In the next few months I will be adding to my blog and FAQ sections many articles on why you should choose a Professional and what to look for when choosing a professional. 

The number one issue is that most "professionals" are only "professionals" because they have been paid once or twice to shoot a wedding.  When I was a kid I worked all summer with a friend of my families to make enough money to buy my first car.  I was helping John put a new porch on his house, does that make me a professional?  I got paid for it, that means I know what I am doing!

WRONG!  If I want to have a deck put on my house I am going to hire someone that really knows how to get the job done and done right.  There is one thing about a deck, it can always be redone.  There are no do-overs in the world of weddings!  We get one shot at it, thats it. 

I've heard way too many stories of someone that is getting all this for $1,200:

1. A photographer for 8 hours.  We do not limit you on time!
2. 10x10 album.   Does the album layout look like it was done in iPhoto by your 10 year old nephew?
3. 2 Parent albums.  Didn't you see that book at WalMart or Target last week?  Or maybe you remember it from Shutterfly or Snapfish?
4. Unlimited images with plenty of guarantees.  Do you really want every photo?  We deliver the great photos, not the junk.

One more thing for today.  We setup our cameras to capture photos in RAW format.  RAW files capture ALL the data in the scene, giving you the best possible images in the end. 

Here is a little known fact:  Photo manipulation is a destructive process of selectively deleting data from the original file.  When you choose to shoot a jpeg file you delete 2-3 times more data than you keep, as soon as you snap the picture.  When I shoot one photo it is 25 megabytes +.  I've seen other photographers images that are only 1-2 megabytes each!  You can't print 16x20 or even a decent 8x10 from those files. 

Does the photographer offer the digital files to you for free?  RUN AWAY!  Would you go to your boss and tell him you want to work one day a week for free?  I don't think so.  It takes at least 6-8 hours of editing to edit photos properly.  A Professional Photographer is paid for their ability, not just someone that can push a button.  We are taking the best day of your life and attempting to create the best possible memory to reflect on for the rest of your life.  Do you really want to take a chance on someone that might not even be able to focus the camera correctly or know how to properly expose the photo? 

Please don't take what I have said (or will say in the months to come) the wrong way.  I want to create amazing memories for you to cherish for the rest of your life, as well as your children, grandchildren, and their children.  You get what you pay for, period.