We have been talking to a lot of new couples lately, and are having so much fun hearing new how-you-met stories and awesome wedding plans.  My heart always goes out to newly engaged couples trying to navigate their way through wedding planning – I know how overwhelming it is to plan an event the size and expense of which you’ve never planned before!  And then photography?  So confusing!

One question I’ve received a few times recently, is “What is the difference between a small studio like yours and a big photography company?”  This is usually followed by, “The big companies say that they have backup photographers in case your photographer gets sick.”

As a small, boutique, studio owner, I sometimes forget what it’s like to be searching for a photographer, so I’m sooo glad when people ask great questions.   So let me do my best to try and answer this from my perspective.

1.  Develop a Personal Relationship with Your Photographer.  Your wedding photos should capture the emotions and personalities that make your wedding day uniquely yours, and a big part of that is building trust with your photographer.  When you are comfortable with your photographer, you can relax and be yourself in front of the camera.  You can concentrate on enjoying the day and experiencing every moment of it rather than being nervous about the camera.  Trust takes time.  When you work with a small studio, you get to know us and we get to know you.  By the time your wedding comes around, we know how you guys met and what you like to do, how you interact with each other, and what types of poses and scenarios will be good for you.  We know if you’re goofy or serious, and we know a lot about your wedding day.  You can relax, be yourselves, enjoy your day, and have emotional images because we’ve invested time in getting to know you, and you’ve gotten to know us.

2.  Experience and Accountability.   Bigger photography studios often employ photographers who are just starting out, and are learning how to shoot weddings by working for a big studio.  More experienced photographers may fill in the gaps in their calendar by shooting for large studios, as well, for a fee which is below what they would normally earn for shooting under their own studios.  Aside from the experience issue, I believe that there is also a problem here when it comes to accountability.  When we shoot for ourselves, our name is on every wedding and every image we shoot.  We work our tails off to make our couples happy because we are proud of the services we provide and the reputation of our business.  When you shoot for another studio, you may not even be able to use the images in your own portfolio, so if there is a problem, it doesn’t reflect on you, and if you do well, you receive few rewards.  For us, pride in our work pushes us to go the extra mile every time.

3.  Editing.  We spend hours selecting the images for our clients and editing them with the memories of the day and our artistic vision in mind.  The emotions we experience on your wedding day are actually an important part of how we shoot and how we edit your wedding because careful editing can tell your story the way you want to remember it.  Larger studios either employ part-time employees to mass-edit all of their weddings, or the photographers do it themselves as quickly as possible because they’re not being compensated for their extra editing time.

4.  Knowing What to Expect.  This goes along with the first point, but it’s worth emphasizing.  If you look at our portfolio, every image we include was created by Kamran and I.  If you love what you see here, you will love your own photos even more.  Bigger photography studios create their portfolios out of images from many photographers and hundreds and hundreds of weddings.  Even if you see a few images from the photographer you will be working with, it’s really hard to know how your wedding photos will turn out.  I actually made this mistake when hiring our photographer back when we got married, when we worked with a studio run by two brothers.  I didn’t realize at the time that all the images I loved in the portfolio were by the brother who did not shoot our wedding, and I’m telling you this so you don’t make the same mistake.

5.  Our Backups are Better.  Do you really think that if something happens on your wedding day that we will not move heaven and earth to make sure that you will still have fabulous photography?  We are personally committed to your happiness, and will do anything to make sure you get amazing wedding photos.  We’ve never had to use it before, but we actually participate in more than one photography network that we can call upon in the rare event that something would happen.  We even share a google calendar with a number of photographers that we would trust with our own wedding so that if we needed to, we would be able to find a replacement quickly.  Not only are you covered, but you can trust that our backups will provide the same quality of work that you are counting on when you invest with us.

Ok, this post has gotten pretty long, so congratulations on getting all the way to the end!  Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything, and keep the questions coming!