We have put together a list of the most frequently asked questions. If you are considering the services of a wedding photographer you are welcome to print these out and compare us with others.
We believe we must be doing something right; one client moved their wedding date to ensure we were available! Not a possibility for most, so book us early. Another client booked us from Australia because they liked our images so much. Unfortunately they didn’t fly us out to Perth, as the wedding was in Sussex, but they chose us having looked at hundreds of photographers along the south coast. Normally Sussex is beyond our local region, but as they were coming all the way from Australia then we thought we could literally go the extra mile. One professional wedding photographer who we’ve never met booked us for his daughter’s wedding having seen our work as he’ll be too busy on the day with other matters like “giving his daughter away".
Q: Some of your website seems light hearted are you serious photographers?
A: Ha, you noticed. Well to be honest we feel that weddings, whilst being solemn occasions, should also be fun, light hearted events for your friends and family. If you want ultra formal wedding photographs taken by stuffy photographers you've got the wrong people. As for being serious photographers just ask to see some of our 'tearsheets' from our published work when you meet us.
The first question we often get asked is…
Q: Are you available on our wedding date?
A: We have set up an availability page within the website to answer that initial question. Unfortunately if your date is blocked off, we aren’t available. Sorry, but we are now taking bookings well into 2010. We do not pass on the bookings to other photographers, students or anyone else. When we are booked, we are booked; so if you would like to use our wedding photography services, get in early. We may be available at short notice, but we are booked for many Saturdays especially throughout the summer months.
Once you’ve established that we are available, the second question is often
Q: How much do you charge?
A: Check out our pricing page on our website, especially as we have frequent offers. We tried to keep it simple by offering three options, one, two and three. Simple enough. Basically, they are time related:
Option one is eight hours and is £1100
Option two is five hours and costs £875
Option three is for two hours and costs £550
All of these options are for two photographers and supplying you with a CD/ DVD of high resolution images (300dpi). These prices do NOT include a photo book, album, or prints. We can provide these services but our pricing is geared to offering great value for money photography first and foremost.
Q We are interested in having a photographer for six hours but your options are for 5 hours and 8 hours. Do we do six hours and how much will it be?
A: We tried to make the pricing as simple as possible, but they can be tailored to individual needs. We charge an additional £110 per hour added to any option.
Q: What are the advantages of two photographers?
A: Wedding photographers have to run around and be in at least two places at the same time. To make that somewhat easier two photographers can actually be at two places at the same time. Our clients particularly like the fact that we can shoot images of the bride as she is getting ready and at the same time one of us can be shooting images of the groom going through his final nervous moments, sometimes in the pub! We supply all the images, shot in time order, so the bride and groom can see for the first time what their partner and guests were doing. Other advantages of two photographers include back-up, we have a total of six cameras, three flash units, ten or so lenses and heaps of memory cards. If (and it has never happened) one of us lost a memory card then we’ve still got the images on the other photographers memory card. If you don’t use us for your wedding photography ask if your potential photographer can offer a back-up system as good as ours. Having two photographers is especially nice to have if you are looking for natural shots and images that tell the story of your wedding day, rather than only formal images. We work well together as a team, communicating regularly during our attendance to ensure we use different techniques and lenses and to obtain extensive coverage of your day. It’s also more fun for us as there are two photographers and if it’s fun for us that will come across in the images for you as it’s much easier if it’s a fun and relaxed day for all. Our pricing, see above, is for two photographers and you can see we offer value for money photography, especially when you consider you get two experienced photographers.
Q: How much experience do you have as a photographer?
A: Paul has been a working photo journalist for well over twenty years and has supplied photographs to numerous publications throughout the world. John’s background is in publishing but in the last four years photography has become a huge passion he has won numerous competitions including first prize in the prestigious 2008 Renaissance Photography Competition. We started to work together on photography, and have been offering a combined wedding photography service for three years. We are not jaded old-school wedding photographers who only do formal photography. Our enthusiasm and drive and our passion for all kinds of photography enables our ideas to remain fresh and original, creating stylish and timeless images.
Q: We want a mix of formal shots and informal reportage images. Can you do this?
A: Absolutely. Huge advantage of two photographers is that we can cover both styles, and we understand you’ll almost certainly need some formal shots to keep everyone happy. However, if you only wanted informal images we can oblige after all it’s your day. However, if you only wanted us to just shoot posed formal images then we’d strongly recommend you find another wedding photographer as that’s not what wessexweddings.co.uk is about.
Q: Will you personally be the photographer for our wedding/Do you use other photographers for our wedding day photography?
A: wessexweddings.co.uk is a two person team and when you book us you actually get John and Paul. We don’t (sub)contract out the photography, unlike some other wedding photography businesses. The only exception might be in the case of illness when we reserve the right to use a substitute photographer. However, being a team of two also gives you extra security in the event of illness; imagine if your more usual 'one man band' was taken ill the night before the wedding.
Q: We love your images and you’re available on our wedding day, what should we do next?
A: The next stage is to arrange a meeting. We like to meet up with all potential clients before we send you a booking form. That way we can find out if your photographic needs can be met by our photography services and that we all get along. If you then decide you would like to book our services we send you a Booking Form and Contract to complete, sign and return. We would also request a booking deposit of 10% of your total package price. The outstanding balance would then be due 4 weeks prior to the date of your wedding / civil ceremony.
Q: Do you shoot in digital/film, and colour or black and white?
A: Easy one this. We both shoot in digital, both John and Paul have Canon EOS professional cameras and lenses. Our cameras include the Canon 1DS Mark iii, (with a whopping 21+ megapixels, probably a lot more than your Uncle Bob’s camera), a couple of Canon 5D’s and two Canon 40D’s. We carry enough professional equipment to ensure that we can deal with any equipment malfunction without resorting to mobile phone cameras, which some amateur photographers have as a second camera! The digital images are provided in colour but are easily converted to black and white and we usually put a few black and white images on the CD/DVD we send out.
Q: Are the images on the finished DVD/CD high resolution and how many shots are there on the disk(s)?
A: The disk(s) contain high resolution images (jpeg). We supply approximately 300 images for an 8 hour shoot and 150 images for five hours. Also without getting too technical both John and Paul shoot all images in RAW which is the highest quality and non-compressed digital files. There is no limit to the number of photographs we take. Some old-school photographers, especially using film would set a limit on the number of shots taken. We have over 100 gigabytes of memory cards that’s more than enough.We want to capture the spirit of the day and we don’t worry about how many shots it takes to achieve that goal. Unlike most wedding photographers we actually supply DVD/CD’s of the photographs at no extra cost.
Q: Are the DVD’s moving images/slideshows and do you do videography?
A: The DVD’s do not contain moving images. They are still photographs. We don’t supply images with music/soundtrack or images fading in and out to the next shot as the styling/choice is too personal. We do NOT offer videography.
Q Who owns the copyright, as on some wedding sites they suggest the copyright ownership should be passed to the bride and groom?
A: Whilst we own the copyright we give you free licence to use the photographs to use in any non-commercial way that you like. You are able to use the images freely (other than to sell commercially).
Q: Do you need to be paid before the wedding day?
A: Yes. We need a 10% non refundable deposit to be paid to confirm the date. We only do one wedding a day, so once payment has cleared we block off that date on our availability calendar and we send clients an invoice 4 weeks before the wedding day for the remainder (90%) of the money. Payment must be made prior to the wedding.
Q: Do you visit the venue before the wedding day?
A: Yes, we like to do this about a week or so before the big day usually with, ideally both the bride and groom. We also take photographs of the bride and groom before the wedding day so they get familiar with having their photo taken, and go through any poses, and location for shots, if requested. We also check the venue for any suitable places for shots and to have a plan of action in case of rain/strong wind etc. We also offer a complimentary service for any brides and grooms who would like to use John’s studio located north of Blandford, Dorset.
Q: Do you do wedding albums?
A: We do not provide wedding albums, photo books in any of our pricing options. Initially we didn’t offer this service, however, we’ve been regularly asked by clients to make photobooks. Check out our wedding album section of the website for pricing. If you are considering using a wedding photographer that includes a wedding album in the package be very careful on the kind of album you receive. The price and quality of wedding albums vary tremendously. Another advantage of our pricing system is that you don’t have to pay 'up front' for an album.
Q: Do you provide prints?
A: We do not provide prints in any of our pricing options. The DVD/CD we provide are of high enough resolution to make prints at any high street lab. However if you would like us to make prints for you we are very familiar with which labs produce quality professional prints and we can arrange very competitive prices especially if you want many rather than just one 6”x4” print.
Q: Do you charge extra for putting our wedding images online?
A: Absolutely not. We provide a password protected clients area that you can share with your friends, relatives, guests etc. We usually get this up and running within a week of the wedding day.
Q Do you do boudoir photography as I want to surprise my husband on our wedding day with a set of images of me in my underwear?
A: We don’t offer a boudoir service as such. However, we are open to all kinds of photo requests. We like to work on ideas that you may have and especially if there is a humorous angle. We offer for example Trash The Dress shoots, and we are working on several ideas with a bride-to-be that involve bicycles and lingerie (her partner is a cyclist). One couple wants us to photograph them bare-footed in their teepee on their wedding day and the arrival of a burger van at 5am the next morning-we’re up for all kinds of unusual, alternative, eco-friendly wedding ideas.
Q Can you provide testimonials from previous clients?
A: Yes. If you are seriously considering using our wedding photography services we can also provide telephone numbers of past clients for you to call if you so wish. If you want to see what an actual online site of a recent days wedding shoot looks like it’s also possible for us to supply you with the password of past clients to take a peek. Please understand that not all weddings are the same. Some of our clients have given us an extensive list of must-have formal shots, whilst others had no lists at all. Some clients have a cake cutting and others don’t, so that is reflected in the images we take for each wedding and placed online.
Q: Do you only cover the Dorset and Somerset area?
A: Most of our bookings are within the south west of England, but we will be happy to consider coverage outside this area or even outside the UK. An additional fee for travel and subsistence may apply.
Q: Do you photograph events other than weddings?
A: Yes. We are more than happy to cover civil partnerships ceremonies, christenings, parties and other events on request. One client has booked us for a studio photography session even though we won’t be doing her actual wedding photography as we were already booked for her big day.
Q: Do you have lighting as the venue for the reception is quite dark?
A: Another example of us going the extra mile, especially if you are nice to us, is that if space and time permits we have the means to set up a portable studio at the reception venue and can shoot guests posing both formally and informally as the alcohol flows, if you so wish. Again this is another of our complimentary services that we provide. We have a full Elinchrom studio flash set up at our disposal and offer free studio time/ engagement shots for our wedding clients.
Q: Can you work from a list of must-have shots that we’ll give you?
A: If you hire us, it’s your choice as to how you use us for your photography. We can work from your list of your "must have" shots, although if you’ve got many requests please bear that in mind when it comes to timing as group shots can take some time to set up. We also like to have some time with just the bride and groom to capture several romantic couple shots in a selected attractive setting.
Q: How intrusive will you be on the day?
A: A good question and one to which there is no easy answer. Photography, and particularly good photography, requires us to be prominently positioned and to be constantly working. You can’t 'make omlettes without cracking eggs' they say! However, we will do are very best to respect your wishes and not to be too intrusive. When we meet potential clients one of the questions we ask them is to find out the rules regarding photography during the actual service. Each venue has different rules as to where photographers can stand, and there are also many different rules concerning photographing the signing of the registrar.
Q: Are you insured?
A: We both have public liability insurance.
Q: You’re providing an exceptional value for money wedding photography service. Two experienced photographers, all high resolution images on a supplied DVD/CD, and you visit the venue, meet up with us, take complementary photographs of us in a studio, you tick all the boxes, what’s the catch?
A: There isn’t one. We haven’t tried to be the cheapest wedding photographers, cutting our prices to ensure they are lower than other photographers in Dorset and Somerset on a Google search. We do however have lower overheads than the "old school" wedding photographer who has to pay expensive High Street rent for a studio. Whereas John has a studio but it is in a converted garage in the countryside, keeping our costs low which are passed onto the client through affordable prices. Perhaps for what we offer our prices are too low, that’s perhaps for you to take advantage of and for us to suffer, but we enjoy what we do. We try to make it a fun day and at the same time try our damn hardest to get the images you want. We don’t do hard-sell, you’ll find that out when you meet us, but we believe that if we offer a quality product and we go the extra mile we will get happy clients who hopefully will recommend us.
Hopefully this page has given you a flavour of what we do and has answered any initial questions you may have. However, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions, and as mentioned we meet up with all clients to discuss your photography needs in greater depth prior to any bookings being made. That way you can see us in person to find out if we are "singing from the same hymn sheet" when it comes to your photography requirements.
Dorset Wedding Photography - Two Photographers, two Perspectives!