Questions To Ask Your Couple To Create A Photoshoot Of Their Dreams!

So, now that you have got a potential client inquiry– hooray! But now what? Well, it is time to discuss the expectations of your client for the professional photography session that they would like to be there in their photoshoot. In order to create a photo shoot of your client’s dream, finding the right questions to ask your photography couple can seem challenging at first, but once you have your questions in mind, it gets easier!

Once you know what questions to ask a photography couple, you’ll have tons of photos to take that beautifully fits their dream and vision. If you are looking out what questions you need to ask your photography couple, then this is the blog that you can refer to. This detailed blog will help with all the questions that you can put down in the questionnaire to ask your client in order to understand them better and know what exactly they are looking for in their professional portfolio. So, don’t hesitate to ask these questions and have a great photoshoot session for your client!

Start With Breaking The Ice and Creating a Bond With Your Couple

Once the couple has sent you the email to be their photographer and to create a portfolio of their dreams, it is your turn to send them an answer to their email, and then plan a meet-up and discuss the project with them. Whether you are doing your consultation over the phone or in person, making your potential client comfortable with you is one of the most important parts of your conversation in order to create a photo shoot of your client’s dream. There are couples who do not particularly like to be photographed and might be nervous or camera shy in front of the camera. If you are meeting at a place like a coffee shop or a restaurant, ask your couple what they would like to drink and get it for them, this will help you a bit to know the taste of your couple. While you wait for the order, you can make small talk and introduce yourself to them, in order to get to know them better. We have found that doing this always puts people at ease! Otherwise, a phone conversation is easy to introduce yourself.

Know Their Story To Connect With Them on Purpose

This pertains to nearly any kind of professional shoot you might be doing for your couple. Whether you have decided on an engagement portrait session or a wedding photoshoot or a maternity shoot for your couple, knowing them and their story is a crucial thing that you must do in order to know their wishes, desires, and expectations, from their professional photographer. Learning about your client is a great and also an easy way to get to the bottom of what they are really looking for from you. You are free to ask how they met for the first time when they fell in love with each other, and other fun questions about their relationship, so that you know them better and then plan the photoshoot session.

If your couple wants to have an engagement session with you, you need to ask them how they got engaged. How did they get together in the first place or what was their first date like? We can assure you that some of these stories will surely surprise you, and you will learn a lot more about your couple this way than by asking them to tell you exactly what they want in their professional photo shoot session. They might not know at that point in time, or they might not be able to successfully tell you what they exactly want or desire, but remember, you are the expert! You know it better. So, it’s your job to bring their dreams to come true through your professional photography sessions.

The reason we are talking about you knowing your couple’s story is that having an open discussion where you get to learn a bit more about your couple and vice-versa will help build a solid foundation for you and your couple’s photography session. This straightforward talk is nothing but the key to capturing professional photos with confidence on their photo shoot day.

If you have to do a wedding photography session for your couple, make sure you are getting to know their every desire related to their wedding day. Your main aim should be here to learn which parts of their wedding day are most exciting to them. If your couple is a detail lover, they are going to talk about all the wedding details. If they are mostly looking forward to it being a big party, they will tell you about that. All you have to do is to make a note of all the things they wanna talk about so that you can bring them up again later when it is relevant to the service that you offer on their wedding day.

In short, knowing your client’s story and their wishes related to their photo shoot will help you create the portfolio of their dreams in an easy way!

Ask About Their Budget for The Photography Session

After you have asked about your client’s story and have established a connection with them, it is time that you should ask your client about their budget for your photography services. Even though it might be a bit awkward to ask, you actually need to know how much your couple is willing or has planned to spend on their photo shoot session. The first thing that you will get to know about their photography budget is whether you can take the project or negotiate first. And if they are coming to you for their wedding photography, then the budget of your wedding photography client will help you determine which wedding package will suit them best. Keeping the budget clear in the first meeting will not only ease out the whole photography session but will also help you to find a suitable package for your client that will not only suit their budget but will also like it.

Number of Photos That They Will Need For Their Portfolio

After deciding on the budget, the next important question that you need to ask the couple you are going to photograph is the number of hard copies and soft copies of photos. The number of photos needed by your couple will have a big impact on how much your couple spends. Once you are aware of your couple’s budget, you can offer them different packages that meet both their monetary limit and also their photo needs. Well, it is always a smart move to give your couple multiple options and then let them decide between themselves over the number of photos they will need for their portfolio.

Is There Anything Specific That They Want to Get Captured?

There are times when people exactly know what they want to be photographed by their photographers during their photography session. For example, there are brides who know how important it is for them to get as many bridal portraits and photos with their families and bridal parties. Whereas, for other brides, all they want is the countless photos of people having fun at their celebration. The same thing goes if you are going in for an engagement photography session. Well, every client is different, and so are their requirements. You won’t know until you ask!

If It Is a Wedding Photography, Then How Many Wedding Guests are Invited?

For the couple whose wedding you are going to shoot, you must have a rough count on the number of wedding guests at the wedding you are planning to shoot. Having a head count will surely help you decide how to divvy up your time when photographing your client’s wedding day.

If your couple is planning to have a grand and luxurious wedding at an elaborate wedding venue, you might even consider shooting with a co-photographer. By taking a co-photographer with you, you will not miss out on any picture-perfect moment of your couple’s big day. This way your couple will have every kind of wedding photography that they might have dreamed of!

How Is Your Couple Planning To Use These Images?

Knowing how your client is planning to use the photographs clicked by you will surely help you plan your specific shots. It does not matter what you are photographing. Whether you are planning to shoot a wedding session, newborn portraits, or formal family portraits. Knowing how they are going to use it will give you a lot of help. For example, if a family is planning on hanging four vertical portraits on the wall of their living room your photography session, you will know that the photographs captured need to be cohesive. When it comes to wedding photography sessions, there are some brides who might already have their “save the date” cards in mind, and all you need to do is to photograph something that fits in that frame. Or if your client has decided to send out Christmas cards or their engagement announcement cards, you need to snapshot photos as per the frame of those selected cards.

Have They Planned Their Poses For The Photoshoot Session?

When it comes to professional photography sessions, there are some clients who put a lot of thought and research into their poses, whereas there are other couples who will want to leave that up to their photographer to decide upon the poses. It is important to be always prepared for either of the responses.

If your couple has already chosen their poses for their upcoming professional photography session, it’s better that you even listen to their craziest ideas! As there are times when the craziest poses make the best of poses for photographs. Just be patient and work with them to finalize a list of poses for the photography session. But if they haven’t already decided upon their poses for the photography session, then you must suggest pose ideas. If that is the case for a wedding day photography session, you should give posing ideas to both the bride and groom. We always recommend all professional photographers make a photoshoot checklist (wedding, engagement, event, or any other) that covers all the must-haves and also out-of-the-ordinary poses.

Have They Decided Upon The Location For The Photoshoot?

Well, every professional and experienced photographer knows that there is a huge difference between shooting indoor and outdoor portraits, and for both shoots, the photographers need to prepare for it. Just a piece of professional advice here, never go in blind. Always know the lighting and the tools that you will need for your shots to turn out the way you want as per your client’s needs and desires.

Is There Any Editing Style That Your Client Will Prefer For Editing Their Photos?

Once you are through with all the questions related to the photography session, locations, poses, and budget, the last thing that you need to ask your couple about any particular editing style that they would like for their photographs. Are they more inclined towards black and white photos, or do they want full, vibrant color in their professional portraits? How much portrait retouching are they comfortable with? What kind of mood do they want to set in their photographs? This is also a great time for you to show albums of images you have taken so they can pick and choose from there.

So, that was all! We hope that this guide has helped you find the questions that you need to ask your couple to create the photo shoot of their dreams. No matter whether you are going in for a wedding photography session or an engagement session or any other professional photography session.

Whether you are a wedding photographer, or a pet photographer, knowing the right questions to ask your photography clients will not only help you in knowing your couple but will also lead to a great foundation for your new photography-based friendship. You’ll be better able to meet their expectations and they’ll feel like you really care about them as people! It’s a simple step to improve the client experience and build customer loyalty.