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What's your budget? How about flying out a photographer you like from Canada?

That would be far too expensive. Wedding photogs here are pricey enough without having to fly them out and pay for accommodations and expenses. That would probably be around $9000 or more. Ouch.

Don't get the wrong idea because I bought the D300. I'm not loaded - especially after buying the D300. Hehe.

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Apart from that I don't really know much about wedding photography. What questions should I ask the potential photographers as I'm interviewing them (over the web and likely over the phone)?

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*who* owns/keeps the master copies of the images

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Well, the obvious point to know about up front, is *who* owns/keeps the master copies of the images (negatives or RAW files)? That's important, as it determines whether future reprints will ever be possible in the event of fire/flood destroying your only printed copies..

Absolutely critical. This is one of the things I wasn't going to forget about but I'm glad you mentioned it anyway. I hadn't been thinking about it as a point of contention/arrangement as I kind of expected it was standard practice now. Might not be standard everywhere so I have to make a point of asking about it specifically.

Cris, I don't really know what style we're after. You see, I'm a non-committal type of guy in some respects (luckily this doesn't apply with women). I can't choose a favorite band, favorite style of music, favorite colour, etc... That's not to say I don't know what I like. I certainly do and perhaps like too many things/styles.

Lately I've seen some interesting contemporary and photo-journalistic examples. Of course I do quite like a lot of classic B&W stuff. The most impressive wedding photos I have ever seen in my life belonged to a friend from ATI. She and her husband went to Taiwan *BEFORE* they got married to take them. They looked like they were out of a movie or magazine. Excellent poses, lots of different clothes and settings, everything looked perfect. The printing and retouching were second to none, and the presentation of the finished product was spectacular in a bound book I've never seen in Canada before. It was also cheap if you don't count the airfare to Taiwan.

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I don't really know what style we're after

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perhaps you could buy/beg/borrow/steal a collection of inexpensive auto-shoot cameras for them.

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Well, okay, very close family will look at them, perhaps, twice.
And good friends will feign interest for a short while.

The photos that count are the one or two formals that get framed and hung on the wall.
Plus the group/family photos, which future genealogy researchers may appreciate.

That's it, really.

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Having so many images also creates a good colour patch library for making photo mosaics. Which honestly, I've never done before.

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skipped anyone I found that doesn't specialize in weddings

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skipped anyone I found that doesn't specialize in weddings

Why?

The photographer we used at our wedding was a lead photographer at one of the city newspapers, who does weddings on the side.

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It takes a special skill set and experience to do wedding photography at all, and more experience on top of that to do it well.

Absolutely.

I blush to admit that I have actually photographed several weddings. I was official track photographer at a local race track, and some of the racers who liked my work hired me to shoot their weddings.

Then, a few years ago I attended a wedding and reception (big affair -- over 100 guests) where there was a real wedding photographer. He made my past efforts look pitiful. That man worked. He had three cameras slung around his neck, he seemed to be everywhere at once yet always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, he was assertive about getting his shots (but not rude), the sweat rolled off of him as he shot, and shot, and shot, and shot... I think he told me that he would cull through over 1,000 exposures to get the 100 or so best ones. I think he had an assistant whose job it was to swap batteries and keep the strobes and the cameras functional at all times. I've seen people put less energy and work into riding in bicycle races!

It's always entertaining to discover your own shortcomings.

tanstaafl.

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Then, a few years ago I attended a wedding and reception (big affair -- over 100 guests) where there was a real wedding photographer. He made my past efforts look pitiful. That man worked. He had three cameras slung around his neck...