we feel it is ridiculous that most professional photographers keep these images.
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Why do some photographers keep the negatives?

The bottom line here is that some photographers like to keep control of the photographs so that when you want extra prints for your family they can charge for them. Arbutus photography always gives the negatives to you so you can print your own prints very easily at any digital print shop in town.

All our digital negatives are on a CD or DVD, which you can view on your computer, and easily take down to a print shop where you can hand over the CD or DVD and get all prints quite cheap.

**Arbutus Photography keeps a record of your negatives for up to three years in case you lose your negatives. This way we can provide you with a free backup in case of emergency!
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Do I need a wedding album?

That depends on you. Arbutus Photography does not include a physical photo album in our packages as we find that the cost for a high quality album, with printing, costs upward of $600. We do offer wedding albums on request for an additional fee dependent on your package and number of prints needed.
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What is a custom online wedding gallery?

Arbutus photography creates a custom, one of a kind, private online gallery to view within 3 days of your wedding, hosted on our website. This is included in our higher cost packages, but can be an add-on to any package for $350.
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Film or Digital Photography

Arbutus Photography has the best of both worlds. We have the best Film cameras and access to unique and quality films. We have picked the best types of Film from around the world, and will choose the appropriate film for the look and feel that you want. Our Digital equipment is always the latest and greatest. We only shoot with Professional Nikon certified Digital Cameras and lenses. Our Digital equipment per photographer costs, on average, upward of $9,000.
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How can I help the photographer on the wedding day?

One of the main things is to help the photographer organize people. The photographer does not know everyone’s name and will need help to call people together for group shots.
An important thing to remember is to give the photographer time to take quality shots. It is not to anyone’s benefit if the wedding is rushed. There should be ample time for formal photography and intimate couple photo shoots.

** One of the most important things is to tell your guests not to take photographs at the same time as the photographer. People get in the way and delay the photographers view, also the flash from cheaper cameras have multiple flash sequences that will interrupt the professional photographers camera, rendering the photos over exposed.
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What time should the photographer arrive at the wedding?

Always, always give the photographer a time to show up that is around 30 minutes before you plan to start any ceremony or photography shoot. This way the photographer can test his or her camera and set it to the best settings for the location.
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Should we provide lunch or dinner for the photographer?

Yes. On a full day shoot, a photographer is working double time, and will need time to relax and recoup during the day. Typically, during a seven or 8-hour shoot there would be a 30-minute break for lunch and a couple of 10 minutes breaks to reload the camera, and take a breather.
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Wedding payment information and tips.

When you meet with the photographer to give them the deposit amount, make sure that you make the cheque out to the company name unless the photographer is the owner then it is ok to write out the cheque to their name. Make sure you get a signed receipt for your payment, and, on the receipt, there should be a section for GST, deposit amount, and legal information written clearly, and the amount due on the wedding date.
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Deposit and refund policy.

A professional studio always requires a non-refundable deposit in order to hold your wedding date for you. This provides security for you, and provides a way to break up the cost of a wedding photographer.

The deposit should always be refunded if the photographer cannot make it to the wedding. Typically, a studio will have backup photographers in the worst-case scenario. Arbutus photography has five wedding photographers and they are all award winning, young and talented people. We have not missed any wedding in the years of service we have provided.
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Forms of Payment available.

A professional studio should always accept all major credit cards through a third party secure online company. (Arbutus accepts all credit cards through PayPal as they are secure, and are insured as we have a business account with them.)

Cheques and cash are also accepted. Make sure to get a signed company letterhead receipt for any transaction, especially for cash.
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