Here you should find most of your questions answered. Though if we missed anything,
please, give as a call and we will be glad to answer them.
Our approach is to be unobtrusive when documenting the event, but add a touch of our artistic vision of the event - express how we see the people and situations. And always there will be some humor in the photographs, smiles and surprises - because life is fun. The artistic touch reveals itself in the way we make the photograph: the angle, the composition, color or black and white or digiital effects we use to enhance the impact, or any combintation of those and other techniques that we have in our bagpacks.
Many would consider it to be a tricky question. First, we have to say that we are digital guys of the Digital Age. You may be wondering what is better: film or digital? In or opinion it's just the media the artist decided to use in his/her art. In terms of the technical benefits and drawbacks of professional grade gear (digital and film) there is no much difference. It's the art, which matters. Some will say that the digital will give you more pictures and will allow you to capture fleeting moments, but will those pictures be great, or mediocre? Others will say that film forgives msitakes in the exposure, but will the photographer retouch and apply effects to the photograph to turn it into a fine art? There are many small details that tilt the scale in either way, and we don't want to bore you with it. The only thing which matters - do you like the final work of the artist or not? Do you trust the photographer to deliver the highest quality or not? Decide upon the results but not the tools!
Even though photojournalism means documental photography and we try to be unobtrusive, there are enough skills in our bag to produce stunning formal portrais and group shots. The only thought is that the formal portraits lack the intensity of the natural human emotions and tend to be somewhat static. However such portraits look beautiful in the wedding album. You may request an engagement session on a location, so we could complement the wedding photographs with your casual photographs.
Of course. The engagement sessions is a great place to start our relationship. It will allow us to get to know each other better and feel more comfortable. And when people feel comfortable in each other presence the photographs come out much better and expressions look natural. So we would avice you to consider this option.
There is one primary photographer who you can always depend on - Roman Zolin. And there is an assitant who will help with the coverage of the event and provide a backup. You can learn more about some details of the main photograher's life here - About Us.
Mostly it depends on the type of services you would like to receive. If you are planning for pure photojournalistic approach without formal portraits then there is not much you should worry about. The only thing is to provide as much information as possible about the schedule of the event (with all small details), so the photographer would know where and when better to be in order to take the greatest picture of certain parts of the day. When you plan for formal portraits you should allow sufficient time for the photographer to setup the equipment and pose the people being photographed. Consider about 3-5 minutes per a single shot taken and plan for some people being late to be photographed.
The answer is a definite "yes", when it's a new place for us. But even in most of other cases we visit those venues to talk with coordinators and clergyman to discuss the restrictions that we can encounter or the light conditions and how to improve it. Some of the churches have restrictions of the position of the photographer and/or the ability to use the flash. And we ask the bride and the groom to assist me with relaxing those rules, so there will be more great photographs.
Usually the ratio is about 50-100 photographs per hour, though some of the photographs will represent a sequence (several images for a single moment - not duplicates). Such series capture the moment as it evolves and all the changes of expressions on faces. Some of the photographs will be deleted due to imperfections (such as out of focus, exposure and composition failure), so only the best photographs will be available for the client to review, select and order. So you may expect about 1000-1500 photographs of the full day event.
The design of the album and retouching of all of the photographs that will be included there require great attention to details and artistic skills. Depending on the size of the album and number of photographs the time could extend up to two months after the photographs are selected and you made all other choices (such as the type of the book, cover, color, etc.).
You are always welcome to see the work on the website in section Weddings. All other samples of my work could be presented when we meet. Please call us to arrange the meeting.
This website was designed in such a way that you can check the availability of the date and actually book it without calling or sending an email. Please follow the link "Booking" in top right menu to navigate to the booking page.
We will contact you within two-three days after you requested the services through the Booking page (submitted the information).
After you provided the information about the wedding (through the Booking page) you have at least two weeks to sign the contract and send the retainer. This period could be extended due to some delays with preparing the contract and other agreements between you and the Photographer.
The proof is usually not corrected or retouched photograph, sometimes some basic corrections of exposure and color could be made. The print is a final photograph where all the corrections and retouchings are made, some digital effects as well could be applied to increase the impact of the photograph. The proofs are used for initial selection of the photographs, which later will be retouched and manipulated. The main purpose of the proofs is to separate bad images from good ones and to focus only on the good ones.
The answer is a definite "Yes". The photographs could be available online, where guests would order them. The gallery of the photographs available for one year since its publishing.
We will do our best to aleviate most of the issues that require you attention during the process and help you to make an educated decision in all such situations. The process of creating the album is following:
Wedding photographers specialize in photographing real people at weddings. In wedding photography the photographer has no control over the lighting or anything else for that matter. The photographer has to be ready at all times and basically has one chance to capture those fleeting moments that happen very quickly. You can not stop the wedding and ask for a reshoot. Fashion and commercial photographers specialize in photographing models in a carefully controlled production enviroment with plenty of production assistants, etc. Fashion and commercial photographers are accustomed to working with production crews and in controlled situations. We would say most fashion photographers would be like a fish out of water at a wedding. If you are not sure, ask to see their wedding portfolio.
Many photographers use the two names as if they are the same. However, photojournalism is not just a series of random photographs where the subject is not looking at the camera; nor is it any photograph shot with black and white film. Photojournalism is more of the philosophy on how the photographer approaches photographing a subject or event. Wedding photojournalists, like news photographers, photograph the wedding as an observer, and do not interfere or try to force moments into happening. A true wedding photojournalist will observe and capture key moments and a variety of other shots that help tell the story without any interference. On the other hand, candid photography can be any photo that isn't posed. We believe the majority of photographers out there who consider themselves photojournalists are really candid photographers at heart. But again, if you like their work then it doesn't really matter much.
If we were hiring a wedding photographer one thing we would look for is not only great photography and style, but consistency in their work. We would want to see at least four albums as well as a couple of albums featuring complete weddings from beginning to end. It's easy to show great photographs from many different weddings, but showing great work from complete weddings is more challenging. The advent of digital photography has brought out so many new wedding photographers in recent years, and a lot of these new photographers have very little experience or photography education. Some have beautiful websites and a few good photographs too, but their abilities are not nearly as good as the better photographers. On the other hand, experience doesn't necessarily mean a person is a great, creative photographer either. In my opinion, great wedding photographs are a result of a photographer having a great eye for style, composition, art, and camera and lighting skills. You can read our article "What makes a wedding photographer" to learn more on this topic. Or see what we can deliver to you - "Find Out Why Your Search for The Wedding Photographer Ends Here!"
If you have questions that are not covered here, please don't hesitate to contact us.