Frequently Asked Questions
The simple answer is I enjoy it more. The whole process from selecting films, testing them, developing and printing is a joy for me. There is also something beautiful about the way lighting shows up in black and white. I didn't get into photography to become a wedding photographer. My interest was in fine art black and white prints as well as color/digital. I was asked to take some shots at a wedding and I had to throw in some black and white. The results were well received and I started getting more requests. It turns out I actually enjoyed it as well and my results were getting better and better. There's also the issue of longevity. Using traditional materials with archival processing and washing methods I feel more secure that in the future my negatives and prints will still be around. While newer color materials have improved their stability black and shite has proven itself in real time not accelerated simulations. Looking at old family photos, even the cheap black and white prints look as good as they probably did when they were printed, while the color ones have turned into an orange mush. Just imagine how nice it will be when your children and grandchildren can view your wedding photos as you did. Why do you hand process your film yourself? The simple answer is control. When you process your our film you are able to control the consistency. I spend a good deal of time selecting different films and developers that will give me the results I want in different situations. For a typical wedding I'll use 2-5 different types of film with 2-3 different developers. I have even tweaked some of the developers a bit to get results I am happier with. Why do you hand print each photo? The main issue again is control. Each final print is hand printed on double weight fiber based paper. I know what I want my prints to look like and I know how to get it. During printing I can make a number of adjustments and contorl the tone and contrast locally to get the print to be where I want it. When I print them myself I know that they were processed and washed to archival standards. I actually shoot quite a bit of color in other areas of photography. For weddings I can shoot color on request and this is typically limited to the posed shots and ceremony. The vast majority of my photos are black and white though. If you want mostly color photos I can help you find someone else. If you'd still like me to do some black and white for you I am available for part days if you have another photographer. Read more below. Currently no. I still have a fondness for film but eventually digital cameras will be more appealing to me. All my color work gets scanned and adjusted/manipulated digitally before it gets printed. Do you offer video services as well? Yes. For more information view my Video Services Page. Can you colorize or tone prints? My fiber prints can be selenium toned. This doesn't drastically change the color of the photo but it helps improve print stability over time. If you are interested in sepia toning (brown toning) that is available at an additional charge. Sepia toning is a lot more labor intensive when done traditionally. If you are interested in just a warmer tone I can control that by using a warmer tone paper and developer to give a slight brown tone. If your looking for the hand painted black and white photos where certain parts of the image are colored, I don't do that traditionally. If you are interested I can do it digitally (at an additional cost) and make it look close to the original style but it's not the real thing. It will be cheaper than having them actually hand painted though. Wedding Photojournalism is a style of wedding photography that takes a documentary approach to weddings rather than the traditional posed portrait approach. Different couples have different preferences to styles, neither approach is better or worse. I prefer shooting in a photojournalistic style because I enjoy the natural feel of things. When possible I shoot in natural light, if need be I use a little bit of flash, though sometimes I need to rely on flash more. I do my best to keep out of the way and not interfere with your enjoyment of the day but I will take traditional shots and sometimes steal you away for a few minutes towards the end. Do you take traditional posed shots? At minimum we'll schedule time to take some posed shots usually after your ceremony. In addition I do some posing thoughout the day but I try and keep it to a minimum. Do you take photos at the Grooms home? Typically there isn't enough time to take photos of both the bride and groom getting ready. Photos of the groom with his family and groomsmen are usually done before the ceremony at the location of the ceremony. If having photos at the grooms home is important it can usually be arranged for an additional fee. I already have a traditional photographer can I hire you for black and white photojournalism? Provided your main photographer is ok with it that's fine with me if I don't have the date booked. Contact me with more information since pricing will be different depending on how much coverage you want. I won't be shooting as much or being there as long and I'll work with your main photographer so we don't get in each other's way. How many photos do you typically take? Quite a lot. Since the majority of the time I try and capture things as they happen I need to anticipate the right moment. Sometimes I know right off the bat that it wasn't what I wanted so I might try the same shot when your reaction is slightly different. These things happen so quickly that it's hard to tell. I want to be able to capture the image that brings you back to that particular instant. Dancing photos are also a challenge with everyone moving aroud. I take quite a bit of those because when they're good, they're really good. When you're selecting your photos I want you to have as many perfect moments on film as possible. To get that you need a lot to choose from. This is a very important day in your life as well as a very exciting and emotional one. You are going to experience every happy and loving emotion imaginable and I'm going to get as many as I can. To give a numerical answer a full day is usually about 600 photos. In my base level of service no. There are options to get fairly high resolution scans of your photos for printing or to buy the negatives after 12 months. Your final product is really the prints. I spend a lot of time making them as good as possible either in the darkroom or digitally. My experience in producing custom prints is a big part of the value of my services. To get the same type of quality you won't be saving any money unless you know how to do it yourself and can devote the same amount of time to it. I spend a MINIMUM of 20 minutes on each print I make. That doesn't include archival washing times for black and white prints. Nobody has the experience printing my images than I do. I am not trying to keep the negatives hostage to make more money on reprints. My print prices are comparable to professional quality custom prints from good photo labs. My shooting style and development times are calibrated to my equipment and the way I print with the materials I like to use. There are more cropping options available as well, where most labs will just print it full frame. When I take a picture, I have an idea how I want the print to look. Being in control of the whole process from taking the picture, developing and printing lets me be in control of that vision. When you choose to hire a photographer the most important thing to look for is their style. Different photographers see and capture things differently, you want to find the one that will see your wedding and photograph it in a style you like. The more s/he is part of that equation of producing your album, the more of that style will be reflected in it. How do I view my photos and order prints? I have developed a online proofing system that allows you to view your prints and make purchases online. You also get a cd of digital proofs. The images on the cd will be slightly larger than the ones available online. How soon are my digital proofs available? I typically start processing film within a couple of days of the wedding. Since everything is done by hand and in small batches, to ensure good results, it can take up to 4=6 weeks to get the film processed, washed, dried, scanned, evaluated and uploaded. |
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