DO YOU SHOOT FILM OR DIGITAL? Okay, nobody really asks that anymore. When I was just starting out, however, digital was new to the market and I had a long essay on my website about the glories of the digital revolution. Now, of course, nearly everyone shoots digital. I still hold film as the visual standard by which digital imagery is judged, and strive to give my work the natural, textural feel of film. Sometimes I even fool the film-nerds.
WHAT IS HALF-TONE? Half-tone (also known as sub-sat) is a process by which the color saturation of a photo is decreased -- in the case of the photos you see here, anywhere from 50-90%) in order to give the photo a look that is somewhere between black-and-white and color. These days you see it a lot in fashion photography, but the reason I love it is that it gives photos the nostalgic, emotional quality that black-and-white photos have, while still retaining the immediacy of color. Some color palates, such as gold, silver, and tan/khaki, look especially good in halftone. There are as many ways to achieve a halftone look as there are photographers that use it, and I have my own secret formula. But still I have to play with the controls and sliders until I get the tone I want.
DO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN COLOR, HALF-TONE, AND BLACK-AND-WHITE STYLES?
Absolutely not. Generally, depending on the lighting conditions of the day, the color palette of the wedding, and my own intuition, I will process a set of color image that will range somewhere between full-color and halftone. And then, additionally, I will make copies of all of these photos and make black-and-white versions of them, so that you generally have two versions of each photo. If you have a preference for what style you would prefer to see, feel free to let me know and I’ll be happy to accommodate you. And then remind me again after your wedding so I can process them accordingly.
HOW MANY PHOTOS DO YOU TAKE AT A WEDDING? At my most recent wedding, I shot 9600 photos, and my assistant shot 1150, making the total over 11,000 photos. Generally I average more in the vicinity of 7-8000 photos per wedding. I usually deliver approximately 800-1000 of these, depending on how long your coverage is. The editing process is not for the faint of heart, and generally couples are glad not to have to wade through ten thousand photos. Every now and again I've had clients ask for every photo that I took at the wedding, which I am happy to do for a nominal fee to cover the 50 gig hard drive I'll need to buy to send them all to you. But for the most part the photos you don't receive are merely repeats or test shots or shots that just weren't good enough to make the cut. If, however, you are missing photos of an important guest, or would like to see if there are alternative versions of a particular shot, or have some other specific request for photos that I may have edited out, I will be happy to go back through the files and see what I can find and email them to you, no charge.
WHAT KIND OF ALBUMS DO YOU OFFER? I rarely ever do albums anymore. The process of waiting for photo selections for an album, working with a designer, getting the album design approved, sending the design off to the bookmaker, waiting for it to to come back, etc, can drag on for months, sometimes years, and I've decided to simplify my business by only offering the high-resolution digital files. These days there are so many print-on-demand services available online that do beautiful work, you can just as easily design and build your own album, at a fraction of the cost that I would charge you. That said, I can make a beautiful album for you if you like. Choose the "Elite Package" and you're off and running.
SO WHAT DO I GET? You get a full set of high-resolution digital files, with a letter authorizing unlimited personal use. These I can either mail to you, via DVD, or Dropbox to you. I then encourage you to make multiple copies of the files, store them on different drives and computers, and print out as many as you like. After many years of trying different kinds of package offerings, I've come to the conclusion that simply delivering the high-resolution files to my clients with permission for unlimited personal use creates a win-win scenario for everyone. For me it means that I don't have to spend my time trying to up-sell you on prints and albums and other products that require more administration and hassle on my end, and just cost more money on your end.
IF I SEND YOU MY PINTEREST PAGE, CAN YOU SHOOT PHOTOS LIKE THE ONES I HAVE PINNED?
I will make every effort to accommodate your specific photographic requests, and I am always happy to get creative. Pinterest can be a great resource for cool photo ideas. Keep in mind, however, that the more Pinterest photos you give me to try to re-create, the more time I will be spending trying to make those shots happen, and the less time I will be spending as a fully-present witness to the unique story that is your wedding. So my recommendation would be, if you have special shots you want, limit them to about 5 "setup" shots (like making heart shapes with sparklers, etc), and make sure they are your absolute favorites.
DO YOU TAKE FAMILY PHOTOS AT THE WEDDING? Of course! Family photos are probably the most important records you will have from your wedding, and we take them seriously. I try to limit setups to immediate family -- parents, grandparents, siblings, their spouses and their children--but if you have groups of extended family or cousins you would like particular photos of, I'm happy to accommodate. Same goes for college and high-school friends, etc. We will go over all of this before the wedding so we have a solid list to work with. But again, the more time we spend working down a long list of group shots, the less time we will have for fun shots of the bridal party, beautiful shots of the two of you as a newly married couple, etc. And the guests at your reception will grumble if we take more than an hour doing photos.
HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT TO GET MY PICTURES BACK? On a good month, I will have your finished photos delivered within 30 days. Sometimes my schedule gets crammed up and it takes me more like 60. If you have special time constraints, or you don't want to wait longer than 30 days, you are more than free to start bugging me on day 31.
DO YOU DO ENGAGEMENT OR BRIDAL SHOOTS? If I am available and in town at a convenient time for you, I will be happy to do a bridal or engagement shoot for you, at the same per-hour rates as above.
WHAT'S YOUR SIGN? Okay, nobody really asks that either, but just for the record, I'm an Aries.
