Wedding FAQ

Amateur vs. Professional Photography: Digital cameras have so far in terms of price and ease of use and that you may be tempted to ask a friend or family member to film your wedding and put the money saved towards catering, flowers or other arrangements.

The worst can happen when you have an amateur shoot your wedding with a single camera - Cameras fail, batteries can run out and unprepared amateurs will run out of memory. Even worse, they'll shoot in a lower quality setting in order to take more pictures and you find later on that the images are too grainy, too small or too out of focus to print. Professional photographers have great instincts and know their equipment so while an amateur is fiddling with ISO settings, a professional is already snapping away.

Photography is the most important wedding preparation: Long after the dress has been hung in the closet, the food has been eaten and the guests have all gone home, the only reminder you'll have of your wedding is the pictures on your mantle. Save money on catering, purchase better rings later on, but wedding photography can never be redone. Pictures last forever and a well documented wedding brings you back to that special day whenever you look at them, long after the memories have begun to fade. Frozen moments of time to share and reminisce over with your children, grandchildren and generations to come.

From Deacon: "Believe me, I know what you're thinking. I speak from experience when I say that, ten years down the road, skipping a good wedding package will be your main regret in life. Mortgage the house, take out a loan, but let price be your least determining factor. Seeing my late mother hug my new wife, seeing us as young laughing fools in love, these are images we can never get back. Long after we've passed on, some future generation will look at the two of you with wonder in their eyes. It's like a little slice of immortality."

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Picking out a photographer is a good deal like selecting a physician. You select based upon skill and accreditations, but more importantly, you find the doctor with the best bedside manner, the one that makes you feel comfortable, the one you trust. Trust is a large factor in selecting a wedding photographer, as there are no reshoots, no second chances. A professional wedding photographer treats the event as a very intense short term partnership, sharing ideas and learning the itinerary to ensure you receive their very best work and no important detail is overlooked.

Planning: Churches have varying policies in regards to flash photography and it is crucial to find this information as early as possible. Speak to the church ahead of time and plan ahead for every eventuality, while we scout out the location, speak to the couple and determine our shooting angles and time frames. Wedding photography is unique in that there's a precise methodology that's not found anywhere else. When a wedding starts, a lot of things happen very quickly and professional photographers are successful in capturing all these events. A wedding photographer has outstanding instincts, fast timing and the highest technical aptitude with cameras, people management and lighting, which is why it's important to have a professional at your wedding.

Finding a wedding photographer

Look for a photographic style that matches what you're looking for, be it a traditional wedding or something more stylized. An experienced photographer can shoot in any style, but always prefers method over others. When you contact photographers, ask them what style they use and why. More often than not, photographers will warm up to you quickly after hearing this question - it gives them a chance to share their artistic vision and talk a little shop at the same time. Getting to know a photographer is the best way of finding out if he or she is the right one for you. Pay close attention to your instincts - the way the photographer interacts with you over the phone is a good indication of how you'll get along in person.

Shooting Styles

Traditional wedding photography: These are a combination of posed shots and 'shopping list' shots; shots of the cake, posed shots of the bride and father, shots of the bridesmaids all lined up in a row, etc

Photojournalism: Photojournalists (also called action photographers) catch action very candidly; there is little to no posing and a typical photojournalist would catch the bride and groom smearing cake on each other or taking that first bite, a candid of the bride and father sharing that first dance with a tear in their eyes, shots of the bridesmaids doing a line dance, etc.

It's important to have a little of both - People tend to spread about during a reception and posed shots are necessary just to get the people you want in the same place at the same time. Make sure your photographer is flexible in his or her shooting style and keeps things mixed up for a more energetic and exciting wedding album.

Equipment: Another method of narrowing your list is to learn what cameras, lenses and other equipment a photographer uses. This will go a long way in learning a photographer's technical aptitude, experience and prior success. Have a look at our equipment page for a list of primary cameras, lenses, etc. that we use regularly. While lengthy, it gives good insight on what equipment we employ for wedding photography and more importantly, why we use it.

References: This is a touchy subject. Some wedding photographers are more than happy to give out references with name and telephone numbers, others prefer to be more discreet. Do not write off a photographer if he is not willing to provide telephone contact information for past clients. An email address is less invasive and allows a past client to reply at his or her own convenience instead of putting them on the spot and it is a courtesy that you will be thankful for after your wedding.

From Deacon: "References are a great way of gauging past clients' satisfaction with your photographer. Whichever photographer you select should be willing to give at least two recent references. On the flipside, after my own wedding we received around fifteen phone calls in the first month asking for references for our wedding photographer and I had the displeasure of asking the photographer to take us off her list, lest I begin to give less than favorable opinions. When you're paying for a professional, you shouldn't have to be disturbed repeatedly months and years after the service is over, unless the photographer wants to start paying *you* for your service of giving out dozens of references."

At DTyler Studio, we ask you if it's alright to provide an email reference and vary our references enough that you won't need to turn the spam filter on.

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Travelling to a fun location is a great idea for creating a fun and unique ceremony. If you're considering a wedding in the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, the Caribbean Islands, or some other exotic locale, look for a photographer local to you that is willing to travel instead of looking for a photographer at your destination place. Language barriers, lack of familiarity, currency exchange and acquiring your prints from a distant photographer are three large obstacles when hiring an distant photographer. It's important to speak to and meet your photographer at least once prior to your wedding.

The day after you decide to marry. Well, maybe not THAT soon, but it's harder than you might think to find the perfect photographer and a decision this important needs to be made before getting buried in a quagmire of other choices.

Wedding photographers are booked months and sometimes even years in advance, so it's important to start your search early. Church and photographer availability are two factors that should decide your wedding date for you. Never save the photographer as the last step in your wedding preparations, or you may find yourself rushing and causing undue stress looking for a shooter with an open date. Your wedding is the most important day of your life - getting your photo session scheduled far in advance means one less thing to worry about and a little more time to enjoy the beauty of it all.

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Click here to view wedding photography packages, details and prices

Wedding photography prices typically start out at just under $1,000 for a short weekday wedding and go upwards, depending on the length of the wedding and the scheduled day. Better wedding photographers will start out at around $1,500 to $2,000 for a four or six hour package. It's common to misjudge the cost of a photographer, which is the other reason to start looking early, finding out rates and availabilities, etc. Wedding packages may be shocking if you've never been quoted before, but remember that a good percentage of a photographer's fee goes towards constant upgrades to the $10,000 to $40,000 worth of kit he or she carries around!

As a general rule of thumb, order more package than you need. On the day of the wedding or while preparing, you will discover dozens more events you will wish to be photographed. Some of these include:

• Shots of the dress before it's worn
• Formal shots of the wedding party before the ceremony
• Bride and groom preparing - this is extremely popular, since the bride and groom will never see each other getting prepared otherwise and they make for outstanding candid photos
• Wedding party and guests leaving the church
• Wedding Reception - Bouquet toss, garter toss, first dance, dinner spread, cake cutting, speeches and those silly moments that make a wedding such a magical event. Receptions are parties for the most part and it's never any fun to put a hard time limit on any party!

Renegotiating a photographer's package during or after a wedding can be stressful and sometimes not possible. If you think your wedding will be four hours, select a six hour package, etc. Always select more than you need. A photographer arrives around an hour to ninety minutes before the ceremony to set up lighting equipment, check cameras, discuss itineraries with assistants / secondary shooter, take some pre ceremony shots, etc and we have rarely had a wedding in which we did not stay and take photos after the ceremony as well. You may even decide to have a night on the town that you want photographed. A photographer needs to know this before the wedding and if you've ordered a four hour package, the photographer is leaving after four hours. He or she may have a shoot early the next morning, or even the same day.

From Deacon: "There's a phenomenon I refer to as "dance floor negotiations" in which a client misjudges the amount of time needed for their wedding photography package and that time runs out while everyone is having a great time at the reception. This actually happened to a friend of mine about ten years back at his wedding. If I recall correctly, they had selected a six hour package with their photographer and that six hours ended right before or after their first dance. Right there on the dance floor, they were pleading with the photographer to stay, hashing out prices, checking their bank account to ensure they had sufficient funds, while the photographer pleaded with her babysitter to stay a while longer - it was a mess; the bride was in tears and there was so much tension in the room that if it wasn't for my incredible dance moves (and I'm joking when I say the words 'incredible' and 'dance') and the camera I kept in my glove compartment to take over as photographer, the night might not have been salvageable and so I say, not as a photographer, but as your short term photography partner and friend, always select a large enough package."

Multiple Photographers and Photography Assistants

When a wedding begins, a lot of things happen in a very short span of time. Lighting must be adjusted, people arranged, lens switching, carrying or moving equipment, battery/flash replacements, etc. For all but the smallest of weddings, it may be too much for a single photographer to capture. Having an assistant allows the photographer to capture images he would have missed if he were doing these tasks himself. A single shooter with no assistant is very limited in the amount of gear they can carry as well and it is impossible to carry equipment and lighting while taking pictures. If memorable shots like the bride and groom leaving the church are important to you, an upgraded package is necessary. A good practice is to designate a guest as a liaison to relay messages from you and to point out key guests such as the parents of the wedding couple.

Multiple shooters are a fantastic way of capturing the action from different angles, or catching shots of the guests before, during and after the ceremony. Shots are coordinated between the principle shooter and the secondary or even tertiary shooter to ensure one camera's flash does not ruin the shot for another photographer.

Wedding Photography Lighting

This is a touchy subject - Outdoor weddings rely on ambient light, with some fill in flash to reduce or eliminate harsh shadows. This is possible in some churches as well, however some churches have policies restricting the use of flash within the church. It is important that we find this information out prior to the wedding so that we can accommodate for it. Higher film speed (ISO) is more sensitive to light and digital cameras can be adjusted to these higher speeds to compensate for the lack of ambient light, but there is a sacrifice in overall image quality and increased noise.

Photography is literally defined from Greek as "drawing with light". Light is the most crucial element in any photography, especially weddings, and should be considered heavily when scheduling your ceremony. It might sound like a fun idea to hold a ceremony at sunset or after dark, but if the use of flash is not allowed, a slower shutter speed and higher ISO must be used, which can reduce image quality.

Post Processing photo enhancement: Everyone wants to look their best during a service, but nature cannot be controlled. A blemish may appear the day of a wedding, lack of sleep may create dull skin and baggy eyes, or water retention may cause a bit of bloating. DTyler Studio employs the same retouching and professional photo manipulation tools found in top fashion magazines. These are enhancements such as skin smoothing, blemish removal, eye brightening and saturation adjustments to create the most flattering appearance.

Click here to view wedding photography packages, details and prices