Engagement Pictures Are Ready

Posted by: Dan on Dec 12, 2007

Brooke received the call the other night that our engagement pictures from Edward Fox Photography are ready for us to come and look at. We just needed to set up an appointment to do it.

I called them tonight and spoke with Mindy who was very helpful in setting up a decent appointment time. So come December 22 at noon o’clock we’ll finally get to see how they turned out.

I’m a bit worried… I hate how I look in pictures. Double chins hanging all over the place. My chubby head. Ugh.

Engagement Pictures

Posted by: Dan on Nov 27, 2007

Tonight Brooke and I had an appointment with our wedding photographer – Edward Fox Photography for engagement pictures. To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect but overall it was a fun time.

I honestly think that the more friendly the photographer the better the pictures are going to be. You’re more relaxed, you can be yourself, speak your mind and all that will result in pictures that better reflect who you are as a couple.

Our appointment was at 6:30PM but we got there a bit early – we were sure where the place was and didn’t want to be late. We decided to go in to the building around 6:10PM or so and after a short wait they actually took our pictures early.

I hate to admit this but the photographer doing the shot – I forgot his name. I feel bad because he was friendly, funny and just made us (well me for sure) feel relaxed. He joked around a bit, snapped some pictures and after about 10-15 minutes we were done.

We should be hearing from them soon so we can go back and look at the pictures. Should be fun to see how they turned out.

Photography - Pros and Cons

Posted by: Dan on Sep 21, 2007

Brooke and I were discussing the Pros and Cons of what we feel are the two choices for photographers. You have either the option of going with a larger company with many photographers, or you can go with what I’d call a “freelance company” (even if that means just one person with their camera).

Larger Studio
Pros:

1. They’re big for a reason. Great reputation. High quality of work. Whatever. There’s a reason they’ve been doing this for year.

2. You know you’re getting a professional. Someone who will act like it. If not you can at least raise a stink with the company.

3. They’ll probably have a lot more options for everything.

4. You’re almost guaranteed a back-up photographer in case the person you booked gets ill, hurt, or can’t make it for whatever reason.

5. Overall you feel like you’re not taking a risk with the pictures you want to last a life time.

6. Most likely working with the most up to date equipment.

Cons:

1. Usually higher prices.

2. You may not get “assigned” a photographer until close to your wedding date.

3. You may not have the option to meet the photographer face to face.

4. They may fill dates faster than smaller places so you may have to act fast.

Freelancer or Smaller Studio
Pros:

1. You may have an easier time finding someone more your style.

2. While every place should let you put in your own picture ideas, I get the feeling it would be easier to talk these people into crazier ideas (if that’s your style).

3. May be more willing to bend over backwards for you in order to make you happy. Being a former freelancer (web design) I know word of mouth can be a big influence. They’ll want you happy so you recommend them to others.

Cons:

1. May not have the most up to date equipment.

2. They may not have someone to back them up in case they get ill, hurt or can’t make your wedding date. (Even though I highly doubt this would happen – but always check!)

3. They may not have a ton of references like other places.

4. There could be a reason they aren’t working at a large studio – they may say it’s that they like their freedom or it could be because of quality of work (that’s for you to decide).

I want to make it clear that I do lean towards the side of the larger studio for wedding pictures. The reason being that I just feel more comfortable with them. This isn’t to say there aren’t great freelancers out there that would be perfect for you.

With that said, take what I’ve said here with a grain of salt. Know that I have nothing against the freelancers out there, it’s just a personal choice. It’s really up to you, your budget, and what your gut is telling you.

A Wedding Connection Photography

Posted by: Dan on Sep 20, 2007

Tonight Brooke and I met with Clark from A Wedding Connection Photography.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – I mean the pictures they have online are good but it’s never the same as seeing them in person. I was impressed with the pictures on the wall. They were all excellent. The books we looked through didn’t really impress me much though. It’s not that the pictures weren’t good but they all seemed … well … typical.

Clark was nice. A very soft spoken guy whole obviously knew his stuff. We ran through the list of photographer questions – all seemed well. Their prices aren’t bad and you even get a CD with all your images on it included in the price. I really like that option.

The one thing I haven’t been impressed with for the two photography places we’ve talked with is that neither will know who will be taking your pictures until about 2-3 months before the wedding. Both have the option to request a certain photographer, but that just seems odd to me. I mean if there’s someone’s work that drew you to the place you should be able to request and get them (obviously only if they’re free the day of your wedding).

Overall I’m not sure what to think. I mean I see a lot of good and not-so-good points about the places we’ve talked with. But as of now we’re still looking.

Edward Fox Photography

Posted by: Dan on Sep 18, 2007

Brooke and I had an appointment at David’s Bridal to meet with Lisa from Edward Fox Photography. Since the appointment wasn’t until 6PM Brooke came over to my apartment for a while – it also gave us a chance to work on planning the honeymoon a bit. Checking prices, calling the travel agency and that stuff (it was all Brooke).

I had my list of questions to ask the photographer all set but like most places we’ve been to they hit almost all the answers as they give their talk. That’s fine by me.

We got to see three samples of wedding albums – the idea was to pick the one we liked which would help figure out our package price. At least that’s the way it was presented to us. Turns out they have a list of packages and prices all set they just don’t show them to you right away. My guess is they do that so you’ll pick the book you really like and when you see the price you’ll shrug it off. So if you had a budget of say $1750 but package you really liked was $2000… maybe you’d think to yourself, “Well it’s only $250 more and I do really like it.”

Great way to make a sale I guess. Doesn’t phase me one bit though.

I enjoyed the albums and right now I’m not sure which I like best. Two stood out and the only reason I liked one better than the other was because of the cover. One cover was pretty nice but the other was just… not ugly, but wasn’t what I’d think of for a wedding album. Brown suede or something like that. The other was this light blue leather. Neither of which really said, “Wedding album” to me. I just tried to picture it with some color I’d like.

The packages we were looking at don’t include the negative or copyright release but we can buy those for an additional $395. This is just insane to me. One day of shooting and I’m not sure how many days developing for around $2000. That does include the album and pictures though so I guess it’s not too bad of a price. But still I never liked the fact that in order to get my own pictures from my wedding (or any photo shoot) you have to pay for the negatives.

Overall I did like the pictures, the lady was pretty friendly and answered all of the questions. The prices seem reasonable too – compared to other places we’ve looked. But we have more places to look.