David Rich Photography

What You Need to Know to Get the Right Photographer - It's Not What You Think

2015-04-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

You're looking for a photographer for your Big Day- you've seen lots of websites, priced a few of the ones you liked better, maybe got some quotes. But unless you have worked with a lot of photographers or have some background in art, you may be finding it pretty hard to compare the photographers and the different packages they offer you.

Which is why the final decision often comes down to price.

Is low price a good way to choose the photographer who you will entrust with your most precious memories? Obviously not. So is the best way to choose to compare the portfolios of different wedding photographers?

Not really...Nobody displays their poor work and failures, although some people who don't have enough work to show (or enough quality work) actually post other people's photos on their websites and claim it as their own. Some get caught, but a lot get away with it.

If you can't go by samples on the web and if price is not the answer, how can you sift the good wedding photographers from the dross? What about positive reviews and recommendations? Trust them if you can view the originals or can talk to the people who are supposed to have supplied them, otherwise they are like photos on a website - and just as no one puts up their dud photos, nobody posts their BAD reviews.

Qualifications? Experience? Professional equipment? It's not about any of those things. In reality, a positive wedding photography experience depends on a number of factors which have little to do with photography. One of these is a professional approach to the business of wedding photography - diligence in ensuring their business can deliver what you ask includes things like paying appropriate taxes, and maintaining the right levels and kinds of insurance, and being prompt and reliable with appointments and communications.

Hire a company or an individual nine months out from your wedding and you want to be sure they will still be in business when the time comes to take your photos. I know it costs

me just under $1000 per wedding to pay the bills that keeps my business in business. Other photographers will have different cost structures, but I'd be wary of anyone who isn't charging enough. They may or may not be able to use a camera, but they aren't making enough to pay for repairs and maintenance or back-up equipment; and if something can possibly go wrong....

Once you are satisfied your potential photographer is professional in the business sense, you will probably want to know if they are professional in the other sense. That is hard, but they should at least be accredited by one of the major Photography bodies. For wedding photographers, that means The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) or Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI).

There are no licensing systems or laws that require a photographer to join these bodies, but anyone who wants you to take their claim of professionalism seriously should be a Member of one or other (better yet, a Licentiate of higher). Although not specifically a Wedding organisation, Membership of, the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers also marks a committed professional photographer.

You can quiz photographers on all these things and they can show you evidence of their professionalism - their time in the business, their indemnity insurances, their Memberships. But even this doesn't cover the one thing that, more than any other, determines whether or not you will have a positive photography experience on your wedding day. That falls to you, because t

he most significant factor contributing to a great wedding photography result is the quality of the relationship between photographer and client.

The photographer's technical and artistic technique contributes maybe 20% to the images you receive, and you probably contribute about the same in terms of your expectations and the clarity of the way you express what you want to your photographer. The other 60% comes down to the strength of the relationship between the wedding photographer and the wedding party, especially the bride.

So how do you find that right photographer?

The simple answer is to find someone with whom you are comfortable. Photographers are not just technicians. Photography is a uniquely interpersonal process. You are the best judge of the quality of that relationship. Be choosey.

Give yourself enough time to see how you feel with them. Use the phone rather than less personal communications like email or texting. Meet them face to face only after you have a bit of a "feel" for who they are, and don't spend all your time with them talking about the mechanics of the job.

Your wedding is a life affirming, often life-changing event. Choose wisely and your wedding photographer will capture emotions and memories because they are empathically part of your wedding day - the best anyone else will do is just take pictures.

A Wedding Gown Trick You Should Know

2014-08-31T05:03:00.002-07:00

First, an Admission ~! I am NOT the sort of man who is into (big F) Fashion. I'm a bit blokey, really, and if you find a heap of dog-eared Vogue or Marie Claire mags on the back seat of my car, that's research. Except when it comes to wedding and bridesmaid gowns.... I am constantly amazed by the gowns that brides choose, and the way they wear them; again and again, wedding after wedding, I see brides turn these lifeless pieces of fabric into Works of Art by the simple process of draping themselves in them.

Of course, putting on wedding dresses is often more complex than "draping" yourself, and it's a wise bride who learns the process from her dressmaker or supplier, and makes sure that her Bridesmaids and her Mother learn how to fit and form the gown to her. Without some practice it takes a long time, and often several tries to get it right. Some brides have an experienced fitter attend their preparations just to ensure this goes without a hitch (so to speak) and it seems to me a good investment. Your seamstress, dress shop or wedding supplier may offer this service.

What has this to do with ruining your wedding day? Not so much - a bit of a delay in getting to the Ceremony is no disaster. The problem is that, simple gowns aside, a wedding dress is unlike any other gown you are likely to wear. It tends to be heavy, especially if it has petticoats and underskirts and hoops....Even more if it has a built-in foundation garment, or requires you to wear one. Add a train and you add to the effort of bearing up under the weight of it; not for just an hour or so - Even if your change into a "going away" outfit, you will be carrying that beautiful weight with you for perhaps 10 to 12 hours!

There will be consequences! Even on a cool day, you will feel the heat. more than just feeling warm, you are likely to perspire; what that does to your make-up is not the big thing. You can repair that; but the way a dress is draped and worn, the real problem is going on ~ to be delicate - lower down.

My mother always insisted that animals sweat, men perspire, but ladies only glow...well this is a case wherethe glow is intense! It takes place between your legs, and it can leave you with a painful rash that might spoil your first dance and that you really don't want to take on your honeymoon!

So Do This: before you put on the dress, apply a layer of anti-chafing gel - Lanacane, Monistat or the like - you can get them from most chemists and make-up outlets; if you can't get it for some reason, talcum powder is a worthwhile substitute - a puff between your thighs will avoid chaffing, If it has an antiperspirant, that's good, too ~ and I promise not to photograph this particular part of your preparations!

When Should You Book Your Wedding Photographer?

2014-08-24T23:52:00.003-07:00

I had a phone call this morning from a bride-to-be; she wanted a quote for her wedding photography. Nothing unusual in that; but her wedding day is in the first week of December, and that raises three problems.

First, it is just four months away, and if that seems a long way off, you have to realise that the majority of quality wedding photographers are booked as soon as the wedding day is set - most of my weddings are committed nine to eighteen months ahead, so three months is cutting it very fine;

The second problem is that people want to get married in the warmer months of the year - in Sydney (Australia), that's from September through until the end of March. March is the most popular single month for marriages in this country, but more than half of all marriages take place in the spring - the start of September to the early weeks of December- so looking for a good photographer at this time of year means looking earlier, not later.

The hectic pace for a wedding photographer during those busy months leads to the last problem a couple might face if they choose to marry in December: many of us take a very-well-earned break in December. With a significant amount of post-processing, album design and other fulfillment tasks to complete from the dozen or so weddings we've just completed, the first weeks of December are very hectic and we are not going to take on even more clients whose work we need to complete over the Christmas period. The rest of the month, with the holiday season upon us, we devote to family.

Does that mean you'll never get a photographer if you leave the booking this late? Not really - anybody with a half-way decent camera seems happy to call themselves a wedding photographer these days, so websites like Serviceseeking, Gumtree and Craiglist can provide quotes from $50 an hour "photographers" who will be more than happy to offer you their services. THere are some quality photographers booking through these sites too, but the chance of finding one who is free at such short notice is remote.
Of course, there is always the possibility of finding a photographer with an opening due to a cancellation - they do come up. But really, if you know anyone getting married soon, you should be encouraging them to book their photographer as soon as they can. And if you are tying the knot next year, either choose a less popular time (June or July) or book your photography now!

Top Wedding Photo Bargains for Brides and Grooms

2014-08-20T04:42:00.004-07:00

Discounts are not a very good way to attract brides and grooms who want quality wedding photography. Cheap and good are not really compatible. But there are some complementary services we offer from time to time which add true value to your wedding day and can save you money. If you are impatient to know what we can do, our most popular special offers as chosen by our couples, are listed towards the end of this post...scroll down!

Why do we do this? Wedding Photography is probably the least expensive professional photography to buy - but when you look at a quote for upwards of $3000 it sure doesn't seem that way.
Most of us only ever hire a professional photographer once or twice in a lifetime, and don't have anything much to go by when it comes to choosing our wedding photographer, which makes price one of the few standards we can use to compare them. But it's not a very good way. Low quotes usually mean amateurs making a few bucks on the weekend, or new photographers trying to break into the business. Very high quotes may mean "famous" photographers capitalising on the fact that they shot Mariah Carey's wedding, or that they advertise in Harpers Bazaar wedding issue, or even that they didn't know how to price their work, so just copied some high-flyer's price list.
Of course, many photographers do not publish prices. Quite rightly, they want to personalise their quote to your needs, expectations and budget. If you phone up and ask a panel beater how much to fix your car you are not likely to get a price until the workshop gets a good look at your car; same with a wedding quote.
Maybe a better way to think about it to begin with the average costs of wedding photography to see how your photographer lines up then look at what each offers for the money. But only compare quotes of photographers whose work your REALLY like.
What is the average? In Australia last year it was just shy of $4,000. That's about 9% of the total average wedding spend of $36,000. Remember though - average doesn not mean that's what most people pay! Many of my clients opt to pay less than $2000, but it takes just one high-end client wanting the Black Label package at $4900 to push the average well above what most people invest, which is a bit over $2400.
This is the way I would look for a photographer if I was getting married... 12 months in advance of getting married I'd start looking for wedding photographers who regularly work in the area where I want to get married (local knowledge is very valuable). I'd start my search with phone listings like True Local and the Yellow Pages, then add wedding directories like Wedding Wire, Wedding.com.au, Snapknot.
I'd look through the information published on line in these sources and go on to the photographer's web sites of those I liked the look of. Along the way I'd be getting some idea of what the better photographers are charging and I'd begin to work out how to budget to be able to afford the kind of photographers I really want.
Budgeting is one reason I would begin at least 12 month out. The other reason is that if you left it much longer to book me, you would probably be too late. Most of my bookings are taken up in 9 to 18 months before the wedding day. You can improve your odds of getting your photographer by avoiding the busiest months - I always have to turn down half a dozen couples every September, October is even worse and November is always oversubscribed, too.
Most photographers don't try to take advantage of this heavy demand to price gouge; but knowing that these three months account for more than half of all wedding bookings should tell you that if you aren't ready to make a commitment (ie a deposit) you can't expect a photographer to hold the date while you shop around for a cheaper price.
It is frustrating when a couple who seem like a good fit for your style of wedding photography want to shop around; you don't want to seem like a pushy sales type, and you don't want to undermine the value of your work - your art. Different photographers have their own approaches: mine is to offer some valuable incentives. Doing this through partnerships with high-end wedding providers means that I can do this without significant cost to my business, because my partners get extra clients. Each of these incentives is popular, but some rate higher with more brides and grooms than others, and while we are always open to new ideas, these were the most popular in 2013-2014:

Free hair-styling and make-up from specialist wedding professionals

A smartphone app that lets you carry your wedding photos with you and share them phone to phone or via social media

A short DVD as a 'thank-you" for each member of your Bridal Party

Playing cards featuring your wedding photos on the back for your Bridal Party

A photo book for your parents (or others) with your wedding album

Some previously popular items no longer interest our clients (digital photo frames) and I don't doubt there will be new ideas to ad, while some of these current favourites will drop off the top five... for instance, Photo Booths and Pre Wedding sessions are hovering just outside the top five.

I'm interested to know how you these rate for you...leave me a comment!

Insure Your Wedding? Why?

2013-07-23T05:27:00.001-07:00

Why are there so many brides and grooms taking out Wedding Insurance? One reason is that quite a few venues include a hiring agreement, which you have to sign, with an indemnity clause. It makes you responsible for any losses or damages resulting from your wedding; some even insist on you having you own liability insurance because they realise that most couples can not afford to make good the kind of losses they could face.

Really?? How much could that be? It isn't just that weddings are expensive, but they all carry what the law calls a Public and Products liability risk. Simply put, you can be held legally and financially responsible for yourself and all your invited guests. Even so, you can always look for a venue that doesn't insist on you taking out insurance for their benefit. Think on, though - there are some pretty good reasons to take out a wedding insurance policy to protect yourself... and it doesn't cost that much: read on...

I attend a lot of weddings, and I have rarely seen one that went just the way it was planned, with no little problems along the way: you have to plan for things going wrong: allow more time than you think you need; have an alternative location if the weather turns bad: you plan, you adjust, you cope. But I have seen a few major incidents, too - and a lot of things are beyond anyone’s control. When something unexpected does go wrong, it is frightening how quickly the costs can add up.

You can't insure against every possible eventuality - Nobody insures against a wedding cancelled because the groom got cold feet! But beyond this, for wedding couples - or their parents - who have lovingly planned every detail and budgeted down to the last penny, even a relatively small loss can be devastating, while a large loss or liability claim can be a financial disaster.

Think of it this way: the average wedding costs upwards of $30,000, making your “big day” probably the second biggest purchase an Aussie couple will make (after the family home). Protecting such a big emotional and financial investment against the unforeseen can not only give you peace of mind, but it can save you thousands of dollars if things do go wrong.

I'm not an insurance salesman, and I don't get any kickback from any insurer, so why do I sound so pessimistic about my favourite celebration? Because it doesn't matter if it's extreme weather, no-show vendors or some alcohol-related incident at the reception. What counts is having to cover the huge costs involved - such as damage to furniture and equipment, disputes with vendors (lawyers love these), and cancellation or postponement of your wedding.

Insurance policies designed especially for weddings covers things like loss of deposit and other expenses, cancellation and postponement costs caused by your booked venue being unavailable (they get flooded, catch fire - I know of one where renovators failed to complete their work on time and it couldn't be used).

The worst possible scene - the death of the bride, groom and/or one of their immediate family members is such a terrible tragedy. But it's made even worse when the various vendors' bills start arriving for a wedding will never be held. And yes, I have seen something like this happen: a wedding postponed because a grandparent passed away shortly before the wedding day, and another when a wedding was moved at the last minute because a close family member became terminally ill and could not travel to the original destination. The family finished up paying for two weddings.

Less dramatic but equally costly- the bride, groom or someone else really important to the ceremony is hospitalised; or perhaps severe weather conditions prevent the bride and groom from getting to their wedding: BOTH these things actually happened to me personally! The Minister was to perform our wedding ceremony then accompany us to our garden party reception; except a cyclone blew the garden to pieces and the Minister had a hearty attack! Then things started to go really wrong!!!

Have you ever heard of a couple having a dispute with a wedding supplier? Wedding Insurers will negotiate for your legal rights if you get into a contractual dispute arising from an agreement which you have entered into for the buying or hiring of any goods or services and pay for any legal proceedings in courts. It will also reimburse you for lost deposits and help pay to arrange replacement services if someone like a caterer, florist or entertainer, lets you down.

Property cover under a typical Wedding Policy includes compensation for the cost to repair or replace property that is damaged or stolen: that can include photographs and videos; wedding gowns and suits; wedding rings; bridal jewellery; wedding gifts; the cake; flowers; your stationery; and the official Wedding Documents.

That loss or damage cover extends for 24 hours before and after the wedding, a time when thieves like to take advantage of your big day.

Other people own things that you could be held responsible for, too: damage to hire marquees and other equipment, rented suits, gazebos, staging, flooring, chairs, tables, furniture, household or lighting equipment hired during the wedding.

Finally, the Personal Liability issue that I mentioned at the start of this blog: wedding insurance covers that, too, up to whatever limit you specify, plus court costs and expenses for issues like accidental bodily injury including death, disease or illness; or accidental damage to property.

There are differences between companies and between policies, and you need to compare before you commit. Look at the optional extras, too, like Honeymoon Cover to protect your home contents while you are off on their honeymoon in case the home is burglarised.

So, from a sudden cancellation to stolen gifts, a damaged gown or a personal injury, wedding insurance can help protect you against the unforeseen, and afford you peace of mind. But can you afford it? Well, Australian premiums start from under $230 for a standard policy including loss of photos, videos, attire, presents, rings, and deposits and Public liability insurance up to $5,000,000.

When should you take out wedding insurance? Insurance companies have limitations on how far in advance you can purchase insurance, but really, the sooner the better. Let's say you put a deposit on your wedding reception hall 12 months before your wedding day but it burns down a month before the big day. Or you buy a dress six months out, which results in a dispute with the supplier because it is not completed to the standard you expected - you aren't willing to pay, she won't make the alterations you feel entitled to and won't return your (substantial) deposit....

Towards a Perfect Wedding

2013-07-15T23:05:00.002-07:00

A Low-tech Wedding Limo

Loving Congratulations

A professional photographer is the only person who is going to work your whole wedding day, from before you slip into your dress all the way through to the time you climb in to your limo at the end of your reception. As a professional wedding photographer I have attended 100's of weddings, and I have had to become something of a wedding expert by default - this blog is a fun way to share some of the 'insider' knowledge I've gleaned along the way.

Brides want their marriage ceremony to be perfect. Part of making this memorable occasion nothing short of spectacular is to involve the right people behind the scenes. Everything from the cake, to the music, to the photographs need to be spot-on, and when it comes to pictures, competent direction and, lighting and posing skills that a professional wedding photography brings to your wedding assure the bride-to-be that she will look absolutely stunning.

Strolling in the Grounds

So, how much should wedding photography cost? I know that every bride would love to have a Wedding Photography Price List and go shopping with it in her hand, but that's just not practical in the world of wedding photography. However, you can get your hands on one price list for wedding photography to help you with your comparison shopping.

Go to my website at http://weddings.davidrichphotography.com and click on the Prices and Packages tab. You are welcome to print off the prices for different levels of wedding photography services and use these to compare with other photographers... you can also click the links to see exactly what you get at each price point. Don't worry that most wedding photographers do not post a price list on line; they are not trying to make things difficult, but too many couples get stuck on the price question, and ONLY shop by price. Lots of effort goes into weeding out "tyre kickers" from real clients, and holding back price details until the photographer is sure that you are a legitimate client is a common practice. Hard to be specific when you haven't spoken to the bride and groom.

Wedding Hide and Seek

Once you have phoned or emailed them, explaining what you hope for (use the details from my site as a starting point) most will be happy to quote you. If they insist on an interview first, there are plenty of others who are more open about their pricing policies.

Be cautious about low price upfront offers. If your wedding photographer charges a base shooting fee, telling you to order albums, DVDs, image files and so on after the wedding, you can run over budget very quickly. The same is true if you hire someone who just charges for their time and a disk full of images for you to print out later... It seems like a way to save some money, but the chances are that you are going to pay more in the long run and get a far less professional result - if you ever get around to making those prints and albums at all!

You should also be careful not to take on the job of supplying photographs for your guests and relatives who want photographs from your wedding day; that can be trying, time consuming and, sometimes, expensive. It is better to look for a photographer who will facilitate everything you need in one easy package at a price you agree with them in advance. If you wish to add something after the wedding (a parents album or canvas wall hanging, for instance), a professional wedding photographer will have secure copies of all your files and be able to ensure you get the best prices and quality.

More Ways to Afford the Wedding You Really Want.

2013-06-15T01:19:00.001-07:00

Number three in a series on controlling the cost of a wedding

Your Reception can be the most expensive part of your wedding - even more than your honeymoon, so there are lots of opportunities for saving money. Don't worry, though - economising doesn't mean you have to do without all the things that make a wedding beautiful.

Music:
Hire a DJ instead of a band; or limit the time the band is required - say for four hours instead of six. Reception venues often include the DJ and MC in their packages and insist you use them. They will tell you that it saves money and protects them (they know the DJ/MC are professional and insured); but do the sums... you could save a lot; maybe enough to make a different venue a better choice for you, especially if one of your friends would like to DJ - someone who's right into your music!

Flowers:
If flowers are your thing, make sure to choose ones in season locally - hothoused flowers are not necessarily more expensive, but anything that has to be trucked to the florist will be, and they are not going to look as fresh if they have been transported or stored. Talk to more than one florist before you set your heart on a particular floral style.

Not everybody enjoys flowers as much as you might think - and throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of blooms the next morning is pretty wasteful; alternatives to floral decorations could result in very real savings and be better for the environment.

The Right Day:
Weddings are traditionally held on Saturdays. Other days are relatively underbooked for receptions and many places offer discounts to attract business on these less popular days. Tying the knot on a weekday could reduce your venue costs by 50% or more.

A Church Reception:
If you are having a church wedding, the church may also be interested in hosting your reception. Many churches will decorate their halls for wedding receptions. They do it beautifully, they often do not even charge for the flowers, and the cost savings are significant - especially if it is your own church! You can usually opt to have the church members do the catering, hire a caterer or do it yourself - well, not you personally: you are getting married! But you know what I mean.

Food:

Nobody checks the menu before they accept your wedding invitation. Don't get too fancy and don't let the costs run away with your budget. If most of your friends like pizza and fried chicken, now isn't the time to educate their palates at your expense. Keep it simple with food they don't have to think about.

Consider two courses instead of three. Make the entree or appetizer a simple finger food and keep the more expensive meat/fish dishes for the mains. The wedding cake makes a really special third course.

Photo Booth
My number one piece of advice to a bride and groom: hire a good photographer and have lots of family photos taken. Ten or twenty years down the road those photos will be much more important than what colour the ribbons were, or what music was played. A photo booth is a nice adjunct to the official photographer's work, but since they start at about $1000, I have fallen into the habit of setting up a mini-studio for guests to use - a camera on a tripod, a set of studio lights, a plain background with lots of fun props. I just keep a whether eye on it or leave an assistant close by in case anyone has a problem or wants their photo taken when there isn't another guest nearby to snap the picture. Lots of fun, and i don't charge for the prints. You can do the same sort of thing, or ask your photographer to organise something similar.

Saving on your Wedding might Save Your Marraige

2013-05-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

I started my last post with the comment "mortgaging your marriage to pay for your wedding is a recipe for misery" and offered some advice about keeping your photography costs under control. But there are lots of ways to reduce your costs without giving up professional photography coverage.

Wedding costs are a numbers game. Two extra Bridesmaids is not just two more dresses - it also means two extra groomsmen, four extra "thank-you" gifts; additional fittings, meals (not just at the reception), probably an extra hire car... It helps if they contribute financially - you have, make it clear that you can't afford to dress them: let them know early in the process - when you invite them to be in the Bridal Party - that they will be expected to hire/buy their own outfits. Part of the fun of getting ready is the shopping and fitting, and you can still have that pleasure together!

Typically, bridesmaids dresses match - but I have been to a few weddings where each bridesmaid dressed individually, their outfits including an element to make them obviously part of the bridal party.

If you only have it for the wedding day and never expect to use it again, look at the purchase with a critical eye. Be careful of "tradition" - a lot of these so called traditions are nothing more than inventions designed to sell more to brides.

Anything that is a "one-off" purchase is a candidate for economising. A dress you will never wear again; table decorations and "favours" - do you really need 20 pairs of salt and pepper shakers shaped like doves, and will your guests enjoy the day any less if they don't get to take home a little china frame with your menu in it? Personalised wedding favours do seem to be the in thing at the moment, and it may be really important to you, but you really don't need more than one - if you have personalized napkins, you don't need personalised matches, lollies, place cards, menus and bookmarks too. Select just one.

Consider the couple who put a bottle of Dimple Haigh on every table (about $500), a china frame for every guest (say, $600), hired a limousine to get to a park near the wedding venue, and then a horse-drawn carriage for the last 3 kilometres. It was very nice, but that was more than a year ago, they are still in financial difficulties and they are still asking for time to pay for their photos!

You can save a very significant amount on the wedding gown if you do not insist on getting it from a Bridal Boutique. There are other options to having a designer dress made - or even buying off the hook at a Bridal Store - and no, "budget" is not a bad word. There is nothing second-class about economising. And staying with the "seconds" theme, think second-hand. Your mother's wedding dress (or your fiancée's mum's gown) might cost something to alter, but what a lovely choice!

Other "worn once only" sources are the classified ads (papers and on-line) and eBay; and I have to mention that I was in a Salvation Army store two weeks ago where I saw no fewer than 6 wedding dresses - none above $50 and all immaculate.

The Internet is a great source for buying new bridal apparel too. I meet brides taking advantage of these very low-price options all the time, and I haven't met one who was unhappy they did - only one word of warning: order earlier than you think you have to. Not only can deliveries be slow, but sizes are not always a reliable guide to fittings when you buy from overseas suppliers, and quality, while surprisingly good, is not something to be taken for granted... you may have to resew a seam or strap, which you don't want to discover on the morning of your wedding.

For the men, the reverse might be true - some tailors are actually cheaper than rentals, and if you choose the right style, that suit can become part of your regular wardrobe. Bargain.

Men don't spend as much on shoes, but special shoes for the bride and her attendants are one of those "traditions" that your parents never heard of. If you were a shorter gown, smart shoes are important - but "Smart" doesn't have to mean "designer" and, under a longer gown no-one is ever going to get more than a glimpse anyway.

Back to the numbers game: reduce the guest list and the budget may come back to black without you having to do anything else. You can invite many more people to the ceremony than to the reception, and really, it is the wedding ceremony that makes you man and wife - the reception is just a pricey party!

To avoid putting anyone's nose out of joint, plan a barbecue for when you get back from your honeymoon or another suitable date. When you send out your wedding invitations, send a note to the "second list" at the same time, inviting them to your post-wedding celebration; make it a big deal. They'll love you for it.

Next post, I want to talk about savings you can achieve at the reception.

2013-05-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

"She'll be right" is still at the heart of what it is to be an Aussie, and that means a lot of couples find themselves just a few months out from their wedding day with planners, caterers, hire car companies venues and others holding out their hands and a black hole where their bank balance used to be!

It just makes no sense to me that to start your life together in debt to your wedding day, and mortgaging your marriage to pay for your wedding is a recipe for misery. But what can you do about it? A bit... but don't leave it much longer!

Let's start with what I know best - photography. There are a few ways to reduce the costs and still get a decent photographer:

avoid hiring your photographer by the hour or for a set number of hours; instead, buy a package that includes all the basics you want. You'll know what your costs are, and you won't run into unexpected financial pain if the wedding runs behind time. After all, brides do get to the church late, Ministers and celebrants do get flat tyres, traffic accidents do make the musicians late to the reception...
Some photographers include a second photographer without charge: that's a bargain, but if you can't find one like that, consider using one photographer instead of two (some photographers will still bring an assistant, but if you have specified one photographer, that's all you will pay for).
A real money saver might be to engage a photography student or recent graduate provided you are not their very first wedding. And if someone describes themselves as a photography student or new graduate, check their qualification carefully. There isn't a course you can do to qualify as a wedding photographer, so there is a very good chance they mean they just took an elective at high school. Look carefully at their portfolio - more than just a few photos they took at a mates wedding - before you commit.

The other other cheap option is to have the photographer supply our photos on disk, without prints or an album.... I really don't like this option; and if you read my earlier posts you will understand why! But it can be a cheap way out. Personally, I think it is better to ask your guests to take lots of photos - but it is a big effort collect them after; and some never come out and most never get around to giving you the pictures!

One clever idea is to have all your guests download a phone app (there are a couple) that will automatically upload all the photos taken on the day to a common online gallery for you. They may only be phone-quality pictures, and there will be a lot of rubbish, but it will let you send the official photographer home a bit earlier (only n advantage if yiu ignored point one and hired someone by the hour!).

Photography might seem expensive, but cutting it out is a minor saving compared with other costs; I have seen reception centres add $1000 to the bill to place ribbons on the chairs; which would you rather do without - ribbons or your album?

Remember, your photos are not just for you and not just for now - high quality photos capture your wedding memories for you, your friends, your family and your children. It would be a pity. There are better places to save money, and I'll post on that later.

The Best Wedding Photographers in South Western Sydney

2013-03-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

When you are looking for a wedding photographers you expect to get someone who knows what they are doing, They must be qualified, right? Like a plumber or a carpenter...Sadly no. There is nothing stopping anyone from setting up shop as a wedding photographer, qualified or not.

If you've been searching for a wedding photographer for any length of time, you may have been surprised by the enormous number of advertised wedding photographers to choose from. Most of these are people with an interest in photography who shoot weddings cheaply on weekends to supplement their real job - a paying hobby.

Wedding photography can be an attractive option for amateur photographers wanting to turn professional.The amateur who can't compete with the professional on quality or service realises that brides, are easy to target on price, because they don't understand what a professional wedding photographer actually contributes on a wedding day or delivers afterwards.

The good news is that there are professional wedding photographers available. They are often easy to pick because they have professional qualifications and registrations, but not always - photography is not a highly regulated industry, so wedding photographers can choose not to take on training or professional membership - but the best photographers do tend to join one of the reputable organisations, because they are committed to improving and developing their art and their talent. Membership is not cheap, and not just anybody can join the top Pro Organisations, but photographers who want to stay connected to the training, criticism and networking that keeps them fresh are willing to put their hands in their pockets.

Even so, with all the hundreds of photographers touting their so-called awards and experience, it can be hard to find the talented and the reliable wedding photographers. You should ask your recently married friends about their experience at their own wedding - but that was just one day with one photographer.

- As soon as someone knows that I am a wedding photographer, they trot out stories about their wedding day; often they share their wedding photos with me, usually with pleasure and some with pride (and sometimes they ask me if I can fix them!). About half tell me who took their photos, the rest have forgotten. But no-one forgets the let-downs; All of this adds up to a pretty broad experience to draw on....

I also means get to see the work of my colleagues and competitors, and not just the photos they are proud of. I get an understand of their attitude towards their clients and I see the quality of their work.

Put that together with their reputation in the industry and you have the basis for list of people to trust. And there is another source of feedback that I trust, too - whenever I go to a reception, the MC, the DJ and the Venue Manager are always keen to talk about the photographers they wish they could warn couples off... not based on the quality of their photos (which they seldom get to see) but on the basis of their attitude, work ethic and people skills - they see wedding photographers at work every week, they know what should be expected of them, and they know who fails the test. I work in the Macarthur Region - South West Sydney - and I reckon I know which photographers would be at the top of my list if i was getting married this year or next.; I know who I would hide from, too. And while I am not willing to risk a law suit by naming the duds and incompetents, here are the ones I would approach - nice and early, before they get booked.

Sarah Lamond:, Artsnic Photography does weddings, boudoir, babies and family portraits; a pre-wedding session is included in all Sarah's wedding packages, her prices are mid-range and her style is relaxed, romantic and full of Style. A visual reflection of her personality. You'll find her at Camden NSW where she has a bricks-and-mortar studio. Sarah is a member of the most prestigious Australian pro photography association, the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers.

Also in Camden you will find Marions Photographics. Marions is a very different style of business to the typical Wedding Freelancer. A family business that has been operating since the 1970s. Impressive when you think that most family wedding businesses are lucky to survive past 5 years. In all the time I have been working in this field, I have never met any of their clients who were not satisfied clients, happy to recommend them to their friends.

It's embarrassing but that is not just my short list: it's my entire list! Just two names on it. Not that there are no other good photographers in the Macarthur... but the majority either don't do weddings, or do too few to count.
There are plenty who advertise in the area; some do not have a local presence (their studios are in Penrith or Sydney or somewhere else hard to visit to inspect their work or get to know them); others have a nice portfolio but a poor reputation; some are easy to work with but their skill and knowledge of photography is limited - if you don't know the difference between hyperfocal distance and a hypersonic drive, you should only be shooting a wedding if you can guarantee nothing will go wrong; sadly, I never attended a wedding where something unexpected didn't happened.

Of course there may be other good wedding photographers that should be on the White List, but I don't know anyone else I would stake my reputation on - If you know any (or if you are one) you are welcome to add the name as a comment to this post... If any one photographer gets a lot of mentions, maybe that will be recommendation enough to encourage people to hire them!

The Most Romantic Wedding Day

2013-03-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Is there a more tender, emotional day on which to celebrate your love than Valentines Day?

Of course not! And it has the practical advantage that you are very unlikely to forget your anniversary....

Share with Joe and Luz in these photos from their Gibraltar Wedding - no: not that Rock perched off the coast of Spain.

There is another Gibraltar in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales in Australia - above the township of Bowral, the Heights of Gibraltar command a spectacular view of the township and lands around. The hotel which bears its name is rather spectacular in its own way, too.

It sits on a golf course, with all you would expect in such a place: rolling hills, lakes, sand traps, wooded areas and open fields (well, fairways) - and all just made for a bride, a groom and their photographer.

The interior of the Country Club is very modern, and unlike many hotels and resorts, the rooms are expansive and filled with natural light.

With such a beautiful, happy bridal party, and this idyllic setting, you have all the ingredients for a wonderful wedding and a Happy Valentine's Day.

Our bride and groom chose to merge their respective South American and South African heritages in a real Aussie marriage. It was a privilege to spend the day with them!

Clever Wedding Ideas

2013-02-08T15:42:00.001-08:00

I like clever ideas, the kind that add a little extra to the day, or let the bride and groom make a statement about what the day means to them...or maybe what their guests mean to them. How about these neat ideas from some recent Practicaps Weddings:

Rhys bought a different set of cuff links for each of his grooms-men. Each one meant something very personal to the man who got it - I was there when they opened the boxes; what a hoot! They are going to treasure those for a very long time to come.

Putting a bottle of high end wine or liquor on each table is not uncommon- a very expensive table decoration. But I have a wedding coming up in which the happy couple have come up with a nice wrinkle on the idea - every guest is going to discover a shot glass with their name engraved on it where they would expect to see a place card. That's another wedding favour that's going to last, and it costs very little.
Another idea I liked really trumped my regular advice to brides to make sure they have a pair of comfortable shoes for the Reception... Beau and Liz provided a box of thongs at the door with an invitation for everybody to take a pair as they arrived for the reception!

Trying to save money on your dress? I have seen some lovely dresses purchased on-line - and I have seen one or two disasters from the web and from mainstream bridal stores - the trick is to get the dress early enough. Not the day before the wedding, or even the week before. I have been with so many girls whose dress arrived so late there was no time for adjustments, final fittings etc. - I suggest you order it to be delivered early enough so you can WEAR it. Practice sitting down and walking, and getting in and out of a car. That way, if (when?) something goes wrong, you will have time to fix it! And even if it is delivered really late, it will still be in time!

Have any neat ideas for the Wedding Day? Have you been to a wedding or reception where something novel caught your eye - why not share it with the world - add it here as a comment.

Restoring your Flood Damaged Photos

2013-02-08T03:13:00.002-08:00

Just two years ago I posted this note to help victims of the devastating floods manage and salvage their precious photos. It makes me very sad to repost advice like this, but Australia is what it is, so...

Australia is in flood. Much of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales are inundated, and while the clean up has started in many towns, in others the threat is still imminent. And as ever, faced with the potential loss of all their possessions, people escape clutching their precious photographs and wedding albums.

CDs and DVDs do not do well in a flood. Layers separate, and delaminate, surfaces are pitted by contaminants in the water, and they are scratched too easily... The readable surface of DVDs have to be kept clean and scratch free, but the most vulnerable side of a disk is the label side.

That’s right - it's because the label side is closest to the reflective layer underlying the recording layer, critical to the functioning of the disk. Only a thin lacquer coating protects it. The read side, on the other hand, is protected by a thick coat of plastic designed to resist scratching and finger marks.

If you have managed to salvage you photo disks from the flood, you can clean the read (shiny) side by wiping from the center outwards with a mild soap and water solution, or a cleaning solution made for the purpose; a lint-free cloth will usually clean off any dirt. You have to wipe gently, and from the center outwards. Don't scrub and don't work in circles; go from the middle all the way out to the edge.

Unlike prints, you should not immerse the disks in water. There are special kits available that will repair some scratches, especially on the read side. They cost from $10 to $30 dollars at record stores, video game stores, and computer stores. They usually include cleaning solutions and a mild abrasive for polishing out scratches on the read side.

Unfortunately, none of these help with the label side, and may make matters worse if used on the label, which is where most of the flood damage is likely to have occured.

Apart from the proximity to the read layer, any damage to the label side makes the disk unstable, unreadable and may damage your drive if you try to use it.

If you have cleaned your disks and still can’t see your pictures, contact a specialist, because some images may be salvageable. It isn't a DIY job, but professional file retreival can sometimes get back some of the files that represent your photos.

If you have prints you are in a much more secure position, especially if you have them in a traditional photo album. No matter how much photo albums appear to be damaged by mud and water, don't throw away your memories... photos can be saved!

There are slightly different steps you need to take, depending on how your photos were stored:

Method 1 is for individual loose prints in a drawer or in the traditional shoe box:

Fill the bath or sink and put them in fresh water; keep wet until you can rinse them off one by one. Change the water frequently to dilute any chemicals in the water. Don’t be tempted to use hot water, or even warm water - it can soften the emulsion or separate the photo from its backing paper.

As soon as you can, rinse each photo separately, taking care not to rub - you can easily remove the softened image, or at least, scratch it badly - use a sponge and clean them under the water.

Lay the prints out to dry as you go, face up on sheets of kitchen towel or butcher’s paper and allow to air dry. If you can’t do this indoors, make rure you keep them out of the sun and preferably where the wind won’t get at them: you don’t need more dirt blowing onto the drying prints and you certainly don’t want them to blow away.

Method 2 is for Matted and Dry-Mount Albums:

Fill a large container like a bath with fresh water - the more space your albums and prints have to swim, the better. Put the saturated albums or bundles of waterlogged photos into water as soon as possible. Don't let them dry out or they will stick together, which will make life harder for you.

Your pages and individual photos will gradually separate in the water over the next few hours. Don't rush it. Be patient and let the mud and rubbish float out. Resist the urge to force them apart.

Even if you have to leave them overnight, the soaking won't harm pictures printed on photographic paper, and although ink jet prints may be a bit more vulnerable, digital photo papers can also withstand prolonged soaking. Remember that "real" photos are soaked for hours in chemical baths and washed in water as part of the developmental process - all you are doing is giving them an extra bath to remove impurities added by the flood waters.

Once the photos have separated and look clean, gently wipe them with a sponge to remove any remaining grit. Do it without removing them from the water, and do it gently.

As you remove each photo from its bath, wash it again in a separate bowl of clean water. Rinse it off, then place it on folded clean paper towels or butcher’s paper (face up) and leave them to dry in a shady spot, not in direct sunlight.

In an hour or two your photos should have dried out. They will soon be ready to remount into new albums or photo frames.

Method 3 is for Slip-in Albums, “Magnetic” albums and Photo Frames:

While these albums and glass fronted frames may seem to offer more protection, the photos in them cannot dry out adequately and they will soon succumb to rot and mould; they will then be almost impossible to save.

Open the frames and remove the prints. If the frame includes a mat (the cardboard inner frame) it will probably have prevented the print from sticking to the glass - it is supposed to be attached to the print by one edge only, and should be very easy to remove; if not, leave it attached - in fact, if anything is adhering to the photo, especially the glass, place it in a bath of water along with the photo as in Method 2.

Plastic sleeves and magnetic albums (where the photo sticks to the paper and is covered by a sheet of plastic) are the most difficult to deal with.
For the sleeves, you will need a razor blade to carefully cut away the edges of the plastic pocket. If you can’t slip the photo from the sleeve, try to remove the plastic from the back of the picture so that the clean water can penetrate and eventually loosen it from the front of the sleeve.

A magnetic album has strips of prepositionable adhesive on the page, but over time it tends to become permanent, and the plastic cover bonds with the print. It may be possible to partially lift the plastic to let the water begin to soak into the paper, but be careful not to damage the photos when you do this. If the page is thick enough, a very fine knife can be used to split the page at least part way to facilitate clean water getting into the paper.

General

While it is fine to let prints soak in clean water, the longer it takes to start the process, the less chance there is to save your photos. Placing them in large paper bags in a refrigerator can help to slow down the growth of moulds and preserve the photos until you can get to work on saving them.

Never blow dry wedding or other precious photos, and don’t be tempted to put them in the microwave!

There are a number of generous photo labs who are offering to repair wedding, anniversary and other precious photos damaged in the Australian floods free of cost. If you need to contact one, send me an e-mail.

Thinking of Making Your own Wedding Album?

2013-01-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

I won't say it the very best part of photographing a wedding; but it is very good, indeed - the look on the face of the newlyweds when they first see their album!

A professionally produced album is very impressive: the look and feel is something that can't be conveyed properly by screen shots or pdf draft pages.

You may think you know what it is like if you have seen the press printed books from DIY companies and stores - but they are just not the same as the real thing. No, I am not criticising the Blurbs and Snapfishes and Harvey Normans out there: they do quite a nice photobook, for what they are. They may even look like a cheap option that is as "good as the real thing", but they are really not in the same class. They are not as cheap as they seem, either unless you are willing to settle for the smallest book with the minimum number of standard quality papers..

Why? Well, the design software is limited in what it can do (every company provides its own software); the paper stock and bindings are well below professional standard and limited in range compared with what is available to professional designers and photographers, and the range of formats is quite small. While a professional can make a book in virtually any length/height combination, the do-it-yourself books are limited to a small number of square and standard sizes - 5x7, A4, maybe A3. Often you have to settle for a landscape book when your photos really need a portrait album and vice versa.

Want a lay-flat album? Good luck! Want "real" photo printing on true photographic stock? Sorry - lower quality rotary press printing like that used for a magazine is the standard. How about an acrylic cover? Or a metallic print? Real leather? If you hunt around, you can find some of these options, but then you have to give up other features that you may also value, because the bindings on a standard album aren't strong enough to support these heavy covers without breaking. You may also be shocked by the cost...say $200 to add an acrylic cover to an A4 press printed album.

But, you say, I can print my own album on the web for $30. So you can! But add postage and handling, and it's now $50. Go beyond the minimum page numbers and you'll get no change from $200 for a 40 page book - and that's without quality page options and end papers. Look for a larger format like A3 and if you can get one at all in the style you like...an extra $450.

Not that many of these books ever actually get made. You'd be surprised by how many couples are still getting around to ii on their 5th anniversary! And that means I never get the joy of watching them take their album out of its presentation case for the first time (Oh yeah - presentation case, optional extra, $60).

One Nice Wedding Freebie

2013-01-20T16:10:00.002-08:00

There are lots of freebies on offer for brides - most of them end up costing more than if you paid for them, and those that don't you probably didn't need anyway! There are a few essentials though, and close to the top of many brides "must have" lists are their hair styling and professional make-up for the wedding day.

Hair and make-up are a bit like photography... anyone can take a picture, but there is the world of difference between an amateur and a professional photographer, and it's the same with make-up. And, as a wedding photographer I get annoyed at the time I have to spend touching up photos because the bride's make-up artist let her down... Not that I would ever say anything to the bride - I just "fix" it in post production to make sure that, in her wedding photos, she looks as gorgeous as she deserves to be on her wedding day.

How do you avoid make-up and hair disasters, and what does all this have to do with freebies? You should very politely refuse your cousin's best friend's offer to have her sister do your hair or your make-up; and hire a professional. If the cost seems too high, shop around or take up our offer of free hair styling and make-up (good for all brides booking with Practicaps Weddings). - and yes, that is an ad, sort of; but I imagine that there are other photographers who have a similar arrangement with their colleagues in the hair and make-up fraternity... ask them!

Many quality businesses are happy to be in these cross promotions - I work with two great hair and make-up artists (Cam Lam and Mina Arnaout), and a top spray tanning specialist (Tracy at Bare Mystique); it isn't just good for the brides, but it works for me - I can be confident that the girls will look their very best, that their make-up will last the whole, long day, that they are not going to be distressed by a hair or mascara malfunction... that makes my task so much easier!

It's good for the make-up team, too, because the majority of brides who take up the offer have bridesmaids who need their hair and make-up done to the same standard, which covers the artists costs. A win-win situation.

Christmas and New Year - the Engagement Season

2013-01-05T04:45:00.000-08:00

It's true - there are more people celebrating engagements this week than at any other time of the year - except possibly Valentine's Day.

What a Christmas present, what a New Years Resolution! And what a busy time for us wedding photographers... although it is often a question of having the confidence to say "no" and wait for the Right couple.

I generally do not accept any commissions over the Christmas/New Year period. My children come home for those weeks and it's "family time" for Jean and me... so I have time to think through the requests and referrals that start to flow in. Some are obvious starters: the sister of a young man whose wedding I photographed in 2009 - She was a lovely Maid and I could never say "no" to her. And a bride who is planning to hike into the mountains after the ceremony for her Location Photos, even though it means getting changed in a bush clearing: that appeals to me.

Others are less obvious; locations like the beautiful Eschol Park House are always a draw (my Wife's favourite venue) and we will probably accept the request for that, although it is a budget photo package.

An enquiry from a keen scrap booker who wants to do her own album is tempting, just to see what she does with out images - the others, well I'll just have to wait until I meet the prospective clients; how we get on together really makes all the difference.

Elegant or Informal - Both Wedding Styles can be Lovely

2012-09-24T06:16:00.003-07:00

Some couples like modern cars - Hummers are popular; many prefer the elegance of a vintage limousine or maybe a classic Rolls. But for real elegance there isn't much to match a horse-drawn carriage. No wonder Sandra and Phillip wanted to find the most beautiful setting to compliment their romantic wedding coach - their choice: Curzon Hall.

I can't say I am surprised, but despite being a bit "horse shy", Sandra was so taken with her wonderful grey coach horses that she gave them a kiss! I don't think Phillip has much to be jealous about - I have rarely seen a couple so in love. It was a delight and a privilege to be your photographer.

Just a week prior the pomp of Curzon Hall, Rhys and Krystal celebrated their wedding day at a berry farm - what a contrast!

Hand made ornaments swinging from the boughs of ancient trees, flocks of parrots competing with the celebrant for the attention of the guests the reception in a lovely renovated barn, and no limos at all - the bride and her attendants spent the night in a pretty little cottage in the grounds of the historic farm itself - Montrose House proved to be a wonderful choice, especially for the photographer - I felt like I received a wedding gift!

Sharing the Joy of your Wedding Day

2011-12-23T04:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas is upon us (you hadn't noticed?) and that means no weddings for me until January - I keep December for family, and the kids have started to arrive - with 6 adult kids and 8 grandchildren, plus all the spouses, girlfriends, mates and partners, who has time to take on more work? If I did my wife would accuse me of doing weddings to avoid real work!

Something to think about in this giving season: your wedding means the world to you, but it could be very meaningful for others, too - even people you have never met... last year, the portion of our fees that we set aside for charity contributed $2800 to the Salvation Army; sponsored two African and two Asian children, dug two wells and bought two goats for third world villagers, and helped support victims of the New Zealand earthquake and the Queensland floods. For five of the last 6 years we were also able to sponsor a national photography competition in support of Mental Health Month.

All this is made possible by the fees you pay for your wedding photography; we are grateful for the opportunities you give us to help others, and today, just two days before Christmas, I want to acknowledge what you have made possible and thank all our brides, grooms, parents and friends. Your special day has made other lives better, safer and healthier.

In 2012 the major recipient of your support will be the GROW Residential Rehabilitation program. This is GROW Residential's 30th year of caring mutual live-in community support for people struggling to overcome both mental illness AND drug dependency. That is special: many psychiatric services refuse to accept mentally ill people if they have a drug problem, while drug rehabs turn away people who have a mental illness.. yet the majority of people have both! So great praise for GROW.

We are hoping to contribute $2500 to the community over the next 12 months while still meeting our commitments to Child Sponsorship and relief programmes and the Salvos; with most of the first half of 2012 booked already, and wedding bookings coming in steadily for the June-November period, we have high hopes of meeting that goal

So, please accept the warmest wishes from David Rich Photography and Practicaps Weddings. May your Christmas be a time of joy, and may your upcoming wedding day be a life changing event for you and for somebody else, too..

Better than a wedding Album?

2011-05-06T05:44:00.000-07:00

I've recently updated my website - well, really, my packages and pricing structure. I discovered that the majority of my clients were moving away from the Black Label and Platinum packages and opting instead for the Coffee Table Package. Then they were adding features from the higher priced collections. The very personal package they finished with was usually a bit less expensive than the Platinum or Black Label, but not that much...

It is obvious that tastes have changed, and in restructuring my packages, I found ways to do just what my brides were doing - designing high-end wedding packages for less money. The average price drop is about $500 compared with last year. That's pretty cool - in a market where many wedding photographers are having to increase fees, to be able to offer a lower price without compromising quality or losing money is a real win-win.

But just what were my brides building their packages around? Albums and Photo-books!

"Wall art" (canvas prints and "splits", framed enlargements and so on) is still very popular, especially the wonderful prints embedded directly into metal surfaces. But individual postcard prints and unframed prints up to A4 are not valued as they once were. And iPads and digital photo frames with wedding photos loaded are just not attracting the same interest as they were. They may again, and I still have them to offer, but the Album is the thing.

Personally, I love the large format traditional album. Not the thing you stick pictures in with a pot of glue or some photo corners... A beautiful matted books with a carefully laid out set of photos in different sizes and formats is just so impressive with its embossed covers and thick, thick pages - you can feel the quality.

They can be expensive though - partly because of the materials needed to make such a heavy album last through years of handling, but also because they are all hand made and assembled. Every mask on every page has to be cut, the photos printed to fit (often at non-standard sizes) and the entire book then has to be assembled and sewn. We photographers don't make life easier for the album makers when we insist on designing highly individual albums for you.

Coffee Table books are somewhat less expensive. Since they are made on a printing press, with their images printed directly to the page in any format and layout that the designer desires, assembly is reduced to final binding and sewing. That cuts the price considerably, but the very best of these is still designed to last a lifetime, and the types of paper, the cover options and the quality of their spill and UV protection sets them apart from the many on-line and department store DIY copies. You would never mistake one of these for a $100 make-your-own-picture-book.

There are other options, too - Hybrid books that offer true, high gloss 1600 dpi printing on pages that lay flat when opened to display your wedding photos nearly a metre wide; "Duo" albums that mix press printed and matted photos in the same album, and metal or crystal or acrylic covers to complement the more traditional photo, linen and leather covers..

Is there anything better than a wedding album? I don't think so, and it seems our clients agree.

New Locations for Wedding Photography

2011-04-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

"Where should we go for our wedding photos?" Sounds like an easy question for a wedding photographer, and in some ways it is, but if you want to keep you pictures fresh, you really need to tailor your locations to your couples. You need to get to know them first. Thing is, it's often one of the first things they want to know, almost a test question from one of those "what to ask your wedding vendor" booklets.

I usually name a couple of possible locations, then ask if they have looked at any they like or seen any pictures they can see themselves in and try to refine (or expand) the choices from there -

Very often though, I need to go and see. What is in the local area, how do the travel times fit in with the venues for the ceremony and the reception, and are there any booking requirements or fees involved. It isn't unusual for me to have to do this while the client is still deciding between me and another photographer, which was the case this week. As I write this, I have traveled about 100 Km and made calls to four organisations (2 councils, a university and a private garden) to find out if their venues are available on the required date, and how much they charge.

I have passed the information on to the couple, although I don't know yet if I have the job - I may well be making life easier for the competition... but on the other hand, it builds my database and I have had a very enjoyable time photographing the best of those venues. It is an absolutely beautiful public park with ancient trees, memorial gardens, shaded walkways, a military section with canon, 25 pounders and mortar launchers (my potential groom is a part-time soldier). Great character and variety and with the right aspect re the sun for the time of the post-wedding shoot.

I never consider my unpaid time scouting for venues or negotiating with the people who manage venues wasted. I always learn something of value, often make good contacts, and come away a little better prepared for that inevitable question "Where should we go for our wedding photos".

Post Script - they went a competitor who also provides video. That's OK - I win about 70% of the jobs I quote for, and I know the photographer they chose - she will do a wonderful job for them. Now I wonder where they will go for the location photos?

Some more thoughts on Style in Wedding Photography

2011-04-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

I’m a Wedding Photographer because it is what I love to do. I have been taking photographs for a very long time - it effects the way I see things: weddings keep my vision fresh. The technical side of image making is second nature now, leaving me free to concentrate on the outcome I want to achieve instead of on the equipment or the techniques I need to achieve it. A photographer's style can flow naturally from this interaction between experience, vision, technique and equipment; more often it seems to come from a conscious effort to be different from other photographers...

So what is the Practicaps style of photography? I tend to be more interested in expressing your style than mine, and I school my students and assistants to stop thinking about their photography and concentrate on putting themselves into the mindset of their subjects. Why should the bride or groom be expected to passively accept the photographers’ vision?

This is about relationship, so as we get to know one another, the approach I take to a wedding is going to come closer and closer to who the bridal couple are, how they see themselves, and what their wedding day means to them.

My own web site includes five different galleries highlighting some popular photographic styles. Most Brides and Grooms opt for a mixture of photographs, with one style predominating, but there is always something that sets each wedding apart, and the "style" has to bend to the couple, not the other way around.

Photojournalistic Photography as represented in my Relaxed/Casual gallery has been strongly promoted in recent years. Some photojournalistic wedding photographers shy away from the Classical/Formal photos shown in the second gallery, insisting that only candid photos should be included in their work. We believe some “staged” or directed photography has a place in even the most relaxed weddings; for instance, the group photo with your parents that is for their wall or album rather than for your own.

Storybook Weddings are wonderfully romantic. They can evoke true emotion, and we love to photograph them. Yours might be a themed wedding, which this style is ideally suited to showcase.

Finally, the unconventional, even quirky weddings are great fun and very memorable - they need a photographer who is really in tune with the couple, one who can join in the fun without losing sight of the fact that what underlies the "quirkiness" is the true commitment of soul mates who understand each other deeply and share something quite special.

Whatever the style of photography you decide on, there are moments throughout the day where something extra can be brought to the day by the use of special photographic techniques and editing. Our fifth gallery is a small sampler of these special effects. Wide angle effects, black and white conversions, unexpected angles, motion effects, soft focus, spot colour... when they are right for the photo, a skilled photographer has the the knowhow and the equipment to make them work.

I'd enjoy your feedback of this blog and on the others in the Style series - please look in on the galleries and visit Vimeo where you will find a series of movies demonstrating the topics from these blogs.

Saving Your Wedding Photos After the Floods

2011-01-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

There are slightly different steps you need to take, depending on how your photos were stored:

Method 1 is for individual loose prints in a drawer or in the traditional shoe box:

As soon as you can, rinse each photo separately, taking care not to rub - you can easily remove the softened image, or at least, scratch it badly - use a sponge and clean them under the water.

Method 2 is for Matted and Dry-Mount Albums:

Once the photos have separated and look clean, gently wipe them with a sponge to remove any remaining grit. Do it without removing them from the water, and do it gently.

In an hour or two your photos should have dried out. They will soon be ready to remount into new albums or photo frames.

Method 3 is for Slip-in Albums, “Magnetic” albums and Photo Frames:

General

Never blow dry wedding or other precious photos, and don’t be tempted to put them in the microwave!

Giving Away the Farm

2011-01-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

If you don't like moaners, don't read today's post, because I am going to have a whinge!

Many wedding photographers provide their clients DVDs with the image files from their wedding day - many do not, and some will supply them for a fee.

Photographers who never offer files on a disk, or who charge for the files, tend to be highly respected professionals. Men and women with really impressive reputations, amazing talent and great skill. They know something that you may not have realised - they know that you do not really care much about their skill, talent or experience - you just want some photos! But still, their Names - and ultimately, your satisfaction - depends on you receiving photographs prepared, printed and presented with the individual care that their reputation is built on.

They also know that it doesn't matter how hard they worked for you or good their photography is, the photos people see on Facebook or in a packet of prints that you hand around to your friends is their best advertisement. They don't want a stack of 20cent prints in a department store photo album to be the measure of their skill and efforts!

A photographer whose only commitment is to provide a set of files on a disk has a different mind set. How the pictures turn out is not their concern. It is your responsibility and and they don't much care where you get them done. They work cheap, and count on low price and ignorance to keep them in business.

Of course, they will do their best to ensure you have good pictures... the trouble is, good pictures are pictures taken with an understanding of how the photos will eventually be used. The file burnt to a disk may print well for a small book, but be useless as an enlargement - good for Internet viewing but poor in a flushmount album, acceptable in a digital album, but not work in a traditional album and so on.

Specifying "high Resolution" files doesn't actually mean anything - or rather, it means different things to different people, and I'll talk about that a bit later.

When I know that I will be managing prints, albums and so on, I have a vested interest in ensuring that the files are not only of the highest quality, but that they are in an appropriate format for the various uses to which they are going to be put.

What is more, knowing in advance how they will be used, I can photograph each wedding with those uses in mind; I need to be sure that, in addition to the "standard" photos that make up most wedding collections, there will be images in the portfolio that will be ideal for each planned use.

Why isn't it enough to just be sure that all the images are high resolution (HiRes)? Can't HIRes files be enlarged for any anticipated use... unfortunately not: HiRes is not a meaningful term. When you ask most burn-and-shoot photographers what they mean by HiRes, they tend to talk about how many megapixels their camera captures- but the little toy cameras in cell phones have more megapixels than some professional SLR cameras. You would never think of them as HiRes! These photographers are mixing up pixel counts with resolution and digital capture with output. It is the output resolution that counts! Without going into technical detail, it is all about the final image, not the file it came from.

Printing presses (used for digital photo books) and inkjet printers used for most quality prints and albums, have different requirement, but basically you need a file that can provide 300 dots of ink(dpi) for every linear inch (25mm). of your print. If your photographer has supplied you with typical jpeg files direct from the camera to the disk, they will not manage this. If he shot in RAW, and then used default settings from most conversion software, it will still not be set up for enlargements - but pictures up to A4 will be fine - usually - and other uses will be "good enough, but a long way short of what they should be.

I was interested to read an ad from a "professional photographer" which offered hi-resolution files for purchased on disk: up to 250 files, edited and able to be printed as large as 5"x7". To me, that does not suggest a high resolution; a 300 dpi file could be produced easily from a 2 megapixel camera; I suspect those files have been intentionally reduced to prevent enlarging, but they are still High Resolution.

The standard printer used for pro quality albums prints at 600 dpi. I work with a company that has a one-of-a-kind 3600 dpi printer; try uploading your typical shoot-and-burn files to that and then tell me about hi-res files.

You get what you pay for - so if you pay for a disk, that is what you get; the photos on it are often just an excuse to collect a fee for the disk. . So you say "I want hi-res images on a disk and the right to print them later" and that's what you will get, too. But since you have taken on the responsibility of preparing the files for printing you really have no comeback when the results are second class.

I'm sorry this has turned into such a diatribe, but I was just shown a set of files on a CD and asked if I could print an album from them. Of the 350 or so files, about 150 are suitable. Isn't 150 enough for an album? A small one, anyway? Maybe, but all the "good" slides are from the garden part of the wedding ceremony, and most of these are so similar that you couldn't use more than half of them - 19 shots of the first kiss is all very well, but it doesn't tell very much of the story of the wedding day. Add 10 quite acceptable photos of the family groups, one of the bride walking up the aisle and that's about the sum of it. Very few of the indoor shots are any better than the guests took. I could make some nice Canvas prints and some reasonable enlargements... and they will look good on Facebook, but for an album...

I will try to restore enough of the preparation photos and the reception shots to make an album, but it won't be quick and it won't be easy. I can't help thinking that, if the photographer had known she was going to make the album, she would have made a very different set of pictures!

Things Every Bride Should Know

2011-01-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

There has been a discussion running on Linkedin over several months that I'd like to share, in outline at least. HR Manager Chastity asked the Wedding Industry Professionals group members to share the one piece of advice they give a bride that no one tells them about their wedding day.

Some of the answers were trite, some were humorous (usually intentionally) and some answers were longer than I intend this whole blog to be. But there was a lot of common sense and even wisdom in the answers, which I have tried to distill into a list that you might find useful, especially if your own Planners, DJs, Celebrants, Caterers, Photographers and others don't offer you similar little gems.

If I haven't given anyone credit for a particular piece of advice, it is because it is mine; or it is my distillation of several contributions without quite being what any one person said....

I have to add, that if some of these thoughts seem a little eccentric or even foolish, remember where they come from: people who attend maybe 50 weddings every year, year after year. Great as your mum is at planning, as organised and assured as you are about the way things will be, and as experienced as your dad, fiance and matron of honour are, even their combined experience is unlikely to come close to what any one of these people see every day: they know what mistakes to avoid, where the pitfalls are and how to avoid them. So here goes (in no particular order):

Take a few moments between the ceremony and reception for JUST YOU TWO. Perhaps get a few pics then, but be alone for 5-10 minutes as newlyweds! (Rev. Carleen Burns)
Practice walking wearing your dress. I have seen many brides almost fall over when stepping onto their dress (Bernd Kestler)
It won't be perfect, but the imperfections are what makes your wedding memorable (Stephanie Thompson)
Take a pair of comfortable shoes to the reception! (Me)
Don't go cheap, don't be last minute. Don't have huge expectations and you will have a great day. Remember it's going to go by pretty fast...enjoy it while it lasts (Jeff Donovan)
After the wedding, couples have bills to pay, lives to lead, and often little expendable income for wedding pictures, so photos are really not something that can easily come "after" the wedding. Also, if you've cut corners on things like time, then you may not have professional photos of some key moments because you've sent your photographers home (Dana Gieringer)
Prioritize what you really want out of the wedding- and that includes allocating your budget. I am often faced with brides who hired me to photograph their wedding, but then afterwards could not afford the album they really wanted - after spending an equal amount (if not more) on chair covers and napkins! (David Briggs)
Plan the wedding for you and not for what everyone else thinks you should have! (Rob Stratford)
If you go cheap, you'll probably get cheap, and maybe even cheated (Dana Gieringer)
Stop and live the moment - many times we are all caught up in what is next or what else wiIl have to get done. Each time you find yourself in all caught up in a moment, take a deep breath and as you let out that air smile and enjoy the moment (liza atwood)
Decide what's most important to you and be realistic about what that is going to cost. And for goodness sake, get a contract that spells out what you get for your money (Dana Gieringer)
Take 5 minutes to yourselves...even if it means locking yourselves away in a toilet between the day and the evening! (Kirsty Chesterman)
Be sure to hire a car that will fit you AND your dress and, if possible, practice getting in and out of the car with your wedding dress (or similar) on so that you can achieve it without an embarrassing moment! Hoops are worst and most likely to put you on display in a way you never intended (Simon Ross)
Be yourself. Don't feel like a stranger at your own wedding (Lillian Lyon).

This isn't the sum of all wisdom, not even the sum of the ideas in the discussion; but every bit of advice in this blog is something I wish I had said to at least one bride this year -
because I have seen the results of brides "going cheap" and being let down (or worse, stood up);
brides and grooms who couldn't fit into their vintage sports hire-cars;
people who didn't have a written agreement and needed one; young couples starting married life in debt to pay for wedding extravagances that they said afterwards didn't add anything to their day but cost;
lots of falls and trips on the dress - brides and bridesmaids both.

And most of all, couple's who put so much effort into making the day meet somebody's standard of "perfection" that they never got to savor and enjoy what should have been their day.

Have a Happy New Year, a Happy Wedding Day and a wonderful marriage!

A Christmas Present

2010-12-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve in Sydney - a pleasant 19 degrees Celsius as I write this note; the weatherman is promising a sunny 29 degrees for Christmas day - that's 84 for the little bit of the world still operating in Fahrenheit.

Four weddings in 5 weeks leading into Christmas has meant too little attention to this blog: my apologies to everyone for that. To make up for the quiet weeks I want to offer a few images from those busy days. That's a "thank you" to my lovely brides and a gift of beauty to all my readers.

Two of these recent weddings were part of the "Second Time Around" series - we think people who choose to remarry, especially a little later in life - are a very special group, and we think very carefully about their photography and how it should be managed. The more mature bride has a different kind of beauty and qualities that set her apart from the more typical twenty-something bride, and she deserves to have those qualities displayed and recognised.

Couples in this situation also have different attitudes and expectations to those entering into marriage for the first time, but they come to a "new" marriage from many different places in life - from divorce, from widowhood; with wonderful past relationships and from social and personal tragedy. Often there are adult children from both sides whose feelings have to be considered very carefully. That also affects how we approach our role in recording their wedding day: it is a special responsibility to the families as well as to the couple.

Of the remaining three weddings, there is one I am sad to say I cannot share with you. Like many Asian brides I have photographed, Amisha and her family value their privacy so much that they are uncomfortable to have any photos online. That's a shame from my point of view, because despite her reservations about how she looks in photos, she was one of the most beautiful girls I have had the honour of photographing.

The other two have caused me a bit of grief in the wedding fraternity--

Unlike some of my colleagues, I will not include photographs of professional models in my portfolio. There isn't anything wrong with the practice, but all the photos that appear in this blog and in other sites I contribute to are from real weddings. The trouble is that I have been having trouble convincing some people that Chantelle and Michelle are not professional models hired for a "wedding shoot". They are not - but I have to admit it is very easy to why I have been "accused".

So here they are - new brides, second-time brides, some traditional and some unconventional and all very special.

They and so many other have made 2010 a wonderful year to be a wedding photographer. I am taking a break now - no more bookings until mid January.
Plenty of time for family and friends and the busy-ness of Christmas and the New Year holidays. The kids will be coming home (all 6 of them) with their husbands, wives, girl-and-boy friends, and all the grandkids, too. Michael has already moved back in, Jeanelle arrives this afternoon and by Boxing Day we will be pretty well crowded out. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Work was never so tiring as holidaying, still I'd not miss it for the world.

To my readers, followers and friends, I wish you a joyous Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

David