So, count me in with the millions of other Americans that have failed on their promises to themselves to keep their New Year’s resolutions.  I was able to keep up on it for pretty much the entire month of January but some major life events were thrown my way and I fell off the wagon of taking a picture every day.  Once I missed one day it was pretty much all downhill from there.

That’s the bad news… the good news is that I’m routinely taking more pictures that I would have previously.  So, while I’m not taking pictures every single day I have been shooting quite frequently…

Here’s one that I shot on January 4th of our dog Abbey playing with cars on a race track set up in our basement.  As the cars would zoom by she’d go nuts barking and trying to nip at them.  It was a fun game for a while.

Your pictures are important to us… really important.  Perhaps you don’t fully understand exactly how important we’re talking about here.

We take extra care to make sure that your photos are safeguarded and nothing happens to them.  We want to make sure that you’ve got a lasting image to remember every detail of your special day and so we go to some great lengths to make sure that everything is nice and secure.

First of all, we quickly get the images off of our camera’s memory cards and get copies put onto our image processing computer’s hard drive.  During this import a special file know as a DNG, or digital negative, is created.  I won’t go into the details about what a DNG is and why it is good but we’ll say that it is a file format that has been created to ensure that in 10, 25, 50 years from now we’ll still be able to open that file (have you tried to open a really old file anytime lately… it’s a pain because no one thought to create a standard file format).  Once on our image processing computer’s hard drive the images are backed up onto a separate external hard drive that is kept safe in our studio.  At this point we have 3 copies of the original images from your event (1 - memory cards, 2 - computer hard drive, 3 - external hard drive).

At this point we spend a substantial amount of time going through the images weeding out shots with eyes closed and general editing of the photos.  After going through all of the photos several times (the last wedding we did had over 2,400 photos) we’ll start going through with a fine tooth comb to make color corrections, add artisitic effects, and do final editing.  One of the greatest things about our editing process is that we never actually change the original file from the camera.  Changes are saved separately as modifications to the original so we can go back to the original or any iteration of our edits with no problem whatsoever!  Finally, at this point we’ve narrowed your photos down to a manageable number (maybe 200-400-ish). 

After reviewing all of the photos with our client we put up an online gallery of the final images (making a 4th copy).  We also give a final copy of the photos to the client on CD or DVD (a 5th copy).  We then make two copies of the final edited images for ourselves in addition to DVDs burned with all of the original files on it.  One of the final copies is keept in a fire-proof lock box in our studio and the other final copy along with the DVD of the DNG files is taken to a safe deposit box at a bank.  All in all there will be 7 copies of the images (but the memory cards will be erased after this process is complete and the backup copies are safe at the bank).

What does all of this mean and doesn’t it seem like a bit of overkill?  Well, yes, it is overkill.  Have you ever been working on a school project and something happened with the computer where you lost all of your work - what did you do?  You probably tried to recover some sort of edition of your work or had to start over from the beginning.  When you have wedding photographs the only way to start over is to have the wedding again which isn’t a great option.  So, we take extra care (even to the point where it seems to be a bit rediculous) to make sure that nothing happens to your photos.

So what happens if fire and brimstone rain down from the heavens and all 7 copies of the photos disappear?  It depends… but we do have an extensive insurance policy that does cover us in the case that we did something wrong and messed up the photos.  If that’s the case then our insurance company will pay to have your wedding over again (at least enough to get the pictures that were lost).

I feel comfortable saying that you should rest assured that we’ll take care of the details  to make sure that you’ve always got your lasting memories…. forever.

A destination wedding would be great for anyone - including a wedding photographer.  There are few things that we enjoy more than taking pictures but, believe it or not, traveling ranks up there pretty high.  We were recently approached by a client that wanted us to travel and so we had to do some serious thinking about how we’d like to go about doing this.  Here’s some of the thoughts that crossed our minds:

• Travel + photograph a wedding = COOL!
  • Let’s face it, everyone would love to do their job and get a touch of vacation at the same time - let’s be real.
• Insurance…
  • Traveling with thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of equipment that is incredibly important to be in tip-top shape for a wedding is a bit of a stressful idea - not to mention the host of other things that could possibly go wrong.  That’s merely one of the reasons why we have a hefty insurance policy that covers not only our equipment but everything that we do (or don’t) do.  Additionally we’ve got an expensive network of peers that are available with loner equipment or can get us to the right store to get new equipment - pronto.
• Reimbursement for travel costs
  • We think that it’s great that you want us to come along with you to somewhere that we don’t ordinarily get to go so it’s only fair that you aren’t gouged on the travel costs.  Some people may feel that if someone else is paying that we’ll take nothing but the best.  On the contrary, we’re rather thrifty travelers and don’t need too much.  After we have a signed contract and deposit we’ll make travel arrangements getting the best deals available at the time and merely asked to be reimbursed for the actual amount of the travel (we’ll even give you the receipt).
• Creative scheduling
  • In order to get the best shots possible the photographer should probably do some scouting of the area and find some of the tiny places that can be the perfect backdrop to your photos.  This can be a bit difficult to do in a strange place and so timing is very important.  If we know the details about what is happening on your wedding day then we can be prepared and have done our homework in advance so that when we’re with you we get the great images you’re looking to see.

 So, are you thinking about taking a trip for your ceremony or are you getting married somewhere outside of the central Indiana area?  Take us along - we’re great travel companions!

I’d say that one of the most important things to consider when selecting a wedding photographer is how comfortable you feel with him/her/them.  It’s not just important that you get along well with your photographer(s) but that you feel comfortable with them being with you all day on one of the (possibly) most stressful days of your life.  Your photographer will spend more time with you that you’ll spend with your spouse, family members, or anyone becuase they’ll be there from start to finish.  Most people haven’t gotten married before and so chances are that you be relying on your photographer to offer advise and guidance throughout the day. 

I remember back to our wedding - standing behind the cake with everyone looking at us - I wasn’t sure how to cut the cake.  I’m standing in front of the most expensive baked good that I’ve ever been close enough to touch and I’m expected to slice into it and give some to my wife.  Let’s just say that I was worried that I’d cut it wrong and the whole thing would come crashing down and ruin the cake, our reception, and the whole marriage altogether.  As it turns out, it’s not nearly that big of a deal - I was just a bit jumpy about it.  I remember looking at our photographer who was anxiously awaiting us to get to the cake cutting to get some advice… the idea is that I was very comfortable with our photographer.  We had spent the whole day together and she had been an up close witness to several cake cuttings and I figured that she’d have a few words of advice.

Ok, it’s not all about cutting the cake.  But honestly, there are quite a few things that a bride and groom are expected to do on their special day that they’ve never done before and will probably never have to do again so it’s always nice to have your friendly photographer there with a few helpful words of advice.

On a more serious note - being comfortable with your photographer will not only help make your day go smoother and make it more enjoyable but you’ll also end up with much better pictures.  Your photographer should get to know you well enough that they can anticipate some of your moves and be ready to have the shutter clicking.  Besides, do you want a photographer that you aren’t comfortable with to be around while you’re getting dressed, kissing your new husband, spending a few quiet moments with your parents, and every other personal moment on your wedding day?

 I’ve found that our clients like to be around us and we certainly have a great time with our brides and grooms.  Not only does it make the day go much smoother we rest easy knowing that we’ve captured the special moments that will bring a tear to your mother’s eye when she sees your wedding pictures for the first time.

Most photographers will admit that equipment is important but most of them will also say that the best equipment in the world can’t make up for a bad photographer.  That is true but it is also important to realize that the right equipment will help any photographer get the shots that are needed.

We are fortunate that almost all of our equipment is very new - and we’re continually getting more (new) equipment.  Following is a sampling of our equipment that we take with us to cover a wedding.

• Canon 30D, digital SLR cameras
• Wide angle & telefoto lenses
• Over 32 GB of memory cards
• Over 4 rechargable batteries per camera (with the chargers, just in case!)
• Off-camera dedicated flashes (Canon Speedlites)
• Tripods, a ladder, umbrellas, etc.
• 17″ high-end laptop for photo editing