Toronto Wedding Photographer

You did your homework and found a few wedding photographers from across the GTA you liked the most. Seeing you here, let ’s assume I am one of them. You contacted me and made an appointment. However, you ’re not sure what are the key questions to keep in mind when speaking with your future photo and video team. In fact, there are so many questions you might want to know the answer to, that I decided to split this blog post into ___ parts. So let’s begin.

1. Are you available on my date? If not, who is? May I see their recent work?

Tara Weddings is a Toronto wedding studio that takes pride in hiring and training only talented and highly skilled photographers. I make sure we are all on the same page regarding shooting style and quality, so no matter which photographer or team of photographers is assigned with your wedding, your photographs will come out uniformly well done. That being said, I understand the need my clients have for reassurance that everything will go smoothly, and I will gladly and proudly demonstrate you the work of any of my team members should you just ask.

2. What happens if our photographer is not able to make it due to illness or unforeseen circumstances?

As I mentioned above, Tara Weddings consists of a large team whose each member is equally well-trained and highly experienced. In case of misfortune, I will do my best to find a substitute as quickly as possible. While it might cause some inconvenience if you only hired one cameraman (but only in the worst scenario), it will not be much of an issue if, for example, you have both- a photographer and a videographer, because then the other cameraman can do both jobs simultaneously until the backup photographer arrives.

3. Is wedding photography your main business?

When wedding photography is your primary business, you just can ’t afford to mess up since that will cost you your reputation, your job, and, eventually, your rent. Therefore it is safe to say, that wedding photographers, who make a living of it are much more responsible towards their job. Also, they are most likely way more experienced because a hundred percent of their effort goes towards developing and improving their business.

4. How many weddings have you photographed? Over how many years?

These questions derive directly from the previous one. It is far more important to measure a photographer’s experience in weddings he covered than years he has been working for. He might have worked for 10 years shooting 3 weddings per year, or he might have worked for 3 years shooting 20 wedding per year. I think it is evident which photographer is more advanced.

5. What kind of equipment do you use? Do you have back up?

A good photographer will not assume you know everything about all the cameras out there and tell you the key points about his equipment. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, one of the most important things a professional wedding photographer and videographer must have is a means of backup. For example, at Tara Weddings all of our cameras shoot to two memory cards simultaneously, and our photographers carry around 2 and sometimes even 3 cameras. That way we are ready for anything.

These are the 5 questions you should ask first. If the answers did not satisfy you, there is no point to continue to the other ones. However, if you were happy with all of the answers, please continue.

After you asked your photographer the first set of fundamental questions and were satisfied with the answers, you should find out how well your outlooks on the shooting process suit each other. I used the work “Matchmaking” on purpose here, because the next 4 questions will allow you to understand how easy it would be for you two to work together. So here are the questions:

6. Have you shot a wedding at my location of choice? If not, will you view it before the wedding?

When the photographer is familiar with the location where your wedding is going to be, it definitely benefits you. Firstly, this means that he already had a chance to find out about all the issues that could arise (such as poor lighting, tight spaces, unfriendly owners, etc.) and he had the opportunity to be more prepared for them. Secondly, he had the time to find all the best spots and angles for taking your pictures, and he would be less concerned with familiarizing himself with the location and pay more attention to capturing the moments. Thirdly, this means that you get to see examples of his work from this place and understand whether or not you’d like to take the same artistic direction. Sometimes a photographer is willing to travel to the scene of the wedding ahead of time, and see for himself what he needs to put up with. Unfortunately, that will also cost him time and travel expenses, so not everyone is ready to do it.Overall, this step is not always necessary, since a real professional is always ready for anything, and he is creative enough to make any place work for his advantage.

7. Are you willing to follow a shot list?

This is a trick question. Some photographers get offended by it, but that only points at their unwillingness to find an approach to their customers. If you hear “just trust me” for an answer, that’s a worrisome sign. This means that the photographer might not control his work enough, to be able to stick to a plan. Ideally, a photographer should agree to go through your shot list, make adjustments, if necessary, and at the same time, he should be able to deliver his own artistic view and reward you with all the shots you wanted and then more.

8. Is it possible for you to shoot in a similar manner (colour/style/posing/lighting) to my examples? Could you show me your work that you think is similar?

The best criteria for choosing your wedding photographer is by style. A photographer’s unique taste is what makes his work stand out and appeal to you. If you ask a photographer to mimic a style that opposes his own, it might not work out, even if he agrees to give it a try, simply because it is something that comes from within and is very individual. However if the work that inspires you is similar to what your photographer of choice specializes in, there should be no problem to recreate these shots for you.

9. How much do you control your shooting process and much of it is spontaneous?

The amount of control that a photographer puts into the creation of his images is what defines his style. Some photographers like to go unnoticed and capture all the realities of life no matter how unpolished it could be, others direct every shot and make sure everything is flawless before they press the button. However most photographers in the wedding industry mix both of the approaches and depending on the so-called ratio, we see different results. To evaluate the answer of your photographer, you should first do some research and decide what shots you prefer to be candid and with which you’d like a bit more guidance.

If the answers your photographer gave you leave you feeling as excited about capturing your wedding as you were before, that ’s a good sign to move on to the next level. Please continue to our next post, to find out which questions you should ask your photographer to be able to plan your big day concerning what he needs from your side to make your pictures even better.

Ask yourself, how do I know certain wedding photographers are actually professionals? This is a trick question. Why? Because when you open any wedding photography websites, you will be impressed by their photo selections, and the only difference will seem to be that one charges $500 while another charges $5000.

You like both of their pictures, so what’s the difference? How can you know that one company is different in a way that justifies charging 10 times as much?

To sort through the options, you may ask your wedding videographer some questions about their experience.
So the first question is the cheesiest one.

WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT DO THEY USE?

It can be any brand of equipment. It can be Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax. So you ask what kind of camera do you use? And the proper answer is ‘I use a professional camera’. So what does it mean to have a professional camera? It’s not just a camera that costs lots of money or something. There is one thing that separates a non-professional camera and a professional camera when it comes to wedding photography.

THE CAMERA SHOULD HAVE TWO CARD SLOTS.

Two cards slots and that’s it. Now I’m gonna show you. As an example, this is the camera I use. This is Sony A9, the latest high end camera from Sony. When you open the memory card cover, you see that there are two SD card slots.

So why it is so important to have two card slots in one camera? And why does that make these cameras professional?

Say it’s the middle of the wedding and while your photographer is shooting something goes wrong with the card itself, not only the camera, with the card itself. With two card slots, if one card gets corrupted there is a second backup card that has all the same pictures in the same quality. So when your photographer is taking photos, they are automatically creating backups of everything. This ensures you will not lose your photos.

THE SECOND THING THE PHOTOGRAPHER HAS TO HAVE IS A SECOND CAMERA.

I never shoot weddings with only one camera. I use two different cameras to be able to take different kinds of shots moments apart. I keep both strapped to me, to always have a second lens ready to go.

Sometimes a camera can just die in the middle of something really important. You really don’t want your photographer to have any problems with equipment during your first dance, your kiss, or during your ring ceremony. You just don’t want your photographer to come to you after and say, “I’m sorry, this was an equipment problem, this can happen and I apologize.” What can you do? It just can’t happen. This is your wedding, the one day that changes your life completely. To avoid any kind of accidents that can that can ruin your day, I would say your wedding photographer should have a second camera fully charged and ready to go, close by.

I sometimes even carry three cameras. The third one is a small one but it still can take nice pictures. I’m actually shooting this video on this camera. This is the Sony a 6500, the top-level Sony crop sensor camera. It produces amazing pictures and it can fit into my pocket. With so many backups, I can’t mess up a wedding in any way.

This is what you should consider about your photographer’s equipment.

A FEW OTHER THINGS YOU CAN ASK.

The first thing is to request to be shown full weddings captured by the photographer, not only the best 10 pictures out of all the weddings they’ve done so far. Out of thousands of pictures, finding some nice ones is easy. See a full wedding from start to finish, maybe their 50 best pictures from the day, and you will see how he or she performs.

The second thing is the engagement photoshoot. If you want to be safe, it’s a good idea to use this occasion to “warm up” with your photographer before the wedding. You can see how he or she actually works and what kind of pictures you can expect, and how he or she helps you to create good photography. How do you feel in front of this photographer? How you feel being photographed by them?

These are pretty much all the questions I would ask a wedding photographer as a groom or bride. If you have any questions please let me know. You can leave your comments below. Please subscribe and like, so I can understand if you’re actually interested in such videos. Thank you very much and have a good day.

Nowadays it is so easy to choose a career in photography. There are tons of information available, and the best equipment on the market is becoming more and more accessible. However becoming an actual professional wedding photographer is more complicated than getting a good camera and learning how to use it. So how will you know to tell between a reliable high-end professional and a talented amateur? There are mistakes that many wedding photographers make at the beginning of their career, and though they may help them learn, you, most likely, wouldn ’t like being their test subject. Let’s take a look at a few:

Not having backup

Being a wedding photographer is not just about being part of a celebration, but it is most importantly a big responsibility, and one of the greatest mistakes a wedding photographer can make is to underestimate it.
A wedding photographer must make sure that he is prepared for anything. He must have backup equipment, backup memory cards, and batteries as well as a wedding photographer/videographer that is ready to substitute the assigned one if something goes wrong. A real professional will never take any chances with his clients.

Not exporting the files right away

This point goes hand in hand with the first one. After the wedding is over it is essential to transfer the materials onto two (or more) hard drives, an internal and an external one, right away. Memory cards are fragile little things, and things can happen to them. Also, most photographers have a limited amount of memory cards, and they tend to reuse them, right after they reformat the cards. Photographers are human too so they can forget that this particular card they want to erase was not yet transferred. However, that might get them in a lot of trouble. Bottom line, the quicker your materials are safe, the better.

Being too shy or too pushy when meeting with clients

A wedding photographer must sell himself and his work. Leaving it to chance, thinking their work will sell itself is a mistake a beginner photographer might make. He might be too shy of a person or not willing to pressure you, however, these qualities are not quite welcome at a tense setting which weddings often are. Your wedding photographer will have to deal with a large crowd of people he doesn ’t know and will have to make an effort to take some of the most important shots. If he’s not energetic and open enough, the quality of his work might suffer. On the other end, being too pushy is also not so appealing to most clients since it makes them feel as if the photographer cares more about closing the transaction and satisfying his own needs, than about his customers and their priorities. Non the less, all clients are different and click with photographers that make them feel good, which is generally a good way to go (just make sure your photographer of choice doesn ’t make the other mistakes on this list).

Being too serious

Although a serious approach might seem reasonable at first, think twice. You hardly want to feel like a model auditioning for an “Elegant Wedding Magazine” cover on your wedding day. You want your wedding photographer to flow with you while maybe slightly directing you for better results. A photographer who’s very tense and too serious about his work might unnerve you and your guests, as well as miss some beautiful details that weren’t “part of his plan.”

Not contacting the couple

This goes for not keeping in touch with a client right after the first meeting to check on their decision as well as not reaching them when the wedding is approaching for any final remarks. First of all, chances are, that the clients are so overwhelmed with the very idea of getting married (not to mention the planning ahead) that they might have simply lost track of time or got all the vendors mixed up in their head so they need you to reach out and courtly remind them about yourself. This shows that the photographer understands his clients’ needs, and isn ’t afraid to take the initiative. As for the second part, needless to say, that a photographer that disappears on you doesn ’t make a good impression. It takes an enormous burden off your shoulders if you know that your photographer remembers about you and keeps everything under control.

Not managing clients expectation before the event- time and schedule

Some customers might have particular requests, wishes, and expectations regarding the final wedding photographs. For example, they might want to have a huge variety of group shots including all the third cousins they love dearly, and it all must be done at the golden hour; however, they might only leave 10 minutes to do that. It ’s the photographer’s job to learn what is it the couple wants him to do, and to explain to them in detail what they should keep in mind when making their schedule in order for him to be able to accommodate their requests. Apparently, that should be discussed well in advance to avoid any stress.

Not avoiding hidden fees

A wedding nowadays can get quite expensive, and every vendor should pay respect to the fact that their clients might have a budget they’d like to stick to. We all hate counting on one price and eventually having to pay another. That’s why it is best if the wedding videographer openly discusses any additional fees that he might charge on top of your package. Some of them might be traveling fees, overtime costs, taxes, extra fees for additional edits and so on. While you can ask your photographer about all of these in advance, it is a good sign if the photographer talks about this on his own, without you having to fish out every possible pitfall.

Wrong file format

There is an industry standard that indicates that “.RAW” is the most high-quality photography format. This format gives the photographer way more room to wiggle when fixing the results poor lighting conditions, as well as allows him to export the final file to a massive high definition file. The only downside of “.RAW” file format, is that it takes up a lot of space. Some photographers don ’t own large memory cards, others are ready to sacrifice quality for quantity. Either way that is a terrible mistake, and to avoid it, you should always ask your wedding photographer what file format does he shoot in before booking.

Lacking work ethics

Earlier on we wrote that a wedding photographer shouldn’t be too serious. The opposite also applies. A professional wedding photographer should never be all buddy-buddy. He should never consume alcoholic beverages, smoke or curse in front of a client. He should also be neatly groomed, and stick to the dress code of your event. This indicates that he appreciates your business, and takes his job seriously.

Managing camera-shy clients

While most people would like their wedding captured, not all of them are excited about the idea of being photographed. They tense up at the sound of the shutter going off or the lens being pointed in their direction. Some photographers are so focused on getting their shots, that they don’t notice their clients are stressed, or maybe they don’t quite acknowledge the difference a relaxed smile can make to a feel of a photo. Anyhow, a professional wedding photographer understands that a beautiful face is a happy face, and he is willing to first make his clients comfortable in front of the camera.

Managing changes and delays

Sometimes, the clients believe that their schedule and timing have nothing to do with how good the pictures might turn out since they believe that it’s up to the photographer to adjust to their big day and not the other way around. However, photographers work with light, and it plays the most significant role in how the final result will look. A photographer cannot make the sun comply. The only thing that is actually up to the photographer is to communicate in an apparent and respectful manner how his workflow might be affected with the timeline shifting. It is also in the photographer’s responsibility to give his clients some choices as to how you can adjust to the new conditions, what can be sacrificed and what are the priorities.

Not knowing who’s their “go to” person

A real professional understands that on your Big Day you want to relax and enjoy the magic, without having to worry about anything else (you’ve had enough of worrying during the planning). Therefore your wedding photographer must learn who is in charge of answering questions as well as paying him at the end of the night. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know if a photographer will ask you about it before you book him, but you may kindly give him some mental credit if he does.

Remember that we are all people and accidents do happen; it only matters how we deal with them at the end of the day. However, I hope that this list helps you choose your wedding photographer wisely, not only with your eyes, heart, and wallet but also with your mind, now, that you know what to look out for.

Quite impressive our performances, aren’t they? Let us show you at what point we are passionate about our creations. We are those who capture pure emotions, rigid feelings, and unforgettable moments. We are the creators of memories. Masters of visual style, elegance and softness. It has been a while we are the best wedding photography studio in Toronto thanks to years of limitless excellence, professionalism and trust. Trust is a crucial brick in human relationship. Our goal is to make photos look natural. This can be achieved by making people feel comfortable, by opening their emotions and feelings. By satisfying them. We want you to BE in the moment.

We are dreamers. And we want you to share your dreams with us. Tell us how you imagine your ideal Wedding Day! And we will do everything to make it amazing!

We are philosophers. And we think the photography is about an exchange. We want to create timeless imagery for you – stylish and modern couples and families. We are there to create something special and unique. We want you to live your moment!

We are professionals. We are perfectionists. We are creative. We have serious attitude. We are curious. We care about legacy and heritage. We are the best in our field. And we are going to capture you.

We all love a good deal. The feeling you get from saving money when getting a high-quality product is almost as good as the feeling you get when the love of your life asks you to marry him. The two of these rarely go hand in hand, however. Everything that is related to the wedding industry has quite a price tag. The purpose of these things is to make your Big Day unique and unforgettable, as well as bring forth your style as a couple, and, of course, just like anything else that fits this description, it is precious and therefore has its price.

While you might be on a mission to find the best wedding deals in Toronto, let me explain to you why saving on a wedding photographer and videographer is not the best idea. When you hire a wedding photographer, you expect to receive a service and a product. While both the product and the service appear to be pretty straightforward, they are complex when it comes to what you’re paying for. So what is it that brings that price tag so high when it comes to wedding photography and videography?

Service:

Labour
That is the starting point. You are paying a team to capture your wedding day on photo and video.
Time
Time is money, especially in the high-paced Toronto. You are paying your team to do their job for a specific amount of hours.
Equipment
If you ever saw a price tag on a good camera, you understand why this is important. Also, remember that there are also lenses, tripods, sliders, stabilizers, lights, flashes, reflectors, memory cards, and so on. These cost quite a bit. There ’s always something you can get that would improve your work, so no, it’s not a one-time investment.
Skills
I assume you would choose a talented photographer, whose personal style appealed to you. But before a photographer could even develop that style, he had to learn how to use all of his equipment to its maximum potential. Just like with the equipment, there’s always room to grow.
Insurance
A wedding photographer’s life depends on his gear. However, it is often put at risk when it is shared amongst the team members, or even when it is exposed to big crowds of people, that, let ’s just put it simply, aren’t always sober.
Transportation
Tara Weddings shoots all over the GTA, and sometimes even further. That means that we spend at least an hour or two driving. That’s time, money, insurance, and other vehicle costs.
HR
Each year we get more and more bookings. That requires finding more and more professionals that suit our team standards.

Product:

Labour
One of the key components to good wedding photography and videography is excellent post production aka photo and video editing.
Time
For each hour at the wedding, a wedding photographer will spend another hour finishing the material until every last picture looks great.
Equipment/ software
In order to professionally backup, retouch, edit, colour-correct and finish both the photo and video materials, we would need storage (hard drives and clouds), a powerful computer, a drawing tablet and nearly five different kinds of software.
Insurance
All of the above needs to be insured.
Skills
Last but not least, skills in post production are just as important as the skills that are required to capture the material. It makes all the difference between pictures that look good, pictures that look amazing, and pictures that make you cry tears of joy because you can really feel your Big Day all over again.

As you can see, it’s not just about pressing a button. All these aspects are equally important. So the next time you see cheap wedding photography in Toronto, ask yourself what is the photographer compromising, and then ask yourself if that’s also something you would like to compromise. When all is said and done, remember, that your wedding day will be over quickly, and it’s the photography that will be taking you back.

How do you choose a wedding photographer? If you are a bride or groom and you’re looking for coverage for your wedding day, you have lots of options.

You just go to Google or any other free advertisement listing you know and start looking for wedding photographers.

I’m going to speak about my experience and my city. I work in Toronto mostly so I’m going to show you how to choose a wedding photographer in Toronto, but you can apply it to your area.

In the wedding industry there are several types of wedding photography services. There are such services provided by people who are not wedding photographers.

They’re just photographers who are starting out and want to try themselves in the wedding industry. They will not charge much, so if you don’t have a budget or if you don’t really care about wedding photography or any coverage for your wedding you can consider these guys. They can be good, they can be not good. The thing is if you see their portfolio, this portfolio will most likely consist of a very small selection from a potentially inconsistent body of work. So to be safe I would rather say no thanks to these guys and move on to other options.

Another type of wedding photographer are those who have been doing photography for some years and they have some wedding experience. These are a good option, much better than the first option, ones that are just starting. Everything about their presentation may be nice and it may seem that you can get good pictures for any budget level, but the thing is your wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so if anything goes wrong on the wedding day you might regret your choice. There are sometimes uncontrollable circumstances that may cause problems to your photography, like bad weather, bad lighting during the day like a moody or overwhelming hard light. You might end up having all these super dark shadows underneath your eyes. You may be late, not leaving enough time for the pictures. Your venue may be dimly lit. Your venue lighting may have a bit of light flicker that will affect video. In these special situations, if your photographers don’t know the light or how to use flash, you may get really bad pictures. On the other hand your wedding might happen during golden hour or get lucky with soft light. In this case, with perfect conditions, you can just take any picture anywhere you like. In this case any wedding or general photographers will work for you.

These ideal conditions are nice to hope for, but in order to be covered under any circumstances, there is another type of wedding photographers, professionals. These are specialized guys who have captured a lot of weddings. They know their equipment, they know how to work in any kind of light, they know what kind of pictures they need to get. Most importantly, this specialist knows how to speak with people. They know how to speak with a bride and groom. They know how to make the nervous and excited bride and groom photogenic and happy. So they will look good in the pictures. They know how to be in the center of the wedding and not distract anybody from the wedding itself as they capture their pictures. It can get overwhelming having everyone’s phones and cameras out. “Can I take a picture? Can I take a picture? Can I take a picture?” No, because in this case everybody will be distracted and it will take away from the experience.

A professional wedding photographer is somebody who has enough knowledge and experience to look at any situation they have to capture, along with everything that is not ideal, and make it right in order to deliver beautiful images to their client. Every time.

 

While many of the best photos from the wedding you attend will be candid shots, there will always be a posed photo shoot, if you are a member of the wedding party. During this time the photographer will take the wedding party to a suitable location, a park, urban setting, a place of natural or historic charm, and begin to take group shots as well as portraits of the wedding party. A few things are important to keep in mind during this time, including camera eye contact, body language, wardrobe, and staying with the group.

 

Looking into the camera is normal for posed shots, but which camera? There can sometimes be other guests with cellphones, or their own cameras, also participating in the photo shoot as the photographer poses the wedding party. This can create the problem of several people in the photo each looking a different way, very distracting in a photo. To create the best results and look your best in your friends’ wedding album, look into the photographer’s camera during the official shoot. Your friend can take their own picture of you when the photographer has moved on to other subjects. This will save time and help all photos look their best.

 

Body language is very important, especially in wide group shots that show everyone head to toe. It is important to keep good posture in mind. The photographer will position each individual within the group based on height and other considerations, to make the image and everyone in it look as good as possible. Slouching or trying to get into the photo from the back row by standing on your toes, can ruin an otherwise memorable photo. The photographer will often give you tips as detailed as how to put your hands in your pockets to look your best, or let you know to fix your tie. Take their advice as everything will be seen from the camera’s point of view, and it may see something you yourself cannot.

 

One of the main elements of a wide group shot is the wardrobe its subjects are wearing. As they often appear in the photo head to toe, the colour and style of the clothing is a main factor in how the photo will turn out. A well chosen wardrobe for the wedding can even give the photographer ideas on locations and backgrounds to pose you against. Avoid thin line, or zebra patterns, as these often create problems with digital cameras. Solid colours are always a better option. Matching or complementing your date can also help make you the photographer’s favourite guests. However, something too attention grabbing is not good, as it can distract from your friend’s wedding, where they should be the main focus.

 

Finally, staying with the group is important, as less time spent waiting on everyone who should be in the photo means more time to perfect the shot. Keep up with the photographer as they lead the group to the location, and follow their instructions to make sure the event stays on time and the photos all turn out their best.