As a professional photographer, it is my job to make my clients look their best during their sessions with me and this is especially true on their wedding day. Wedding Photography can be daunting, but also very rewarding. Early on in my photography career, wedding photography was the farthest from my mind. My genres were more fashioned to family portraiture, landscape and occasionally a child or engagement session. As time went on and my work became more noticed, inquiries into doing wedding photography became more frequent. But was I ready to step over that boundary and cross an unfamiliar bridge? I will have to say that every wedding I have done since my first is a learning experience and they always will be. Not all weddings are the same and you have to adapt, overcome and improvise in order to make that day as special to the couple as it is to me, because after all, they have put their trust in me to give them a great product. Wedding photography can be fun because I am capturing one of the happiest moments of a couples life together. With that being said, I want to take you through my wedding photography process, so that when it comes time for your big day, you can be rest assured that the results you hired me for stand out above and beyond your expectations.
I am a firm believer in that you get what you pay for. When you and your significant other finally decide on a date, so much planning is involved to make the day go as smoothly as possible, and hiring or contracting with a photographer is one of the most important decisions you have to make. Remember, this it YOUR day and you need to do your homework to make sure that you hire the right individual to do the job. Please see my other blog, Hiring the Right Photographer, as this will give you much needed information on making that process a bit easier.
Most of my clients are those who have found me on my website, G. Robertson Photography, or they were referrals from others who have used my services in the past or on occasion, from other photographers who were booked that specific date which I had open on my calendar. Whichever the case may be, the first and foremost thing to do is sit down with my prospective clients and check with their budgeting and how it pertains to their photography needs. I offer the flexibility of having several different packages to choose from which makes them more budget friendly to the clients. All of my packages are inclusive, with no hidden costs, and this includes their taxes, which have to be paid since they are receiving tangible goods. The opportunity of sitting down with prospective clients is that they get some one on one face time with me. I ask them to tell me their story, how they met, what inspires them, what their level of expectations are. As we sit in my studio, they get a first hand look at my work which is displayed on the wall. The get a sense of my style of photography and are free to ask questions without feeling pressured into signing a contract for services. I truly feel it is this one on one time with the prospective client that makes the difference and certainly makes the decision less stressful for them.
Once the contract for services is signed, the date is booked and held. I will not longer accept any other offers for services on the date you request. Depending on the package that is chosen, there is a lot of prep work that begins in order to make the day of the event as well as any inclusive sessions memorable and unforgettable. All of my packages, with the exception of my Gold Package, come with a choice of either an engagement session (if not already done prior to) or a sunset bridal session. Both sessions are included in my Gold Package. It is the Sunset Bridal Sessions which generate the most response, as the prospective bride sees in my portfolio, how magnificent and stunning the sessions really are. It is just as special to me because I get to see the bride in her gown before the groom and I strive to capture these moments so that the memory of the session is frozen in time through photography. 
When scheduling these sessions, I ask the bride to be if there is anyplace that she would be comfortable with as far as location. Sometimes, there is a special place where the couple met, other times, the bride to be allows me to pick a designated location. What is important to remember is that planning for a specific date, sometimes just does not work out due to weather conditions such as cloud cover. This is why I offer myself to be flexible with my schedule as well as monitor weather conditions to make sure that the session goes as planned. Once these photos are taken, they are not revealed unless specifically requested and they are sent to the bride only.
If the bride and groom to be choose the engagement session, I try to give a mash up of some studio shots as well as some outdoors. Clients seem to like the combination, and it always seems to point back to doing engagement sessions around sunset. This time-frame is so magical and it really works out well for my clients. Being able to perform photography here in western Kansas at sunset is truly awe inspiring, but that does not mean that I cannot capture these moments for you in other locations or states and i have even traveled to the mountains in western Colorado near waterfalls to capture these special moments!
As the wedding nears, I ask the bride and groom to be to meet with me one last time to go over any details regarding the wedding and if there are any changes that have been done that need attention to. One of the things I require of the bride and groom to be is not only a timeline of events, but a list of those special photos that they want captured with family, friends or otherwise. I cannot express enough how important this is to my photography and their one time event. When the wedding is all said and done, we cannot go back and re-create shots with people who were left out. I have not problem with the bride appointing a liaison to corral the people needed to specific shots and making sure that these photos are done in a timely fashion to stay on schedule.
Along with the list and tentative schedule, I stress the importance of the bride and groom understanding the reasons not to have family or friends taking photos with their cell phones or other digital cameras. First, they have hired me to capture these memories in a professional manner using professional equipment. There are specific angles I need to obtain for certain shots and it becomes very obtrusive when I am shooting the bride walking down the aisle with her father and people have their cell phones out snapping pictures. It is almost impossible to Photoshop out these situations. This coupled with the use of a flash on a cell phone or other digital camera can affect my shot by possibly over exposing the subject I am trying to capture and thus rendering the picture useless. Make sure you have someone make an announcement to put cell phones and cameras away and that there will be plenty of other opportunities to get personal photos. 
To re-cap this blog….
Do you homework before choosing your wedding photographer.
Ask questions and meet with them personally.
Detail your ideas and lists and write them down for the photographer.
Make sure that all the photos you want taken are tasked and completed.
Prohibit the use of cell phone and other cameras during the ceremony.
I want your wedding day to be enjoyable and carefree. I will strive to make your day the most memorable and I will continue to be there long after the wedding day to assist you with any photography that you may need. I look forward to the opportunity to be your wedding photographer. Please call me with any questions or feel free to send me an email gene@grobertsonphotography.com or message me on Facebook at G. Robertson Photography.