I have met with several brides lately who have been bridesmaids in other weddings. I have heard horror stories about brides who selected a photographer based only on numbers rather than the quality of the photography and of the photographer.

You should first decide what kind of priority you will place on your wedding photography. If you don't mind that your wedding photographs will look like point-and-shoot snapshots, then a small investment shouldn't be a problem. Even a friend or relative may be able to provide photographs that are good enough.

On the other hand, if you want beautiful wedding memories, have an experienced, talented professional create your wedding photography and produce a creatively composed wedding album. A beautiful storybook of your wedding day is an investment that will last for generations and you should expect to invest a minimum of $1500 to $2000 for professionally produced photographs composed in a quality wedding album. Any photographer who offers photography packages for less, is taking every possible shortcut to reduce costs. Excellent wedding photography requires years of investment by a talented photographer. Cheap photographers can't begin to make the necessary investment. It's just that simple.

As you make plans for the wedding of your dreams, the selection of a wedding photographer will be one of your most important decisions. This may be the only day of your life when all of your most important relatives and friends are together for you. Your wedding day will be remembered though the eyes, the heart, the talent and the hard work of your photographer.

It is important to ask the right questions before making your decision. After the day has passed, all you will have to remember this most important day will be your wedding photography. If your photographs are less than you had hoped, there will be no way to repeat them. The photographer has just one chance to create your memories and such an important responsibility should be entrusted only to an experienced professional. Among wedding photographers in this area, there is a wide range of training, talent, style, professionalism and willingness to put forth the extra effort to create the most beautiful images.

It is very important to visit photographers and see their work.

A less effective method to select a photographer is to call many photographers to ask for price lists.

Price lists give you only numbers and very limited information about the real value of photography and service.

The following questions are provided to help you interview and select the photographer that will best suit your needs. A comment follows each question.

1. Do you offer the lowest prices? Comment: Please keep in mind that every photographer wants to earn as much as his/her work is worth. So what kind of photographer offers the lowest prices? Will you be happy with that kind of photography?

2. Are you a full-time MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY in business for eighteen years or more and is 100% of your income derived from your photography business? Comment: Yes, I am. A Master of Photography has demonstrated a high level of competence to some of the most critical individuals in the field of photography. Only three percent of the 22,000 members of the Professional Photographers of America have earned this distinction. And a full-time photographer who owns his/her business is far more likely to have a passion for photography and take great pride in his/her work. Through experience and continued education such photographers constantly strive for new and better ways of creating images and wedding albums. On the other hand, there are a lot of newcomers who have recently picked up a digital camera, a lens and a flash and think that they can make quick money photographing weddings.

3. During the initial consultation, will I be shown complete, real wedding albums that are produced by the photographer who will photograph my wedding? Comment: Of course you should. And each album should represent a complete wedding day, not just a few lucky shots from several different weddings. Some individuals steal images from the internet and represent them as their own.

4. Do you attach a flash to your camera in any way whatsoever? Comment: Light that comes from the camera makes everyone look wider and flatter, washes out detail in the bride's dress, makes foregrounds brighter and makes backgrounds darker. Flash-on-camera lighting makes photographs look like they were made with a point-and-shoot snapshot camera. Multiple, off-camera sources of light are more flattering, produce much more detail and make all photos look more three-dimensional.

5. Will the owner of the studio photograph my wedding or will I get a staff photographer? Comment: Of course, the studio owner will be better than a staff photographer.

6. Do you use an assistant for your wedding assignments? Comment: Quality photography and professional lighting require an assistant.

7. Will you be flexible and meet with me to plan my wedding day as I want it to be? Comment: Rick has only two rules: 1. Give him enough time to do what you want done AND 2. It has to look GOOD. Otherwise, everything is as you want it to be.

8. A few days before my wedding day, will you have a planning session with me and my fiance so that the day will go as I want it to? Comment: Planning is critical to a smooth-running, stress-free wedding day. A photographer should know how to make your day flow just as you want, with a minimum of stress.

9. Will you then produce many copies of the itinerary produced during our planning session so that I may distribute them at my rehearsal dinner? Comment: Rick does.

10. What percent of your photographs are posed? Comment: The only posed photos made on your wedding day should be those you request during a planning session. Everything else should be caught in the act.

11. Will you do almost all the formal photography before the ceremony and help me plan the photography so that I will not be late for my reception? Comment: Even if the bride and groom do not want to be together before the ceremony, most of the posed photographs can be completed before the ceremony when they fit better in the flow of the day.

12. Do you do posed photographs at the reception? Comment: The reception is the worst place for posed photographs. The reception is party time when a photographer should capture all the fun as it really happens.

13. Do you do photojournalism and black and white photography? Comment: Most wedding day photos should be unposed and black and white photographs should be made at no additional charge.

14. Will you provide unlimited time on my wedding day? Comment: Many photographers set up their packages based on the amount of time they will spend with you on your wedding day. Others offer unlimited time for nearly all their wedding packages as Rick does.

15. Will you provide an unlimited number of images from which I may make my selections? Comment: Why not? The entire day should be well covered from start to finish.

16. Do you usually produce more than seven hundred images during a full wedding coverage? Comment: Rick does.

17. Do you include a CD of all photos with your least expensive package? Comment: No, I do not. Photographers make a living by selling the images they create. Why must some photographers give away everything for a relatively low price while others are able to earn more for their work? How good do you want your photographer and your photography to be? Also, photos produced at a retail store can't begin to approach the quality of professionally enhanced photographs produced by a professional service bureau.

18. Do you use the latest, state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line, highest quality professional digital cameras and computers, or do you use only entry-level digital cameras and computers for wedding photography? Comment: Let Rick personally tell you about his gear. Photographers who have to work in the lowest price ranges typically use a minimum of entry-level equipment (and place the flash on the camera).

19. Can you bring to the church an entire portrait studio with a hand-painted canvas background and multiple studio lights to do spectacular portraits of all the important people? Comment: Classic portraiture will always be in style. Good photographers should be able to do classic portraiture as well as posed photography in sanctuary scenes and outdoor scenes. And you should be able to choose.

20. At my reception, will you use several, tiny, radio-controlled flash units hidden around the room to make my reception photographs really spectacular? Comment: Quality lighting is done with very unobtrusive radio-controlled flash units.

21. When you show me my wedding pictures for the first time, can I see them as wall-portrait-size images on a professional digital video system with music? Comment: What a joy to see your wedding photographs on a 46" Sony Bravia 1080 HD!

22. Will any proof-quality photographs be placed in my wedding album? Comment: Rick's wedding projects typically involve twenty or more hours of facial retouching and other enhancements.

23. How many hours will you and your assistants work on my wedding? (Before, during and after my wedding day) Comment: Quality wedding photography with quality wedding albums typically requires 50 or more total hours.

24. Does my package include an engagement photo session with indoor and outdoor settings photographed in Michigan or on the beach in Florida? Comment: Most of Rick's do.

25. Do all of your packages include quality FLUSH-MOUNT, PANORAMA-STYLE custom made albums such as Leather Craftsmen, Zookbinders, Pictobooks or Millers? Comment: All of Rick's do.

26. Do your wedding packages include retouching of faces, scene enhancing art work, page collages and body shaping to make people look their best? Comment: Rick's do.

27. Will you help me plan my album (and the parents' albums) to tell the most beautiful story of my wedding day with a selection of creative album composition techniques? Comment: Rick does.

28. How much will I pay you before the wedding for the coverage that I want and how much more will I be likely to pay after seeing the images to make the best album possible? Comment: This is a reasonable question that should be answered directly.

29. Are the retainer and my other payments refundable? Comment: Rick's are. Get all the details at the studio.

30. Has your photography won state and national awards? Comment: Rick has earned many national merit awards from the Professional Photographers Of America and Rick has been a member for many years. He is now a Master of Photography.

31. When you make the portraits of my fiance and I , will you do a facial analysis to determine the best way to light and pose us? How will you do a facial analysis. Comment: Let Rick tell you all about facial analysis at the studio.

32. What is your educational background? Have you achieved any advanced college degrees? How have you been trained in photography? Comment: Rick has earned two advanced college degrees and has earned the distinction of Master of Photography from the Professional Photographers Of America, an honor held by less than three percent of PPA members. Rick has studied with many industry-leading photographers and has been in business for 18 years.

33. Are you an active member of professional photography associations including the Professional Photographers of America, Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, The Professional Photographers of Michigan, The Detroit Professional Photographer's Association and the Mid-Michigan Professional Photographer's Association? Yes! These associations and their affiliated schools set the standards of excellence and education for professional photographers.

34. Has every photograph on your web site been created solely by yourself? Most definitely, YES! And many are available as wall-portrait-size photographs in my studio. Some photographers buy their web site images from stock photography companies or from the company who produced their web site. Look for many photographs from the same wedding rather than one "lucky" capture or one image that a photographer purchchased to show as his/her own.

35. What kind of car do you have? Comment: You want to be sure that your photographer has dependable transportation. Photographers who must work in the lower price ranges may not only have poor photographic equipment and limited training but may also have unreliable transportation. Keep in mind that all wedding photographers would like to make a good living photographing weddings. So why do some photographers offer low prices? Because they have no choice.