What goes into a photo shoot? From a bride-to-be to fellow brides.

My fiance Matt and I decided who to choose for our engagement shots: Rachel at Glass 29 Image! Her shots have a very similar style to mine, and I love the bright, fun environments she shoots in.

As a bride-to-be, I just attended my first bridal show. It feels strange to be in the position that many of my clients are in: choosing vendors with a dual focus on price and quality. As a photographer, I notice quality first, and the price tag second. I can usually predict what the price range will be, based on the professionalism of the photographs displayed. I know how much experience a fellow photographer has had (which also bumps up the price a lot).

I wish that photographers were more up-front about the reasons behind their price. It seems silly to attach a $2,000 price tag on something without explaining why that price is so high.

A wedding usually takes about 6-8 hours to shoot, from bride and groom preparation to the final dance moves at the end of the night. This is only about 10% of the time it takes to prepare wedding photos for presentation. the editing of around 500 wedding photos takes close to 80 hours. Take a look at the difference between my edited and non-edited photos:

As an artist, I'm very particular about how my work is presented. I usually edit out background distractions, as well as touching up complexions (though I always keep natural marks such as freckles and moles- those things are what make you unique!), enhancing eyes, and editing out glares from flash.

I'm not sure if many photographers do this- but I always test-shoot a venue prior to the actual event. I visit around the same time that I'm shooting, so I get an idea of how to handle the lighting, and know what equipment to bring. I even checked out COSI, which was 1 1/2 hours from my house before the wedding pf the bride shown above.

Being a bride-to-be, shopping around for my own photographer, has made me very conscious of my own prices and what I can offer to my clients. I consider myself on the low end of the price scale, because I'm an independent photographer (not associated with a big business or team of photographers). I want to offer as low a price as I can to my clients, while still respecting the time I spent refining the photographs.

That's what you can expect from my photographic services- dedication to detail and beautiful, refined shots that reflect your personality and values.