There’s a fundamental difference between a production, measured by its adherence to tradition, and the unscripted event, noted by its originality. We believe weddings combine both, requiring the traditional and “observational” styles of photography.
With all the attending to tradition, each wedding is unique; it’s the best blending of two lives coming together. Weddings are much more than one-day events. It takes the keen eye of more than 20 years of photojournalism experience to catch this and to document the originality of this day, your wedding.
Our philosophy incorporates three basic principles, one wedding a weekend, the use of a photo manager, and concentrating on the candid.
One Wedding Weekends
It’s our policy not to shoot two weddings in one weekend, much less a single day. Our attention and devotion to our work is best this way. Sure, this is a business but if the joy of taking photos that have lifetime meaning to someone is overshadowed by the bottom line, then the intrinsic value in what we do is lost. Weddings, especially the reception, have their own sense of timing, and though events need to unfold in an orderly fashion, spontaneity will never be set aside for a time schedule.
There is a running joke when folks who know me as a photographer ask me if I “do” weddings. I tell them “My wife ‘does’ the weddings. I just take the pictures.”
Humor aside, the anecdote is true. It’s difficult to find someone who enjoys weddings more than my wife, Mona. Skilled at keeping the formal shoots moving along at a pleasant, steady space, she's an asset in getting the wedding party to the reception in a timely fashion. All this frees me to do what I prefer doing, taking the pictures that capture the moments of the day.
Mona is indispensable, has a keen eye for fashion detail, and a welcome manner. I avoid photographing weddings without her there. We are a team, and she is often the best part of that team, Ask any of our brides, from bridal shoots to the reception, they’ll tell you Mona made the day easier and more enjoyable.
Looking for the Candid
There’s been a tectonic shift in how weddings are covered with the advent of digital photography. In the final days of film we charged extra for going over 200 photos. After culling, most albums contained around 100 images. Now, depending on the day’s length, we present the couple 400-600 print-ready images. On several occasions we’ve even surpassed 1,000 images.
Now frankly, I don’t know what you do with that many images. Most viewing collections work best at about 150-200 images. But, we work for you. Sure, there’s a wedding list to follow, but after 20-plus years in photojournalism and nearly an equal amount as a university photographer, I see and document far more candids than I did with film. A really good candid captures the emotions of the weddings, and that's what we shoot for.