This is Part One of an ongoing series. Professional Wedding Advice

Picking the right photographer today can be a daunting task for most brides. There are more wedding photographers today than ever before. Choosing the right one can be difficult at best. Your wedding photos will be with you the rest of your life, so make the right choice, don't be drawn the least expensive photographer.

Here are some questions to ask the photographer....

1. How many weddings have they done? Where? Make sure they have years of experience and have shot many weddings in or at the location or venue you have chosen. There are some very good studio portrait photographers, but may be out of their element on the beaches of Cape Cod.

2. Quality; First, look at the bride's dress; are the highlights blown out, or can you see the fine detail, the lace, beads, etc. Are the facial tones correct, or do they look off color, or uneven? These may be indicators of an "inexperienced" digital photographer. If outside, was the bride photographed in open shade? If indoors, is the lighting soft or harsh, are the backgrounds dark with no detail?

3. Formals; How are people posed? Do they look staged, or all the same? Is there creativity?

4. Are they flexible with their "packages"; are they pre-made, or customized, do they provide a variety of options so you can get exactly what you want.

5. Are they members in Professional organizations such as PPA? Do they shoot full-time, or are they just a "week-end" photographer? Can they provide you with referral lists?

6. Do they shoot digital or film? There are advantages to both, but generally digital is better than film if it is shot correctly. We love making brides cry after they've come down the aisle; we can show them their pictures on the day of the wedding, we could never do that with film. It doesn't get any better than that!!

7. Photo-journalism: overused word in weddings. The problem here is that most photographers say they "do it" but some do not do it well. It means a lot of things; story-telling, being unobtrusive, capturing events as they happen, etc. See the photographers' work, look at several "proof books" that show all the wedding photos, not just albums that show the 10 best from several weddings. For example, are the photographs "posed", or do look natural and candid?

8. Do they design their own albums, or does some other company do it? Or do they just give you a CD with all the images on it?

9. Make sure they have a good wedding contract that is fair and specific.

10. Is the photographer more concerned about you and your day, your plans, or about their photography?