Most of these are decided before the day, in a contract and a conversation nobody reads twice. Each one below is a mistake I have watched couples make, and the question that prevents it. The photographs are the last thing to go wrong; the booking is usually the first.
Three things decide whether the booking goes well, and none of them is the portfolio. A portfolio can be handsome and still tell you nothing about delivery dates, backups, or who turns up on the day.
A portfolio shows the best day. A contract decides what happens on an average one.
These five are decided at the booking. None of them shows up in the photographs until it is too late to fix.
01
Before you book · who shoots
Studios book associates · the person you meet may not be on your date · substitution clauses allow anyone
Do instead: ask in writing who will photograph the day, and whether that person can be swapped.
02
Contract · what lands, and when
“Within a reasonable time” is not a date · photos commonly run four to ten weeks · film runs longer
Do instead: get a minimum number of edited images and a delivery window written into the contract.
03
Money · the first payment
Twenty-five to fifty per cent at booking is standard · it is usually non-refundable · the word deposit hides that
Do instead: ask what happens to the retainer if you cancel, and what happens if you postpone.
04
Rights · what you can do with the files
The photographer keeps the copyright · you get a licence to print and share · portfolio use is a separate clause
Do instead: ask for the print release and the model release as two separate answers, both in writing.
05
Risk · illness, gear, weather
Spare bodies and cards · a named second photographer · liability insurance
Do instead: ask what happens if they are ill or a camera fails, and keep the reply.
These five come up between the booking and the day. They are all questions, and all of them are free to ask. Ask them in one email rather than five, so the answers sit in the same place.
06
Timing · when the day runs long
Coverage stops at the contracted hour · overtime is billed by the hour · nobody agrees the rate on the night
Do instead: ask the hourly overtime rate and who approves it before the clock starts.
07
Money · getting to the venue
Included inside a radius · charged per mile beyond it · some studios quote a flat Texas fee
Do instead: send the venue address before you sign and ask for the travel line in the quote.
08
Scope · what a package covers
One photographer or two · how many edited images · whether an album is in the price
Do instead: compare packages on hours, photographers and the album, never on the headline price. Two quotes at the same number can be different products.
09
The day · who knows the plan
Getting-ready runs late · the ceremony starts early · the last light is gone before the portraits
Do instead: send the timeline a week out and ask where coverage should start to catch the light.
10
Portfolio · what you are shown
A reel is the best twenty frames of a year · a full gallery shows the average Saturday
Do instead: ask for one complete wedding, start to finish, and read the room rather than the highlights.
A photographer who answers all five without hesitating is telling you how the rest of the booking will go. The one who gets defensive at question three is telling you something too.
My own terms are on the investment page, and the recent work shows what the hours buy. More essays sit on the photoblog index.
None of this is about distrust. It is about writing down what you already agreed in the meeting, while everyone still remembers agreeing to it. A studio that answers these plainly is not being generous; it is being organised, and that is the thing you are buying.