We get a fair number of emails asking some really good questions that we don’t seem to have a place to answer on our website, so we thought we’d take the most popular and answer them on the blog!

1. How do you decide when to keep a photo full-color versus black and white?

This is a tough one for us, because Corey prefers color and I prefer black and white. I think it’d be awesome to design an entire wedding album in just black and white — maybe that means I’m deranged, or maybe I’m just an artiste. You decide. Luckily for our clients, we are determined to solve the color/b&w stand-off by providing all of our brides and grooms with versions of their high resolution images in both color and black and white.

There are particular times when black and white photos can really shine, such as when a photo seems to have to move impact in black and white so that the subject is more of the focus. I also think particularly emotional moments seem more timeless in black and white. When we create the pre-design of the wedding album, we choose which photos we think look best in color or black and white, but it’s always up to our clients whether they’d like to keep our initial choices or if they’d like to use a different version.

2.  How does the album ordering process work again?

You receive a 50% credit to the album of your choice with your package, and we always encourage our clients to use it because the album will be the most important heirloom to your wedding (second only perhaps to your dress!). Each album comes with a default 30 pages, and after the wedding, we design a sample album for you.

That’s where you come in. You and your new hubby sit down with all your proofs and the sample album and decide which pictures you can live without in your album and which ones you’d like to add in. And if there are a considerable amount of photos you’d like added in and there isn’t enough room, you can always purchase more pages at any point.

When you’re totally stoked with your album, we order it and ship it to you ASAP. We always try to put an album pre-design online for our brides and grooms within the first two weeks after their wedding. After they’ve made the changes they’d like, from the time of ordering to the time it gets to your door, the album should be there in two to four weeks. If you’re on the hunt for a photographer, always ask about timelines when it comes to your proofs and the album ordering process (and make sure it’s in the contract!) — we’ve heard too many stories of photographers who did a fantastic job at the wedding, but took six months or even a year or more to get the clients’ products to them.

3.  Do you outsource your photo editing or do you do it yourselves? If you do it yourselves, how long does it take and what software do you use?

To be honest, our philosophy is pretty opposed to outsourcing. In part, because we feel that outsourcing is giving up a certain level of detail and attention that would inevitably trickle down to a decrease in the level of service to our clients, and also in part because we would have to raise our rates in order to outsource our work. We don’t want to raise our rates any higher than we absolutely have to!

We use Photoshop to edit our images and Adobe InDesign to design our albums. Everything is done “by hand” as it were, so the average wedding takes about 30 to 40 hours of editing. Also, if you’re wondering how many images to expect from your wedding, we typically get about 60 images per hour and each one of those is fully edited to achieve its highest quality in color, crop, white balance, exposure, etc.

4.  How do you protect your images?

Our archive system is very thorough. We use Time Machine, an Apple external harddrive that automatically backs up everything on an hourly basis. We also store the images on two separate computers, as well as burn them to a DVD as a hard copy. Finally, we upload the photos to an online hosting site in case of the remote possibility that we ever have a house fire that could destroy our harddrives and DVDs. And of course, we send our clients the images on DVD, so they have a copy as well!

5.  I’m interested in photography as a hobby, what camera and lenses do you recommend?

Check out this post for beginner equipment recommendations. Whatever you decide to purchase, start small and add more equipment gradually.

Is there anything else you’re dying to know that isn’t answered on our website or blog? Leave a comment and we’ll try our best to to answer!

My computer has been sent in for repair the last few days, but in the meantime I thought I’d post some tips for ensuring that your wedding photos turn out the best they can be!

Wear Long-Lasting Makeup
Even if you don’t normally cry much, don’t take the chance at wearing anything other than waterproof mascara. If you wear mineral foundation, make sure you get it in matte so that it doesn’t shine in photos. Be sure to do a makeup trial before the wedding and take pictures of yourself so that you know what to expect on your wedding day!

Create an Emergency Kit
Be sure to ask a parent or bridesmaid to carry a small makeup kit, snacks, tylenol and a small sewing kit in their purse.

Get Pearly Whites
If you can afford it, spoil yourself and your groom with professional teeth whitening. You’ll look and feel like a celebrity with pearly whites.

Make an itinerary
Whether you’re working with a planner or doing everything yourself, make a rough timeline for the day.  Hand it out to a couple key people (groom, photographer, DJ, officiant, etc.) so everyone is on the same page.  Wedding days never run perfectly according to schedule, but this will help keep everyone on track. 

You gotta have sole
If you can, don’t be afraid to bring comfy shoes for the reception. Most people won’t be able to see your feet under your dress anyway, and you don’t want to take your first steps into marriage with blisters!

Don’t try to do everything yourself
Delegate. Delegating tasks to the people around you will give you the space to enjoy your wedding.  Put someone else in charge of paying vendors, moving things from site to site, and all the other small tasks throughout the day.

Eat a Healthy Breakfast
The wedding day moves fast, and before you know it, you’ll have gone half the day without anything to eat. Having a protein-rich, low-carb, healthy breakfast will give you energy for several hours without making you crash.

Relax
No doubt you’ll get a little wound up during your wedding day.  When you feel yourself getting stressed, remember to look around and take it all in. This is your day, and you owe it to your self to enjoy it! Just breathe, give your new husband or wife a squeeze and savor your special day!

I’ve noticed there are some common questions that are asked frequently on many different forums, so here’s a little FAQ you might want to use when interviewing photographers!

Images on Disk

There are two basic type of images photographers give clients:

Proofs. The chosen images that will be delivered to you have been given a very quick, basic amount of editing to adjust for white balance, exposure or contrast.

Prints. The images are “print ready” because they have been given a full edit to make each image its very best. Print level images will be on par with the images on the photographer’s website, while proof level images will not.

Of course, photographers and clients may use different names for these categories, but the important thing is for you to ask the photographer whether the images on disk will be fully retouched or if they will just have basic adjustments done.

All of our images are print ready. Each and every one is individually cropped, retouched and enhanced before being put on the disk!

Coverage

The amount of hours the photographer(s) will be at your wedding is often the biggest factor in deciding which package to select from a photographer or whether to choose one photographer instead of another. Most couples need between six and ten hours of coverage.

How do you know how much coverage you’ll need? The general rule is to start counting two hours before the ceremony until the latest time your reception venue is booked until. Some couples compromise and don’t have a photographer for the shots of the bride and groom getting ready, and some only book the photographer until the first dance or until the cake cutting. My advice?  Don’t!  You’ll feel rushed the day of your wedding, and afterward you’ll look back on your photos and wish the photographer had been there for all those great moments.

We feel that it’s of the greatest importance that we be there from start to finish, and that dividing our packages up by the hours of coverage would prevent us from giving the same quality of work to all our couples. Plus, we like things simple. So if you book us for the day of your wedding, there are no time limits whatsoever. Be sure to discuss your coverage with photographers you talk with, and if they do divide their packages by coverage, remember to ask whether it’s possible for you to add on an extra hour or two on the day of the wedding just in case things run behind or if you’d like them to stay later.

One photographer or two?

Having two photographers doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have twice as good images, but it does mean that moments are less likely to be missed. Even a solo photographer often brings along an assistant or intern, but be sure you talk about it ahead of time and if necessary, ensure that it’s in the contract that there will be two shooters on the wedding day if that is important to you.

Corey and I love shooting weddings together because it creates a great dynamic where he can be with the guys before the ceremony while I can be with the girls, and we have two slightly different shooting styles so it gives a diversity in the types of images we capture.

Should I do an engagement session?

We definitely recommend it! Engagement sessions are so much fun, and it really gives us a chance to get to know you and find ways to make you relaxed in front of the camera before the big day. This can also be a great way to express your personalities by going to beautiful and creative locations that you might not be able to do for your wedding.

What three things would you recommend to every couple you meet with?

1. Book early. Since most people don’t get married over the winter months, there are really only about 30 Saturdays available in a given year. You wouldn’t believe how many inquiries we get for just one day! Also, the general rule is that the earlier you book, the better deal you will be getting because the photographers’ rates will increase with inflation on an annual or bi-annual basis.

2. When choosing a photographer, look at the big picture. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in just how much their packages are or how much you love their work, but try to put everything in perspective so that you get a better idea of what it will be like to work with someone. One aspect that may go unnoticed at first is how responsive your potential vendor is. Customer service is going to play a huge role in the quality of images the photographer is able to get and ultimately deliver to you! If a photographer (or any other wedding vendor) doesn’t get back to you in a prompt manner or doesn’t answer your questions fully or doesn’t seem interested in giving you their full level of attention, those are red flags that should definitely be taken into consideration. I’ve heard so many horror stories from brides who saw those things early on but shrugged them off, and now they can’t even get their photographer to send them their images.

3. Whoever you choose, love their work. I know I’m biased, but I think photography is one of the most important aspects of your wedding. You should be happy, giddy, besides yourself with excitement about your wedding pictures! If getting the photographer you realllly love means adjusting your budget so that less money goes to favors, do it. When you’re looking back on your photos twenty or forty years from now, you won’t regret it!