The Start

Your engagement and wedding are moments to treasure for the rest of your lives, and those of your children. An accurate and beautiful record will keep the memories alive for all, as well as let you see the many moments a couple may miss in the whirl of preparations and celebration.

I offer a fine art/photojournalistic Wedding Photography service, covering your journey from the engagement to the reception. This can include engagement shots, coverage of both the bride and groom's preparations, photographs of the venue to show the decorations, special shots of the cake, portraits of the principal members of the parties, and anything else you would like documented.

In addition to the wedding day package, I also offer Engagement and Bridal shoots, which can be purchased individually, or included as part of a package.

I also offer a 'Trash the Dress' shoot, to be done at a later date. These shoots have recently become quite popular with the Bride (and Groom) taking part in a more 'Fashion' type of shoot, where we can get grungy, climb trees, roll down hills, wade in the ocean, go sailing, run barefoot down a downtown street... This obviously happens after the ceremony, and usually after the honeymoon. The dress is seldom actually trashed, just slightly grubbied.

I will happily shoot weddings of any faith or denomination, and fully support same-sex marriage.

The Plan

Like everything else for a wedding, planning for photography should not be left for the last minute; I prefer at least 3 weeks to prepare for a wedding shoot. That said, I can do short notice shoots, with the understanding that some parts of regular service may not be available simply due to lack of planning.

Why do I need the long planning time? So I can do what I need to prepare for your shoot. I will need to meet with both of you to discuss the style and amount of photography you would like. We all need to meet with the person conducting the ceremony, to discuss any restrictions on photography in a given venue, so we will all be happy with my working during the ceremony. The person doing the planning will need to be involved too, so I can see the plans for any furniture placement at the ceremony and reception, know what small special things may be happening and should be captured, and know where everything will be. I will also need to visit all the sites involved in the wedding - indoors or out, preparation rooms, kitchens, the lot, so I can plan of the order of shooting.

Thus, I need a few weeks to prepare. However, I am willing to do last minute shoots, usually on a more modest level (as I will have had no time to scout locations or hold any meetings) and for a small additional fee. Lack of warning will in no way affect the quality of the images you will receive, just the amount.

The First Date

An engagement photo shoot is a good way to start your wedding album, and will also provide you with a high quality image for any newspaper announcements. Some couples like to do the shoot on the day of 'Popping the question', others like to arrange the shoot on a later date. You could even do what one gentleman did, and have me lay in wait while you ask your intended; I will then capture some candids of his or her reactions. These shots will be as formal or informal as you like, and can happen in any venue.

The Bride

The Bridal shoot is a shoot devoted to the bride. The shoot is usually more like a fashion shoot, looking at the dress, and finding the best surroundings to complement the the Bride and her dress. The Bridal shoot is done before the wedding, so is obviously not a 'Trash the Dress' session. We can make it as formal or casual as you would like, and shoot at different venues.

Trash the Dress

Trash the Dress happens after the wedding day, as the dress will get dirty. This is, again, more like a fashion shoot, but we can now be a bit more adventurous. Some brides just want to get shots in more interesting places, or being more active (abandoned warehouses, rolling down grassy hills, climbing trees, running through the city), others are slightly more extreme (swimming or painting in the dress), while some go the whole hog (setting fire to the dress while wearing it, cutting it up with scissors or other more permanent activities). The degree of damage inflicted on the dress is up to you. Most TTD sessions only involve a dry cleaning session to put everything to rights.

The Big Day

On your wedding day, where I start shooting depends on the package you have chosen. For a full package, I will start by documenting the ceremony location - capturing any small details in decoration, architecture or preparation, or the beauty in the landscape if your ceremony is taking place outside.

From there I will move on to documenting the preparations of both parties, capturing candids of members of both wedding parties as they help the bride and groom get ready for the big moment. I will spend about 20 minutes with each, leaving me enough time to get into position in the ceremony venue.

During the ceremony itself, I will be as unobtrusive as possible; your guests want to see you and your intended, not my back. I will have discussed beforehand what the officiant at your ceremony will allow in the way of photography, and all of us working together will make the ceremony a relaxed time for you.

Following the ceremony, I will do individual shots of both bride and groom, couple shots, shots of the wedding parties, a group shot - it all depends on what you would like. I try to keep this session as quick and relaxed as possible - so everyone can get on to the reception quickly.

The session following the ceremony may take place at the reception, or immediately after at the ceremony venue. I will also attend the first 30 minutes or so of the reception (aside from any portrait sessions) to capture candids during the party, cake cutting etc. I will let the person who has been in charge know when I am leaving, so if there are any last minute things or people I have missed, I can shoot them then.

The Follow Up

Two weeks after your wedding day, the preliminary proofs will be up on this site. I will have given you a password protected gallery when we signed the contract, so you can sign in and see your images. I will have prepared a few variations of processing for some of the images, so you can see what sort of work can be done to them. From there, the choice is yours as to which images you want to include in print packages or wedding albums.

A 40% or $500 (whichever is less) deposit is required at the time of booking. I charge $0.30/ per kilometre outside of 25k from the Armdale Rotary. Thus a site 70 kilometres away would incur a $27.00 travel charge.

Engagement

~ Priced as per usual portrait sessions: $100/hour, $50 minimum.
~ The package includes one 8x10, four 4x5, eight wallet size, and emailing of a top print or web quality image to any media you would like.
~ If you book a Wedding Package following the Engagement session, the cost of the Engagement shoot will be taken off your wedding package price.

Bridal

~ Priced as per usual portrait sessions: $100/hour, $50 minimum.
~ Package includes two 8x10, eight 4x5, and eight wallets
~ If you book a Bridal package as well as a Wedding package, the Bridal package will be 50% off. Book all three (Engagement, Bridal and Wedding) and the full Engagement shoot and 60% of the Bridal shoot will be taken off your Wedding package

Package One - $650.00

~ 20 minutes in the ceremony venue before the ceremony begins, the full ceremony, after ceremony session of main wedding parties.
~ The package includes 1 set of 4x6 proofs, two 8x10s, a photo collage, a basic slideshow with music and a CD of your images.

Package Two - $800.00

~ Bride's preparations, 20 minutes in the venue before the ceremony, full ceremony, after ceremony shots of main wedding parties, including individual portraits.
~ The package includes 1 set of 4x6 proofs, 5 8x10s, a photo collage, a 16 page 8x10 soft cover photo book, a basic slideshow with music and a CD of your images.

Package Three - $950.00

~ Bride and Groom's preparations, 30 minutes in the venue before the ceremony, full ceremony, full portrait and candid session after ceremony.
~ The package includes 1 set 4x6 proofs, five 8x10s, a photo collage, a basic slideshow with music, a CD of your images, and a 20 page, 8x10 hard cover photo book.

Package Four - $1250.00

~ Bride and Groom's preparations, 40 minutes at the ceremony venue, full ceremony, full after ceremony session, cake cutting at the reception.
~ The package includes 2 sets 4x6 proofs, five 8x10s, a photo collage, a CD of your images, a premium slide show DVD set to music of your choice, and a 25 page 8x10 hard cover photo book.

Package Five - $1600.00

~ Bride and Groom's preparations, full coverage of the ceremony venue, full ceremony, full after ceremony, cake cutting and 20 minutes at the reception.
~ The package includes 2 sets of 4x6 proofs, one 11x14, eight 8x10s, 2 photo collages, a CD of your images, a premium DVD slide show set to music of your choice, a hardbound 30 page 11x13 photo book, and 48 thank you cards.

Package Six - $2250.00

~ Basically, I'm yours for the day. I will shoot every aspect of your wedding day, for as long as it takes.
~ The package includes 2 sets of 4x6 proofs, two 11x14s, ten 8x10s, 2 photo collages, a CD of your images, a premium DVD slideshow set to music of your choice, a Premium quality, hardbound 30 page 11x13 photo book, and 96 thank you cards.

Individual Packages

I can also custom tailor a wedding package to suit your needs. Just call and we can discuss what you would like.