Q: How do we get you to take our photos?
If I am available on your wedding date and we are a good match, secure me for your wedding date by signing a contract and paying the retainer fee (which is 50% of the package of your choosing). The remaining balance is due 30 days before your wedding date. Easy!
Q: What happens after that?
After you book your date by sending the contract and retainer, you can plan the rest of your wedding merrily. I love hearing about your plans because it helps me to know what parts of your wedding you are prioritizing, so if you’re on any sort of social network where you update your wedding plans (be it on Facebook, your own blog, etc.) please let me know! When it gets to be closer to the wedding date, I will ask you to fill out a pretty comprehensive form that gives guidelines as to where I should be and when I should be there. The more I know about the way your day is planned to roll out, the better prepared I can be. :)
Q: How many photos do we receive?
It depends on the amount of coverage you choose and how action-packed your wedding is. A good rule of thumb is 40 photos per hour of coverage. There are a number of redundancies and unflattering shots, blinking, blurring, etc. that happen during shooting that are then left on the chopping block, but believe me — you won’t miss them.
For portrait/engagement sessions, 30 is the minimum number of finalized photos you will receive.
Q: When do we receive our photos?
Wedding photographs are available in your online, password-protected gallery 4-8 weeks after your wedding date. After I’ve given you the heads-up that they’re online, I send off the final package a week after that. Portrait sessions (bridal/engagements) are available 3-6 weeks from the session date. If you purchased the high-resolution files from your portrait session, I will make them available as a downloadable zip file.
Q: What can we do with the high-resolution photos you give us?
Your wedding photos are yours and are included in every wedding package I offer. You may take the flash drive of files and make prints at your convenience.
I also include a folder of low-resolution, lightly watermarked files for you to share on the internet. Trust me, it takes a long time to upload the full-resolution files to Facebook, so save yourself the time and aggravation and upload the smaller files if you want to share :) Also, don’t print these! They’ll look rotten.
You can print as much as you’d like with your high-resolution files, but be aware that you cannot sell them or use them for any other commercial purpose.
Q: Do we get to keep the copyright of the photos?
Nope! The copyright stays with me. However, you will receive a personal print release allowing you to make unlimited prints of your photos — as long as they’re for you! You may not sell image files or photographs to your friends or relatives, enter them into contests in which you can win a prize of monetary value, nor can you sell your photos to magazines or blogs, your other wedding day vendors, or anyone else. Use them for your Christmas cards, thank-you notes, magnets, etc. to your heart’s content, but please don’t make money off of them!
If you feel that your wedding was really wedding-blog-worthy, please let me submit them on your behalf.
When you sign the contract you also allow me to use the photographs as promotional materials for my business, although if they are of a sensitive nature I will of course ask what is appropriate.
Q: What if something happens to you and you can’t shoot our wedding?
Believe me, I am paranoid enough about this that you shouldn’t worry as well. I will make every effort to be there. If something that is out of my control happens (think car accidents, broken legs, or anything else along those lines) that will compromise the quality of your photographs, I am networked with other professional photographers who can step in if required. I’d do the same for them if they were in a pinch.
If it’s a portrait session and I’m sick with the flu, please don’t hold it against me if I try to reschedule.
Q: Are you insured?
Yep!
Any questions I haven’t covered? Contact me! Thanks :)