HOW MUCH DO YOU CHARGE TO SHOOT A WEDDING? Associate Photographer coverage is available from $225 per hour, Signature Photographer coverage from $450 per hour. Complete packages with custom designed albums start at $3900. Note we can offer discounts for weekday weddings and traditionally quiter days. HOW FAR AHEAD DO WE NEED TO BOOK YOU? We accept bookings 12 to 18 months in advance. Popular dates generally get booked first (holiday weekends, 9.9.9 or 10.10.10 for instance!) WHAT KIND OF RETAINER DO WE NEED TO GIVE YOU TO CONFIRM OUR BOOKING? You can retain our services for as little as $500. DO YOU ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAMENTS AND CAN WE PAY YOU IN INSTALLMENTS? We accept all the major credit cards and offer a number of installment options. ARE YOUR PACKAGES AND PRICES POSTED POSTED ON LINE? Yes. Click here to see current info. CAN WE BOOK YOU TO JUST SHOOT OUR ENGAGEMENT SHOOT? Sure! We have an “a la carte” price list that includes an hourly rate. Contact us for more info. WE NEED SOMEONE GOOD LIKE YOU GUYS FOR JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS, CAN YOU HELP? Sure, call us up and we’ll try and accommodate! DO YOU PHOTOGRAPH BAR MITZVHAS? We do! Contact us for more info. DO YOU SHOOT FAMILY AND BABY PORTRAITS? We do! Contact us for more info. ARE YOU AVAILABLE AT SHORT NOTICE? Client’s plans change, people move their dates…and so occasionally we find we have availability at short notice. It’s worth calling us and checking. If we can’t help, see next question… IF YOU ARE BOOKED ON OUR DATE CAN YOU RECOMMEND ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER WHO SHOOTS IN A SIMILAR STYLE? We have a network of talented photographers who we know personally well and who have a similar outlook and artistic style. We’re always happy to refer you. CAN YOU RECOMMEND A FLORIST OR A DJ? We can. Check these links for other wedding related vendors. Note that these are folk we have personally worked with and would hire ourselves. We have no commercial arrangement with these companies for these links and receive no kickbacks for recommending them. They are really good at what they do and we like them. That’s it. HOW MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS DO YOU SUPPLY AT AN EVENT? Our packages range from the basic “Delightful!” with one shooter covering your event for a few hours to our “Spectacular!” where multiple shooters and assistants follow the action from rehearsal to the last guest standing. Our most popular package, the “Fabulous!”, includes 2 photographers and 7 hours of coverage. WILL WE KNOW AHEAD OF TIME WHICH OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO SHOOT OUR WEDDING? Yes. Each couple gets to meet and hang out with their assigned photographer before the big event, generally at an engagement shoot and then again at the “pre-wedding meeting”. No surprises on the day. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT ONCE WE’VE HIRED YOU? Here’s how the process works: If we like each other based on an initial phone call, then we generally meet up somewhere convenient for a few minutes so we can find out a little more about you both, your families, style, plans and more and how you want your wedding to look. We will show you examples of our albums and prints and so on. Next if you decide to book us, and we are free on your date, we take a $500 retainer to save your day. We then get the finer details sorted out – how many hours you need us, how many photographers, what kind of albums and prints you are interested in etc. Once we have agreed on the package and the terms we send you a web link to start the full booking process. Our contracts and payments are done on line and it is all very straightforward. Once this is completed we set up a schedule for your “pre-wedding meeting”. This usually is arranged about 10 days ahead of your event and is when your photographer and you spend an hour going through the finer details of your day. HOW MANY PHOTOS DO YOU TAKE? This depends on several things; the number of photographers in your package, what the light conditions are like on the day, skin tones of the people being shot, how long your event lasts and so on. We generally deliver about 900 to 1000 edited images. Most albums have an average of 2 images per page, so a 40 page album will hold about 80 final choice images. DO YOU RE-TOUCH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS? All images that go into our albums are fully edited, professionally color corrected and retouched as required. The amount of retouching is based on the package you have chosen. We use the best retouching artist in the business. She is amazing! DO WE OWN THE COPYRIGHT FOR THE PHOTOS YOU TAKE? You will receive a permanent license for your unlimited personal use of the photographs. This means you can print and email them, put them on your website. Anything you would want to use your wedding photos for! This is clearly laid out in our letter of agreement. And of course, you get a copy of the images on disk. CAN WE HAVE THE NEGATIVES? Yes. All our packages include the camera digital negatives on disk. DO YOU DESIGN YOUR ALBUMS YOURSELF? One of our photographer founders, Naomi Henshall, is also an experienced book layout artist with a design degree. Every album is individually created based on your wedding style – colors, venue and overall feel. CAN YOU SUPPLY A SET OF ARCHIVE MUSEUM QUALITY RETOUCHED MASTER PRINTS INSTEAD OF AN ALBUM? Yes! Some artistically inclined couples prefer to create their own album themselves…. CAN YOU WORK WITH MY WEDDING PLANNER? Yes, we are always very happy to work with wedding professionals. It can take a lot of stress off your mind and we highly recommend it! Ask your wedding planner and/or coordinator to contact us in plenty of time before the wedding date so we can touch base about any practical matters. Simply making sure that we are copied on all schedule plans and changes via by email is usually enough. ARE YOU WILLING TO COME TO OUR REHEARSAL? Absolutely. This is included in our high end package and it helps in a number of ways. Firstly it gives us a chance to meet the key folk - your wedding officiate, close family and friends. Secondly we can find out the wedding venue’s policy on photography during the ceremony. Thirdly, we get to look at the venue and plan how we are going to shoot you in the most flattering way given the likely lighting conditions. WHAT ABOUT HAIR AND MAKE UP? It is important for great photographs that you hire the best hair and make up artist you can find on your wedding day. If you do not have contacts in this area we can recommend several very talented folk. Wedding make up is a specialized art – it really makes a difference! CAN YOU PROVIDE A SLIDESHOW AT THE WEDDING SO WE CAN SEE OUR SHOTS DURING THE RECEPTION? Yes, we love to do this! It is always very exciting to see everyone’s faces as they see the magic of the day in fabulous near real time playback soon after the events have happened! DO YOU SHOOT DESTINATION WEDDINGS? We love to photograph destination weddings! Here’s why you want us to come along - it can be tricky using a local photographer as they will not have been party to all the planning and preparation, may not speak English too well and will have a different cultural point of reference. We keep our costs low and we are always happy to fly coach. WHERE ARE YOU BASED? Our studio is in Echo Park, near downtown Los Angeles. DO YOU CHARGE FOR TRAVEL? We do not charge travel expenses for events within 120 miles of downtown LA. CAN YOU SUPPLY REFERRENCES? At least 90% of our work is referral based. So sure – we’re happy to put you in touch with some happy previous clients! Also check out the “Client Love” section above… MY FIANCÉ DOESN’T LIKE HAVING HIS PICTURE TAKEN – ANY IDEAS? We are actually known for getting great photos of folk who are uncomfortable in front of a camera. You will find that doing an engagement shoot with us is a good way to break the ice. Most couples we shoot are surprised at how much fun it is and how fabulous they look! WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE? We use high end professional equipment, everything you need to get the job done right - we use the same equipment for your wedding that we use to shoot national magazine spreads and we always bring duplicate equipment with us in case of malfunction. Camera backs we use include Canon 1Ds mkII, 1D mkIII, 1D mkIIn, 5Dmk2, 5dmk1, 20D, 01V 35mm, Leica M8 etc with a full selection of L series lenses. WE’RE HAVING A HAWAIIAN BEACH WEDDING - WOULD YOU WEAR A LOUD HAWAIIAN SHIRT LIKE THE REST OF US? Happy to. And it wouldn’t be the first time either! This brings up a good point though, that our aim is to fit in as much as possible during your wedding. If the event dress is more formal we will be wearing smart pants and a dress shirt, and if the event is more informal we will check in with you to make sure we will be wearing clothing that is appropriate. DO YOU DO OTHER PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK OUTSIDE OF SHOOTING WEDDINGS? We do. We are commercial photographers specializing in food, flowers and wedding related decor. If you have read any of the national bridal magazines recently you will most likely have seen our work. We are about to be featured as the “dream team wedding photographers” in a new national network reality TV series, due to be shown in the spring of 2009. And Will has just done the photography forICA 2009 Chef of the Year Joanne Purnell's new cook book. DOES YOUR WORK GET PUBLISHED IN BRIDAL AND WEDDING RELATED MAGAZINES? Sure – see previous question! |