Choosing Your Wedding Photographer // PART THREE

Before you read further, if you haven’t already, you can read the other parts of this little trilogy here: PART ONE and PART TWO!

Okay so you found your true match made in heaven... with your photographer. You love their personality, style, and the price is just right. You've asked all the right questions and you're ready.

What do you do now?!

You snatch them up because there are only limited weekends in a wedding season and you want to make sure you get your first choice *cough PICK ME! cough*. Basically you like it so you need to put a bunch of money down on it.

The typical wedding photographer will need between 30-50% as a non-refundable retainer fee. This is required for two reasons. The first is to secure your date. Unfortunately many photographers have been burned by not receiving any kind of payment for their work. The second reason is to offset loss of business if the event is cancelled. Since there are only a limited amount of weddings per year, chances are that after you book your photographer, they are getting more inquiries that they turn down because they are already booked. If for some reason, you have to cancel, they are most likely not able to rebook their dates. Some photographers have in their contracts (like I do) that if the event is cancelled or postponed within a certain timeframe AND the photographer can rebook the date, the retainer fee will be returned. While we are business owners, we are fair.

Speaking of the contract. Make sure you are sent one to protect yourself. If a photographer does not have a contract you might want to reconsider hiring them. The contract protects both the photographer and you! Make sure you read through carefully. The contract lays out all the things you can expect from your photographer and what they expect from you. This contract should list the time and date booked for, the wait time for post processing the images, payment schedule, cancellation and rescheduling policies, as well as print rights and model releases. As under copyright law in Canada, photography is considered an art and the photographer, the artist. Photographers hold all the copyrights to their images, even though they are being paid to create the art. So your contract should have a print release and a description of what the photos can be used for. Typically, they can be used for all personal reasons, on social media, printing for your house or albums, and sharing with your friends or family. You won’t be allowed to use the images for commercial gain or sell the images, those rights remain with the photographer only. As well as sharing with other vendors, leave that up to your photographer so that they can thank the others involved in your day as well as explain the proper use of images. And as always, do not edit or alter the photos!

Photography is such a fun thing to book for your wedding but these “boring” aspects cannot be overlooked. You are paying thousands of dollars and you want to make sure you are booking a trusted, capable, and responsible photographer. Make sure you look at reviews on their Google business pages as well. This will help ensure you are booking someone who is going to show up for you. However, be warned, sometimes people leave terrible reviews to photographers who they haven’t even worked with, so be mindful of both the positive and negative reviews!

And then, if everything checks out and you and your partner feel comfortable (and excited!) sign the contract, send the payment, and take a deep breath because you can confidently check off one huge decision off of your wedding planning checklist!

If you’ve read through this whole trilogy and you’d like to book me as your wedding photographer, click HERE to contact me!

A Year in the Life of a Photograhper

One of the biggest blessings in my life is being able to do what I love for a living. While there are definitely areas of my job that I would rather not do, I LOVE being a photographer. Being able to celebrate life’s major milestones over and over again is indeed a blessing.

Being a photographer in Ontario has it’s own challenges. We have less impressive landscapes than other areas of Ontario but after travelling quite a bit this year, I’ve realized that without the distraction of mountains and canyons, oceans, and the focus of photography can actually be on people. I can focus on capturing those moments, creating those moments that you’ll remember and that you will be the focus of those memories.

Plus we get all the best seasons, especially those glorious fall colours! In spring we can go to the Guelph Arboretum for cherry blossoms in your engagement or family session. In the summer we can head to Burlington beach for some super fun beach sessions, In the fall, everywhere you look has the most beautiful reds and oranges and yellow. Then those winter sessions which are few and far between are so magical! We are so luck to have the array of different seasons here and being able to capture everything from engagements to weddings to maternity sessions, and family sessions, and solo sessions. I have the best job in the world.

And I could not do what I love without the support of all of the local wedding vendors in the areas. This year every wedding was incredible and so special shout outs go to Cellar52, Cambridge Mill, and Langdon Hall, thank you for having such incredible venues in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region!

Thank you to all my couples, families, and entrepreneurs for supporting my business. For trusting me with capturing your life and you as you are, thank you!

Emily + Parker | A Burlington Beach Birthday

Emily and Parker have become a couple I look forward to photographing every year! I love the love they have for photoshoots and they are always up for anything. They basically made all of my photo dreams come true with this session!

I was hosting some beach mini sessions and Emily sent me a message saying she wanted to book a slot as a present for Parker’s birthday! First of all, how awesome is it that she wanted to gift him a photoshoot? Second, how awesome is it that he was super pumped about it? They are my dream couple for sure. I was super excited and she booked the sunset session.

After a very crazy time finding a suitable location for my beach minis (that didn’t include lots of geese poop or an expensive permit) I selected Burlington beach and it turned out beautifully. Almost. There was still the weather we had to contend with! We all sat in our cars for about 45 minutes while the rain poured down, and thankfully it cleared up just in time for a beautiful sunset and stormy sky. It definitely all worked out for the best!

Let us all take a moment and appreciate that E+P take the time to document their lives and their relationship. This wasn’t an engagement session or something that “had” to be done, but something fun for them to do together. This session gave them a beautiful memory and as you’ll see, quite the adventure. That’s what photography can do for you. It not only captures your moments and memories but it creates them. Doing this super fun beach session with me created a memory that they will definitely cherish forever. As a photographer, there is nothing I love more than being able to help create lasting memories, not just great pictures.

Meagan + Phil // A Valens Consveration Area Engagement Shoot

Meagan and Phil are a special couple to me. Meagan and I go way back to elementary school. She was one of my idols even though she was only one grade ahead of me. We continued on to the same high school where we road the bus together. You see, I grew up in Cambridge Ontario but lived in a rural area. Meagan also lived out in the country so we had loads of long bus rides together. We have lost tough throughout the years but when I got her wedding inquiry I recognized her name immediately.

Let me tell you, it makes a HUGE difference when you feel like you know your photographer (and in this case, she already did!). It’s one of my biggest business goals to connect with my couples. For the main reason that I want them to feel comfortable being themselves. When a couple can just be themselves their photos become real memories and tell a real story of their relationship. So one of my questions during a potential client interview is, “what are your hobbies? what do you like to do together?” Sorry, that’s two questions! This lets me in to see what kind of engagement session we can have, I love to do something during an engagement shoot that the couple already does together, making them even more comfortable.

When I asked Meagan this she said she would love to do them at Valens because they love to explore the park and they do it quite often. I was super excited! That’s where I grew up, my childhood home is in the conservation area , plus my love of water and voila! the perfect engagement session for them!

They decided on a November session so they could be all cozy and warm and cute and man were they ever. Add that splash of red to a beautifully overcasted evening and I was doing happy dances every time I checked the back of my screen.

We had a lovely walk around the lake, to the iconic Valens Lake bridge, then to some beautiful yellow leaves that stayed just for our session so we could add some fall colours in and have some fun leaf throwing.

These two were perfectly in love and I could see it with every frame. I’m super excited for their wedding day and the magic these two will create with me!