If your wedding isn't an all-inclusive package, it's up to you to find the right man or woman for the job. When a bride is planning a wedding in her hometown, she has the luxury of depending on word-of-mouth referrals about which photographer is unbelievably talented, which one is overpriced, and which one is a little wet behind the ears but has amazing potential. But even with word-of-mouth recommendations (and warnings), brides still make mistakes when choosing photographers, mostly because they haven't done enough research on the topic.

Just because you're trying to find a photographer in a faraway location, you're not really at a disadvantage. In fact, if you know what kinds of questions to ask of a potential photographer, you're better off than someone who thinks she knows what she's talking about, but doesn't. Do you follow? Read on.

Independent Photographers

An independent photographer has her own studio. This person answers only to herself and her clients, not to a manager and/or some larger national company. The upside of hiring an independent is that as a group they're usually pretty creative and willing to work with you on unique poses and shots, whereas someone working with a big studio may not have that kind of leeway, even if she agrees with your ideas.

A good independent photographer is usually fairly expensive. She sets her own prices, and if she's as good as people say she is, she isn't hurting for business (which means she probably isn't open to a lot of negotiation on price). The downside can be that independents are sometimes very independent, and will make no bones about telling you that they're only available from noon to six on your wedding day because they have other things to do in the evening, which means you're just going to have to work your wedding-day schedule around their plans. That's a tough pill to swallow when you're paying top dollar for this person's services — and the day is supposed to be all about you!

Studio Photography

Another option is to work with a studio. The benefit of going this route is that you can usually find a package to meet your budget. The downside is that you'll choose from a list of poses and shots, which may or may not include the kinds of pictures you're looking for. Also, some studios won't commit to sending a specific photographer to your wedding, so there's no way to know who you'll be working with on the big day, or what kind of pictures you'll end up with. You can do all of your research, go into the studio, look at countless wedding photos, ask all the right questions, but if the studio can't tell you who is going to show up to take your pictures (which means you won't see samples of your photographer's work) then you have little to go on, really You need to see samples of your photographer's work before you sign a contract. Otherwise, it's about as good as hiring a stranger off the street to take your pictures.