Wedding Photography

Philosophy

I do business a bit differently from most photographers in that I charge an hourly rate and there is no picture count. My last 5 hour wedding/reception had over 850 pictures making sure you had a great choice for what to use. I don't do picture counts because why should you have to choose between memorable shots when working in some kind of budget?  I also don't do packages because this is not McDonald's and you deserve more than a happy meal.  You deserve my personal attention before, during the ceremony, and for post processing.  I take and process every picture myself giving each my full attention.  You get two sets of DVDs containing all your pictures. Use one set for printing and sending pictures out and keep the second set in a safe place as a backup. Thus you don’t have to keep coming back to me for pictures all the time and paying more for your pictures.

Getting Started

A date for service is reserved when I receive a non-refundable deposit for one hour. Since I have committed to the date, the one hour deposit is reasonable because I will not accept another request for that date and will turn everyone else away who wants that date. For about every hour on site, it takes another hour to finish off the pictures. Taking a good picture is only half the job. The final post processing is what separates an average picture from a real keepsake. Each picture has the exposure balanced for color and exposure level, then unnecessary details are removed (cropping) and then the final touches are added such as removing any red-eye. Sometimes in photos you’ll see people’s pupils turn red, and I have a very effective method for removing that coloration and restoring the eye color to normal.

Printing

95% of my clients prefer to print the pictures themselves and choose what they would want to put in their own albums which is a fun, rewarding, and money saving 'project', but I can also print and process the pictures myself. What I may consider a 'great' photograph, you may not like since I look at the quality of the shot, and you may look more at you and how you wish to be remembered. You are the ultimate judge of which pictures you would like to have and use. My materials charges are much greater than the local printers available in most photo, retail, and drug stores so the charge for the albums and prints adds a lot to service costs. I can quote those services separately.

One of the things I pride myself on is getting not only the standard shots, but good shots of your family. Often only weddings and funerals are the times when the whole clan assembles and it’s a great time to record everyone as they are. This especially true for the young and the aged. I like getting natural shots of the family and friends during the reception to further your collections of keepsakes from this memorable event.  This includes young Winston Churchill as pictured to the left.

The Schedule

More often than not I am engaged an hour before the ceremony to capture both the bride and groom and their families in preparation, the ceremony, and at least a couple of hours of the reception.  Thus its good to get a lot of the standard traditions done in the first couple of hours of the reception before everyone leaves. My sophisticated still photo equipment can even get stop action multi shots of the flowers/garter getting tossed. Usually during the reception I can be found following the bride and groom about as they get the congrats. I also pride myself on getting family and friends pictures of people acting naturally not posing for the camera during the reception (unless they want to pose).

My job goes further than just taking pictures.  Having been a performing musician, I am also experienced with a tux and have no problem serving as valet to the groom.  Likewise having been in more than a few weddings I can also help guide the event if no wedding planner is involved.  Otherwise, I am more than happy to work with and take the planner's direction.

Some churches do not permit flash photography during the ceremony, and there are some that don’t permit any photography during the ceremony. You’ll want to check that out so we adjust the process accordingly. Right after or just prior to the ceremony we can create those scenes as remembrances. When I receive the deposit, I will email you, or print and mail to you a photo wedding checklist in which I have thought of about every kind of photo you’d want to take. This will help you think about the photos you’d like to have.  We follow the guide as you see fit and any and all adjustments are welcomed at any time because I work for you.

Travel is not a problem if expenses are covered and I can process the pictures before I leave on my laptop computer and provide the DVDs the next day if payment is available. You only pay me when you pick up the DVDs and the deposit is counted against the balance owed. If you like, I can also post all the pictures to an internet service and people can order prints directly from me if you don’t want to have to deal with 1000s of requests for pictures.

If you wish to see more pictures then please proceed to A sample wedding photo gallery.

Thank you for considering me to cover this important event.  Rest assured with my experience and top notch equipment I can provide keepsakes you will treasure for you happily-ever-after.  A good photographer is more than just someone with a camera.  A good photographer captures the moment and the personality of the people with each photo being a work of art.  Please contact me with the date and time of your wedding and I will promptly check that date and advise you of availability and rate.

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