Frequently Asked Questions

Contact me on 0439 286 786 to have a chat  :)

Do you do traditional posing?

If you are after a totally traditional photographer, I am probably not the right person for you. I specialise in documentary coverage, capturing the moments between your family and friends on your amazing day! The family portraits are the only ‘formal’ photographs of the day and these are kept to a minimum and are quite casual. Your location portraits are romantic, natural and beautiful. I direct you slightly, but to get the best photos, forget I am there and focus on each other. I will work around you and the emotion and connection between the two of you. I love to photograph people in love. I am not a photographer who takes you to 6 different locations around Perth over 4 hours and makes you stand in cheesy poses ;)

Will you just cover our ceremony and portraits? How long is your coverage?

I am pretty passionate about documenting your wedding story and I feel that just being there for the ceremony and a few portraits afterwards does not do your story justice. Therefore I have a minimum of six hours coverage in the base package.

What kind of weddings do you like to photograph?

I love weddings that are a little bit different and a tiny bit quirky! I am artistic, creative and love people being themselves, so any wedding that provides me with lots of exciting moments and lovely people to photograph – well I am in heaven! I do tend to get a bit passionate about what I do but you  should know I love my job and always put 100% into the weddings I photograph. I am always trying to push myself artistically so I really really appreciate clients that trust me to ‘do my thing’ and be themselves in front of the camera.

Do you do engagement sessions or pre-wedding portraits?

I currently only photograph engagement sessions for clients that also book their wedding photography with me. The engagement session can be added on to any package. A guest book or other products/prints can be purchased alongside the engagement session.

Are you a member of the AIPP?

Yes I am an accredited full member and take an active interest in the Institute and what it means for professional photographers. I also try to enter the national and state AIPP awards and recently received an award for one of my images at the 2010 Australian Professional Photography awards as well as coming runner up Wedding Album of the Year at the WA Professional Photography Awards.

Do you offer the digital negatives for weddings?

I understand that many people want the security of owning the digital negatives, even though most of my clients prefer to order professional prints and other products via me. The digital negatives are available to purchase. The files are NOT watermarked and are at full size. They will have been colour corrected by myself but are NOT retouched, although some will be in black and white (at my discretion). They are at a proof level only.

Any images purchased in albums or prints through the studio are retouched and/or artistically treated.

Copyright always remains with the studio and the images on DVD are for personal use only. Backup copies are allowed but the images are not to be distributed and must not be sold commercially or otherwise. If you are interested in having your wedding published by a magazine and want to submit your images, please contact me and I will take care of the photo submission for you, ensuring all images are fully retouched and up to magazine standards. All magazine and newspaper publications must have a credit to me.

What kind of albums do you offer?

I offer 3 types of album:

a press book (fine art paper, stunning covers, matching case, thinner ‘book’ pages)

a press album (larger range of covers, flush mount digital album, thicker pages)

a boutique album (as the press album but with both matted and flush mount pages)

The design for all albums is not cluttered nor busy and will not have different coloured backgrounds or semi-transparent areas. I do not do spot colouring or sepia but I love black and white. There are many covers to choose from.

Please note again that I do not offer cluttered designs. My designs are clean, modern and elegant and let the images speak for themselves. They have the wow factor, they do not look like proofbooks.

Who decides what is black and white or has artistic treatments?

As an artistic professional, I do decide what looks best in black and white or colour.

I do prefer many of my more candid moments in black and white as it focuses on the emotion. However if I feel the colour adds to the image in any way, it stays in colour. Approximately 5-10% of your final amount of images will be in black and white.

How early do you start with the bridal preparation?

I like to arrive at the bride’s house or place where she is getting ready about 2 hours before the ceremony start time, 2.5 hours if you are getting ready a long way from the ceremony (not recommended). This way I do not have to rush around. I can photograph your dress, shoes, jewellery but more importantly the interaction between you, your family and your bridesmaids prior to the wedding. I would absolutely recommend booking your hair and make up at least 2 hours before you think you should! Soooo many times this process has taken far too long and the ceremony has run late as a result. This also affects the time for your actual getting ready and you race to get into your dress and get your jewellery on, instead of enjoying the process. If we run  out of time, you will also miss out on any bridal portraits. So please please organise your make up and hair for much earlier than you think you need to.

Do you photograph family portraits?

Yes. We will come up with a short list prior to the wedding to make sure we have covered all groups. This happens after the ceremony and takes around 20 minutes. Small groups are best, even if we have to break down into family groups. I do ask that a member of the family is on hand to help out as obviously I do not know everybody at the wedding :) I also prefer that people do not take photos while I am organising the family portraits as it is distracting and people start looking in all different directions. It really does hamper the professional on the day. If people are taking photos, I will ask them to stand behind me as obviously they will be in the shot otherwise! I shoot the family portraits on a medium telephoto for best results, so I am quite far back and other guests need to be behind me or they will be in shot. I am not responsible or liable for family portraits where people are looking in different directions, or if people leave immediately after the ceremony.

What happens if you cannot photograph our wedding (eg. if you are sick)?

I would have to be almost dead to not cover a wedding and have not missed one yet! I am lucky to have a huge network of wedding photographers in Perth who I can call upon if need be to photograph the wedding for you. In most cases, I would still handle all the editing and album design etc unless I am six feet under of course!! Not a nice thought….but if this did happen and no one else could take care of the editing and delivery of the album and images, all monies would be refunded to you, including your retainer.

Outdoor ceremonies:

If you’re getting married outdoors, make sure you visit your venue at the exact time you have planned your ceremony for. You can see how the light falls around where you will be standing. Are there harsh shadows on each others faces or dappled light? If you are squinting, you may want to think about moving location slightly. I can only photograph what is actually there so if you are squinting during your ceremony, it will be on the images. Check out the light before the wedding and make sure you are happy.

How do I back up my DVD of digital negatives?

I highly recommend NOT leaving them just on the DVD. You need to buy an external hard drive (a passport drive is usually enough!), copy all the images onto there and hide it away somewhere! Then, keep a copy of all the photos on your computer as well. I would also recommend burning a few copies onto gold archival DVDs and leaving them at your parent’s house or similar just in case. Don’t forget to print every image out!

I only guarantee the archiving of the images one year after the date of your wedding and you must let me know within 7 days of receiving your DVD of files if there is any problem with the disks. I do not delete the files, but I do archive them and there is a charge involved for uploading them again or burning extra copies once the 12 months has passed.

Do you have insurance?

Why yes, I have both equipment and public liability insurance :) Any photographer you consider to photograph your wedding MUST have insurance. If they do not, they are not a professional – it is as simple as that.