A new idea in wedding photography

I believe that pictures and videos should be the most important part of your wedding day. Everything else will fade away with time, but photographs allow you to cherish the memories forever and pass preciois heirlooms on to your children.

But wedding photography has become so expensive! 10 years ago, we spent $3,000 on our wedding photographer (about 1/3 of our total wedding budget.) Today, packages with well known professional photographers can easily cost upwards of $10,000. And in this digital day and age when everyone has a camera phone, and many of you have professional or prosumer level cameras, it is easy to cut professional photography out of your budget entirely and just rely on well-meaning friends and family to document your most important day.

But what if there was another way? Did you know that a huge portion of what you pay for professional wedding photography is attributed to what we in the photo industry call "post-processing"? It's the time us photographers spend after the wedding making your pictures look perfect. Photoshopping blemishes, airbrushing skin, adding pops of color or erasing distracting details. But there is an array of free software on the market today allowing everyday people to perform this kind of editing, often times from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet. 

I love shooting weddings. I love capturing candid moments, details, and the magic that happens during the first kiss. But I'm a mom of three little ones and I just don't have the time to edit hundreds of pictures right now. I've decided to pursue "second shooting" for other photographers, but I would also love to offer those services to you at a discounted rate. 

If you plan to have a friend or family member photograph your wedding, but still like the idea of having some professional quality images to cherish your special day, consider hiring me to "second shoot" your wedding.

Here's what you can expect when you hire me:

I will arrive with my professional full frame Nikon DSLR, along with an assortment of high quality prime and zoom lenses. I will dress professionally and stay out of the way as much as possible so that you and your guests can fully enjoy your day.

I will shoot between 500-1000 high quality jpeg images and deliver these images to you within 2 weeks of your wedding via private online viewing gallery with unlimited download capability.

You will own the full copyright to these images. You can edit them however you wish, post them to social media, create your own custom prints and canvases, and anything else you might choose. 

If I'm already in the area where your wedding is taking place, the cost for my services is only $500 (includes up to 5 hours of shooting time). If you are planning a destination wedding, please contact me for special pricing. I love to travel and can often find some excellent deals on flights, so having an English speaking professional photographer at your wedding or event might be more affordable than you could imagine.

Here's a great example of how the shots a "second shooter" is able to capture can actually be so much better than what the person "behind the camera" sees.

This first image is what the person officially taking the picture was able to capture at a recent wedding I was a part of:

And here's my shot from the "second shooter" angle. Much more aesthetically pleasing and artistic (in my professional opinion).