FAQS

HOW SHOULD I CHOOSE MY PHOTOGRAPHER?

There are lots of great photographers in the south, and in the Memphis region there’s a top twenty or so list. You’ll want someone on that list if at all possible. The best photographers are the best for a reason, they shoot some amazing photos. There are many good photographers, but only a few stellar photographers. Find a photographer that matches the style that you like. Interview them and see how you both relate, you want someone professional, pleasant to work with, and someone you are comfortable with. We are pretty down to earth, and really enjoy what we do, and committed to give you stellar photographs. That’s very important. Next, make sure your photographer has the right gear, and knows what they are doing. A seasoned pro with several years experience is a requirement. A rookie with a camera may save you some dough, but the end results could be a sad experience. And the last bit of advice, a full time photography studio can offer some better turnaround times for your finished products. Our studio also only shoots a select number of weddings each year, so we can focus on quality, and a fresh, beautiful style, We take the necessary time to properly process our images and deliver your photos on time.

WHAT IS YOUR STUDIOS GOAL FOR MY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?
Besides the passion we have for capturing your most special day, with our editorial photography background, our standard operating procedure is to shoot a lot of photos. Our end goal is to give you a photo journal of your wedding day from start to finish with the best photos that you can imagine from your big day. Out of the hundreds of photos we shoot, our next step is to narrow all those down to the top wedding highlights which is about 75 or so photos that say it all, however, we keep the photos that we shoot and offer them in our final presentation to you. We know that you will have you will want to see them all, and make your own favorites list, even if Uncle Frank isn’t very photogenic, you may want to keep his just for the memory. We treat your wedding like you are a magazine editor, and you want to see every single photo so you can decide what you want for your wedding book layout. We have a unique photography style and a passion to shoot simple, beautiful, modern art photographs that you will love! It’s one of the most rewarding jobs anyone can have, and we often become lifetime friends with the couples we photograph!

WHAT DOES YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY COVERAGE INCLUDE?

For small weddings our wedding covers a half day, which is about 4 hours. A small wedding is usually a guest list under 50, with no or few attendants. An average wedding has all day coverage, which is about 7 to 8 hours. We shoot dozens of weddings each year that fall into this category. Occasionally a wedding day will go over 8 hours, and depending on your package choice, you can always add and extra hour or two at a nominal fee. We recommend to our brides to let us create a timeline for your wedding day, we can help you plan your day and capture all of your events in photos by breaking down each hour of the day with your most requested photos. For the details of our coverage, we focus on bridal preparation and details before the ceremony, the couples portraits, wedding party & family portraits, the ceremony and finally the special events at the reception. We plan our shoot around your wedding book layout, so each section tells the story of your wedding day, capturing the most special moments of the day – All of the most important details that help show your wedding day. Each and every wedding is unique, so we focus on telling your story with our photojournalistic style of coverage.

HOW MANY WEDDINGS DO YOU SHOOT A YEAR?
We shoot on average 20 weddings a year. For several years we shot almost 50 a year. We’ve found that shooting less is better, better quality for our clients, and better in general. We now only shoot a select number of weddings each year to allow us to focus more on the quality of what we shoot, and deliver higher quality wedding albums and print products. We also like to shoot weddings without having 3 or 4 other second photographers on staff. so when we shoot your wedding, you actually get our principal photographer shooting your wedding, so you get the best photographer and the best photographs. This means we have less availability, but can offer our couples the very best in quality. This also means that if you would like us to shoot your wedding, you will want to hire us quickly, as we turn away hundreds of clients each year.

HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO I NEED TO BOOK MY PHOTOGRAPHER?

We book as far as one year in advance for prime months like June. It’s to your advantage to book your photographer as early as possible in the wedding planning process. We generally stay booked heavily several months in advance.  Occasionally we do have some availability, and sometimes we will re-open slots that we’ve reserved for personal time off, so be sure to contact us about your wedding date.

DO YOU OFFER A PHOTO CD?

We’ve gone to the clouds! We offer a revolutionary new photo delivery system called PASS, that delivers your images on your own personal APP. You will be so happy with this, way better than a photo cd, and you can download all your images to any computer, share the APP with friends and family, and order prints directly from your computer or smart phone. Our packages include the APP, and you get access to your images free for one full year, you get full resolution licensed images, and you can extend your APP access after the first year for a nominal fee. You will be able to print your images on your own, or you can use our print services. (We are one of the very first photography studios in the country to offer this, we spent months as a beta tester for this new software, and can say if you do not have PASS for your wedding, you will be missing out on one of the most amazing experiences in photo viewing ever available before now – no kidding, you will love PASS.)

DO YOU OFFER A PAYMENT PLAN FOR YOUR WEDDING PACKAGES?

Yes, we offer several ways to pay, by check or credit card with our online payment webpage, and can offer a monthly plan for your wedding, so by your wedding day, your package can be paid fully and you can go on your honeymoon not worried about any bills.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEDDING ALBUMS?

Yes, we have the most current and modern wedding books that brides love. From full leather luxury albums to modern coffee table books, we have the very best quality books available. We have color swatches to help you see what are the hottest new covers, or the newest metal and acrylic covers. Our books come in a variety of sizes, and we have both high end wedding books and affordable professional photo books. We custom design each layout and send you a proof by email before we ever print and bind, so you will know exactly what your book will look like.

HAS YOUR STUDIO RECEIVED ANY AWARDS OR SPECIAL RECOGNITION?

We are very excited and honored to have won several awards for our photography. We’ve received several prestigious awards of excellence for WPPI  (Wedding Portrait Photographers International) over the past several years, as well as best photography awards for several regional and local competitions. We were featured in 2012 as one of the “Top 10 weddings” in Memphis, it was such an honor to be chosen for this award. We’ve been published in many photography books, and been selected as the editors choice for several wedding blogs and magazines. We’ve been featured on the cover of Southern Bride Magazine several times, and for the past 5 years Michael has worked as the fashion editorial photographer for Southern Bride Magazine, shooting numerous spreads for the magazine. We’ve also won special recognition awards for business success over the years. We’ve been published in several magazines and blogs, such as I DO for Brides, Pink Bride, Emmaline Bride, The Commercial Appeal, and more. We’ve also had our work featured worldwide by the hairfashion industry, and the music industry, literally inspiring millions of people. Our goal for entering print competitions is always to help sharpen our professional craft as photographers, and to help inspire other photographers and the public.  Michael is also a writer, and has written articles for several magazines and blogs, as well as writing his own book for photographers. We are big believers in education, we travel across the US to attend professional photography seminars, and we have taught several classes to other photographers – We don’t let all of this notoriety go to our heads, we are as down to earth as you can imagine.

DO YOU SHOOT ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS?

Yes, the engagement session is so important and gives us a chance to “break the ice” and get comfortable with the camera and us as your photographers. Some couples don’t always want an engagement session, we really urge you to consider this option. In life, most couples rarely splurge on getting professional photos taken, of the couples we interview, they all agree, an investment into great photos helps them re-live the best moments of their lives, and makes them stronger as a couple. Looking back over the years with great photos makes a huge impact on how your love grows for each other year after year. Most engagement sessions are photographed in a casual lifestyle setting, so you can capture the “real you”.

WHERE IS THE BEST LOCATION FOR ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS?
Let us know if you prefer a park setting or a downtown urban style setting. About a week after the session, I post about 60-70 images on the website for you to view and purchase. Depending on your package selection, I furnish an online access of the images, from there you can download individual photo image files, just like would would purchase a song on “itunes”. There are several options from Guest Signature Frames, Guest Signature albums, to full engagement coffeetable books and digital picture frames, or for your ipad loaded with all your images.

HOW LONG DOES THE ENGAGEMENT SESSION LAST?
The sessions last anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours depending on your package selection, we try to shoot in several locations, we move to a couple of areas to give you some different looks. If you are on a destination wedding, we typically ask to spend part of a day with you roaming around on a photo adventure a day or 2 before the wedding, that way you’ll have both wedding photos and couples photos separate from the wedding. If possible, plan your session about 6 months before the wedding to allow time to select prints and send announcements. Also, you can create your wedding website with the photos for friends and family to enjoy.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SHOOT A COUPLES ENGAGEMENT FILM?
If we are shooting a short film, allow more time – at least 3-6 hours. Shooting a film with a planned script takes time. Finding locations and moving to various locations takes even more time. Shooting in public places can also be a challenge from time to time. We guarantee that you’ll possibly have an adventure of your lifetime, it’s fun and a great memory for couples to share with each other.

WE ARE NOT COMFORTABLE IN FRONT OF A CAMERA, WHATS THE BEST WAY TO GET REALLY GOOD PHOTOS FROM OUR COUPLES SESSION?
Clear your calendar for at least half the entire day- If you feel rushed on your shoot day, it will show in your photos. Leave your cell phone in the car, and block out your time. If you have too much planned on your shoot day, you will be tense and hurried. Don’t schedule the shoot the day of a major football game, or your man will be more focused on the big game than on you. This should be the most important event on your calendar. We like to work with you as professionals, but want to help you relax and enjoy your shoot. We will talk you through each step of the shoot, and give you tips on how to be the most photogenic. We like to laugh and play, and have a good time so your session is fun and enjoyable, that helps you relax and be your best in front of the camera.

WHAT DO WE WEAR FOR OUR ENGAGEMENT SESSION?

We suggest to bring at least one change of clothes to your session. For the guys, look to GQ Magazine for the latest looks. Wear black slacks and a button down shirt in soft solid colors like grays, blues, nuetrals. Avoid bright colors, and bring some jeans too. A black sport coat for a bit more formal look. You really want your girl to look dymamic, so keep your style simple to complement her dress style. Wear some layers to change your look during the session. Tip: Don’t tuck your shirt in, keep it out and relaxed! Pretend this is your day off and the two of you are just out having a good time together. This should be fun! Bring some flip flops and casual shoes too!

Girls, wear flirty skirts or dresses. Keep them simple and avoid bold bright colors. You can look in most fashion magazines and get some ideas. Bring a formal dress in black and white, and bring
some jeans. After we get the serious stuff out of the way, we tend to have lots of fun in our sessions. If you are stuck and can’t figure it out, we have fashion consultants in the salon that will help you decide “what not to wear”. We shoot fashion spreads for magazines all the time, we can definitely show you what’s in style!

DO YOU SHOOT BRIDAL SESSIONS & DAY AFTER/BEFORE SESSIONS?

We offer some incredible sessions with some of our packages. These sessions can be scheduled before or after the wedding day. Each session is personalized, and locations are your choice. (Some locations charge and additional fee for the venue.) These portrait sessions offer beautiful framed wall prints for your home. We also offer custom framing to match your decor. We can also create a custom bridal album of the session for you to give the groom as a special gift from the bride. We also offer very tastefully done bouduoir sessions as well, these are elegant and timeless.

The latest in wedding bridal sessions is “Trash the Dress”. Don’t worry, your dress won’t be ruined, but it may require a cleaning before you pack it away as a keepsake. These sessions are very fun, and we venture to some crazy locations like a junk yard, or an outdoor fountain, or water park. If you want the groom in the shoot too, be sure to have him rent the tux for the shoot. These bridal sessions generally last about an hour or more depending on the location. The goal of the shoot is to get you in some very artistic photos, not your mom’s bridal portrait of the past. This is totally modern art!

DO YOU OFFER A BRIDAL SESSION ON OUR WEDDING DAY?

If you are considering a bridal portrait done on your wedding day, remember that time limitations rarely allow for a full bridal portrait session . . . . we may shoot a couple of portraits on the wedding day, but we HIGHLY recommend a bridal portrait session to be done prior or after the wedding day. For a bridal portrait session, we have more time, and controlled lighting similar to what we do for our magazine features. A full portrait session can take several hours, so we recommend this option for the very best portrait. If you try to get a shot or two on your wedding day, we can do that too, but a pre-wedding day shoot is the best option for the most photos.

Be sure to contact us early and we can plan what you want and your end goal with the photos. The best way to geat some really amazing couples photographs that are truly artistic and creative is to schedule a “Day After” session for the bride and groom. With our day after sessions, we spend a lot of time with each couple and concentrate our artistic energy on taking some really incredible photographs of you having fun, interacting with tender loving care, and creating some serious portraits that will make you look like rock stars of famous celebrities, or, you can just be yourself. We suggest a day after session for couples because on the wedding day, you rarely have the time so spend a few hours just on you.

DO YOU USE TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS TO COVER OUR WEDDING?

We can use two photographers depending on the package choice. Some weddings just don’t need two photographers, so charging you for two photographers is not necessary. If you are concerned about your coverage, know that Michael is more like a Ninja – he is fast, accurate and always on the lookout for special moments, he rarely puts the camera down. For the ceremony, he sometimes uses some pretty cool modern technology, a remote control camera that he operates simultaneously while shooting his handheld camera. His goal is to be unobtrusive, stealthy, and give you some stellar photographs. For larger weddings, we definitely recommend and extra photographer, and we have that option in our packages.

WHATS THE BEST ADVICE FOR OUR BIG WEDDING DAY?

First of all, plan to really enjoy your big day. It’s a big day, so we suggest to have a personal assistant – someone else beside’s your mom or maid of honor, someone that can help you that’s not necessarily in the wedding. Most wedding planners can assign a personal assistant to be by your side all day long. It’s a busy day all by itself, you’ll be glad you decided to have a personal concierge by your side. If you chose not to see each other before the wedding ceremony, we suggest a day before/after couples session, you get to spend some quality time with the photographer. Some of our best couples images come from our day before/after sessions. {we can do several days before, or a week later session if you prefer} We do many couples sessions on the wedding day, but, you only get a few photographs with the limited amount of time that you have. A post wedding day couples session give you dozens of images, with lots of location choices, and you end up with an amazing portfolio that all your friends and family will go crazy over. And, our second bit of advice, have a daytime wedding. The best photos come when you are fresh and relaxed, if you have a 7 pm ceremony, you will miss out on some of the best light of the day. Trust us, we’ve shot hundreds of weddings, and daylight weddings photograph amazingly well, night weddings require lots of flash photography and have an entirely different look. Pinterest is a good example, see how many daytime weddings you see posted there. A 4 O’clock ceremony offers great light, and the opportunity for some night time photos as well.

DO YOU HAVE A WEDDING DAY SHOOT SCHEDULE?

We have a photo timeline that we create and follow specifically for your day. Every 15 minutes are organized to follow your wedding day as it unfolds. We can follow a shot list, but our usual process for shooting your day just about covers everything you can imagine for photojournalistic coverage. We like to work quietly behind the scenes orchestrating your wedding photography so you don’t feel pressured. Its about your wedding day celebration, and you should enjoy it to the fullest.

Here’s what we suggest for the very best wedding photography – Daytime weddings offer the best light for photos, if you love photography, then you’ll want to have your ceremony around noon. We also suggest the bride and groom spend the most important day of the lives together, and a “first look” offers that opportunity, after the first look, we like to spend an hour with the couple on a dedicated photo session on a scenic location. Next, bring in the wedding party for some relaxed portraits. Then it’s time for the ceremony, and afterwards we shoot a few family portraits. Then it’s time for the reception. That’s it, a simple, beautiful wedding day! For couples who want an after party, you can plan a fun evening at a local venue with a live band and celebrate late into the night.

HOW LATE DO YOU STAY TO SHOOT OUR WEDDING?

We offer several packages with different amounts of time allotted. Most weddings generally last about 6-7 hours, after that, you are going to be pretty tired, and ready to make your grand exit.  Smaller weddings can be shorter times, around 5-6 hours. We don’t watch the clock and leave you stranded, but we do suggest having a well planned timeline of events for your wedding day, and we offer extra hours if you need them at a small charge. The biggest time consumer is the reception, and after the main events are complete, we shoot some dance photos and wrap up so you can have fun and enjoy some off camera time. The last thing you will want is hours of dance photos, trust us, an hour of dance coverage is amazing, after that, it’s too many. If you have a special end of wedding sendoff, we can make arrangements to cover that, or show you some really amazing options for a send off that many people don’t think about.

DO YOU SHOOT DESTINATION WEDDINGS?

We’ve shot in the Caribbean, Florida Keys, Mexico and all over the USA. We generally stay for 2 days at your hotel offering full coverage of your wedding events. We literally become part of your family and capture photography moments of the entire wedding. We can also extend our stay and spend another half day with you after your wedding on an adventure that you will never forget. So after the 2 days of wedding coverage, we then work out an adventure photo session with you, photographing you in your wedding dress and tux, then for the last part of the session, you change into additional more relaxed wedding attire and just have some fun. We may do a beach shoot, or a tour of the local town square or village, or even a mountain hike in the rainforest. So many couples love this option, let us know if you want to add a “day after’ session to your photography package, and we will schedule it for you.

WHAT IS A WEDDING FILM?

Each year we shoot very special short films. We love a modern approach to film making, and hand select just the right clients that like our style. We don’t shoot wedding videos, we create stories of couples on their wedding day. We create wedding highlight films of the very best parts of your day, and keep the films simple and to the point. We carefully hand craft our films, sometimes it takes us several months to edit our films, not because we are slow, because we are artists, and want every edit clip to have our full creative juices. Not every wedding fits our criteria, some churches don’t allow our cameras to move and capture what we need to make our films, so we have a full vetting process before we commit to create your wedding film. We also do not shoot photography and films together, as each has its own special need of our team and equipment, but we can arrange photography through one of our affiliate photographers. We only take a few wedding films each year – we like to meet each couple and talk about our style, and make sure we are a good fit for you. (FYI -one of our passions is short films and documentaries- we’ve got films in Film Festivals, and a documentary we worked on is slated to be in the Sundance Film Festival)

CAN I HAVE MY WEDDING PHOTOS DELIVERED THE SAME DAY?

We shoot all of our photos in RAW format, which takes a special process to extract and process. We generally spend about 40 hours after your wedding day meticulously editing every image, adjusting color quality, brightness levels, toning techniques and uploading your high res images to our online provider. There are some studios that offer same day edits, but we are very picky about our final images, and don’t really advise rushing the artistic process. We can sometimes put a rush on a hand full of select images by special request.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET OUR WEDDING PHOTOS AND WEDDING ALBUM?

Your wedding photos are delivered to you in about 1 week.  You’ll get full access to your images through our online service provider – PASS, where you can see, share and download all your images to your computer & smart phone device. We don’t use templates to design our albums, each design is hand crafted with it’s own special style. Once you’ve selected your top 50 or so images, your album can take several weeks to design, proof and approve. Once you tell us to print, the labs can take 8 to 10 weeks to print and ship. Most couples have the albums within in 2 months on average. If you want it in a rush, we also offer an online album design process that you create and manage personally, and can have a book printed within a few weeks.

DOES YOUR STUDIO JUST SHOOT WEDDINGS?

We are primarily a specialized wedding photography studio. We’ve trained for several years at professional photographers seminars and master classes, and study the top wedding photographers in the world at WPPI in Las Vegas every year. Outside of weddings we shoot editorial photography for bridal magazines, and we’ve attracted quite a few commercial projects through our success, such as fashion & catalog work. We also shoot quite a few portrait sessions in our studio for families and professionals. We also are filmmakers, and shoot several short films each year. However, our primary focus is on weddings. Getting a chance to work in other genres helps us sharpen our creative skills, and keeps our weddings fresh and current.

WHY IS WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SO EXPENSIVE IN GENERAL?

First of all, our professional qualifications are the absolute best, we study with WPPI (Wedding Portrait Photographers International) and have learned from the very best photographers in the world. We’ve one awards for our work, we are continually printed in books and magazines, and we’ve even written a book to teach other wedding photographers. Secondly, our passion for shooting weddings is over the top, on a scale from 1 to 10, we are at least a 15! We’ve been at this for almost 10 years, and wake up eager for each wedding we shoot. We love capturing couples on one of the most important days of their lives, and our creative juices keep us looking for the best shots all day long. Our style is unique, fresh and modern. We are a trend setting photography studio and passionate about photo art. And third, we shoot on the best cameras and lenses in the industry. High end professional cameras cost several thousand dollars each, and the quality of the images is stellar. There are a hand full of top studios in this region, and we strive to be on the top of the short list. And last of all, after several days of editing your photos, we provide a state of the art online image backup storage system that allows you complete access to your digital images, and our image print quality and album design is done by the very best photo labs in the world, offering you the best in professional quality. Our favorite photo lab is located in Italy, and the other is in California, their albums are simply the best in the world. At the end of the day, you’ll want the very best photography for one of the most special times of your life!

WHY ARE SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS SO MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE THAN OTHERS?
There are some really cheap photographers out there, there really is no comparison to real professional photographers. We hear so many bad stories from couples who went the cheap route to save money, they discovered the hard way that cheap photography equals poor photography. Cheap photographers generally shoot weddings as a hobby, they are not aggressive when it comes to shooting, they usually just shoot and burn your images right out of the camera without any review and enhancement of your photos. They only shoot JPEG files, which are automatically flattened right in the camera, vs professionals who shoot in RAW format and adjust each image in a tedious post production process that can take many days to accomplish. In many cases the photos are out of focus, poorly composed, and just average photos. Cheap photographers don’t understand lighting very well, and in most cases they don’t white balance their shots correctly, leaving couples with the dreaded “orange cast” on the photos. On a scale from 1-10, a cheap photographer is somewhere between 1-5, and a great photographer is somewhere between 10 and 15, which is way off the scale! Be very careful to choose the very best photographer for one of the most important days of your life!

DO YOU JUST SHOOT WEDDINGS?
This seems to be a popular question. We are primarily a wedding photography studio, and have studied extensively at WPPI year after year with the top wedding photographers in the world. I have written several books on wedding photography, teach classes and mentor other wedding photographers. Due to the high success of our wedding photography studio, we get asked to shoot for a lot of commercial projects, from fashion catalogs to editorial magazines and more. Over the years we’ve become very well known as commercial photographers, and get booked shooting some pretty incredible projects for some of the biggest businesses in the world. Not every photographer has the ability to shoot both weddings and commercial projects, it takes a special personality and extreme talent to manage both. With all the accolades and success, we still love shooting weddings. It’s in our DNA, and we’ve got a passion for shooting amazing and beautiful weddings.

WE LIKE THE DREAMY PHOTOS THAT LOOK OLD AND DIFFERENT, CAN YOU DO THAT?
Yes, the aged look is just one of many styles that we offer. Most of these nostalgic looks are done in post production where each image is custom adjusted, tinted and toned to give it a certain look and style. Some of it is technique, and we break the rules of traditional photography to achieve that look. We like to consult with each couple and determine the style of their wedding, and make sure you understand the different styles and techniques that we offer. If you like lots of black & white photos, we can simply process your photos as B&W’s. If you like a soft dreamy look, we can blow out the backgrounds and shoot less sharp images, and add special toning effects. Just let us know what you like, we can make it happen for you.