How to book a couple photographer in Bengaluru

On ₹3,000 to ₹5,000, which is what most people who wrote a budget to us had in mind, it's your own phone, a friend with a camera, or a short session. One studio's own guide puts its budget tier for two to three hours at ₹5,000 to ₹12,000. A student or a hobbyist with a good camera usually sits at the bottom of that range and quotes on Instagram; we found none who prints a price. Ask to see one full album before you pay, since a feed shows only the best frames.

Doing it yourselves. Visitors may take their own photos in Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. The reports say nothing about tripods there, so a friend holding the phone is the safer bet. Go in the hour before sunset.

After the wedding. A post-wedding shoot is a couple shoot by another name. One studio's post-wedding page asks ₹8,000 for 3 to 4 hours and 100 or more edited photos.

Price doesn't follow hours or photos here. The ₹20,000 shoot is the shortest of the three, and one of the cheaper two gives more edited photos. A fourth studio's pre-wedding page asks ₹15,000 for 3 to 4 hours and 150 or more edited photos. All three in the pair offer help with poses and what to wear, and none splits its price.

What the one that costs more says about itself. It points to 22 years of shooting and more than 350 couple shoots. Its page doesn't say that is what the extra pays for.

Pick by the albums. Ask each for two full couple shoots, start to finish, and pay for the one whose couples look the way you'd like to look. If one of you hates posing, ask how they direct a shy couple (question 3).

Photographers on mytribe. XD Photography shoots couples in his own studio, and Magic Moments Photography does couple shoots across Bengaluru. Both price each shoot when you ask, so ask them for the price and for two full albums.

A feed shows only the best five or ten frames. A full album shows how they handle the light, the in-between moments and people who aren't models. And make sure the person whose work you liked is the one who will shoot your day.

Where to look. Instagram, a studio near you, or your wedding photographer, who may offer a post-wedding package. Wherever you find them, ask the same things:

• How many edited photos, and do the raw ones come too
• Who holds the camera on the day
• Do they tell you how to pose
• What's not in the price
• What happens if it rains
• Will they post your photos

If one of you hates posing, say so on the first call. One couple-shoot studio puts help with poses and outfits in its package. Ask for a few frames of the two of you walking or talking, which feel less like posing.

Time it by the sun. From October to January the sun sets between about 5:50 and 6:15 pm, so an evening shoot starts near 5. The soft light lasts about 45 minutes either side of sunrise and sunset, by one studio's guide.

Drones. Lalbagh bans them outright. Elsewhere, a drone over 250 grams flown for money needs a remote pilot certificate under the Drone Rules, so ask the photographer whether they hold one.

What it usually costs. Photographers here usually price a proposal like any short shoot, by the hours and the edited photos. We found none in Bengaluru who prints a proposal price. One studio's guide puts its budget tier for two to three hours at ₹5,000 to ₹12,000, and another studio asks ₹10,000 for two hours. The dinner or flower setup is on top: our guide to romantic setups has those prices.

How they stay out of sight. A photographer can sit at the next table as a diner, wait behind a pillar or a plant, or shoot from across the room with a long lens. Ask which one suits your spot, and walk them through it the day before.

Ask the place first. A café, hotel or rooftop may not allow a professional camera without its own say-so, so call them before you book the photographer.

After the yes, ask for half an hour of photos of the two of you. If you want to post that night, agree on a few quick edits before the full set. One studio here sends reels within 48 hours, and another sends 10 to 15 photos within 48 hours.

Before you pay the advance, ask what happens to the booking if the plan changes on the day.

Ask for two totals: one with makeup and dresses added one by one, and the next package up that has them in. Either can come out cheaper.

Raw photos are the ones nobody has edited. Some photographers hand over every one free, others only in their bigger packages, so ask before you pay.

A printed album comes weeks after the soft copies and costs extra: ₹12,000 for 30 pages at one studio. Download everything the day the link comes, and keep two copies.

In English: there's nothing like that, madam, we have that kind of flexibility, zero penalty.

If it rains on the day, ask before you pay whether there's a covered spot or a studio to move to. One studio here keeps its own studio as a monsoon backup. A light drizzle usually doesn't stop a shoot; heavy rain usually moves it, so agree that the date moves free if the rain stops you.

If the photos never come, that's a deficiency in service, and you can complain to your district consumer commission. In 2023 a Bengaluru commission ordered a wedding photographer to pay a couple ₹20,000 with 10% interest for a wedding video that was never delivered.

Expect them to want to post. Photographers here usually find new clients through Instagram, so most post their best frames from client shoots unless you ask them not to. Saying no is usually fine if you say it before you pay. Neither XD Photography nor Magic Moments Photography has told us their rule, so whoever you choose, ask in writing before you book.

By law, when you pay someone to take a photograph of you, the copyright is yours unless an agreement says otherwise (Copyright Act, 1957, section 17). A photographer's terms can be that agreement, so read them before you sign. What you sign is what protects you.