Wedding Photography Frequently asked questions of Jacksonville Florida photographer Dan Harris

What is your motivation? I love sharing my gifts with wonderful people by helping them with their unique projects! Whether it is: reproducing fine-art for a talented artist; printing images for a fellow photographer; helping a customer pick the best pictures for their heirloom LeatherArt Album; documenting a once-in-a-lifetime event; producing just the right image for a corporate client; or pulling together just the right look for an aspiring model, it is very satisfying to provide quality products and services that exceed our customers expectations all the while making the process easy and painless for them. We value honesty, candor, appreciation, love and positive energies! We know you are busy, no need to do it the hard way, our unsurpassed talent and extensive experience will be your best assets, give us a call today and we will help you accomplish your goals!

What is your wedding-day philosophy? "Your Day... Your Way!" Cut to me saying: "It's a Wedding! NOT a modeling photo session!" When the photography is important to you and you want great photos but you don't want to sacrifice your day for the sake of the photography, give us a call. We take the best care of you! We believe the photography should be about your event, your event shouldn't be about the photography! Your best memories from your wedding day will come rushing back to you when you view the REAL photos of what really happened, not the ones that the photographer made happen. GET REAL PHOTOGRAPHY from a real unobtrusive, International Award-Winning, Wedding Photojournalist! Your wedding day shouldn't be ruined by a bossy photographer who keeps you away from your family and friends by spending way too much time taking posed, 'modeling' or faked photos or makes you get your dress dirty several hours before you walk down the aisle!

What is a Wedding Photojournalist? The dictionary defines Photojournalism as: 'telling a story with photos'. In wedding photography today photojournalism has come to be known as documentary photos of wedding-day events as they happened. (With minimal involvement, direction or control from the photographer). If a standard picture is worth a thousand words, our goal is to have each picture we take at your event worth three thousand words! (is a poor picture only worth 237 words?) We will be sure you are well taken care of and will help you preserve your memories for multiple generations. Your wedding album will be a complete novel of your event! Dan is an accredited WPJA member, less than 5% of all wedding photographers can qualify as members of WPJA.

Don't all photographers take photojournalistic photos? There is a misconception that anyone taking pictures of 'whatever is going on' is a photojournalist and you only need a fancy camera to be able to do this style of photography. The problem: documentary pictures of 'whatever is going on' don't really tell the whole story. An experienced, professional photojournalist will know what to photograph and how to photograph it to really capture the essence of the event and be able to tell the complete story in pictures so others viewing those photos will be able to relive the event. We are able to deliver GREAT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY no matter the circumstance and do it without making you 'stop and re-do' something or fake anything. We take it even one step further; once the event is over we know just what to do with those pictures to create a heirloom Leather Art album (tested to not fade for over 300 years) that will be cherished for generations allowing your ancestors to re-live your event unencumbered by past or future technology.

How will I recognize a REAL wedding photo journalist? When you look at a photojournalistic wedding album you will get a real feel for what it was really like at the event and what really happened rather than just a people-picture book. A talented and experienced wedding photo journalist is able to react quickly and capture the important essentials of each piece of your wedding-day story in a FEW POWERFUL IMAGES. When looking at albums ask yourself: Do the images tell a compelling story or are they just random, candid snapshots?; or smiley people pictures?; When you look at the images in the albums do they tell a natural story on multiple levels?; or do the images look unnatural, difficult to 'read', faked or contrived?

What is the best thing about your style of photography? You will get exactly what you want! If you want beautiful romantic pictures you only have to be romantic (we'll make sure they're beautiful), if you want pictures where you are looking at the camera, you only need to look at the camera! If you want fun pictures with your family and friends you only have to have fun with your family and friends! Want pictures with grandma? hang out with grandma! Serious? Corny? ...you decide! Even if you want lots of silly pictures you just have to be silly! OUR style is YOUR style!

Refreshing... tell me more. We aren't fad-driven, trend-chasing photographers. We don't try to appeal to the masses. Our style is modern with a timeless classic appeal and won't be appreciated by everyone. Loud and flashy photos (and people-- cut to me whispering 'drama queen') may catch your eye and titillate your senses initially but over time they become tiresome. The appeal of our images improves over time. We don't just 'shoot & burn' leaving you with an overwhelming amount of unretouched photos you don't know what to do with on a cheap CD that will deteriorate and be unreadable within five years. We are a full-time, full-service studio with staff who will meet with you and work with you along every step of the way, as long as it takes --at no additional charge! We will take good care of you! We believe REAL brides deserve REAL useable archival photographs too -tested not to fade for 300 years, (not just thumbnail contact sheets or those cheap photomart fifteen-cent proofs that fade a few years down the road.) Great photos are meant to be shared, that's why we offer 2-3 photographers, a website, CD and free reprints & lots of retouched photos included with every package. We are honest and upfront with our pricing and don't 'nickel and dime' you to death. If you are fortunate enough to have us as your event photographers we will unobtrusively get the GREAT images you deserve, no matter the circumstances, without ruining your day.

In looking for a professional photographer, where should we start. Start with STYLE, every photographer's style is different. Is your event going to be: casual, fun, formal, bright, dark, colorful, old-fashioned, blurry, busy, fluorescent, mysterious, beautiful, warm or cold? Find a photographer who matches your style and compliments your personality, don't just pick a 'friend of a friend' who may not be able to fulfil your dreams. (and we don't mean the advertising style the web designer or graphic artist created for the photographer, or the select (top one percent) images on their blog, we mean their everyday consistant style of actual work as best represented in their clients completed albums www.LeatherArtAlbum.com). Check out: typical styles vs photojournalism. Dan would love to shoot everyone's wedding, but he doesn't have the time! He wants you to have the best you can even if he can't provide it for you so he will teach you how to make the right decision regarding your wedding photographer. He teaches a two-hour class each month to new brides about how to find their perfect wedding photographer. He will help you determine what's best for you. Call the office at: 398-7668 to reserve a seat in an upcoming class.

What is your product guarantee? It's real simple, if you don't like it, we re-do it! No problem, no worries! All products are 100% archival (independently tested not to fade for 300 years!) and fully guaranteed! ALL printed images include complete retouching and digital re-mastering at no additional charge. Price guarantee? You won't find better quality at a lower price! We treat you right and give you the best, top-of-the-line archival quality. We insure you get your money's worth. We aren't cheap, but we are your best value! We archive your wedding album originals on gold in a fire-proof media safe, so if your album was ever damaged a replacement could easily be reproduced.

Do you make the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony? Never! "It's your day, ...have it your way!" You decide what you will do, or not do on your wedding day, we work with your schedule and timetable. Besides, you will be nervous before the ceremony and that nervousness will show in the pre- wedding photographs. We are very skilled at professionally getting our job done in the time allowed. We have NEVER made a bride late to her own party! We work within your schedule and guarantee that we will not make you late to your reception.

Will we look good in our pictures ? Yes, you will look your best because we capture you naturally and then include complete, no-additional-charge retouching for subtle enhancements. Too many controlling photographer's use the threat of 'you won't look good in your pictures, if you don't do what I say' to make you do what they want you to do on your wedding day --that's just not our style. During any pre-planned posed photosession we will give you helpful posing pointers specific for your body type that will improve your pictures but during the natural course of your wedding day we are not going to boss you around but will let you enjoy your day in a Natural, Spontaneous and Fun way!

What helpful advice can you give us? 1- To prevent future regrets, don't skimp on the things that matter most to you. 2- View hundreds of images and multiple REAL customer albums (not samples) from your potential photographer so you have an accurate view of what they are really doing on a consistant basis, then you will have a good idea of what they will do for you. 3- Do your homework and check references, licenses, insurance and BBB, some vendors pay to be a 'preferred vendor' on a referral list... there is a reason they pay and paid listings are ads -not legitimate references! 4- Buy Quality, The cheapest is never the best, is usually the riskiest and may cost the most in the end. 5- Don't base your decision on digital vapor files that may not exist in 5 years. Every digital file can look good on the internet. You may be very disappointed when you accept a CD/DVD as the finished product only to learn later it can't produce the real finished products you had hoped for. The true quality of the images will be revealed in the large final prints or albums, so base your final decision on final products. 6- if you see an image you like, ask lots of questions about how it was made -it may be unrepeatable. 7- Trust your gut, be realistic, unrealistic promises too often leads to future disappointments. 8- If it's too good to be true, IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! 9- Don't risk everything by hiring an inexperienced single-photographer with a single camera! Even the best photographer can't be two places at once. (If the shoot is critical, backup equipment with a backup shooter is critical!) View more helpful hints at: www.FreePhotography.info.

Why is everyone warning me about hiring a $750 (or less) wedding photographer for my Saturday wedding, her pictures look good to me? Sorry to say what you don't want to hear but, 'you get what you pay for.' Most well trained and experienced professional photographers who are decent business people understand their true costs and price their work accordingly. The fun of shooting weddings as a hobby quickly diminishes when it becomes a poor paying job. On a national basis the BEST run photography businesses make 30% profit from photography (many make less). If your potential photographer is shooting 52 weddings a year for $750 each, their profit is $11,700 a year (before taxes) or $5.63 per hour assuming no overtime (which is very unlikely) at a 50 hour work week their pay is $4.50/hr. at a 60 hour work week their pay is $3.75/hr. It doesn't matter how good or not good their pictures are, or even if they are a supermom, how many years do you think they will remain in business? As a well-equipped, trained professional how many hours would you work on that kind of pay? And do you really believe a truely talented, top-notch professional can support their family and work really hard for you at those prices? If you book them 8 months before your wedding what are the chances they will still be in business by the time your event gets here? So there is a major risk involved in hiring this photographer, it's guaranteed they won't be able to spend much time with you or your images and we haven't yet mentioned the ever looming 'burnout' factor!

Why should I hire a seasoned professional like you when my photographer friend will shoot the wedding for a lot less? Your photographer friend will take hundreds of pictures to get a few good ones, we will take hundreds of pictures so you will get hundreds of good ones! Ultimately you will get what you pay for. Quality is always the best value! Better to pay good money for top-quality with the assurance that you will get your money's worth, rather than gambling on your once-in-a-lifetime event only to ultimately end up disappointed. Getting REAL value for your money is a better deal than wasting good money on inferior quality. Our experience and expertise along with our proven track record insure your sucess. We will work with you as long as it takes to insure that when all is said and done you will have the best possible. We will be here for you every step of the way, from taking the images to editing them to designing your album to printing archival top-quality products we will do and re-do what needs to be done to insure your complete satisfaction. Our complete product guarantees insures that you will be well taken care of and not left with a incompleted, poorly crafted 'do-it-yourself' project!

Why is it important to view actual customers completed albums from more than one wedding? A lot of photographers are showing 'faked' or 'sample' albums (not even remotely similar to what you will ultimately get) The album is the finalized, completed work of the photographers wedding photography efforts, you really need to view MANY completed albums from real weddings (that were designed by the same person who is designing your album) so you get a good idea of what your potential photographer is currently doing and what your completed album might look like. I post my completed wedding album designs online, click the Album Proof link on the left, then click Preview. Remember, the wedding album photos are the 'best-of-the-best' and include all finishing enhancements so it should showcase the best the photographer has to offer. The albums online here are actual customer albums in the proofing process where the bride has chosen the images to be included. (not faked or setup samples and not once-in-a-lifetime award-winners, the real deal similar to what we would do for you!) If you don't get your once-in-a-lifetime event covered properly, you won't have many choices from which to choose your reprints, albums, folios, enlargements and photographic keepsakes.

How will you be unobtrusive at our wedding? We don't have cloaking cloths, so we may be noticable 30% of the time. The majority of the time we use longer-angle lenses so we are a fair distance away from what we are photographing. Some photographers prefer very wide-angle lenses and are continually 'in your face' to get their shots, that's just not our style --besides very few people look good in wide-angle!

Isn't digital wedding photography cheaper now? Maybe for the consumer since there is no more film, developing and minimal printing costs, but for the properly equipped professional, digital photography has increased overall costs +25%* over film due to the more expensive and complicated cameras that have to be replaced and repaired sooner, the computer equipment and software required to professionally develop and process RAW digital files, expensive backup and storage systems and additional staff personnel and computer time required for retouching, editing and manipulation. The film and developing cost savings has been absorbed by many other behind-the-scene digital costs. (*As verified by the PPA financial benchmark survey of professional photographers nationwide.)

Why do you say FAKE is a 'four-letter-word'? Although setup, contrived and faked photographs can be visually interesting and sometimes make for popular magazine spreads or unique art, they are VOID of real meaning or lasting heartfelt memories for the participants. When you look at images from your 'fasion photography' shoot do you say: "Remember when the makeup, wardrobe and editing staff made me look like something I'm not (nor ever plan to be) and remember when the set crew was throwing shredded styrofoam around in the parking lot that summer in Florida making it look like snow? --Those bring back such fond memories, I'm going to cherish them forever." Perhaps if you are an actress or model needing images for your portfolio and want to demonstrate to art directors that you are a GOOD FAKER! Too often a nicely 'faked' image that looks like it 'wasn't faked' makes for a good advertising image, but in the end only reminds the participants of the photographer and the circumstances around the making of the image not any REAL heartfelt emotions or feelings which were captured in the image. We want your images to be meaningful to you and a reflection of your real values, not rememberances of your photographer and what they faked.

I've heard you say NOT to base your photographer decision on digital files alone, why is that? Every digital file can look good on a computer, TV screen or the back of a digital camera. (computer image files are 256 times smaller than our top-quality print files) The true quality of the digital file is revealed in the large prints or albums. Nothing worse than settling for a CD/DVD of digital files only to learn later it can't produce the final products you hoped to get and when you complain to your photographer she quotes the line from her contract that says she has fulfilled her obligation to shoot the pictures and burn them to CD/DVD. You don't see the best chefs in town selling raw ingredients and giving away free recipes --neither are the BEST photographers!

How do we know a photographer's digital files are of good quality? There are no industry standards for digital file quality on CD/DVD. It really depends on what you plan on using the files for. Different projects require different types and quality of files. What does the CD/DVD really contain? Web files? Files only good for screen display but not for printing? Small, Medium or Large print files? Files with logos on them? Digital Negatives unviewable on most computers? Un-retouched files? RAW format files that won't open without specialized software? Non-corrected files? Un-edited files? Files direct from the camera? Auto-batched files? A master printer can look at the actual digital file and tell you its true capability OR you can look closely at the large prints and albums produced by the files to see the real quality. If your potential photographer can't show you actual large prints and albums created from their actual files... RUN far far away as fast as you can and don't look back! To insure that the files you receive are capable of creating the finished product you really want you will have to send them to the printer you plan on using and pay them to make a test print then you can evaluate the finished quality, the problem is --by that time your photographer and/or all of their files may be long gone.

Why on a national average are there so many former brides dissatisfied with their wedding photographer / photography? Assumed expectations. There is a lot of unintentional ‘false’ advertising currently in our industry! What you see on their pretty website has no resemblance to what you will end up with in the end. A website showing 'model' brides in designer gowns at exotic locations from fashion magazine photo-shoots doesn't resemble anything close to what will be photographed on your wedding day. Too often inferior quality isn't discovered until long after the wedding when the bride attempts to have some images professionally printed from the CD she thought contained high-quality images, now there is no recourse for the quality problems. A large number of the 'wedding photographers' in today's marketplace are moonlighters (inexperienced part-timers meeting at a coffee shop or bookstore), unprofessional, underequipped and not much better than your friend with a digital camera. (Too many are unlicensed and uninsured) Some of today's wedding photographers like to play 'magazine-fashion-photoshooter' on your wedding day but what the bride doesn't realize (until it's too late) is that a wedding-day modeling photosession can be stressful, time-consuming and ruin your complete wedding day time schedule. With so many new photographers in the marketplace, all with pretty pictures online, it's difficult to weed through the hype and learn the truth about what you will really have in the end.

What is the typical cost of PROFESSIONAL wedding photography? In NE Florida the average cost of a mid-sized wedding is $20,000-30,000+ and quality wedding photography averages 10-15% of that amount for decent coverage (this may or may not include archival albums, reprints or extra items.) Brides with photography high on their priority list but having a smaller wedding may spend 20-40% or more on everything photographic depending on their budget and priorites. We have programs to fit most every budget (including our less-expensive assistants), call now to set an appointment to discuss all the details!

Can we get the printable digital images from our event? Yes, every wedding package comes with a CD of EVERY retouched, printable image that was originally on the website along with a print release. The size of the files on this CD will be determined by the size of your wedding package. If your original package didn't include the hi-res files, we will offer to sell you the complete set of high-resolution printable images for only $500 after your album is completed.

Why would we buy more expensive prints from you when we can make much cheaper ones ourselves from the digital files? Our prints from ANY digital file will always look better and last longer than any print you can make or have made from the same file because of our professional equipment, talent, skills and expertise. When you buy a low-cost print from a consumer lab they put it through a speedy automated process and won't spend much time on it nor will they insure it prints its absolute best, in fact it usually prints mediocre or worse! (their well-trained lab person is only allowed to spend 5-7 seconds on each image). We will take the time to do it right and insure it prints the best, we may spent 30-40 minutes on each print and print it multiple times until it is absolutely the best possible, isn't that why you hire a professional in the first place? Because we hand-craft our own prints, using special artist materials, they will have a greater color gamut and clarity than any print you can purchase elsewhere. Our unique UV coating gives our prints a rich, enduring quality that has been tested not to fade for 300 years, you won't find the same quality anywhere else.

What are digital negatives? They are RAW digital image files directly from the camera prior to digital 'processing' (similar to film negatives prior to developing). Quality cameras produce 16-bit or 14-bit RAW files which must first be processed prior to creating a finished product. The skill of the processor can greatly affect the quality of the image. Most consumers are unable to open and don't know how to correctly process these files without professional training and the purchasing of expensive developing software. A photographer offering you 'digital negatives' of the images from his camera may actually be giving you files that are unusable for your purposes.

I thought jpegs on a CD were like digital negatives? Jpegs can be made from digital negatives but contain a lot less information (which will be more noticeable when printed than when viewed on a computer screen). Just the act of opening and closing a Jpeg can degrade the file. Just like in the days of film, it is often best to return to the 'original negative' for printing your current order rather than using an old jpeg that may have deteriorated. Our digital negatives contain 256 times more information than a standard Jpeg file. When we make Jpegs from our digital negatives for use on the internet the process creates a loss of 99.6% of the original information captured in our digital camera. Good thing we keep your digital negatives! Some photographers set their cameras to a standard quality 'pre-processed' Jpeg while photographing your event which makes it quick and easy to burn to CD because it eliminates the digital negative but the resulting jpeg files may not contain enough information for quality prints or additional editing or correcting.

I read in a magazine that it's cheaper to hire a photographer who just gives me a CD/DVD? Cheaper doesn't mean better! What do you plan on doing with the CD? What type of files will be on the CD? Digital Negatives? Jpegs? Raw Files? Tiffs? At what resolution and quality? What quality guarantees come with the CD? Did you know most CD's will deteriorate and be unusable in five years? There are NO industry quality-standards for 'digital files on CD -DVD'. Most 'shoot-n-burn' photographers delete your files once they have given you the lowest quality CD/DVD they could find, so you have no recourse when those files become unreadable. When you set out to buy a wedding cake did you settle on the one you wanted by looking at the cake mix in the box? Digital files on CD (or on the internet) are NOT a finished product --DON'T base your decision on just that! Your CD of Jpeg images may not be able to produce the final products you were hoping to get in the end. Too often when one company provides the CD files and another company produces the printed product neither one takes full responsibility for the final outcome and the finished product will never be its best. If there is a problem, they each will blame the other leaving you with no satisfaction. In the end you may end up with a nice shiny unusable CD that is incapable of giving you what you really hired a photographer for in the first place -- so instead of saving money you've now just wasted it!

What if we can't afford the archival heirloom products right now? For budgetary reasons you may have to settle for a CD for now and then purchase your heirloom products later but that's still not a good reason to foolishly hire a low-quality photographer and end up with bad images that won't give you the finished products you had hoped for in the future (we had one bride order her archival heirloom album 9 years after her event!). Base your decisions on the quality of the finished products. Too many brides make the assumption that they can get the same quality finished products their photographer showed them from a low-cost consumer supplier, be sure to ask before you buy --most photographer's samples are produced at 'for the trade only' establishments that you won't be able to order from. We custom produce our own printed products, they can't be purchased from anyone else. Our printed products will outlast the digital files. We guarantee ALL our printed products (which are not only competitively priced but also include ALL retouching, editing, digital re-mastering, cropping and have been tested to not fade for 300 years) so in the end, we guarantee you will get exactly what you hoped for! A 'shoot, burn and ditch-you' type photographer may be cheaper upfront but when all is said and done may ultimately cost you the loss of everything!

What are your wedding photography prices? Prices vary depending on the date and number of hours needed. Our assistants start at $800. Contact us to see if we are still available on your date and then we can set a time to meet and discuss all the details. Call or e-mail us to begin the process.

Why is there such a wide variety of prices among photographers? Most experienced photographers base their price on their cost of materials, equipment, education, experience, expertise and quality. No two are on the same level, so neither are their prices. Ultimately you'll get what you pay for. Since your wedding day will be un-repeatable and since your photographs will be irreplaceable and will help preserve your memories for multiple generations- you will have no regrets if you choose your photographer based on the style you like and then work with them to develop a program you can afford. You will be the most unhappy if you skimp on this process. Too many brides create a 'laundry list' of what they want and then search to find someone who can meet their demands at or below their budget, this is totally backwards because even if they find someone who meets their criteria, there's little chance that photographer will have the image style, quality and personality that matches their tastes. In the end they will have wasted good money on poor-quality pictures they don't like from a person they are having a hard time dealing with. When all is said and done, the best photographer for you will never be the cheapest one you find.

I don't think I can afford to pay a higher price for archival quality, is it really worth it? Take the cost of the product divided by its useful life, times the amount of enjoyment received and that is your true cost. When all is said and done, the cheapest products are often the most expensive. There is always a certain 'assumed expectation' of usefullness in every product you buy and when a product fails, the true cost of ownership becomes astronomical when compared to the value received! Lasting quality always has a price. We believe: 'if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right!' Anything less is just a waste of good money! If it's not important enough for you to have it done right then maybe you shouldn't hire a professional photographer but just settle for throw-away cameras on the guest tables or have your 'photographer' friend practise on you. Are you comfortable surrounding yourself with wasteful junk? Is wasteful junk more valuable because you can get more and pay less? (it's called the Wal-Mart mentality that will eventually destroy our planet with too much useless garbage, but I digress) Let me ask you this: If you inherited your great-grandmother's wedding album and it was still in good shape and told in pictures the complete story of her wedding day how much would that be worth to your family today? What is the real cost of ownership based on the original cost divided by the length of enjoyment, you may find the 'cheaper' product is actually the most costly! An archival-quality wedding album will increase in value over time. Would you be able to experience the same enjoyment had your great-grandmother chose the cheaper option that fell apart 5 years after her event?

What additional wedding photography information do you have online? Here is the link to our Wedding Photography Table of Contents. Also see typical styles vs photojournalism and Wedding Photojournalist Association website. Stress-free photography!

Why shouldn't we hire a 'friend-of-a-friend' or a part-time photographer who has another job? Nothing worse than your 'photographer' having to dump you at the last minute because their boss changed their work schedule! (we are averaging two calls a month from brides who were dumped and now scrambling to find a replacement ....sorry we are already booked) Or just as bad, they are burning the candle at both ends so they are having difficulty returning your phonecalls, e-mails and they take forever getting back to you because they are juggling their 'real' job and their 'photography' job, along with their home life. When a problem arises too often the photo girl you learned about over the internet, from a friend, then met at the local coffee shop is nowhere to be found, her cell phone is disconnected, her facebook account is closed and now you find out she was just 'playing photographer', you learn later your friend didn't really know her very well and now she has skipped town!

How can we tell a professional photographer? Everything about them is professional. They have professional equipment. They will be licensed and insured; goodstanding members of several industry support organizations (i.e.: NPPA, PPA, NPS, SEP, PPSNF, WPPI, WPJA, etc.); have an excellent reputation with quality references and no outstanding complaints, lawsuits or BBB filings; their physical location and phone numbers can be easily found (no PO boxes); they are NOT 'new to town' or 'new to photography'; they are not UNknown in the industry or wanting to meet you at a bookstore-coffee shop, late-night bar or dark alley!

What are some of the tell-tale signs of unprofessional photography? The obvious ones are: improper exposures (too light, too dark); too much contrast --no highlight or shadow details; obvious flash blowout; bad colors, (orange skin, yellow or blue shades in the white areas or shadow areas of an image, etc.); blurry photos with no point of sharp focus (not an intentional motion-blur image) and overly 'photo-shopped' images (adding effects to try to cover-up other problems). Then there are the less obvious ones: poor-quality lenses that distort, lean and 'fatten' people on the left or right sides of the frame; noisy or fuzzy images; unrealistically dark backgrounds with bright foreground subjects; Shadows creating raccoon-eyes or colored (blue/orange) shadows across people's faces; Blue or purple shadows; Orange or pink skin tones; Extremely over-saturated (neon -not found in nature) colors designed to distract you from the lack of other pleasing elements (composition, subject, lighting, content, pattern, mood, expression, etc.) These issues become magnified with larger prints or in albums and minimized on the internet, in slideshows, on blogs and websites. This is why it is critical to set an appointment and view the final printed products in person, not on a computer screen. See examples here.

So how do we avoid future disappointment? Discover the truth! A name brand, well established, properly equipped, full-time photography studio with a superior reputation, including backup shooters and equipment and a physical address will be worth the extra money because there will be a 100% chance the job will get done right! Anything less comes with a greater risk of losing everything! It amazes me the number of photographers who are hiding their physical address and the number of fools who are dumb enough to hire them. We believe in honest, full-disclosure and want our brides to know the realities of what exactly we will do for them, before they hire us, so there are no misunderstandings later. Too many photographers misrepresent what they will really do for you by only showing you 5 of their best, overly retouched images from each wedding (as posted on their blog or printed in a magazine). Too often a photographer's best work is only of models, fake brides or contrived sample albums, some are using 'stock photos' they didn't take. When you only see the top 5% of a photographers work, you really don't know what 95% of their work really looks like! What are the chances all the work they do for you will be in the top 5%? What are the chances your wedding be in the 95% group? We only show REAL photos from REAL weddings of REAL brides (not setup pictures from photography training seminars)! We don't show 'sample' albums or models pretending to be brides! We don't just 'shoot, burn and ditch-you' we work with you along every step of the way from beginning to end and will provide the best for you just like we have done for hundreds of other brides, no matter the circumstances or timetable of your wedding! You will not be disappointed!

You said something in your class about mistaking good content for good photography, can you explain? While looking at a photographer's pictures it's easy to be impressed by over-the-top decorations or exotic locations without realizing you may be seduced by 'good content' and not 'good photography'. If your location isn't exotic or your decorations aren't 'over-the-top' will the photography still be as impressive? A red flag warning would be if the photographers portfolio is chock full of interesting 'things' and fewer people shots. I've seen some very high-end wedding magazines print some very poor quality pictures only because the unique content was very interesting --what's even sadder is when the photographer brags about their published picture (which is poorly lit and slightly out of focus).

Why should't we believe every photographer's website or ad? Too often a graphic artist (hired to make a pretty website) will crop, edit, retouch and "jazz up" the pictures for the internet but the 'photographer' can't do the same for the pictures taken on your wedding day. Or worse yet, some photographers are using 'stock' wedding photos for their website, ads and literature, so now the bride is looking at photos in an ad which the photographer didn't take and doesn't even know how to take. Some new 'photographers' are really good at mimicking other photographers without really knowing the how-to's or whys. Many new photographers use a computer program that helps them add 'effects' to a photograph with the 'push-of-a-button'. Problem is they don't know which photo to use with which button and if the 'push-of-the-button' doesn't correct it, they have no idea what else to do (maybe push another button?) Too often a bride who doesn’t search for reality and clarify her expectations is destined for future disappointment.

Do you provide the low and high resolution digital images? Yes, depending on the size of the event package you purchase. Every one of our brides gets a CD of all the web images from their event including a print release. We don't want to have the only copy of the high-resolution digital print files on the planet that's why we sell the bride an archival copy of all their digital print files, including a print release, for only $500 after we are finished their album. (if your initial package is large enough, it will include the files at no additional charge. Many photographers are charging $2,000+ for the digital files either in their 'package price' or after the event.) Your friends and family can also purchase web-sized digital files from our ordering website.

Can we buy the digital images from our portrait session? Yes, only after a minimum purchase amount has been reached. A digital file is not a finished product and won't last as long as our prints. We put much more time, editing and improving each file prior to printing to insure it is the best it can be. A PhotoArt print is of much better quality than a digital file alone because our prints are of the highest quality and include additional artistic enhancements and have been tested not to fade for 300 years. We stand behind the quality of everything we produce but we can't guarantee prints made elsewhere by someone else. What a less expensive printer produces from our digital files too often is a bad reflection on us. From a consumer standpoint there is a misconception that you can do anything with a digital file and that all files on CD are the same --this is absolutely untrue! There are no industry quality standards for files on CD. We spend hours retouching and enhancing our digital files prior to printing -they are at the very heart of everything we produce so the enhanced digital file is really the critical, most valuable part of our business, if we gave away these files, we have worked so long and hard on, without fair compensation --we would soon be out of business.

Can we get a price quote? Yes, since we customize our offerings for each of our brides we need to first determine if we have your date available and then we need to meet to see if we are 'artistically compatible' and a good match to work together then we will create a custom package to fit your exact needs and budget. When the budget is limited, we can sometimes offer our well-trained assistants to cover your event. Some prime-time Saturdays have a minimum investment requirement. Call or e-mail us to begin the process.

Why don't you have a blog? We want to keep updated with what you are doing? I have treated some parts of my website like a blog long before blogs were ever invented; the main difference is my website isn't in chronological order and I don't blog about contrived trivial PR postings. I provide all kinds of useful business information to help you with your decisions, not snippets of trite happenings, fake events, unimportant announcements, etc. I guess if I wasn't so honest and down-to-earth I could make up all kinds of flowery junk to fill-up a blog, it's just not my style. What would I say on a blog that I haven't already said on my website? Mundane non-sense? I know blogs are fun to read and can be entertaining, (so is the digital wedding photographer's forum online, urinals around the world online and you-tube videos-- but they can also be real time wasters.) It's really a matter of priorities -- It's not important for me to have groupies that bring me fame and give me daily ego strokes. It's more important for me to spend my time working for my customer's getting their jobs done (not entertaining them). Too many photographers are spending lots of time making impressive slide-shows of overly-edited stuff they shot for a self promotion, the sad part is they spend much less time on their everyday customers work. If anything happens that is of any real importance or relevance I will be happy to post such information on my website, perhaps even on the first page, for all to read and be updated, sometimes I will even send a letter to my customers, and if it's really important someone from my office will call you, otherwise it's just business as usual. No hype, no bull, no pretence! Also see Blog Smog!

Why don't you post 4 or 5 pictures from every event on your website? Although such a practise (if kept up with) is great for PR, ultimately it ends up being FALSE ADVERTISING. I would rather you view my everyday, finished albums and see the reality of what we are really providing our real clients on a regular basis rather than just the top 1% of our photos from each event. This practise insures your long-term satisfaction. Too many photographers today are setting their clients up for future disappointment and heartache. What are the chances the pictures from your wedding day will be the same as the top one-percent of the pictures you were shown? One percent?

Should we hire a famous photographer? Famous for what? Their really cool blog? Don't hire the one that's famous for taking your money and not delivering the goods (as seen on the 6'oclock news). Too often the uber-famous don't do their own stunts! (i.e. they have staff which you can hire for less) Don't believe the hype, learn the truth, get the facts -then make an informed decision based on your own needs. Does the 'famous' photographer believe they are more important than the bride? Some are more concerned about themselves looking good than the bride looking good and will have lots of demands. To me, life's too short for that nonsense.

Can we view our proofs online? Yes! We have an exceptional password-protected, online viewing site which allows you to view a slideshow, zoom in, compare images, save favorites, view and order the images in alternate colors (B&W or Sepia) and share them with all your family and friends. Online Wedding Photography. This unique website viewing experience is included in our event packages for up to 3 months at no additional charge (a $300 value ~ additional online time is available for $30/mo.) Contact us for complete details.

We love Dan's work and wish we could hire him but don't think we can afford him? Set an appointment today and depending on your date and the number of hours needed (and assuming Dan likes you), you may be surprised at what he may be able to work out for you. He has promotions at certain times of the year and specials on certain dates. You may be able to hire Dan's assistants at a lower price. There's no guarantee that they will take the same images as Dan would but they will take much better pictures than the majority of the low-priced photographers in the market! The best part is Dan will oversee all post-production editing, retouching, reprints, album design & assembly, etc. so you will be certain to get your money's worth!

Did you say retouching is included? Yes, complete retouching is included on all printed products including; reprints, albums, enlargements, etc. This includes removing blemishes, softening wrinkles, removing a stray hair, opening blinked eyes, head swaps, slight chin lift or tummy tuck but may not include removal of people, fixtures, backgrounds or major alterations.

Will your assistant obnoxiously run around our reception with a flash on a stick? No, not our style. If we need an extra light at your reception we will bring one with a self-supporting stand and unobtrusively hide it behind a speaker or a plant, or place it in a distant corner of the room. The worst part about the 'flash-on-the-stick' monkey is he/she never seems to be in the right place at the right time so the photographer is always yelling at him/her or worse yet taking pictures of him/her. Either way, it's not pretty.

What is high-definition still photography? (HDSP, HDR or HDRI) Just like high definition television; high definition still photography has much better clarity, consistency, color saturation, dynamic tonal range and image quality. We just recently upgraded all our equipment to support this new standard. (set an appointment to view the full details) More about HDRI here. You will be amazed by the images from our 32 megapixel medium format camera using true 16-bit capture.

Other than great images, superior service and a great reputation, what makes you worth your price? The difference is in the details! We will take care of you and do it right! We are the real deal, capturing what really happened which will bring back real memories! We capture the images others miss! Faked, staged and contrived photos usually bring back bad memories of the photographer and what they were making you do rather than real heart-felt memories of your wedding day. We document everything! Too many photographers today are attempting stressful and time-consuming modeling 'fashion-magazine' photoshoots on your wedding day taking you away from your guests and turning your event into a corporate photoshoot rather than a wedding. Everything we do is customized, archival and top-of-the-line quality, we don't skimp on anything! We do it right --not cheap! (no matter your budget) Every printed image is fully re-touched and 100% guaranteed. Our experience insures the best outcome no matter the circumstances. We go above and beyond with our full guarantee, complete retouching, fully redundant world-class image backup systems, included archival and fireproof storage services, world-class high-definition quality. All prints and albums are UV coated and independently lab tested to not fade for 300 years. Also see: Medium Format Digital. We are 'easy going' with more quality and less pretence resulting in more results. Set an appointment with us to experience the difference.

My girlfriend booked a photographer 8 months before her wedding and then was devistated when her photographer raised the price just before her wedding, do you do that? No, we lock-in your pricing at the time of booking and lock-in the price for everything you have pre-paid for. We are one of the few photographers that quote honest, upfront prices which include everything --no surprises later! Our quote may appear higher in price initially but when you consider the full price of all the extras, when all is said and done you will find we provide one of the best values around. We won't 'nickle-and-dime-you-to-death' after the event.

Why is it important to get prints and not just digital images? Archival prints and albums are unencumbered by current or future technology and will outlast digital files. Can you find the negatives from your grandmother's wedding? Did you lose any digital files the last time your computer crashed? Can you read the files from your 5" floppy drive? Did you know most standard DVD's and CD's will deteriorate within 5 years and the information will be unreadable?

What's your opinion about the low-priced initial fees many photographers advertise? When you pay for quality you either 'pay now' or 'pay later', if a quality photographer has a low upfront price, you can bet their 'after-the-fact' prices will more than makeup for it. If you are working with the 'low bid' provider, you may only have a 20% chance of actually getting what you think you are paying for. Don't be deceived into believing you will be the lucky one who cashes in on the offer that was "too good to be true".

Is there a minimum order on reprints? NO, we offer reduced pricing on our standard reprints ordered online for the first 60-days. (If your initial package booking qualifies for our best incentive pricing then a 4 x6 fully retouched, archival reprint purchased during the first 30-days online will only costs $5 ea.) Photographs are made to share! We offer the same price for Black and White, Color or Browntones (sepia) including special effect styles.

Do you have time limits on re-orders and album ordering? NO, we work with you according to your time schedule. Some photographers have stiff penalties written in the fine print of their contracts that punish you for not conforming to their schedule, others won't give you the album you already paid for if you don't order it within a certain time period ...that's just not our style!

How many weddings do you photograph in a day? Typically Dan only shoots one large-sized event per day, this insures he has the time energy and enthusiasm to do the best possible job for you! This also insures that if you need extra time or need to change the time (at the last minute) we are available for you. We have several teams of assistants that can cover other events if Dan is already booked.

How long have you been a photographer? I took my first photos in 1966 and became an avid photojournalist throughout my high school years (70's disco era). I have covered events in Florida since 1986. I officially licensed my photography business in Jacksonville in 1996 and have specialized in weddings ever since and have personally photographed 380+ events.

What about the latest fads in wedding photography? Sadly the newest FADs practised by photographers are to dump the low-paying bride for a higher paying-one; not deliver what was already paid for; substitute something cheaper or raising prices unexpectedly (kind of like the credit card companies), giving away FREE items to get the initial booking and then go out-of-business before the items are delivered. Many photographers are shooting very wide angle lenses from a low angle (looking up the brides nose) -not many people look good from that angle. Other trends such as: the dirty 'grungy' look; florescent colors; over-saturation of colored images; trash the dress photosessions; pop-up or peel-n-stick albums; fake painterly; the soft white 'overexposure' glow and boudoir 'bridal' sessions. There is always a new 'fad' in wedding photography and many of them come and go so fast! Do you really want every picture from your wedding to be taken at an angle or blurry? Some are only a bad re-make of the classics. If you run with the latest non-proven trend it will only make your event very cool for a minute then very dated looking thereafter. (ask your mom about the 'heads in the wine glass' picture or the 'couple floating over sheet music' image) We prefer to only use modern techniques of a classical style that have been proven to insure longevity. Our albums will remain 'in-style' for generations because they are archival, library-bound heirlooms. Many of today's fads are not a classic look that will withstand the test of time, too many of them will ultimately be declared as a 'bad idea'. We will help insure your photography products don't become a victim to the fashion trends!

I've heard of Photographers and Videographers who ruin the mood of the reception by continually turning up the lights. We are not in charge of the lights at your event so we're not going to touch them! We have the equipment, know-how and experience to be able to take photographs in any lighting situation. Some cheaper/inferior cameras have difficulty focusing in dim light, ours can focus in total darkness. (that's another reason we cost more)

We talked to a photographer who said Natural or Available Light is better and never uses flash? So in dark situations do they:1- take grainy, dark, blurry and poor-quality, unrecognizable images? Then tell you they are 'artsy' when you complain that you can't see much? 2- use an emergency spotlight (obnoxious deer headlight)? or 3- do they turn up the house lights? Perfect natural lighting is the best, but seldom available! What kind of 'natural' light is available at your nightime reception? We don't limit our capabilities based only on what nature provides, we come prepared to deliver exceptional images no matter what the natural lighting situation is. We use natural light in every photo we take but sometimes we have to enhance it with a little available light from our flash.

Do you yell at the bridal party and act obnoxious in an attempt to elicit a reaction for the photos? No, not our style. Your wedding day is about you, not about the photographer. We want to capture the true emotion of the day and what really happened, not what the photographer faked. We want you to look at the photos and remember the real emotions of those real moments, not what the photographer said or did at that moment.

Do you limit the number of photographs or the amount of images taken at our event? NO, with our wedding photojournalism photography style our photographers take aprox. 150-200 photos per hour (including a few wasted shots, but only a minimal amount of duplicates) We don't limit the number of images it takes to get your event covered properly!

Why do your black and white printed images have such a unique, superior-quality compared to others I have seen? Many photographers treat black and white as an 'after thought' and often only do a simple digital B&W conversion of their 'problem' color images. We use a completely separate process for our black and white photographs. Everything from the camera & lens choice, the settings on the camera, type of images captured, on through the developing and the final output is designed for the final black and white output. They have the look of film, but better.

What about referral lists or 'best vendor' lists? Some are legit, some are paid advertisements and some are popularity contests. It's real easy to judge any type of list just by looking at the vendors you DO know and then compare them with the ones you DON'T know. If 'THE LIST' says company XYZ is 4-stars and you know they are barely 2-stars then I wouldn't give much weight to the other rankings or suggestions. If you find a list that confirms what you already know about quality vendors then there is a good chance the 'unknown' vendors listed will also be worth considering. Do your homework to be sure.

What is your opinion of 'vendor review' sites on the internet? Strange how well known vendors who have been in business for years only have a few reviews but new, relatively unknown vendors have tons of glowing reviews...obviously there have been some shinanagans going on! The newer vendor will get good reviews until they work with bridezilla, then dispite all the best customer service and PR, she will still slam them! There is a lot of scamming going on, fake brides, cousins, employees, relatives all with rave reviews! When there are a lot of reviews and every 'review' is 5 stars and they all use similar diction and expressions then you know the photographer has given a 'script' to their friends and customers to post online for them. Someone who unethically 'cheats' the system in this way may not be the most honest person to deal with, who or what else are they cheating? (they may be cheating the government) One loud-mouthed; bridezilla, former employee or disgruntled ex and their friends can make a company look bad by going everywhere on the internet and saying bad things. Know your sources. Anyone can say anything (as proven by every news reporter across the country) but it doesn't mean it's reliable or even honest information. Too often the needs, tastes and opinions of the reviewer are far different from your own. Weight needs to be given to credible sources (not anonymous ones) and "people-in-the-know" with similar tastes, preferences and requirements as you.

Why is your hourly rate for commercial photography less than your hourly rate for weddings? Commercial photography isn’t for a ‘once-in-a lifetime’ event so it doesn’t require a ‘backup’ photographer. Commercial photography has additional charges for; reprints, retouching, archival storage, ArtBoxes & websites which are all included in our hourly wedding rate charges. When you consider everything we include in the wedding photography hours, it actually costs less than if each item were paid separately, like in commercial photography. Weddings are very time-sensitive, action-packed and intense-- requiring more work in less time than a commercial shoot. We shoot, develop, edit, retouch, post, print & archive three times the number of images at a wedding than we do at a commercial event.

I love your work and wanted to hire you, but you are already booked for my date can you refer me to another photographer who is the same as you? We wish we could. But no two photographers are alike. Have you considered hiring our assistants or changing your date? Many locations will make concessions for non-prime time dates. I can give you some names of photographers I know and like, but they may do things a lot differently than I do so be sure to do your homework before booking them. Sometimes our assistants are available and willing to cover additional events. Now I can tell you a lot about the many experiences I have had with other wedding professionals that I work with on a regular basis i.e.: locations, food, cakes, DJ's, etc. And I will bet many of these other vendors have the 'scoop' on how a photographer behaves on the day of the event or if in the end they ulimately disappointed the bride!

Why don't you charge a $5,000 minimum like some of the other photographers of your caliber that I have seen on the internet? Although I was born in California, I don't have that Southern California connection! Let's be realistic, just before I retire I will raise my minimum price to 6 figures and then not book many events but travel worldwide, on a paid lecture tour, expounding to other photographers my vast knowledge and importance because I charge so much! I currently don't have the numerous publications, lecture series, advertisable celebrity weddings and other 'credentials' (and attitude ...maybe I just don't names drop enough) that 'justifies' extreeme prices. (If you think I am worth more, please feel free to leave a tip!) Our prices aren't cheap, but you will get your monies worth.

My girlfriend hired one of those cheap 'shoot-n-burn' photographers who gave her a CD but the pictures all have what look like water spots on them? A 'shoot-n-burn' photographer is very risky to hire because they aren't providing any finished products and minimal services, too often, after it's too late, you discover that the digital images on CD are inferior quality and won't work for making the finished product you had dreamed of. Digital camera sensors are susceptible to dirt spots and are expensive to have cleaned. Those dirt spots on the sensor can ruin every picture. Film cameras were less prone to the problem because as the film moved, it also moved the dirt. The cost to correct such a problem may be more than the original cost to have hired a quality full-service photographer who wouldn't have had that problem in the first place.

I heard that photojournalists don't use proper angles, lighting techniques or flattering poses? Perhaps an inexperience photojournalist doesn't, but a well-trained experienced professional will always use the best lighting and work to find the best vantage point (or angle) to insure their client looks their best. The big difference between a 'traditional photographer' and a professional wedding photojournalist is the photojournalist will move to find the best position for the light and angle needed rather than interfering, interupting and moving the subject to suit their own needs. (Of course during the pre-planned times alloted for posed photography we will work with you to insure you also look your best in the posed shots. )

What is a 'full-service' studio? We are a full-time, full-service photography studio which means we are here for you through every step of the process from beginning to end no matter how long it takes. We will design, re-design, edit and re-master all your finished products. Too many 'part-time' photographers don't have the time to give you the professional service and assistance you require, and have paid for! Too often a 'lazy' photographer finds it easier to 'shoot and burn a CD and then ditch-you' leaving you to fend for yourself. A full-service studio like ours will edit, retouch and digitally remaster your files and guarantee the final products to be everything you dreamed of!

What types of albums do you offer? We only offer the best-quality top-of-the-line albums. Contemporary Panoramic LeatherArt Albums, Traditional Matted Albums, and Flush-mount Albums, the choice is yours. They range in price from $289-$6,050. When you come to our studio for your consultation we will show you samples of each and discuss your options. Our albums tell the complete story of your wedding day and are not just a "posed people picture" book. All our albums are guaranteed archival. The images are UV coated (protecting against fingerprints, moisture and contaminants) and have been independently tested not to fade for over 300 years.

I talked to a photographer who doesn't let the bride pick the photos that go into her album --who picks our album images? Every bride of ours picks all her own images that go into the album and if she has any problems, we are more than happy to help her with her selection. You know best which images mean the most to you and you have to live with your album longer than we do, so we want you to be 100% happy with the image selection, design and layout of your album. That's why you will fully proof it before printing and that's why you can make several no-charge changes prior to printing.

Can I see a sample of your Contemporary Art Album? Yes, viewing a real wedding album in person will give you a greater appreciation of their exquisite archival quality. When viewing the design remember that every page is completely unique as they are custom designed on an individual basis. Here's the link to our Contemporary Art Wedding Album design sample. You can view actual customer albums currently in the proofing process here: www.OnlineWeddingPhotography.com click on Album Proofs on the left, then preview, these are real customer albums and real images taken at there events, the real deal (not contrived samples for show or once-in-a-lifetime award winners). This is a fair representation of what we are able to do for you at your wedding.

I heard that flush-mounted wedding albums aren't as durable as matted albums? There has been a recent flood of inferior-quality wedding albums on the market and many inexpensive flush-mounted wedding albums are manufactured poorly and don't include a UV coating to protect the photos or archival binding. Some album styles have thin pages that easily warp and are easily damaged, some are more like paperback books, some are barely above a scrapbook with their peel-and-stick pages. Remember it is difficult and costly to replace a damaged page in a fully bound library volume. A top-quality Contemporary Art Wedding Album (if not abused) will provide as many years of enjoyment as a top-quality matted album and will be able to be passed down for generations, they will just wear and age differently.

What is a coffee-table style wedding album? It looks more like a book than an album and has thinner pages so you can include more photographs without it becoming too large or cumbersome. Beware that some manufacturers produce these more like paperback books; glued binding with inkjet printing on paper stock (or unprotected photographic paper) that absorbs oils from the skin, fades and deteriorates within a few years. We use only library-bound archival materials to insure long-term permanence.

What is a digital template album? It is made with pre-designed template software so has minimal customization options and is less expensive and quicker to produce than a completely customized album. The page design dictates the image size and placement. The software has pre-determined page layouts with spaces for the photos and images are dropped into the pre-sized spaces. We offer the digital template album (which is a cross between a matted album and a flush-mounted one) as our least expensive alternative for those who are unable to buy the top-of-the-line style now but still want a modern-style album that is completely archival (including full UV coating on all the images). We don't try to pawn off 'peel and stick' inferior-quality 'proof' books as a wedding album.

Do you use stock photos for backgrounds in your albums? NEVER, we only use photos from your wedding day throughout your whole album. We take plenty of background, scene-setter and detail shots from your event so we have plenty of meaningful images to work with.

I love your albums but you were already booked for my date can I still get an album from you? Yes, we do this all the time! If your photographer gives you the negatives or high-resolution, top-quality images on CD, we may be able to design an exceptional album for you. (even though the images won't be as good as we could have taken.) Through creative cropping, editing, retouching, etc. we can put together an archival family heirloom you will love. If you only have prints, we can use those to make an archival matted album in either case we will create a computer mock-up for you to approve before production begins.

Some photographers brag about magazine-style albums from Italy, are these good albums? We have purchased several of these albums and several of their samples and our tests show that they are NOT archival. (set an appointment and we will show you our samples) The pages are too thin and crimp and warp easily. The metalic prints stick together. The unprotected photo pages have a soft surface which is easily damaged (not water resistant) and the cover materials are thin and easily damaged. The unprotected ink-jet printed album pages mark easily and pickup finger dirt and oils and their clear cover scratches easily. Some are bound more like paper-back books rather than library conservation volumes. In conversations with other photographers using overseas album manufactures, many have had delays in shipping, been delivered warped books and the quality-control or warantee resolutions has not been satisfactory. The initial wow factor and wholesale cost of these albums is on the higher end of the scale but the long-term quality and durability is mediocre at best.

Tell me about the 'Super-Sized' albums I have seen on display at some bridal shows? We have albums most any size up to 16" x20". Giant albums may look impressive on display but aren't really practical in real life. The next time you see one, sit on a chair and put it on your lap and look at it like you would in real life. You will find the images are annoyingly too large at normal viewing distance, the album is cumbersome and difficult to manage (easily dropped) and that says nothing about product costs and quality of workmanship in comparison to something more practical.

Why do some photographers have so many photos that are fuzzy, blurry, over-saturated or with lots of special-effects? In an effort to present work that is 'different' and 'artsy' many photographers add special effects to every photograph they take --ad nauseam. Special effects can be cool (when applied to the right image) but only in limited doses. Too often special effects are used to hide poor-quality photography. Artsy images from someone else's wedding are often great initial attention getters but reality is, if all your wedding day photos were blurry or you couldn't see any faces in all the photos from your wedding day, you wouldn't be very happy. We work to get the best shots of your event and include a few of your favorite special effects with your online proofs without over doing it. Most our clients know we can add a special effect, cropping, tilting, lightening, darkening, etc. to any photograph at a later time (by request) for no additional cost.

What is a common problem you see newer photographers making? There has been an increase in popularity of the 'soft focus' effect or a very blurred 'creamy' background. Too often less experienced photographers are ultimately delivering too many unsharp, 'out-of-focus' pictures and images with no recognizable reference detail (why did you spend so much on room decorations when they are blurred out in all the pictures?). What they never learned was; you can add all kinds of creamy softness and blur to any photo after-the-fact, but you never really can add decent clarity and sharpness back into a picture once it is lost. They would be smarter to consentrate on getting unsurpassed clarity in the focal point of their images and then they can over-soften the rest of it later or even change their mind and re-adjust it after-the-fact. A blurry photo will never be more than a blurry photo. But the possiblities are endless if you start with a crisp image. The other problem, blurry pictures look acceptable on the internet. The quality issues become more apparent once printed.

Why on some stretcher canvas art you can see lines where the wood frame is behind the canvas? Professional stretcher bars have a milled inset and bead to insure that the canvas clears the wood frame. Cheap (or starving) Artists may skimp on the process by building their own frames out of wood that hasn't been beveled ultimately damaging the canvas.

What about makeup? In the days of film, harsh lights and theatrical lighting you needed a special (heavier) makeup application to prevent yourself from looking 'washed out'. With today's digital 'less is more'. A little of the right kind of makeup can go a long way in helping hide blemishes, even out skin tones and correct inconsistencies. All these same applications and 'make-up tricks' can be applied post-process in Photoshop but it is a time-consuming job. To insure the best results it is always better to apply makeup once before the shoot than to have to digitally 'apply makeup' to each and every image. Please don't get carried away and over-do it or dramatically alter your makeup prior to a photoshoot or you won't like the way you look because it won't look natural.

I've heard of some photographers taking 3-years to complete an album? Some low-priced, 'swamped' photographers don't have the time or the money to take care of previous commitments which they have already been paid for so they are very slow on album orders. Some with cash-flow issues can't pay for the album you already purchased until they collect more money from someone else. Our fully customized and individually designed albums can take anywhere from 4-6 months to complete depending on how quickly the bride can make decisions. Cookie-cutter or 'off-the-shelf' albums can take as little as 3-6 weeks to complete. We just did an album for a bride who got married 9 years ago. We completed her album 3 months after receiving her order. Does she tell her friends it took over 9 years to get the album?

Do you offer a DVD set to music? Yes, these are usually compiled from the wedding album images. Click here to see some DVD Slideshows we have made from actual weddings.

Can we use our own music on the slideshow DVD? No, currently the practise of selling popular songs as background music on DVD's or making public presentations with other artist's music or adding songs to your website without a license is breaking copyright laws. What does it say of an 'artist' who steals the works of other artists for their own gain without compensation or license? We offer a large choice of LEGAL music for our presentations. Click here to pick your DVD slideshow music options. We will only offer legally-licensed music. You can legally create your own slideshow with your own purchased music for personal use with the images we provide you on CD. I would question the integrity of any artist who breaks the federal copyright laws and worse yet creates their own promotional videos which they post on You-Tube which are in clear violation of those laws. Eventually we may see lawsuits that will put an end to this unethical practice, I wouldn't want to be the 'well known' photographer who the government decides to make an example of ...enjoy your prison time, I'll send a postcard!

What do you think about 'cost saving, wedding advice' books? Maybe they should fire their publisher? Often wedding magazines and internet searches will give you the same information. Although these 'advise books' have some good ideas, too often they are written for the budget bride who hopes to have a champagne wedding on a beer budget. Some of the 'cost saving' ideas sound good in print but don't pan out in real life. Try some of those ideas at your next vendor meeting and be prepared for them to laugh. A new or desperate vendor may cut you a deal, but you will ultimately get what you pay for. If you have the same connections as Oprah you may be able to pull-off a free 'sponsored' event.

What do you think about the newest 'trash-the-dress' fad? It's a media stunt for publicity, started by photographers and promoted by the media. Such an act of disrespect to an expensive heirloom looks more like a protest against weddings or marriage! The arrogance of a photographer to encourage a bride to destroy their dress for the 'sake of the pictures' or publicity is beyond me. I try not to let my personal opinions influence the bride's personal choices especially when they are meaningful to her, but today too many brides are 'following the masses' and 'doing the fad' because someone tells them it's cool. If you don't want to follow the tradition of saving your dress as a sign of hope for a future generation, it would be much cooler to donate (recycle) your expensive dress to a less fortunate bride who will really appreciate it. Or make pillows or quilts out of it for the homeless! (In fact if you have a positive wedding dress recycling event I will volunteer to take photos of it for free!) If you want to take funky & romantic photos after your wedding in your dress in the ocean or water, etc. (where the dress can later be cleaned and hasn't been destroyed) I have no problem with that.

I saw on TV that with a tripod and a self-timer you could take your own group photos? Good luck with that! It makes for good television but not good photos. Photography as a hobby is lots of fun and experimentation is cool, but hiring a professional will always give you better results.

How does paying a wedding planner/coordinator give me better leverage with my vendors? A wedding planner who handles many weddings each year will cultivate good relationships with quality vendors and those vendors will bend over backwards for that planner because she represents much more business to them than just one wedding. More Info.

Do you charge more for Black and White or film? NO, although it costs us more, we simplify your needs by charging one price that includes both color and Black and White or film AND the same price on reprints for color, sepia, B&W and special effects. (minimum hours may apply)

Do you use an assistant? YES, but not just an assistant for Dan they are 2nd and 3rd photographers, insuring the bride gets the best coverage possible. Even the best photographer can't be two places at once! An assistant that just holds a light and carries a bag for the main photographer is of little advantage to the bride. I have five different professional photographers who have worked with me as assistants over the past 6 years (three males & two females) and they can do it all! Everything from taking back-up photos to straightening the dress, to organizing the groups, to running a last-minute errand for the bride! We have even hired them out to photograph lower-budget events.

I am having a small event so I don't think I need 2 photographers? Even the best photographer can't be two places at once! We always use a second photographer (and up to 5 different cameras) at once-in-a-lifetime events, no matter the size of the event, as the second photographer becomes a critical backup in case the primary photographer's camera malfunctions. This insures we won't lose a once-in-a-lifetime moment. If both photographers' equipment functions properly then during critical moments you will get more images to choose from at two different viewpoints and angles.

I love your natural photos of children, how do we insure you get some great photos of the children at our wedding? Just let the kids be themselves! Too often adults disrupt some great photographic opportunities by directing the children, straightening their hair or clothes, telling them to 'smile for the camera', telling them to 'turn this way, don't do that', running over to wipe their face, etc.

Do you use contract photographers? NO, unlike some studios, I don't subcontract your event to other photographers because their quality and style won't be the same. We have our own staff of trained assistants we work with. Dan photographs at every event he is contracted for and his professional photographer assistants take back-up images during critical moments to insure a good selection of images and a different perspective. Sometimes the experienced assistants Dan isn't using will be available to cover lower-budget events.

I'm being told I should only hire a photographer with a master's degree in photography? And of course the person telling you this just happens to be one of the few who meets these requirements. Education in photography is essential but a degree in photography from the 80's didn't teach much about today's digital processes. The beauty of photography is; you can see a photographer's current abilities while viewing their current work. To me, looking at their masters' certificate may not be as inspiring.

I've heard several photographers brag about their graduation from New York Institute of Photography, is that a prestigious school? It is a non-accredited home-study photography course (www.nyip.com) Great class for the novice, taught by experienced photographers. I took their course years ago but you don't hear me bragging about it. They mail you workbooks complete with assignments and tests and when you complete all the modules you get a nicely printed "certificate of graduation" for finishing the material. An honest person wouldn't pretend it is any more than a great beginning photography home-study course for a stay-at-home mom.

Some people at my church say I should hire someone of my same religion, how do you feel about that? We can have the same values without being of the same religion. If you limit your vendors to only members of your church you may be limiting the potential success of your event. We are non-judgmental and will honor and respect the sanctity of your services. We have covered a wide variety of events including: Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Greek, Pilipino, Indian, Orthodox, Modern, Evangelical, Scottish, Military, African, English, Mormon, Gothic and many others.

I don't understand the incredible price differences between photographers for reprints? You can find low-quality, non-archival 8x10's for 99 cents at the jiffy mart (or on the internet) whereas a top-of-the-line 8x10 from a world-class independent photography studio can cost over $200. No two are alike. With a professional photography studio the price of the print includes much more than just the print. For example: retouching is $90/hr. our reprints include complete retouching. A family photo of 4 people and their dog can easily take a couple of hours to properly retouch, if this were billed separately it would add $120 to the cost of proofing, printing, packaging, shipping, etc. Comparing the price of a print alone doesn't give you the complete picture.

Can we get glossy prints? Our standard reprint finish is an archival (tested to not fade for 300-years) satin/matt finish. Most high-gloss finishes don't last very long. We do have a high-gloss metallic finish by Kodak which has been tested not to fade for 150 years but the surface is softer than our standard matt finish and will have a tendency to show finger marks and is easily damaged by moisture. The standard matt finish we offer is not as sticky, won't show finger marks and resists 'getting stuck' to glass or plastic sleeves when framed or put into a proof album. The professional glossy finished paper we offer, although pretty, adds some additional contrast and color saturation to the prints so sometimes the dark areas become much darker and flesh tones often look orangish. We can't guarantee glossy prints and will not accept returns or re-dos on them for any reason.

Do you use digital or film? YES! Either, or both! all of my film images are digitally scanned and digitally manipulated allowing for all the 'digital' capabilities one may desire. I own 10 different cameras and 21 different lenses. Different cameras perform better in different situations. I choose the best camera setup for the subject matter based on the desired wedding photography style I wish to create. I usually bring 4-6 to each wedding. If a photographer were to limit the style of the captured images at your wedding to only one process you would have less variety and quality.

Someone said digital cameras aren't as good as film cameras because when you push the button the camera takes longer to respond so you can miss a photo. Yes, this is true of most 'consumer' digital cameras that can sometimes take 1 or 2 seconds to take a picture but it is NOT true with professional cameras. My professional digital cameras take photos in 1/8th of a second while my best film camera takes 1/5th. Between me and my assistant we don't miss many photos.

How experienced are you with digital imaging? We have used 100% digital in our studio since the year 2000. Before converting to digital in our studio, (inc. modeling, family portrait and commercial work) I took over 40 hours of one-on-one instruction from a certified digital photography trainer. Since that time I have had hundreds of hours of additional training and stay current with my digital proficiency.

My friend just bought a 8 megapixel digital camera, isn't that like a professional camera? (not compared to my 64 megapixel Large-Format Digital Camera!) There is a misconception in the marketplace (promoted by many retailers) that the higher the number of pixels the better the picture. There are major differences between 'professional' and 'consumer' or 'prosumer' digital cameras. Today I wouldn't hire someone if their camera is less than 12 megapixels, it's just not professional. Camera's are one factor, Megapixel size is another, sensor size is another and processing methods is another that all contribute to the image quality.

I've noticed some of your website is old and outdated? Yes, I prefer to call it classical and historic! Too often the 'new kid on the block' has the newest and latest website because they have 'all the time in the world' to fake some photos and update their website (and blog) while the busy professional doesn't have enough time to take their own family photos! The 'best' website doesn't mean the 'best' photographer. Once or twice a year I update certain sections of my website, most pages are dated at the bottom, but I am happy to have you see where I have come from and know that the pictures I took 7-10 years ago still show a classic style and transcendent quality that is still relevant today. We are not fad photographers changing our style with every whim of the industry, we still take images similar to what we did 10 years ago. Set an appointment and I will share with you some of my latest work.

What is your booking/deposit/payment policy? It's all in the 'fine print' of our contract. $1,000 with the contract holds the date. To insure your date remains locked-in, 50% of the total package amount must be paid 6 months prior to your event date and the remaining balance must be paid before 30-days of the event. We accept all major credit cards including American Express, Discover & Diners.

I was told I could save money by making my own album? Maybe, if you are happy with scrapbook quality. When all is said and done most photographers make less on their albums than the typical retail re-seller. Read more about the problems with a 'do-it -yourself' wedding album.

My ceremony or reception location will be dark, is that a problem? No problem for us we have covered many events lit only by candle light. We don't dictate how your event should be lit nor do we adjust the lighting you establish. We may want to discuss and show you examples of how the images will look based on the type of lighting you choose.

Why are most wedding photographers pictures setup and prearranged? Predictable results. It's easiest to know what you will get if you 'set-up' (or pose) each shot. (cut to me saying 'cookie cutter') Most traditional photographers photograph your wedding with one goal in mind --can I sell additional copies of this picture? If the answer is no, they won't take it. They take more 'cheezy' pictures than realistic ones. That is why many photographers will refuse to take certain pictures at your event. With our program you have already purchased a specific number of printed photographs (based on the number of hours we are contracted for) so we will take all the photos you want! We aren't expecting a certain quantity of reprint orders.

What's the difference between an independent studio like yours and the franchise ones at the mall? Quality, volume & personalized service. 1 hour reprints aren't quality reprints. Follow this link to learn more about portrait studios.

Can you present a slideshow at the reception? Yes, if pre-planned and on a computer screen on a table at the reception (not with a large projector on a movie screen as an interuption of your event) Remember our images will look much better after we have spent 30+ hours editing and retouching them but an intimate slideshow of the wedding couple at the reception can be a nice touch.

Why is it important for my photographer to be a member of several support organizations? Most respected organizations have minimum requirements for membership and codes of ethics. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) does a complete background check and investigation on a company before they can be approved for membership. The Professional Photographers of America (PPA) requires all wedding photographers to have indemnification (malpractice) insurance. Nationally recognized photography organizations not only provide resources for photographer education and improvement but also a network for qualified professional assistance in case of problems or emergencies. A company that violates the organizations code of ethics may be banned from membership. Unreputable companies may not be able to meet the organizations requirements. If a photographer is having financial problems, membership dues are usually the first thing to not get paid. Don't hire a photographer -- for any purpose -- that isn't a member of several support organizations!

Can we use pictures from your website? YES, All photos are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Dan Harris PhotoArt, but we will give you limited permission to use them on the internet. In lieu of payment, you must include a photography credit with a link back to this site i.e.: Photos by DanHarrisPhotoArt.com. Editors: If you want to use our photos for printed purposes please e-mail me so I can send you a higher resolution copy or an original to insure they print at their best. Publications are required to include a 'by line' in lieu of payment and may be required to provide exchange advertising to offset preparation, copying, production and delivery costs.

What type of equipment do you use? We use only professional medium format (32 megapixel- 16 bit) and top-of-the-line (12+ megapixel 14-bit DSLR's) digital equipment with multiple camera setups and only top-quality lenses. All the lenses and cameras we use are top-of-the-line rating an 8+ or higher (out of 10), we are not using consumer or prosumer models. This insures a good variety of multi-dimensional unique image styles and gives us the flexibility to capture every unique detail of your wedding. We usually bring 5 of the world's best cameras and 10 of the best quality lenses made to each wedding. We also bring 8 different lighting setups (both battery and AC powered) to insure proper illumination if needed (like when the beautiful daylight turns to a suddenly dark and cloudy sky --welcome to Florida). For those who notice designer labels, here's a partial list of the brands we use: Phase One, Nikon, Contax, Canon, Photogenic, Quantum, Bogen, Kodak, Chimera, Norman, Lumedyne and Westcott. Why so many cameras? We have the equipment to get the job done right!

I talked to a photographer who said they can 'do it all' with less equipment? I talked to a 'mechanic' who said he can fix anything with only a monkey wrench and a screwdriver! I think a professional that is well prepared with ample 'tools' to work with will do a much better job as he will have the right 'tool' for the job and if an equipment problem arises at your event he will be prepared to still get the job done right. Also, consumer camera equipment (systems and developing) is cheaper than professional equipment (systems and developing) for a reason, I would hate for you to have to learn the hard way.

I've heard it said that the camera doesn't really matter? It doesn't if you are doing something other than photography. You can't do photography without a camera! Today, with digital, the camera's sensor and lens determines the quality, Nothing more disappointing than taking a great picture with a bad camera and now you can't do anything with it! In the days of film some of the quality was determined by the film. Don't let anyone make an excuse for their inferior equipment by saying it doesn't really matter, because it does! (see also camera info)

Wouldn't it be easier to just use one-lens (like the 28-300mm) to do it all? Perhaps it would be easier for the photographer. But that lens has a lot of distortion at the lower end of it's zoom range, is a little soft at all magnifications and has a very difficult time focusing in dark situations, so a photographer who chooses to take the 'easy' route may actually be just settling for inferior quality and unfocused, missed shots giving the customer much less to work with. We believe the needs of our customers are much more important than the convenience of our photographers.

I've heard of photographers wasting lots of time fiddling with their equipment at a wedding? Once again, a different style. Untried, unfamiliar and tempermental equipment can cause the fiddles. If the photographer only has one main camera that they have to keep changing the settings, lenses, filters, etc., they will be much less efficient than a well-organized, multiple-camera setup where the photographer can be handed the appropriate camera from his well-trained assistant (that was previously setup) for the next particular shooting situation.

Can you print an artsy border on my proofs? We could, but why? (that's so 1980) Fancy borders used on every proof wouldn't enhance the images, but actually distract from them. (unless you want to divert attention away from the quality of the photo and put more attention on the border?) When you print a proof (or small print) with a large border the actual proof image size is decreased and therefore reduces your ability to see any imperfections or problems with the image. Isn't the purpose of 'proofs' to identify the good & the bad so you can determine the best photo to enlarge, re-print, add to your album or discard? Selective use of cool borders can enhance an enlargement or album page photo when carefully chosen and properly applied. Good quality reprints help you decide which photos need some extra decoration and which stand best on their own.

Why is credit card acceptance important? Anytime you are paying for something in advance you can protect your rights by using a credit card. The credit card company will insure you get what you paid for or will help you get your money back if there is a problem. (The credit card company has direct deposit/withdrawal access to the vendors bank account.) A company that doesn't want you to pay with a credit card may be trying to avoid future recourse. American Express is usually the first credit card company to cancel a vendors account if that vendor has a high occurrence of disputes and problems.

Should I be impressed with a photographer who specializes in celebrity weddings or has lots of images printed in magazines? Some photographers like to talk less about their photographs and more about who they photographed or what publication they are featured in. What you don't know is those who use 'high-profile' weddings as an advertising ploy are often booking those weddings at discount prices or have volunteered to shoot the wedding for free in exchange for bragging rights. These type of photographers often seek out the 'who's who' weddings and then negotiate themselves into a contract and later lie about how the 'rich and famous' found them. Too many freelance magazine spreads are shot for free in trade for advertising and have no basis in reality and no resemblance of what the photographer will really be able to do for you on your wedding day. Wedding magazines are always looking for weddings to feature that include: impressive decor, exotic places or famous people, it has nothing to do with the quality of the photography --don't believe the hype. We have seen impressive national magazines print some extreemly poor-quality pictures of unique decorations. Some photographers pay for 'editorial' space or to be on the magazine covers. Will you be a model using stylists and spending several days on a set to get just the right photo on your wedding day? It seems a little sleazy to me... sidebar to bride: don't believe the hype, in the end you'll get what you pay for.

How do you store my negatives and high-resolution files? All your negatives are archivally sleeved to protect from fingerprints and scratches and are stored in a humidity controlled environment at a consistent temperature of 68-78 degrees according to film manufactures specifications to prevent degradation and mildew. We also have high-resolution digital files created of every image taken at your event and these are stored on archival (100-year) gold-layered CD & DVD's in a quad-layer fireproof media safe. The original negatives and hi-res print files may become available for purchase a year after your album is completed and/or you have met the minimum purchase level.

My resort is trying to push me to use their photographer? Too often the highly recommended 'resort' photographer isn't the best photographer in the area but too often is the one who gives the resort the biggest kickback. If you are using a photographer at your event for any length of time (4 hours plus) then it is often better to bring your own photographer because they will be 100% dedicated to you and experiencing the inspirational excitement of the event as it unfolds just like you are, whereas the 'resort' photographer may be in the rut of the same-old job and wanting to quickly get to the next assignment.

What do you think about referrals over internet chat boards or facebook? I would take them with 'a grain of salt' because many vendors "relatives", friends and/or employees are posing as a 'bride-to-be' and continually post 'rave' reviews of their 'favorite vendor'. Too often the least informed have the most advice! I would stick to advice from reliable sources and double check those sources. Helpful hints and advice articles in reputable publications (signed by the authors) are usually well researched, edited and contain some good ideas, remember too that publications will be careful not to offend their advertisers. Other local vendors can give you the 'inside scoop' on their fellow vendors that they work with regularly.

How about those internet forms where you fill out one form and get up to 5 different bids for your event? It's a fantasy to think hiring a good photographer is that easy. You'd be better off throwing a dart at the yellow pages. The companies that respond to those forms are paying to be one of the five. (and if they are paying for leads from the internet how good of a photographer are they?) The price you are quoted over the internet will have nothing to do with the final price you pay, it's not apples to apples nor is any meaningful information exchanged.

Why do some photographers promote "100% digital capture"? Promoting "type of capture" may be inconsequential to the quality of the photography. I would be more concerned with the overall quality of the images rather than the process they used. Improperly processed digitally captured images can look very one-dimensional. Often digital 'effects' are added to digital images to hide exposure, latitude and color-balance problems. In some digitally captured images the white areas look unrealistically bright and harsh. Sometimes poorly developed digital images will have strange colors such as orange skin or a blue wedding dress. We strive to make our digital images undistinguishable from our film images. We scan all our film so we can offer all the digital products and services anyone may desire. (see also digital vs film)

Do you make the bridal party sit on the dirty steps at the church in a frumpy, dog-pile fasion? No, we don't impose our own 'must have' shots on you or your bridal party and won't make you get your dress dirty or do corny things you don't want to do --like pretend to play a violin to your spouse or act stupid for the camera, etc. It's your day, have it your way!

Can you put words over the pictures in our album? Yes, but you don't want to over-do it. Often the use of lots of words and cutesy borders in an album only distract from the photographs and reduce an elegant and timeless heirloom classic down to a scrapbook or a slick magazine advertisement. 'Cutting Edge' fads or trends often go out as fast as they came in (has anyone seen the 'pop-up' wedding album recently?) We will work with you to insure your album maintains its classical elegance throughout time. (Without being tacky) That is why we limit wording in the contemporary art or coffee-table style wedding albums to only 2-3 sets of verses, lyrics or vows.

Why is it difficult to find a quality photographer? The best, most-experienced professional photographers are never the cheapest, and there are a lot of rookies out there. A well trained graphic artist/ web-designer can take mediocre images and make them look fantastic on a website or brochure resulting in false advertising which is nowhere close to what you will really get from a new photographer. You have to dig deep, past all the glitz and glamour, to find out what you will really get. Nothing more disappointing than paying 'good money' and being disappointed with photos that are no better than your guests took! (dark backgrounds, blue or orangish dresses, too many blurry, grainy or tilted pictures, etc.) Too many photographer's today are selling inexpensive, non-archival products that won't last for 5 years, worse yet, you may not be able to find your photographer five years from now to even complain. A lot of photographer's advertise low prices but then up-sell every step along the way and when all is said and done you will have spent double or triple the original amount quoted! Too often a photographer's 'freebee incentives' may sound enticing but really aren’t worth much. (Remember the free watch you got with your paid subscription? It looked great in the picture but didn't keep good time and the glass fogged soon after you got it!) If the photography isn't very important don't waste good money on someone who's practicing on you, just have your friends do it for free and use the money for something more important! If photography IS important then hire the best top-notch experienced full-time professional that you can afford, you won't regret it and it will be the best money you ever spent!

How will you and your staff dress at my wedding? To insure we blend into the background we wear all black slacks and a polo golf shirt or a black long-sleave shirt in winter. (never jeans or hot pink). Our goal is to blend in and not distract from you or your guests. We don't carry around a large bag with our billboard logo on it either. Beware: there are some self-proclaimed 'rock star' photographers who wear obnoxious clothes (hot pink high tops, unprofessional attire, low-cut dresses, etc.) and even tye-dye or spike their hair because they plan on being the 'center of attention' at your event (or the freak show). We remember that your event is all about you and your guests and not about the photographers.

What about rules or restrictions at my church or synagogue? We follow all rules and restrictions religiously... we have never had a problem getting our job done within the parameters of the venues requirements. Most locations don't want the photographers to interupt, be intrusive or use flash during the ceremony, with the use of our 'remote-controlled' camera and our 'football lens' camera we can get the ceremony properly covered while maintaining an unobtrusive distance. (It is helpful to know the particulars or any special requests beforehand.) Some churches only allow the professional photographer to take pictures from the balcony, not from the main floor. This will limit the variety of images captured during the ceremony. How many different pictures can we take of the back of your head? Be sure to know the parameters prior to booking.

Will you visit my location prior to my wedding? YES, we usually like to meet with you and the coordinator prior to your wedding at the location and discuss the big day plan and timetable, if that isn't possible we arrive early enough to do a walk through before we begin.

Should I hire a photographer who has won a bunch of awards? Dan has won a bunch of international award competitions, but that alone isn't the only reason to hire him. Photography competitions and awards are a very popular way for photography organizations to earn money. Some awards are very impressive while others are given to 'anyone who enters'. It is difficult to be impressed by awards and ribbons if you don't know the full details behind each competition. I am more impressed with awards won for naturally occuring photographs rather than contrived or overly manipulated ones. Too often a photographers desire to create a 'competition print' gets in the way of 'covering the event'. Some photographers thrive on competitions and pay lots of money to hire models and produce a 'competition print' for the sole purpose of winning an award. Some photographers don't have the time, money or resources to pursue plaques and ribbons. (see award-winning photographer) While viewing a photographer's trophy room (or shrine to them self) ask yourself of what significance is this to my photography requirements? Then base your decision on what is important to you. The photograph on your wall should look better than any of the awards on the photographer's wall.

Someone said a woman wedding photographer is better? No, silly ...everyone knows a gay photographer would be absolutely fabulous! (That was a joke!) As a male photographer I have never had any problem or difficulty taking the photos needed at ones wedding because of my sex. (Although I know women photographers who unexpectedly got pregnant and had to cancel weddings or husbands job transfer took them out of town and seldom have I seen either from male photographers.) I do have a female photographer assistant who has worked with me for 5 years and is availble by request. (I have seen the wedding photographs taken by both good and bad women photographers and none of them were better just because of their sex either - -so if someone had a sex-change operation does it also improve their photography?? Note to self: add to your research list)

How do the hours in your packages work? The hours in our packages start when the photography starts. Initial travel time and setup time is included in the package but isn't deducted from the package photography hours. (Some photographers advertise 'unlimited' hours, but the fine-print reveals "not to exceed 6 hours," or they include one-day of photography but don't tell you they will charge for a second day after midnight.) We have tried to make the packages generous in hours to insure we get your day covered properly. Because Dan only shoots one wedding per day, you can hire him 'on-the-spot' for more time if required.

Can color pictures be made into Black and Whites? YES, we can print any color image in black and white but it doesn't always have the same look or feel as B&W images created on B&W film or a digital camera set for B&W. Typically we shoot our B&W images differently than we shoot color images.

What about Sepia or brown-toned images? Sepia is the 'old-fashioned' look and is typically more of an orangish-light brown, we use a more updated version of a darker-toned brown to add warmth to a photograph. This process is done at the time of printing and can be made by request from both color or black and white negatives at no additional charge. When your images are online you can press a button to preview the image in both B&W or Sepia and can order it either way.

What is the problem with untreated, standard glossy prints? They are not as archival as the satin/pebble finish we provide because: the surface is softer and has a tendency to pick-up fingerprints and oils; they eventually stick to each other and any smooth surface; when framed under glass they will become permanently attached to the glass leading to their ultimate distruction when the glass is broken or they will get stuck to plastic and become discolored and moldy. Many of today's 'consumer' print labs use a lower-grade glossy paper that isn't archival and prints with too much contrast.

Someone said to beware of photographers working out of a home studio? I think they meant 'motor-home' studio! (They are like the carnies that take your money and motor on) Some of the world's best photographer's work out of their home. I would visit their location and determine their level of commitment to their photography business. If their 'home studio' only consists of an old dusty roll-top desk in their garage, then I would worry.

Can we buy the negatives and high-resolution digital scans? YES, after all initial reprints, albums, enlargements and wall PhotoArt have been ordered. Negatives and high resolution digital images are for your personal use only, the photography studio retains copyright for commercial use and may require negatives for such purpose. We take great pride in the quality of our workmanship to include cropping, retouching, editing and color-correcting of each reprint to insure you look your best. We only use professional 'trade-only' commercial labs. Reprints you make from our originals at a consumer retail lab may cost less but the image quality will be proportional to the reduction in price. (See also: do-it-yourself wedding albums & reprints)

Do you let guests take pictures and can we put disposable cameras on the tables? YES, there is no restriction on reception photography, but how many paparazzi do you really want at your event? (I will make you a bet that my photos will be slightly better than the expensive ones your guests take with the disposable cameras ;- ) Check out Guest Wedding Photographer. If we have a formal group photo session immediately after the ceremony, I ask that guests refrain from congregating in the aisle or around my equipment and don't allow flash photography as it hinders our ability to get the best possible job done in the least amount of time. You may want to ask 'Peter Paparazzi... photographer to the stars' to not create problems for your hired professionals. Nothing worse than grandpa with his disposable camera at the ceremony stepping out into the aisle during the bride & groom kiss and blocking the professional photographer's picture... so here's your professional photograph of the back of grampas head! And grandpas 'kiss' shot... opps, looks like his finger blocked the action!

How many pictures will you take? Enough to get your event covered properly! (Aprox. 150-200/hr.) Photographers who 'set-up' every shot use a lot less film/exposures. The nature of photojournalistic style photography inevitably creates some 'wasted' shots. We want to insure that your image choices for your album / reprints / enlargements are the 'best of the best!' You will choose your favorite reprints based on the number included in your package. Thorough coverage will insure a good variety of exceptional choices.

My girlfriends photographer took over 600 pictures at her wedding but then only showed her 300? Every photographers style is different, some do a lot of post-event editing based on their own personal tastes. I would be concerned they might trash one that I would like. We show you 'the good, the bad and the ugly' so you can make your own decisions as to which ones best portray your event as you want to remember it.

I read about a photographer who takes 3,000+ photos (500/hr.) per wedding, they said that was better? Once again a different style and philosophy. I wouldn't be impressed by quantity alone, more isn't always better. A lot of mediocre images will never make up for a smaller quantity of incredible ones. Often the best photograph isn't produced by a loose trigger finger but is captured with precision accuracy, timing and discipline. An over abundance of photos can be both overwhelming and a disappointment when you discover that you didn't get a good variety of interesting pictures but really just got 3 times the amount of duplicates. How many real copies of the photographs do you get to keep? I'll bet more photos taken doesn't translate into more prints for you to keep.

Is more photographers better? Depends on your event. Sometimes multiple assistants and multiple photographers just get in each others pictures. I don't know many brides who want lots of photos of photographers, assistants, DJ's, videographers, wait staff, tripods, equipment and other paid professionals in the background! Our experienced team works together to get your event covered properly while minimizing the intrusion. We normally use 2 photographers and sometimes 3 at large events.

What wedding etiquette/ rules do you see violated the most by wedding guests? 1- Guests shouldn't wear loud, obnoxious or inappropriate clothing; of course you will stand out in the crowd especially in the group photo with your hot-pink dress, cowboy hat, yellow suit or Mexican print outfit! 2- Miss manners says guests shouldn't leave a reception until after the cake is served. 3- When it comes to alcohol -know your limits. 4- Let the hired professionals do their job, don't let your 'fun' photography interfere with the professionals paid job requirements. 5- Bridesmaids and Groomsmen shouldn't get sunburned the day before the wedding! 6- Proper etiquette says a minimal wedding gift should at least be equal to the price of the meal with drinks and the tip (typically $70 to $150+ per plate). 7- It's the bride's day --NOT yours!

I've heard other photographers promote using 'local labs' for developing? Some try to play on the 'fear of losing film in the mail'. We don't use the mail for film delivery. We use overnight delivery services with sophisticated package handling systems and computerized barcode tracking. Today losing the film isn't a big problem. I have not found a 'local' lab that can offer the quality or service of my professional commercial lab that specializes in wedding photography. Most 'local labs' have minimal employees, services and less automated processes. I would be more worried about the 'human error' factor that could destroy a roll of film at the local lab. The cool thing with digital images is we are only sending a copy to the lab, if there is a problem we still have the original on our computer and backed-up in our fireproof safe.

Shouldn't we get a discount for an 'off-season' wedding? When is off season? Although this type of marketing may be true for travel or honeymoon locations, our photography coverage and quality is never compromised no matter what the time of year. Sometimes in Florida it's better to NOThave a wedding in 'off-season' or rather hurricane season! We do offer smaller packages/minimums and some special pricing for week-day weddings or non-prime time saturdays, call us to set an appointment and go over all the details.

Do you do video? Video is very different than still photos and takes a whole different set of skills, talent, training and equipment. Sound, motion, editing, etc. That is why we don't offer video. "jack of all trades, master of none!" The best video people understand the difference and don't offer still photographs either. There are some things that can only be captured by video. Not everyone is a 'video' type person. If you decide to hire someone to do video talk to us about it so we can insure they don't ruin your photographs and/or your event. There is a new trend for the photographer to also take some video with his 'dual-purpose' camera. I have not seen many that can effectively pull this off as the one process distracts and interups the other, so the 'critical shot' is missed with equipment fiddling.

Do you edit out EXIT signs? We will at no additional charge by special request. Sometimes we remove them on the proofs if they are very noticeable or obnoxious, but if they are at the edges of the image, we may not automatically remove them unless you ask us to.

What if we don't want photos that are grainy, blurry or out-of-focus? These artistic special effects are used to convey an ethereal mood, feeling or e-motion. Typically after we have taken the 'standard' expected photo we will set the camera to get the artistic blurry and unique shot. Often these type of photos are used as accent or background photos in the album. Our pre-wedding planning survey form helps you identify the special effects you like or dislike. This helps insure that we cover "Your day...Your way!".

Should we feed the photographers? Yes ...please. If the event is over 4 hours we will either have to eat or take a break to go get food. Both myself and my assistant prefer to eat the same food as the guests and will make it well worth any extra expense for you. (Ask for details) Most 'Vendor meals' are not fit for human consumption but are typically yesterdays leftovers made into a very dry and bready cold sandwich that's served in a degrading manner. (Put on your chefs hat, hold your nose high and say this with an arrogant French accent: "here's your plastic fork... go eat out back by the dumpster you swine!") . . . You would think, for PR benefits alone, top-quality venues would treat the vendors exceptionally well so they would increase their reputation and refer others!

Does a small wedding mean we should get less photography coverage? Not necessarily. Intimate weddings may take less time overall but we often use the same amount of film and more extensively capture the events and each persons emotions. Often a small wedding is best shared with those that couldn't attend with the internet online proofs and with an extensive heirloom album. Let me know your requirements and we will credit the unused hours in a package toward more pages in your album or additional reprints.

Do you accept lists of photographs that we want? YES, only after you've signed the waiver contained in our contract. Many photographers have been sued for missing a picture that was on a list. The bridal coordinator and the photographer's assistant will use your list as an organizational tool to assist the lead photographer in creating what is important to you. The lead photographer will take more than just what is on the list because he takes photos based on his artistic eye and wouldn't be as creative if he limited himself to just the listed shots.

What's the best way to learn to be a professional photographer? Today there are just about as many photography classes as there are photographers and many of the instructors are inexperienced, it's the blind leading the blind! Why is it on wedding photography internet forums (where many new photographers try to learn the ropes) the person who posts the most, knows the least? Photography is best learned through several years experience as an apprentice after several years of accredited classroom instruction. Being a photography 'enthusiast', attending a few popular traveling 'seminars', attending several friends weddings, hiring a cool photographer for your own wedding or being a former wedding vendor (i.e.: DJ, hairstylist or make-up artist) doesn't necissarily make you qualified to be a professional photographer. If you want to be a professional --BE PROFESSIONAL and stop trying to fake your way through! Invest in yourself and your equipment and do it right! (now you've got me on my soapbox) Please go to a legitimate school, join a legitimate professional organization (not just a social user's group) show a commitment to your new profession, work as an apprentice in the industry, learn to be a good employee first and don't lie about your experience, training, education or credentials in an attempt to get jobs. Most importantly, for the sake of your future success and the health of your industry, show your honest work, be sure your customer understands the reality of what you will be doing for them. The 'fake it until you make it' philosophy may work with PR but will get you in a real bind when it comes to the science of delivering a quality product. Pay your dues, learn the business part of the business, help the industry, commit to integrity. Please don't hurt the very industry you hope one day will support you by turning paying jobs into free sample shoots. Just because you can buy a beginning DSLR camera, make yourself a pretty website and call yourself a wedding photographer doesn't mean you should. Please don't steal intellectual property from other photographer's --especially in your own market (i.e.: logo & web designs, company names, slogans, images, etc.) Support your industry and set an example to your customers by buying professional photography from your peers --don't do it yourself!

What is your price? Everything we do is customized for you! The exact amount depends on your exact needs, the date and our availability. We will be straight-forward and honest with our pricing and policies --no surprises. Our rate varies depending on the size of the event and the date and includes: 2-3 photographers, Website & CD. Certain days may have minimum spending levels. We customize our pricing to fit your exact needs. If you are on a very tight budget you can hire our assistants to cover your event (without Dan). Call or e-mail to discuss the full details and set an appointment.

What time of day should we plan our wedding for the best photos? I would first determine when sunset will be on your wedding date (unless in Alaska during the summer when the sun doesn't set!), then I would plan on starting your reception about an hour or two before sunset so we can get a good mix of both daylight and nighttime photos at your reception location. I would start the reception festivities and then plan on a time to 'break-away' for some bridal party pictures just before sunset. I would plan the complete day backwards from that point to determine when the ceremony should start, allowing some buffer time in case of delay. During the winter months (of early sunsets) this plan may not be possible, but some brides will plan some sunset photos immediately after the ceremony. Remember, the sun waits for no one and not all sunsets are photo-worthy, but we will make the best of whatever your day delivers.

"Best of Jax 2008 & 2009"
--US Local Business Association

"When Quality Matters"
By Wedding Photographer Dan Harris

~ located in the historic San Marco district ~
1124 Riviera St. Jacksonville, FL 32207 (904) 398-7668

Frequently Asked Questions for Event Photography
from Jacksonville Florida's Most Trusted Wedding Photojournalist Dan Harris

"Nobody tells your story better!"

When all is said and done, you deserve more than just: faded memories; corrupt digital files; and disorganized prints!

HOME | WEDDINGS | BAR�MITZVAHS

This complete website and all content (including photographs and verbiage) is copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.
©2010 Dan Harris All Rights Reserved

"Best of Jax 2008 & 2009" --US Local Business Association "When Quality Matters" By Wedding Photographer Dan Harris ~ located in the historic San Marco district ~ 1124 Riviera St. Jacksonville, FL 32207 (904) 398-7668

Frequently Asked Questions for Event Photography from Jacksonville Florida's Most Trusted Wedding Photojournalist Dan Harris "Nobody tells your story better!"

When all is said and done, you deserve more than just: faded memories; corrupt digital files; and disorganized prints!

HOME | WEDDINGS | BAR�MITZVAHS This complete website and all content (including photographs and verbiage) is copyrighted and cannot be used without permission. ©2010 Dan Harris All Rights Reserved

"Best of Jax 2008 & 2009"
--US Local Business Association

"When Quality Matters"
By Wedding Photographer Dan Harris

~ located in the historic San Marco district ~
1124 Riviera St. Jacksonville, FL 32207 (904) 398-7668

Frequently Asked Questions for Event Photography
from Jacksonville Florida's Most Trusted Wedding Photojournalist Dan Harris

"Nobody tells your story better!"

HOME | WEDDINGS | BAR�MITZVAHS

This complete website and all content (including photographs and verbiage) is copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.
©2010 Dan Harris All Rights Reserved