Frequently Asked Questions

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Willing to book a photo session, you will face some common questions and difficulties to solve. Time is often crucial, so we cannot afford to spend it on long negotiations. Therefore, we tried to collect often-asked questions and created this FAQ page. Be sure to read this to learn more about how we work and what you can expect from our photographers and videographers team.

Of course, there are some things, which require personal discussion, so do not hesitate to ask us any question!

ENGAGEMENT

An engagement photo session is a great chance to demonstrate our skills to you. Our professionals show themselves in action, then you form certain expectations as for their contribution to imprinting pleasant memories of your Big Day.
Actually, this complementary pre-wedding session doesn’t influence the ultimate price of the collection you choose. But we can offer you alternatives to an engagement session!
Offer #1: A bridal session/rehearsal dinner photo session;
Offer #2: Extra shooting time on your wedding day!
Whatever it takes for your satisfaction!

Typically, an engagement session takes from 30 mins up to 1,5 hours. The exact timing depends on you. Keep in mind that you’re more than welcome to use extra outfits and props to vary shots. Moreover, the session may take place at several venues. We’ll be shooting until all locations are visited and you say something like “Thank you! Now we’ve got enough photos”.

It all depends on the quantity of pictures we’ve taken. Usually, it takes from 1 to 10 days after the shooting date to get them ready and deliver the shots to you.

As soon as we hear from you something like “Okay, we want your photographers to take part in our engagement” we’ll send you a link to a list of more than 30 different venues! All of them are most likely to become the best possible place for your engagement photo session. But, of course, you can suggest your own setting in case there’s something special on your mind.
By the way, you can choose several venues! Please just check up whether they’re close enough so that we manage to visit them all within a max of 1,5 hours.

TIMING

Usually, we arrive at least 15 mins before the wedding starts. When it’s over, we also tend to stay for 15 mins longer with no extra payments.

Sure, we can realize that! But, still, it’s better for us to start shooting simultaneously so that we could finish the photo session together as well.

If you need extra time, we’ll agree upon it, no worry! But, still, ASAP is the best timing in this case. If you decide you need more time right on the wedding day, inform us at once, please. It would be great if you did this max 30 mins before we run out of the time set in our contract.

Sure! If this option is more convenient for you, then no problem! But in this case, we’ll just charge you for the extra time spent on the drive.

PHOTOGRAPHY

After a session, you’ll get edited pictures for social media (jpg/jpeg, 1000px on the longest side). Their quantity is specified in the collection you prefer.

Well, here’s a list of what post-production image editing includes:

Color correction: we’ll adjust the tone of your skin and the background color so that they match our photography style (you can check it on our website).
Global adjustments: we’ll ensure that the lines in the photos are straight and look harmoniously in regard to the horizon. Plus, we’ll make sure the shots are not distorted.
Light cropping: based on our rich experience, we can partially cut a pic if we see there’s something in the background that spoils the shot. Thus, we ensure that the subject matter is the focus of attention.

We are sorry to tell you but no, you won’t get untouched shots. We believe it would be non-professionally from our side to deliver an unfinished product to you. But instead, you’ll receive as many high-quality, edited photos as specified in your collection!

Usually, it varies from $20 to $40 depending on the number of additional photos you’ve selected.

During a photo session that normally lasts 6-8 hours, we usually take several thousand photos. Many of them are almost identical. But we need them to choose the best shots later so you're not caught blinking, speaking, or blurred. After the selection, there will be several hundred photos left. Next, you’ll select by yourself which photos to keep. The quantity of shots you get depends on the collection you choose.

Well, for your convenience, we offer two options - offline and online.

If you prefer a real meeting, you’ll soon find yourself sitting on a comfortable sofa in our cozy studio in Charleston. There’s a big screen showing all the photos, so you’ll pick up those you’d like to get. You’ll also see the examples of our albums and framed prints there!
If it’s more convenient for you to do this online, we can get in touch via Skype or Zoom. We’ll share the screen with you, we’ll browse photos and pick up the best ones. It’s up to you to decide!

VIDEO

We’d like to outline that it’s our photographers that are responsible for video shooting as well. Usually, it takes one leading photographer and a second shooter. You may ask why we need one more videographer? The thing is that working in a team, we produce the best results. You can see it for yourself, just check videos and photos on our website. All of them have been shot in the following way: first, we use 4 cameras shooting 4K videos to catch every moment of your ceremony. We take different shooting angles, pay attention to different details, thus imprinting more significant moments of your Big Day. When the ceremony is over, we use one or two cameras.
Well, I hope now you understand why it’s normally two of us!

Our editor has a collection of romantic music that is royalty-free! It means that you’re not obliged to pay extra to get the right to post the videos on social media. So, share them freely and get your likes! By the way, this collection includes melodies, not songs. We just want viewers to focus their attention on the video itself, not on the sense of the lyrics.
Of course, you can suggest your favorite song to be used as a background (additional charge will apply due to the author’s right).

We always ask a bridal pair to speak louder for the sake of the video’s quality. Plus, thus they will be better heard by distantly located guests. And since it is the officiant who does the most of the talking, we attach a microphone to her/him. So, don’t worry - the voices will be well-heard

Unfortunately, we don’t share an unfinished product with our clients. It may affect our professional reputation in a bad way. Besides, we shoot videos in a specific 4K resolution suitable for a further montage. So finally, you’ll get your dream vids in the best possible quality!

Of course, you can tell us which scenes you’d like to see in the final product. But still, our video editor will do his job based on our experience. Don’t worry, in the end, you’ll get high-quality videos like the ones you can see on our website right now.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Whatever collection you choose, it implies two photographers. Typically, one of them is male and another one is female. We’re sure that a bride will feel more comfortable posing to a woman while getting ready for her wedding. A man, in his turn, may better wake your guests to participate in the photo session. Besides, males and females may notice different tiny details that can result in the best shots. Therefore, we are sure two photographers of different gender are the winning combination for your wedding.

Throughout the whole photo session, we use two cameras with a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. That’s more than enough to take thousands of pics on your wedding day, trust us!

You know, we are the adherents of a classic style. Live photos with reasonably saturated editing that trigger pleasant associations. Candid ones, non-posey. This is what we strive for. Besides, to imprint everything going on during your ceremony, we stick to a documentary style capturing all the heart-piercing scenes of your love story. This is the way we see and feel your love story.

This is life and everything may happen. That’s why there are three possible ways out:
There are several photographers in our team. We’ve been working together on a regular basis for quite a long time. Therefore, you may not doubt the quality of their professionalism! One of them will replace the other if necessary, unless they’re unavailable on the date of your wedding. As you should understand, there are many orders arranged in advance.
If they’re unavailable, we’ll invite another photographer from outside of our team.
Or there will be only one photographer at your wedding but you’ll get a discount.

Anyway, we’ll agree upon the alternatives to the main photographer and you’ll undoubtedly get your dream wedding photo album!

Sorry, but as a rule we don’t. Since each wedding is a unique event, there cannot be any ready-made timeline. That’s why each time, we cooperate with a wedding planner and a bridal pair to understand their wishes and plans. Based on their expectations, we develop an individual timeline.

Sure! By doing that you’ll help us understand your expectations and we’ll try to bring to life as many of your ideas as possible.

That’s quite simple! So that to book the date for your wedding, we need to agree upon crucial details and sign a contract. So, at first, you provide us with the following info:
wedding date;
wedding duration;
wedding venue;
chosen collection.

As soon as we get the necessary details and discuss them, we’ll draw up a contract and send it to you within 48 hours. The contract, as a rule, is about three pages long but you’ll have more than enough time to get familiarized with it, ask questions, if any, and sign it. Take your time as no rush is needed in such cases!
When you’ve signed a contract, the next step is placing a retainer. And this is the moment from which you can be sure I won’t take any other order on the date and time that you’ve reserved.

Typically, we ask clients for a retainer of 20% of the collection cost. For your comfort, you’ll pay the remaining sum right after the wedding when we finish shooting. We’re perfectly fine with this option since we know that our clients are always satisfied with our work.

Well, if your venues are within 100 miles from Charleston, that’s fine, we won’t charge you extra. But if your desired location is further, then we’ll ask you $100 per hour in one way. The way back is on us then.

PRICES & DISCOUNTS

Yes, there’s a special 5% discount available for the active military. We’re also ready to discuss special conditions for representatives of other categories individually.

Your satisfaction is the best feedback on our work so we’re ready to partially adjust our collection to meet your needs. So we’re open to your suggestions but, still, our collection will be the core.

In general, the retainer is non-refundable. Please understand that you sign a contract with our studio and we do the same with the second shooter. So there are certain arrangements that prevent us from taking other orders on the date reserved by you. However, we’re well aware that different things may happen in life so, of course, we can discuss your case individually.

Okay, no extra fees are needed if we’re available on the new date. But you should inform us as soon as possible. We always try to understand and adjust to your needs but we also hope for your understanding. Since you’ve reserved a certain date, we don’t accept new orders on that day, and in case you cancel it, we lose customers and profit. So if you decide to postpone your wedding too close to the set date, you’ll be charged a penalty because we won’t manage to find other clients to replace you and will lose profit.

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