We try to address commonly asked questions in this section, but if you still feel unsure about something, please do reach out. We love to share information and we’d love to answer your questions.
What equipment do you use?
We make exclusive use of professional camera and sound equipment. We have backups in case something happens, and we have insurance. This gives you the peace of mind of uninterrupted coverage of the highest quality.
For the gear-heads out there, here’s a breakdown of our equipment currently:
We use full-frame Nikon DSLR cameras. Our arsenal of professional lenses include 17-35mm f4, 24-70mm f2.8, 70-200 f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f2.8, 35mm f1.8, and a 24-105mm f4 Art lens. We use external flash units, and can power them remotely using remote wireless triggers (for when the venue is too big to bounce light or when it’s the outdoors). We bring reflectors, diffusers, light stands, soft-boxes, and shoot-through umbrellas, ensuring we’re ready for any lighting situation.
We use professional sound recording equipment for film and video, along with essential extras like lights, tripods, and a professional gimbal. Our skilled videographers collaborate closely with the DJ or sound engineer to ensure both stunning footage and excellent sound, enhancing your wedding day memories.
Why do you deliver our photos digitally?
Quite frankly, digital photo delivery is much more environmentally friendly than delivering on flash drives or printing everything. The technology of Flash Drives won’t be around forever, and bulk printed photos tend to be lower quality. We encourage our clients to ensure they download and safely store their delivered photos in a way that keeps up with the times, so they won’t lose them down the line.
We offer gorgeous, high-quality photo albums and archival printing to ensure your printed photos last forever and are cherished for generations. Please make sure to chat to us about this.
What is the difference between High Resolution, Low Resolution and Full Resolution files?
Low resolution, also called web resolution, consists of files exported at 72dpi, intended for use on screens only. You can share these photos with your friends and family via email, online, keep them on your phone, etc.
High resolution photos are intended for printing purposes. We export our high resolution files at 300dpi, 2048 px on the long edge. This gives you a file large enough to comfortably print beautiful A4 or 8×10 size enlargements.
We export full resolution images at 300dpi without resizing, resulting in massive file sizes, typically exceeding 50MB. They’re useless for web, complete overkill for everyday printing, and we reserve them for super large format printing only. We don’t deliver these in our packages because they would take ages to upload to our online file delivery system, and they would take up a huge amount of space on your own devices, making it rather unpractical to store. Instead, we offer these full resolution files as individual add-ons to our wedding packages, finding that you probably wouldn’t need an 80MB file of your cousin spinning out of control on the dance floor anyway. If there is a photo you really want to print life-size, please chat with us and we’ll make it happen. (Even if it is the one of your cousin’s dance moves.)
We have loads of experience in printing archival photos, and will help you every step of the way. But, if you already have an amazing relationship with a good quality printing lab, you can always just purchase the full resolution file and go that way too.
Can I get the RAW images?
When people ask us for the raw images, they usually don’t understand what a RAW file is, so let’s look at that first.
RAW files are unprocessed, produced by our cameras. They need Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom for viewing. Nikon cameras use NEF format, converted to DNG in Lightroom. These files store essential data for editing but are unviewable without software.
Here’s the deal though. Say you or your uncle Bob dabble in a bit of photography, and you do indeed have in your posession the software to view and edit RAW files.
Our process of creation doesn’t end when we press the shutter. We apply a certain set of edits to each of our images so that each image reflects our specific personal style of photography – that very style you book us for. Asking for RAW files is very much like going to a bakery and asking for a bag of flour and some eggs – if it’s the unfinished product you’re after, you’re in the wrong place. We don’t sell unfinished images here.
We take immense pride in our work and the images we create are our art, our creative expression of your joyful day. They’re a subtle culmination of everything you and we have experienced in our lives, and the final product is the magic we create together.
Now then, to answer your question: no, we absolutely do not give out RAW images.
Most people mean FULL RESOLUTION images when asking for the RAW images anyway, in which case, please refer to the FAQ dealing with that.
Do we need to factor you into our catering budget?
Yes, we require a meal for any shoot of longer than 4 hours. We are PLANT-BASED, which means no dairy, no meat, no eggs, no FETA! (You’d be surprised how many people don’t get this) and our contractors are often also plant-based or vegetarian, although we will confirm this with you ahead of time.
Yes we realise it’s mildly inconvenient to feed vegans, but veggies are cheaper than meat, so you win there! We also know all the stale jokes, but we enjoy fresh ones, so if yours is really good, hit us with it!
Please note that if you fail to provide food for us and our teams, that we reserve the right to leave the premises to find food if no delivery service is available, and that it will be charged to your account.
Please remember: your service providers are human, too.
DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE?
Yes, all our equipment is insured, and we have limited liability cover. However, our contract specifies that we are not responsible for incidents like drunken aunt Edna tripping over our light stands.
We take every measure possible to ensure that we operate in a safe and respectful manner, and we have backups for our backups.
HOWEVER.
If something unforeseen happens to our gear during or after the wedding (crossing fingers and tossing salt), resulting in damage to some photos, our liability will be limited to refunding you an amount corresponding to the percentage of the loss.
We will of course do everything in our power to recover them first.
All right, out with the bad juju.
How should we store our photos?
It is of vital importance that you store your photos safely once you’ve downloaded them. We try to keep weddings in our archives for up to five years, but this isn’t always possible and we would be really sad with you if you lost them.
Don’t store photos on flashdrives or (*twitch*) DVDs or CDs. Please, for the love of all that is good.
We recommend buying a dedicated hard drive for your photos, one which you lock away safely, in a firesafe if possible.
As a backup and extra security, you should really also back them up to a cloud service like iCloud or Google Drive. This would give you the peace of mind that even if the hard drive you store your pictures on last forever and ever, you can still access them if technology changes in a way that doesn’t support it for whatever reason.
Sound a bit extreme? Look what happened to technology just in our lifetimes. We strongly advise you not to take any chances.
How does payment work?
If you’re all set to commit to booking us as your wedding photographers, we require a 50% non-refundable booking fee. Why non-refundable, you ask?
When you take the step and commit to booking us, we commit reciprocally. In other words, we will be showing away every other enquiry we get for your chosen date. If you decide to pull out of the deal on number ninety nine, there is no way we would be able to fill that date in time again.
Of course, there are exceptions: serious illness, injury or death.
(Running to get the sage now)
The payment balance is due 30 days before the date of your wedding.
How many people on your staff?
Our packages will indicate this, but unless it’s an elopement, we’re either 2 people, or 4, if we have a team of videographers as well. Our second shooters act as assistants and vice versa so that we don’t stumble over one another’s feet.
Efficient and practical. That’s what we think, too.
Can I get the copyright?
Copyright always belongs to the creator (that’s us) and is linked to intellectual property rights. We do not sign over our copyright, but you will have unlimited printing license, so you never need to worry about usage permissions.
As long as you don’t use them commercially, you can do with your images what you like.
How much retouching do you do?
We perform basic retouching on all images that require it, removing distractions that are not permanent features and detract from the image. Examples are lint on suits, a stubborn pimple right in the middle of a forehead, or a dirt smear on your dress that really doesn’t add to the vibe.
Advanced retouching would include skin retouching, changing the shape of body parts, etc. This service is not included in the price, but we can arrange it for you at an additional cost if it’s something you require.
Do you charge travel and accommodation?
We do not charge travel in the areas we usually serve, but if we do need to stay over we would require you provide us with accommodation, or we can arrange our own and book it to your account.
For outlying areas and international weddings, please speak to us about options, because we’re already packing our bags to capture your wedding day.
Are you open to destination weddings?
Is water wet? Is our Sun a star? Are we wedding photographers?
(The answer to all these is yes, by the way.)
We can’t say it enough: we love to travel, and if that means making some changes so that we can accommodate you in order to be there to capture your dream day, then hell to the yes, we’re in!
Seriously, let’s talk if this is what you want to do. This is what we live for.