Wedding, Proposal, and Engagement Photography

As I mentioned before, I started taking photos for my friends at their weddings. The mind frame that I started with was that I was a guest at their wedding who just so happened to be getting their photography degree and had a really nice camera. That is the same mind frame I carry with me today. I view myself as one of the most important guests at your wedding. I engage with the wedding party and the guests and family just as if I was invited there just like them. In fact there have been many instances where members of the wedding or guests at the wedding thought I was a friend of the bride and groom who just had a nice set up. And that’s how it should be. Your photographer should feel like a guest… who just so happens to be capturing every moment.

I have an added option where I can share a photo with your guests within seconds of taking it. They just have to scan a QR code or provide their phone number and they can have it instantly. There is even the option where guests can upload a photo of themselves or click on their face in a photo in the gallery and it will find every photo taken of them through out the event and put them all in one gallery.

I used to have an online calendar to see my availability, but it just got too confusing with all my other types of photography, so the best way is to just reach out and let me know your date.

As I mentioned in my pricing structure I am with you for the entire wedding. From the time you’re getting ready till the time you leave (within reason that is). I will work closely with you to find out what coverage is needed and let you know when I recommend me showing up and leave to make sure nothing important is missed. On average I am usually spending about 11-13 hours photographing a weddings.

I do have several packages that I offer that includes most of everything that people are wanting for their wedding. Typically most couple just want myself or also a second photographer, an engagement session, and an album. But you let me know what you want in your package and I can make that happen.

I never like to tell couples that they are going to receive “x” amount of photos. It really depends on how long your wedding is, how much is going on, how many photographers are there, how many guests are there, and how much action is happening. I go through every photo taken and I ask myself “would this couple want to share this with a friend or family member? If the answer is “yes” then I will edit and deliver the photo. If it’s “no” then I skip it but I’ll always keep those photos just in case. When a photographer promises a specific number of photos to a copule they are going to either throw in extra photos to reach it or cut photos to make sure they don’t go over. I want every important memory to come with you. You can expect that you’ll end up with around 400-700 photos as a rule of thumb for the average wedding.

I know receiving these precious memories is so important so I do my best to get them out the door to you as soon as I can. I will typically have some select teaser highlights sent back to you within a few days to share. And the rest are back within 4-6 weeks. There are a lot of photographers using AI to edit all their photos and they might have them back to you within a day or two. But I painstakingly hand edit each and every photo to make sure it’s how I want them to look.

I would say that I’m a timeless documentary styled photographer. I HATE trendy filters and current styles that go in and out of fashion quickly. I want you to enjoy looking at your wedding photos the first time you see them and still have them look amazing on your fiftieth anniversary. That is why I try and keep the photos looking as true to reality as possible. I want the photos to be an actual snapshot of time from your most important day. If anything is going to look dated in my photos it’s going to be the clothes people are wearing.

Considering I have photographed weddings for going on 27 years now there is a very high likelihood that I have photographed at your wedding. And if I haven’t, then I’ll make sure and figure out the limitations and best spots of the venue before hand. I usually show up early to walk the grounds and figure out spots if I haven’t been at a spot. I’ll also research online to see what the venue looks like. And if need be, I’ll make a special trip out to see it ahead of time. But there isn’t too much a venue can throw at me that I haven’t come across before.

In all my years of photographing weddings I have only been sick ONE TIME. My wife hates me because I never get sick. And that time I was sick I was in the hospital for two weeks with some strange virus. I have a vast network of photographers that I know to help fill in should I ever have the need of someone to stand in for me. I always recommend a second photographer for that reason as well. Not just if I get sick, but what if there’s a massive accident on the freeway and my car gets blocked in, or there’s a massive rain storm that washes out the road. Having a second photographer means that there will ALWAYS be a photographer who is scheduled to come cover your event. And if for some reason I got trapped in an elevator or something and wasn’t able to make it they would be fully capable of covering the event themselves. I only hire people I trust completely to fill in for me just in case.

I always recommend you see a full complete wedding of whatever photographer you hire. And make sure that that wedding has a similar venue (if not the exact venue) that you’re getting married at. That way you can be sure that the photographer you hire is really skilled at capturing the entire day. You could give a camera to toddler and have them snap 2000 photos during the day and there would be at least a handful of photos that would look great. But, it takes a real skilled and experienced photographer to capture that same level with every single photo that is delivered to you.

I am happy to help with day of timeline. And in fact, it is in my contract that you need to share the first draft of your timeline with me to make sure we have enough time to do all the photos that you are wanting. Sometimes I will recommend moving things around

ALWAYS make sure your photographer has insurance. Not just for his security but your security. Yes the obvious reason why is if you are injured by the photographers negligence or they cause damage for some unknown reason. But, honestly, the most important reason is to cover replacement costs for all their equipment. Imagine their house is broken into two days before your wedding. How are they going to afford to replace all that gear in time. With insurance they can go rent all the equipment they need or replace it all if need be.

There are a LOT of photographers who dump all the photos they take into some AI software to select the best photos and completely edit all of your images. I do not believe in doing any of that. At least not yet. AI is a very useful tool and I do use AI to quickly edit out things in the background or fix fly away hairs and such on select photos. But I do not want AI selecting or editing your images. I want to make sure that every image is selected for a reason. Maybe someone made a really silly face in the background and its hilarious. AI might think that was one to delete and I think otherwise. Also I don’t believe every single image should be edited the exact same way. They look cookie cutter and boring that way. Maybe in the future I will utilize AI more for that but currently I don’t think it’s what is needed for wedding photos. There is ONE exception to this and that is if you want real time photo sharing. That is where I can have guests receive photo sent directly to their phone within seconds of me taking them. Those have the option of being edited with AI if requested. But I will often go back and re-edit them if they need it.

EVERY family has some sort of family dynamic that might need to be handled carefully. It might just be a mom who only wants to be photographed from a certain angle or two uncles who despise each other. There is always a way to ensure that we get the photos that we want even if that means we have to photograph two different halves of a family and then photoshop the two into one photo. I totally understand the need to keep the peace and still get the photos desired.

I don’t believe in completely “posing” a couple. I will guide you if need be but posing always feels so rigid. Typically what I might say is “Walk up to that wall over there and “person A” lean against the wall with your back and then ‘person B” walk up to them put your hand on their chest and lean into their shoulder.” From there I might just say like “bring your hand down a little or move your head up a smidge out of the shadow”, but I don’t believe in completely positioning people in poses they wouldn’t be their norm. I want you to look at your photos and think “that feels like us”.

No…. And here’s why. Most photographers refuse to deliver raw files because taking the actual photo is half of the battle with creating great images. From there there are a lot of steps that go into making sure that it looks it’s best. If we deliver the RAW files that doesn’t represent our work and the reason you hired us. I feel that way as well.

I just recently purchased a drone for use with an ongoing client of mine. I can offer drone photography and video clips but it is not included automatically. There are stipulations like is there time in the schedule for that? If not you’ll have to pick a second photographer package to be certain that someone is capturing memories during the time that I am operating the drone. Is there even the ability to fly the drone at your venue? There might be venue or FAA restrictions. Please ask me if this is something that you are wanting.