Our FAQ

We have been photographing weddings since 2007. We have photographed over 300 weddings during that time.

We try to make the booking process very simple. Here are the main steps in booking.

1. Decide on your wedding date and tell us that you want to book! 🙂
2. We will have you sign our electronic contract.
3. Our reservation deposit is 1/3 of the total package you wish to choose. We can accept payments by cash, check, credit card.
4. You are now booked!

For weddings, our goal is to present you with the photos in 4 weeks. This is our process which we believe provides the best possible product to our clients:

1. We import and backup all of the photos taken during the wedding.
2. We review every photo taken during the wedding. We then select “keepers” to provide our clients.
3. We adjust all selected photos for optimal exposure, contrast, color correction and cropping.
4. We “retouch” portraits where we feel retouching makes the photo better.
5. We organize and categorize the photos for client delivery.
6. We create the online slideshow.
7. We prepare the online gallery for the clients to view, download and share their photos.

For engagement photos, we go through the same process, but it takes less time because there are less photos. We aim to showcase engagement photos within 2 weeks of the shoot.

We really love our albums. We feel that they are the best way to display your photos for generations to follow. Our albums are beautifully handmade albums that are made with the best attention to detail. They are made by an album company that only works with professional photographers and we are proud to offer them to our clients. They use high quality photo paper which are then mounted individually to each album.

After you receive your photos, we work with you to get the design and layout of the album finalized. We present this layout to you online using an album proofing website. You can then make comments, changes or approve the album. Once the album layout is approved, we will begin production and the album will be delivered within 4 weeks of approval. While every client is different, we aim to have the album to you within 3-4 months after your wedding. Sometimes, if the approval process takes a little longer, we will make adjustments to the album delivery schedule.

Every single photo that we deliver to our clients are adjusted for color, exposure and contrast. But for certain portraits, we will select certain photos that will benefit from a finer level of retouching and we will work on those photos a little bit more. These are usually photos where the face is more prominent (e.g. close-up photos). We consider retouching to include skin smoothening, blemish removal and brightening/darkening of certain areas of the photo. Our rule of thumb is to make our clients look like they are having an amazing day and are looking their best. In saying all this, we like to keep it as natural as possible and try to avoid making “fake” looking edits. We feel there is a fine line in retouching the photos and we are very aware of when to stop the retouching process.

We include engagement sessions in all of our packages because we feel that it is a great way to accomplish several things.

1. You can get used to being photographed. I would say that 90% of our clients have never been photographed by a “professional” before so it can take a little bit of getting used to the posing, standing in a certain way or being in certain types of light.
2. You will get really awesome photos in a casual and fun setting that you can use in a variety of ways. For your online wedding website, social media and/or thank you cards. In our opinion, you can never have enough good photos of yourselves.
3. We can get to know you better! We love chatting with and getting to know our clients and the session helps them be more comfortable with us. It’s always a blast!

In saying all of this, we really encourage the engagement session, but, of course, it is not mandatory. We can make adjustment to our packages if we are not going to shoot an engagement session.

We can schedule engagement sessions any time of the year and in any location but we just try to follow a few basic guidelines when scheduling to optimize your experience and get you the best possible photos:

• If you are planning to use the photos for the wedding, we advise to schedule the session at least 2 months prior to the wedding date so you have some time to order any products (prints, albums, etc.)
• We always schedule the session to take advantage of the best light possible. Luckily in Southern California, we have amazing light throughout the whole year. So we usually schedule the start of the session a few hours before sunset and we shoot all the way till the sun goes down. This way we will get a variety of light.
• Summer – We are able to start the session pretty late (5-6pm) since the sun sets around 7:30p-8:30pm. Beaches and public areas can get a bit crowded so those areas should only be scheduled during the weekdays.
• Winter – Nice because certain areas like the beach or other outdoor areas are less crowded but just keep in mind that the sun sets early so we will start early. Usually sometime between 12pm-1pm.
• Spring/Fall – My favorite time to shoot engagement sessions. Not too hot, not too crowded and the sun sets at a good time.
• If we are shooting in an area with a lot of buildings or will be spending a lot of time indoors (downtown or museums), we will start much earlier when compared to sessions in open areas (beach or nature areas).
• If you are interested in a more peaceful experience, we try to avoid weekends in crowded areas.

Choosing locations is definitely a personal choice. It is our belief that we can get awesome photos anywhere. As long as we all have the right mindset, we will have a fun engagement session and make beautiful images. The good thing about living in Southern California is the variety of scenes from which we get to choose. In some cases, we can choose multiple areas in one day as long as they are nearby each other. For example we can go to an outdoor nature area and then go to the nearby beach. We love to give our clients variety of imagery. Some of our most memorable sessions have been location sessions where we get to photograph our clients in locations which are special to them. This can be in your own home, your work, where you met, where you spend lots of time together, etc. We have also done a handful of destination engagement sessions which is a treat for everyone. We have shot in San Francisco, New York City, Mammoth Lakes, Joshua Tree, etc. So, in short, we can shoot pretty much anywhere! We typically want to schedule during the best light which is close to sunset where the light is soft and beautiful. Some questions to ask yourself to decide:

• Where are you most happy?
• Where do you guys love going to?
• Do you share a certain hobby or past-time?
• Do you love architecture?
• Do you love nature and the outdoors?

Style is definitely a personal preference. While we do have some ideas on what works best for photos, there are definitely some exceptions. For urban settings, I like bold colors that make you pop out in the steel and concrete backgrounds. I feel reds, yellows or other bold colors look great in the city for our brides. The guys are usually a bit more subdued. Then for the beach, lighter to more neutral colors work great most of the time. You can also bring a change of outfits which will enable you to have a different look. Again, these are all just suggestions. When it comes down to it, you should wear what makes you feel and look your best.

As far as what you should bring, here are some suggestions:

• We will most likely do a lot of walking, so bring something comfortable to walk in. Slip-on shoes or flip flops for the beach. Then you can change into nicer shoes when we shoot.
• Water and maybe a snack. Important to stay hydrated! And depending on when we shoot, we may be shooting during dinner time. A snack may help to get you through the session if hungry.
• A change of clothes in the car. You may want to change out of your clothes after we are done with the engagement session.
• A towel to keep in the car. This will help with any necessary cleanup.

No, we do not offer video services, but we would be glad to refer some very talented videographers that we have worked with in the past.

Yes, we would love to refer you any particular vendor that you need! Over the years, we have worked with some amazing vendors in Southern California, many of whom we consider friends. Just let us know what you are looking for and we can definitely point in the right direction.

The simple answer is we keep your photos for as as we can. We still have the final photos from every wedding and engagement session that we have photographed.

The more complicated answer is that we shoot all photos in a RAW format. RAW format produces a digital image file that captures more detail and allows us to make more adjustments in the computer. The only downside to RAW is that it produce a very large file and since we take thousands and thousands of images, archiving these files on the computer can be troublesome. While we use this RAW file in the short term to make our adjustments on the computer, we output a high-resolution JPEG version of the photo, which is what we consider our “finished product.” We use this JPEG for everything from the albums, prints, slideshows, blog post, etc. This is what we provide to our clients which we call “High Resolution Files.” A year after the wedding, we will dispose of the RAW files. While we keep these JPEG files for our use, we are not responsible for archiving your images once you have downloaded them from our servers.

In case you were wondering, we shoot all of our personal family photos directly in JPEG format.

We use Canon 5D Mark III and 5D Mark II cameras. We both use 2 cameras each during a wedding for a total of 4 cameras. We use a variety of lenses but usually use 35mm, 85mm and 70-200mm zoom lens. We occasionally use a 50mm macro lens for details and 16-35mm zoom lens for when we need wider photos. For lighting we bring 4 main flashes and also a video light. We have plenty of batteries for all of our gear so we are always ready for even the longest days. All in all, we are very prepared when it comes to equipment.

Yes, we work with 4 cameras and 4 flashes and tons of batteries and memory cards. So yes, we are ready for anything!