• Where are you based out of? I maintain residences in both Telluride and Durango, and am available to travel anywhere in the world.
• Do I get a disc with my images on it? Yes, you will receive a copyright-released disc with all of the high-resolution images (Digital Negatives) from your wedding. Although I do offer a full-range of Albums, Enlargements, Wall Art, and other must-have products, you are not obligated to purchase them from me.
• Do you shoot weddings full-time? How long have you been doing this? I have been shooting weddings professionally since 2004, and yes, I do this full-time. I am a registered, insured business.
• What is your approach to shooting weddings? As a member of the Wedding Photojournalists Association I prefer the natural look of the more unobtrusive photojournalistic approach. It’s tougher to do, but the payoff is photographs of people naturally having a good time with genuine emotion. However, I do like to stage an intimate portrait of the bride and groom, and I do recognize that family portraits are important to your parents so I will work with you on how to schedule formal photo shoots into your big day. I also offer full-day, start-to-finish coverage so as to create a cohesive set of images that fully tell the story of your day. Additional photographers can be added for extra coverage.
• How come you only offer Albums and other products a-la-carte? Us wedding photographers do not get these items for free, therefore we have to pass the cost of them on to you. By offering them a-la-carte, I can offer lower pricing for wedding day coverage. This helps my budget-constrained clients still hire a great photographer, and they can always have an album made in the future as budget allows. I like to think it also simplifies budgeting and hiring a photographer since you don't have to sift through endless Package combinations.
• I don’t see many family portraits on your site; do you do these? Yes. I will work with you on how to schedule these into your wedding day, and I do use portable, off-camera, studio lighting to eliminate funny shadows on people’s faces while maintaining proper exposure of that beautiful mountain background (a single camera-mounted flash is often not powerful enough to achieve this). I will also keep the session as brief as possible so you can spend more time with your guests instead of posing for me.
• Do you provide location scouting and pre-wedding consultation? Yes.
• Who will be shooting my wedding? Me. I am an artist, not a photography 'company' or 'studio,'and as such I do not sub-out kids trained in poses to shoot my clients weddings. Even in the event of a second photographer being added, I remain the principal photographer.
• Do you take credit cards? Yes.
• Do you work with an assistant? Yes.
• Do you bring back-up equipment? Yes. Of course. Please, even if you don't hire me, make sure whoever you do hire has back-ups. Make sure you ask that question!
• Do you shoot more than one wedding in a day? No.
• What happens if you can't make it? Hasn't happened yet. Unless I'm dead, kidnapped, or incapacitated you can expect me to show up. In the event that I do (unluckily) suffer one the afore-mentioned fates, I do belong to a network of like-minded wedding photographers, all individual artists, who cover for each other.
• My Uncle is a photographer and wants to shoot, too. Is that OK with you? Yes.
• Canon or Nikon? Irrelevant. As long as your photographer is using the Full-Frame 35mm-sized sensor bodies such as the 5D or D700 paired with the professional grade zooms and prime lenses it doesn't matter which brand is used. The wider dynamic range and high ISO low-light performance offered by the larger Full Frame sensors is far more important than megapixels. Even the 6 year old 11MP Canon 5D produces a better file, especially in low-light (think receptions) that any of todays 18+MP cropped-sensor bodies like the 60D, 7D, D300, etc. Optics are far more important than megapixels too. No one serious about photography is using cheap kit zoom lenses or doesn't even own at least one prime lense. FYI, prime (fixed-focal length) lenses, even some of the cheap ones, are far sharper than even the best and most expensive professional-grade zoom lenses and allow for the shallow depth-of-field look.
• Do you shoot RAW or JPEGs? RAW! As a (initially) reluctant convert to digital, it boggles my mind that anyone would photograph anything of importance in JPEG mode.