FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Every quote is all-in: professional editing, a private online gallery, and travel within Santa Cruz County are included, with no per-image or licensing add-ons. Weddings start at $3,250 for five hours, $4,000 for seven hours plus an engagement session, and $5,250 for full-day coverage plus engagement and adventure sessions. Elopements are $1,750 for three hours, and engagement or bridal portrait sessions are $650. For businesses: event coverage from $750 with a two-hour minimum, $1,400 for a half day and $2,600 for a full day; on-site headshot days at $1,250 for up to 12 people, $2,100 for up to 25, or $450 for a single executive portrait; a second shooter is $700 half day or $1,300 full day. Weddings hold a date with a 50% retainer, balance due the week of the wedding. Companies and institutions can book on a signed agreement or purchase order with no deposit and net-30 invoicing, and five or more events booked in a fiscal year get 10% off with rates locked for the year. Travel beyond Santa Cruz County - Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, the Peninsula - may add a travel fee, which I quote up front. Nothing appears on your final invoice that we did not discuss before you booked.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
1. You send me your date, location and what the day involves. I reply with availability and an honest price range, usually the same day. 2. We get on a short call or video chat so I understand what matters most to you, and so I can flag anything about the timeline, the light or the location worth planning around. 3. I send a written proposal with the coverage, the deliverables and the delivery date spelled out, so there are no surprises later. 4. You sign and send the retainer, or a purchase order if you are booking as a business, and the date is yours. 5. Before the shoot I scout the location, confirm the timeline, and for weddings we build the family photo list in advance so nobody is hunting for grandma at sunset. 6. On the day I arrive early, give you as much or as little direction as you want, and keep us on schedule. 7. You get a private online gallery on the date we agreed, ready to download, print from and share with family.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I started in high school shooting film and developing my own prints in the darkroom, and that is still how I think about light and exposure. I have been shooting for more than 15 years and photographing weddings professionally since 2012. Most of that training is repetition and problem solving rather than a classroom: hundreds of shoots in every lighting situation the Central Coast produces - midday beach sun, deep redwood shade, church interiors, receptions with almost no light, hotel ballrooms and corporate stages. Alongside the shooting I have put just as much work into editing and post-production, because what you hire a photographer for is the finished photograph, not the raw file. My background check is verified through Thumbtack.