What kind of gear do the photographers use?
We use full-frame professional Nikon/Canon bodies and lenses.
Do the photographers have back-up equipment?
Yes.
Do the photographers bring any lighting equipment?
Yes.
Do you carry liability insurance?
Yes.
How is your travel fee calculated?
Our travel fee is waived for all events taking place in the New York City metropolitan area, Northern/Central NJ, as well as certain parts of Long Island. Events taking place outside of this geographical area will incur a travel fee, typically covering accommodations and transportation (gas, tolls, air fare, car rental, and/or all of the above) for two adults for two nights. If you’re unsure, please feel free to contact us and we’ll provide you with an estimate.
Are we able to cut the engagement session?
Since it’s a complimentary service that we provide, clients are certainly welcome to skip it if they wish (though no discounts will be provided for cutting it, nor is the session exchangeable for any other products/services we offer). We strongly encourage our clients to do the engagement session because we want them to become acclimated with equipment as well as our working style. Along that same vein, these sessions provide us with a tremendous amount of insight on how to approach the wedding day, along with many other benefits, which can be found here.
Can we hire you for the engagement session only?
Of course! And we would be happy to deduct the cost of this session from your wedding photography package if you decide to book with us in the future. Engagement sessions start at $300/hour with a 2 hour minimum, and must take place within the 5 boroughs of NYC and Northern Jersey.
How do you handle rain dates/reschedules for engagement sessions?
As far as a rain date is concerned – unfortunately, we can only hold one date at a time per client. Due to our limited schedules, we need to make sure our photographers are available for other clients who need firm dates for their engagement sessions (especially during the wedding seasons April-June and September-November). We allow clients to schedule their engagement session up to 3 times (2 reschedules) for any reason (emergencies, schedule conflicts, weather, etc) before the engagement session is forfeited. Any reschedules that occur after the 3rd cancellation are considered on a case-by-case basis.
How are permits handled?
Most private properties, parks and landmarks will require a permit of some kind, and the clients are responsible for securing these permits before the engagement session or wedding day.
Can we meet with the photographers before booking with you?
We are able to keep our pricing super competitive due to the simple fact that our photographers maintain other 9-5 jobs during the week. The trade-off is that our photographers are generally not available for consults during the week (and they’re typically shooting on the weekends). We (Karis & Ben) handle all the correspondence, service and post-production related to your wedding photos, which allows the photographers to focus on what they do best, which is wedding photography! All of our clients will get a chance to meet their photographer during their engagement session, which will give us an opportunity to work out any kinks before the wedding day. If you simply wish to know a little bit more about our awesome photographers, you can read all about them here.
What if we only want 8 hours of coverage? Can we use the “left-over” time for something else?
We only book one event per day, so there isn’t any “left-over” time to speak of. Think of our coverage as 6 hours of coverage, and us not charging you a gazillion dollars per hour for overtime :).
Can we book you for more than 10 hours?
Overtime coverage may be considered on a case-by-case basis, and will be based on our availability. The good news is that we are usually able document all of your deliverable images well within those 10 hours of coverage.
Will you scout the reception venue/photo location(s) beforehand?
We’ll generally do some online scouting to see what’s available at the location(s), and if time permits, we’ll scout the location on the day of. The trouble with scouting locations in advance is that shooting conditions may be different between the scouting time and the wedding day (lighting, weather, season, etc). If there are any specific features at your venue/location that you’d like us to use, please let us know and we’ll accommodate those requests as best we can.
Do we have to feed you?
While you are not required to feed us, a warm meal is always greatly appreciated. The last thing any bride would want is their wedding photographer passing out on the dance floor! If a warm meal is not provided, we would simply take a 30-60 minute break off-premises and find something on our own. Our time spent off-site will be determined by how far we are from the nearest restaurant!
Can we give you a shot-list to work off of?
We would be happy to work off of a shot list for family formal portraits only. While we don’t mind entertaining any ideas that our clients may have found on the internet, this approach to wedding photography will limit our ability to document the wedding day in a candid, journalistic manner that reflects our style as genuinely as possible. It’s also super important to note that copying other people’s work is a huge no-no.
Our ceremony venue has many restrictions when it comes to wedding photography. Will this be a problem?
If their list of rules are provided to us in a timely fashion (so we can discuss with the director/coordinator, if necessary), there should be no problems as long as the clients understand these rules as well. They’re simply there to ensure that photographers don’t cause any disturbances, and that some level of decorum is maintained throughout the ceremony.
How many photographers will be providing coverage on our wedding day?
Always two. Barring any tragic catastrophes, the lead photographer you choose always guarantee his/her presence for your event.
What if there’s an emergency?
In those instances, we would simply provide a substitute photographer at no additional cost.
What if our photographer got sick, died, or joined a traveling circus?
We work really hard to avoid any of those 3 scenarios. We belong to many professional photography organizations and we are confident that any one of our talented colleagues would be more than happy to help out if something really tragic happened to either one of us. At the time of writing this, we currently also have 5 lead photographers between our two brands, and we always leave one of us “un-booked” in case of emergency.
How many images will we receive?
A typical wedding will generally yield between 500-800 images, depending on the length of coverage time, as well the number of elements that are incorporated into the wedding day. There are many things our couples can do to increase their yield of images from their wedding day, which can be found here.
How soon can we get our images?
While we guarantee delivery within 20 weeks of your event date, we typically deliver around 8-12 weeks (or sooner, depending on the time of year). Engagement sessions are guaranteed at 12 weeks, but we typically deliver between 6-8 weeks. To date, we’ve never fallen behind schedule on our deliveries.
How will we receive our images?
Our clients will receive a link to a private online gallery where they may view/order their images. A password will also be provided for distribution among family and friends. Additional links for downloading the full-resolution images will be provided as well.
Can we get the raw files?
No. This would be like going into a restaurant’s kitchen and asking the cook for the ingredients so you can make your own meal. We have a professional responsibility to provide our clients with a finished product; nothing less, and possibly a whole lot more. The consistency and accountability of our brand is counting on it! Read more here.
Do we get the copyright release?
Yes. You will be provided with a copyright release, which will allow you to make prints, enlargements and albums on your own.
We’re on a really tight budget. Can you offer us any discounts?
We will work with all our clients to assemble a package that will best suit their budget and needs. However, we have a professional responsibility to keep our pricing consistent with all of our clients, and accomplish all this without compromising the client experience or the quality of our delivered product.
How long will you hold our date without a deposit?
We will place a soft-hold on your date for one week while you look over the contract details. Our availability is determined on a first come-first served basis. We cannot hold any dates without a signed contract and deposit.
How far in advance should we book you?
Our schedules are typically booked up to 12-18 months in advance.
Do you still do maternity, newborn and family photography?
Due to our limited availability throughout the year, we are no longer taking any new clients for maternity, newborn and family photography.
Can we shoot on a weekday?
Yes and no – it really depends on our availability. We only take a limited amount of bookings each year to ensure timely delivery of everyone’s images. Since we don’t outsource our post-production, it would be simply unwise for us to shoot 7 days a week.
Why don’t you out-source your post-production?
Keeping our post-production in house allows us to maintain creative control and accountability over our images. While some clients may wish to receive their photos within 1-2 weeks after their wedding, this simply isn’t possible with the amount of work/care that we put into each individual image for all of our clients.
We’re very private people and would like to keep our photos private. Is there any way to document our wedding day without signing the model release?
Our ability to obtain new clients relies heavily on search engine and social media. If a client found us, there’s a very good chance that they’ve already viewed our work online: a benefit they can now enjoy because our past clients were willing to pay it forward by allowing us to showcase their images. It’s also reasonable to assume that most prospective clients would not even consider a photographer without seeing their portfolio first. So unfortunately, the short answer is “No”.