Wedding Photography Check List
Make SURE you book a wedding Photographer who can provide and reassure you on ALL of these vital points!
The following qualities and reassurances you will need to seriously consider. I do not believe these are options and in my professional opinion, these are all essential requirements! Do not compromise of quality, settle for second best or a well intentioned 'hit-n-hope' amateur.
Your Wedding Album and the photographs taken on your wedding day will be all you have to remember your wedding day! - This heir loom piece is a to-be-cherished item! Precious? I think you'll agree this is an understatement!
Read my key points and qualities and you will see how seriously and sensitively I approach and consider all aspects of your wedding! This is my job, as a professional wedding photographer I consider it my duty to provide you with excellent images, using the best equipment available and the finest materials, prints and albums to preserve and display your wedding memories !
Its YOUR Wedding Day
A simple priority that I will not overlook!
For the reportage to be personal and personalised, this will not happen by accident! I will listen to your hopes and wishes in both our meetings and using the booklet that I have designed for your use which will give me an invaluable insight into your priorities and the details of the day that matter most to you!
We've all been to weddings and seen the photographer boss the guests around and maul the couple into poses and group shots with a bewildering array of combinations (that if you don't want - why waste your precious day capturing them!I seek to capture the images that you wish to appear in your wedding album!) Or experienced the couple being 'kidnapped' for a 2 hour portrait session. A professional is able to work swiftly and effectively and will not compromise your precious wedding day!
Sensitivity
Many couples who book my Wedding Photographer Services explain that they are ‘camera shy’ or simply that they feel that they look better when photographed ‘unaware’ The 'Documentary Style' reportage is very popular - capturing the day as it unfolds, rather than recording who attended in a series of formal ‘line ups’
My unobtrusive discreet style in which I focus on ‘Capturing The Moment’ and recording your wedding day as it happened, the details of the day, the wedding ceremony and celebrations and proceedings. I do a mix of 'Traditional' and also 'Natural' We plan these in advance so they will not impact upon your wedding day.
Prior to Wedding Photography I was a public speaking coach, I worked with close to 900 individuals in small group workshops – many of these were ‘Best Men’ and ‘Fathers of the Bride’. I used to video each participants turn, so I am highly experienced in working with individuals when they are (lets say – ‘Less Than Comfortable’) also worked as a ‘Guest Speaker’ with trainee teachers at Bath Spa University and training other facilitators.
Thanks to the careful planning and the use of our ‘Wedding Photo Ideas’ Booklet, your wished for group shots and portraiture need not ‘eat into the day’ I usually spend 15 – 45 minutes on these (based upon YOUR requirements)– then focus on the natural candid photography. Im 'on hand' and at your disposal for any other situations that may arise during the day.
Professional Wedding Photographer
A Wedding Photographer must be highly skilled in many disciplines of photography - people, architecture, abstract and group photography. All thee skills must be '2nd nature' - for there is no 'pause button' on the days proceedings! - (For this reason, it is often argued that a sports photographer might be more suitable than a studio photographer!) Yet without 'People Skills' it si not possible to obtain the complete picture. Whilst many images can be 'captured' there is a great deal of interaction and skills and sensitivity to 'put people at ease'
I have photographed over 175 weddings. I've lost count of the number of different nationalities as well as the fascinating cultural differences, traditions and customs! I always work with discretion, with respect, politeness, tact and sensitivity. A browse through my testimonials pages will demonstrate this!
A dedicated Wedding Photographer (not a hobbyist, or a ‘weekend earner’) A Wedding Photographer must have people skills as well as creativity and photographic expertise! An experienced wedding photographer will be able to capture the essentials and respond to your requests (whilst also being able to provide the 'classics' for Granny's mantelpiece!)
A friend or relative may be willing to photograph your wedding day for you, but will they remain enthusiastic the days after, when its time to colour correct, edit and prepare your wedding images, creating galleries for all of your family and friends to enjoy, burning Disks for you and your parents. Would they welcome your print order (even if its 10 months after the wedding!) and then mount them into an album for you or design your wedding book? Will they want to remain sober enough to capture the whole event, including the wedding celebrations – (that they really ought to be part of!)
I never undertake more than 2 weddings in a week (gone are the days of accepting a wedding on a Friday, Saturday AND Sunday - nor 2 in a day!) I usually undertake between 30 - 40 weddings per year. I would accept in excess of 40 weddings in a year as the wedding photo album creation book design is time consuming and demanding. I have received as many as 30 requests for some wedding dates.
Full Time Dedicated Wedding Photographer
A full Time Wedding Photographer will be processing your images the days that follow your wedding, so you, your family and friends can enjoy the images within days of your wedding (and not months after!)
Editing every image from an 11 hour wedding takes time! - It isn't really possible to 'juggle' this with another career!
I have images online within a week (sometimes considerably less!) your wedding and usually around 500 online on a printer aligned web gallery and a important speedy response to your final wedding photo selection!
2 Meetings
I like to meet couples to be able to create a wedding package based on your individual wedding photography requirements and the unique wedding plans. Listening to both of your requirements and hopes, your families photographic requests, album requirements I will create a Wedding Photography Package based upon what you want rather than what package is closest to your budget!
No two couples are alike – I will respect your unique wishes and requirements and attempt to tailor my reportage to accommodate the requirements and priorities of each couple.
I have my own ‘Photo Ideas’ Booklet that I have had printed to assist you in listing the important photo details. We use this at our at-the-venue-wedding-meeting.
We meet again at your wedding venue to explore the building and grounds together to make sure that we use your favourite landscapes and parts of the building, gardens and features that you love, and these are incorporated into your reportage as backdrops for the requested group shots and portraits.
Free Portrait Shoot
When we meet at the venue, there is an option to have some portraits taken so you can feel comfortable on the day knowing how I work!
I will send you these images on a DVD - so you can use them for wedding announcements if you wish!
Insured Service (public Liability and Professional Indemnity Services)
The essential Insurance needed for Professional Photographers - I am covered by the essential insurance – and therefore reassurance!
© Copyright Free Images Reproduction Royalty Waived Images and Disks -YOUR Wedding Photos are YOURS
(sounds obvious! - but alas this isn't always the case! I tend to agree with most wedding couples - that their images ought to belong to them (i know i will be demanding this on my wedding day! - So why should i treat anyone differently from how i expect to be treated myself!) Ownership of EVERY Image on DVD
I provide you EVERY image captured on Disks. Not just the ones im proud of, or as a photographer I think are artistically the ‘best’. The photos will be of your friends, your family, your wedding day and are therefore YOUR wedding memories. There is even a FREE download facility for your guests visiting your gallery. These are your images to keep and to share - i'll even help you do this with the online gallery and 3 copies of the master Wedding DVD as well as a 4th disk with the images resized for email and web use!
Proficient
Relaxed, spontaneous reportage, is far from ‘an easy option’ it takes, skill tact, sensitivity and tremendous awareness to do this well.
I specialize in Wedding Photography - this requires a broad range of skills and often requires these in a moments notice! Wedding Photography requires enormous 'people skills' in order to capture a group shot, reflex and agility to capture natural portraits (and anticipation of a moment - before it happens) creative awareness for the important detail shots, and skill in both architecture and landscape photography in order to capture all of the details of the day!
Minimum of 2 Cameras
When I started out ‘many moons ago’ I could only afford to invest in one camera, (with each camera costing in excess of £5,000 its hardly surprising) I often became frustrated when I was juggling lenses whilst trying to respond to a scene! – There is no ‘pause button’ on a wedding day – especially if you are devoted to the Natural Candid nature of reportage!
I replace may cameras every 6 - 18 months, as technology moves on, as things DO go wrong.
I always have a back up camera -( I don't gamble with peoples wedding day or their images! - the 'hooro stories that I have heard!)
Professional Cameras.
I use top of the range Professional Nikon equipment – I use the latest Nikon D3s (the most sensitive and esteemed professional camera on the market) and also a 2nd Nikon D3 camera (award winning camera - the fastest - capturing up to 11 frames per second – ideal for that in-flight champagne cork, a confetti shower or throwing of the bouquet!) and the most important thing of all - being highly competent in low light situations and with high contrasts - ie Grooms black jacket and brides white dress!)
There is far more to great wedding photographs than a high megapixel count! – a 12 megapixel pocket camera that slips into your shirt pocket will not provide the same results as a full frame professional CMOS Sensor! ‘The litmus test’ is when photos are blown up to enlargements, free of noise and pixilation, able to work in poor lighting conditions and .
There is FAR MORE to successful wedding photography that a £14,000 camera kit! - As it is well known - its not the oven that makes a good chef!
Low Light Handling.
I use world renowned lenses - Nikon 24-70 F2.8 and 70-200 F2.8, framed for their bright optics, low light handling and image stabalising. There is no substitute for quality, nor the importance of bright sharp optics. Quality does not come cheap – 2 of my lenses retail at £1400 each. I have 4 professional lenses - all 'fast' highly responsive and sensitive. I use 4 lenses: 100mm Macro f2.8 / 12-35mm (boasting 122 degrees of vision) 24-70mm f2.8 / 70-200mm f2.8
The Camera can be used with up to ISO 102400 - hats sensitive enough to be able to capitalise on candle light alone!
Flash Photography
Love it or loathe it (I prefer to use natural light when ever possible!) it is essential, especially if you are optiing for a 'Winter Weding'
I use 4 top of the range wireless flash guns. Their quality and professional results speak for themselves. Capable of lighting the most awkward of venues – be it an 11th century castle with high ceilings and ark tapestries on the walls - to illuminating the outside of a huge Tythe barn exterior at night. I carry around in excess fo 70 rechargabel batteries lenty to take up through into the wee hours of the morning!
Colour Correction & Editing
I ‘edit’ your images to make sure that the colours are ‘flattering’ and pleasing and reflect the atmosphere of your day. Alas, this is a service not offered by many Photographers (I can understand why – it takes HOURS to post edit an entire days reportage) Images will have a universal colour profile for easy and faithful printing.
I use the finest Apple Cinema Monitor - this is colour calibrated to assure accurate colour reproduction. I do not compromise on quality at any point in the capture and post production of your precious wedding memories
Flexible Wedding Packages
I don't offer tacky 'naff' gifts and 'gizmos' (although if you really want some fridge magnets or your photo printed on a tea towel ....) You only receive what you want. Why pay for what you don't want.
I even supply A basic 'Minimal' DVD - copyright free Images on DVDs / USB keys for your own printing and sharing needs.
No two couples are the same, I dont assume that their photographic needs will be either! I can create a wedding photography package to suit the needs and requirements of you both and your families.
Complete Coverage
The average wedding photography package is 9 hours. 10+ isn't uncommon. The cost of 2 hours additional reportage (£200) in order to have the evening celebrations (the disco, the fireworks, the mirth and merriment )is a wise investment! (A quick look at the evening Gallery reportage will assure you of the value of having a professional photographer in attendance!)
A quick look at my wedding packages will see that the extra 2 hours and extra prints / pages in the book are discounted to make the 'complete coverage of the wedding day' an enticing option. For i Enjoy to document coupes wedding day from start to finish (from the pre wedding perpetrations until even Auntie Agather has tired on the dance floor! and the Hog Roast picked bare
Professional Lab Printed Wedding Photos
We’ve all been tempted by ‘cheap and cheerful’ print labs – the quality does not compare. I use professional labs who use top of the range archival Kodak Endura Papers.
Home Made Inkjet prints are simply not up to the grade.
The finest printed Graphistudio Books
Graphistudio produce the finestst wedding books. Bound in silk (with a bewildering array of cover options - leather, Metal and contemporary Designs)
There are also options to have extra copies - and smaller versions for friends and family (A4 / A5 / A6 and even as small as 6cm x 4cm)
I believe that I am UNIQUE as a wedding photographer, in that I do not charge extra for the 'optional extras' - Parent Books are offered 'at cost' size upgrades on your album are offered 'at cost ' (all the way up to 50cm x 40 cm) Miniature Pocket books are offered' at cost' - Even the case 9if you wanted one of a matching sleeve are available, free of 'mark up' commission or profit - offered 'at cost'
You've booked me, hired my time and paid for the out put of your wedding images. i wont charge you twice. Especially when this is simply ticking a box on an order form to select on an optional extra!
Preview Photos online within a week of your Wedding
The complete Wedding Gallery of around 350 - 500 images will be online within usually within 10 days (1-3 weeks during peak wedding season).
Complete set of your proof prints delivered to you within 2-3 weeks.
Your Wedding Album delivered with professional prints within 2 - 4 weeks of your order.
Anything else is ‘Half Hearted’ and unnecessary. This is why hiring a professional Wedding Photographer is an essential!
Don’t YOU want to see your wedding photos as soon as is humanly possible? ( I know im going to want to!)
No Hard Sell
Choosing the right wedding photographer to attend your special day is essential - the right photographer can make your day, the wrong photographer, - well we've all been to weddings and seen what CAN happen!, no one relishes being bossed about, barked at, spending hours standing around in chaos awaiting the next group shot from a tireless list of seemingly endless combinations, that even the bride doesn’t recall asking for!!!
This is why I make myself available to you for pre wedding meetings, so we can reassure ourselves of compatibility. - We'll be sharing 10 hours of your wedding day - this is important factor!
I am proud to be able to say that well over 90% of wedding couples ask to book me after our initial meeting.
Booking
Before You Book
You will meet your photographer, to arrange a wedding photography package that reflects your needs, in terms of hours of coverage, time that your reportage starts and the albums and number of photographs that will document your wedding day.
You will always meet the wedding photographer who will be attending your wedding.
You will always see their work and not portfolios from other Wedding Photographers.
You will be able to see sample albums, watch slide shows on computer from recent weddings (including complete reportage of 600+ images if you want to)
Every wedding has its own password protected gallery. You can see one of these – to view a ‘typical wedding’ – I can suggest a wedding that is most similar to your own in terms of venue, season, number of guests or even style, theme and activities.
Wedding Booking
You receive a wedding photography contract (legally approved) and detailed bookings forms, that list all of the provisions agreed (in terms of hours of attendance, number of prints, number of CDs / DVDs of all the images and time scales of delivery)
(Deposits for weddings booked in 2011 are £495. This deposit secures your wedding date and is deductible from your final wedding package price)
The Balance for your wedding photography is payable in 2 installments - 3 months and 1 month before your wedding date.
Alternatively you can opt for an option to pay 1/3 as the deposit, 1/3 will be due 6 months before your wedding and the final 1/3 would be due on the wedding day or alternatively after delivery of the proof images (within 1 – 3 weeks of your wedding date)
Before Your Wedding
You will meet with your photographer again at your venue (s), to discus the final details of your day and to arrange the portraits and group shots of your wedding party. We will use the purpose made Photography Booklet at this meeting to assist us to plan and prepare the group shots and portraiture requirements.
At Your Wedding
We have already planned the required photographs and when they will happen, so this is one less thing to worry about – one less ‘detail’ to weigh on your mind!
You have hired a professional Photographer, who will record your wedding day without dominating it or taking up the precious and irreplaceable time on your wedding day.
After Your Wedding
Delay isn't something that you will appreciate, so we endeavor to deliver the 'proof' photographs (6" x 4" prints - post card size) copies of each and every one of your wedding photographs, to you within on average 5 - 10 days from your wedding. These will be delivered to most wedding couples before they return from their honeymoon!
At this point wedding couples can also expect to receive every photograph taken by their wedding photographer on full size NON-watermarked, copyright free master DVDs.
Once we receive your order for your wedding album and prints, you can expect these back within 2 - 4 weeks.
Pay Peanuts - And you'll get a Monkey"
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