Q: Do you shoot film or digital?
A: After 30 years as a traditional film-based studio, we now feel that film is obsolete in wedding photography. The same image quality of 35mm film can be achieved using the latest generation of professional digital cameras. In 2002, digital cameras evolved to the stage where their images could meet or exceed the quality of film-based images in wedding photojournalism.
Shooting weddings digitally opens up a dramatic alternative to the traditional wedding photography business model: you no longer need the photography studio to make your prints.
All of our packages include the final images on DVD's, in both color and black and white, and at full resolution. This allows you to have the images printed via digital photo labs in your neighborhood or on-line labs. State-of-the-art digital labs exist in almost every CostCo and Wal-Mart as well as many Ritz Camera stores. On-line labs such as kodakgallery.com and shutterfly.com also make excellent prints and albums.

Q: Do we get real proofs or just contact sheets?
A: We offer a complete set of beautiful color 4x6 proofs along with DVD's of the original, color and black and white high resolution image files one month after the wedding. After that point you can make as many high-resolution prints as you’d like! You may also choose to have the studio make a complete set of black and white 4x6 proofs in addition to your color proofs.

Q: I'm not a professional photographer. Will I be able to make good quality prints on my own?
A: You need no experience in digital photography to make quality prints: simply give the lab a copy of your image DVD and they will produce great color or black and white prints. Better yet, upload your choices to costco.com and pick them up later that day! It makes sense to make your own prints because a studio that understands digital imaging can make basic adjustments to all of the images before handing the files off to you so that they are all easily printed by digital labs. And your per-print cost for superb prints that you can make yourself is 19¢ for a 4x6.

Q: Do you still offer custom, studio prints if I want them?
A: Of course! We make unique albums for most of our clients. These albums contain all studio-made custom prints where we have a level of control unheard of in the film world. You are welcome to order prints outside of an album as well. The key point is that you don't have to. This is especially important for family and friends that want a good quality print at a more economical price.

Q: I've heard of other studios that offer to sell me the negatives. How is this different from that?
A: What we offer is similar but far more powerful. You can upload these images in minutes to your own website or email them to far-flung relatives. You can also copy your entire wedding image DVD and let your relatives order as many prints as they want on their own.

Q: What other options do I have with these digital files?
A: Other possibilities now open to you include:

• Emailing images to distant friends
• Setting up on-line galleries from which your friends and family can order prints directly
• Making slide shows for dvd players
• Creating inexpensive calendars, custom greeting cards, books and more

Q: Do you offer the images online?
A: Yes. All of our weddings are posted online for you to order prints and have them shipped directly to you.

Q: I've heard that digital prints don't last as long as prints from film?
A: We only print onto traditional, color photographic paper. This is the same paper that color negatives are printed onto. This is also the route we recommend to you. Our professional lab uses Kodak Endura paper. CostCo uses Fuji's competing product, which is also excellent and archival. The digital prints that have been particularly susceptible to fading have been inkjet prints, which we do not recommend.

Q: How many photographs do you typically take at a wedding?
A: We typically shoot 1200 to 2000 images at each wedding. Once at the studio, we edit these images down to the 400-600 final images that form your wedding images. The number of final images depends on the package. Shooting digitally allows an entirely different philosophy as compared to film. With film, the photographer is paying for every frame, regardless of whether it makes it to the final cut. With digital, a greater sense of freedom and experimentation is available. And the ability to capture more moments is particularly suited to a photojournalistic style of wedding photography.

Q: Are there time or film limits?
A: Our packages include 8 hours of time. Additional hours are always available. We don't use film but digital media cards. You don't pay for additional shots unless the particulars of the wedding dictate that you need more than 400/600 edited images to document the event. Please see the question above for an explanation of how shooting digitally opens up some refreshing shooting ideas and how those ideas impact the final images.

Q: What if your camera breaks?
A: Every piece of equipment has at least one back-up.

Q: Do you bring an assistant?
A: Unless the customer deems it unnecessary (as with a very small gathering), the packages with Andrew Collings as the primary photographer also include a second photographer. A second photographer is an option if the primary photography is one of the Associates.

Q: Do I get to keep my proofs?
A: Of course. The proofs are part of the package. No minimum order is required to keep them.

Q: What if you are sick and unable to come to the wedding?
A: In the event that your photographer is sick or injured we would make every effort to find a substitute photographer shoot the wedding. We have photographed over 300 weddings and this has yet to occur, but we're only human!

Q: Are the negatives for sale?
A: We shoot digitally and every package includes the edited and adjusted high-resolution digital files.

Q: Where can I find pricing information?
A: Please fill out our Information Request Form and we will reply promptly with our package pricing and details.

Q: Do you shoot table shots?
A: No. Table shots are a way to systematically irritate everyone at the event. Candids are always superior to table shots.