FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I just wanted to shed some light on my offerings. I have noticed by asking other potential clients what other photographers were offering vs. my offers. This is what I seem to be finding consistently... #1 when I provide you with a link to download the files, I am giving you the quality of the images as my camera captured them, not a smaller version of it that can only be used to view them or at best print a 4x6 from it at best. Many photographers give you a cd of images. One cd holds nothing compared to a DVD let a lone a thumb drive. You want your digital masters so you can print them anywhere... a cd is worth no better than a viewing of them and cannot be printed from. On average with an 8 hour wedding I have shot well over 1000 images. 2 photographers is usually around 1500 to 1800 and takes up about 30 gig of data. To put that into perspecitve a dvd holds about 4.7 gig of data and a cd 700mb. So 6 cd's equals one dvd. So 30 gig is about 5 DVD's or 30 cd's. Ask your photographer if he is giving you one cd with images...if they say yes, you are getting a proof disc and you are not being given your photo negatives and you will be stuck buying your photos from them. We do not do this! #2 wedding albums... far too many of them to simply say they are all the same. Some photographers make up albums that are nothing more than copies of prints put into a binder and call that a wedding album. More commonly it would be a proof book. The wedding albums I create are 12x12 pages that open up to a 12x24 inch single image across. These pages are graphically designed to look amazing, often floating above another image. The pages are rigid like a children's book. Meant to not bend or warp. You may also see magazine style albums being offered. They are worth about $200 and we can do them too, but we don't make it sound like they are the real deal compared to a flush mount leather bound hand made album. Go to my website and click the link for wedding albums or find it in our blog to see several examples. #3 multiple photographers. More and more I am seeing packages for $1500 or so including 2 photographers. when pressed and asked you will find in many cases that the second photographer is at best an apprentice or a spouse with a camera, not trained or seasoned and often asking questions of the of the main photographer. Your wedding is no time to train someone. When we shoot with 2 photographers, the other person is also a professional who books themselves as a primary photographer same as myself. I’ve been known to capture 250-350 images in an hour during the ceremony. Trust me, I’ve got your event covered. So in all I ask is that before you say yes to someone else and no to me, show me what they are giving you and I will compare head to head. I put my pricing up front for a reason. I show you what you really are getting and will be happy to explain it to you or show you in person.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
In today's world, I would say that 80% of my new clients I never meet in person until I am shooting them on either their engagement session or their wedding day. We do a lot of chatting via text and maybe a phone call or two. But I am flexible and I am happy to meet you. Just let me know. Tom
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have been shooting now for likely longer than you have been alive. My first wedding was shot at the age of 19 in 1986. Since then I worked in retail management for companies like Circuit City, Target, Lens Crafters. In between all that, I was shooting events and had clients who's names you would easily know and for organizations you for sure know, like The Los Angeles Dodgers. As of 2018, I have shot well over 700 weddings and average around 50-60 every year. I'd love you to be one of them.