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In my last Blog I discussed How to choose a wedding photographer. Today I would like to discuss the questions that should be asked when you have narrowed down the list of potential photographers.
Will the person you have been talking to, be the one taking the photos?
You are relating to a person who will be taking and recording a major day in your life. Make sure he/she is the one who will be taking the photos at your wedding. Some companies have multiple photographers. If you decide to commission just such a company, would you be able to view the photos of the person assigned to your wedding?
Does the photographer who photographed the wedding also do the editing?
How would the guy or assistant in some lab know the color of Uncle Joe’s shirt or the true color of the bride’s flowers unless he was at the wedding too or that the photo of you and Grandma is really important.
Do you have the equipment to take pictures in a church during the ceremony?
Most churches will not allow flashes during the ceremony but there is professional grade equipment that can take pictures in very low light.
Do you have a studio we could visit?
Has the photographer invested in a studio where clients can come and see his/ her work? Bottom line if they are serious about the profession and a full time experienced photographer they will have a studio or office. Like any business they will have proper professional facilities.
What education, background or experience have you had?
Have they been qualified by an organization? Have they been honored by their peers, hold any awards, or certificates? Have they invested in advertising and industry standard annual membership reviews? Have they a degree in photography or Internship with a professional photographer?
Are any of the above listed on their web site in addition to how long they have been in business?
Again with my two cents:
Now days any one can become a photographer, just have a decent point and shoot camera. When checking out their completed portfolios ask how the photographer captured certain pictures. Are the pictures displayed, ones that he took or some his assistants took? What type of imaging? If he uses raw imaging he has more control of color and content. Taking a picture in Raw is only the first step in producing a quality image ready for printing. If quality is of the utmost importance to a photographer then they should be shooting in Raw. That being said, I know many professional photographers who do not shoot in Raw for one of three reasons:
1.) They don’t know how.
2.) They don’t want to take the time to process the images afterwards.
3.) They don’t have the extra memory cards to hold the additional capacity of raw images.

Let me explain a bit here. If the photographer does shoot in Raw, the photographer’s computer rather than the camera will process the data and generate an image file from it. Guess which has more processing power: the digital camera or computer?  If he uses the common jpeg he is allowing the camera to capture it and do the thinking.
Shooting in Raw will give the photographer much more control over how your images will look and the ability he has to correct images due to exposure or color balance that may have been committed when the photograph was taken.

This is my slant on the experience issue.
This is where quantity over quality comes into play.
There are photography companies that believe if they bought state-of-the-art equipment  such as a camera with as many fully-automated features as they can get, they can then  hire less experienced and less costly photographers to do the photography at events.  Then in turn they can  supervise them from afar and photograph several differents  events at the same time at reduced cost. The smart cameras would hopefully take care any the problems. In addition they do limited editing on images therefore they charge less to the customer. 
Kind of like having Uncle Joe take the pictures only more expensive and you not left with the camera.
When cost is the major factor in looking for a photographer some customers don’t want to know the difference between excellent quality and fair quality. They don’t want to know that art cannot be created by a computer chip but needs a creative mind doing the work. They don’t realize until it’s too late what a sacrifice they made.
The adage “You get what you pay for” fits in here because the best work comes from people who have a vested interest and pride in their art and in their profession.