I am fortunate to have a great description of this beautiful wedding written by my bride, Jenny. Jenny and Zach's wedding is featured in the Summer issue of The Bride's Book Magazine! The issue was just released electronically and should be distributed in print soon. It was a great experience working with Jenny and Zach and such an honor to be a part of their 'dream wedding'. It truly was a dream and Jenny was a spectacular bride!

Here is Jenny's description of the wedding:

"As a little girl, I had always wanted to marry the man of my dreams at the beach.  Some of my fondest memories were spent seaside.  After Zach and I began dating, we actually spent more time with my family on Figure Eight Island than in my hometown of High Point, NC.  After we were engaged, the beautiful North Carolina coast just seemed like the perfect place for the wedding.  We chose First Presbyterian Church for the ceremony because my grandfather was a member and it is where we attend church when in Wilmington.  Plus, it has incredibly beautiful architecture.  We chose Figure Eight Island for our reception site since it has beautiful sweeping views of the waterway and marsh.  It was also close to where many of our guests were staying. 

            The theme of the wedding began with the dress.   I had found a beautiful Vera Wang Luxe dress in a bridal magazine advertisement.  I immediately fell in love with it.  It was the first dress that I tried on at Alexia's Bridal Boutique.  After trying on several other dresses in the store, the deal was clenched when my sister-in-law Natalie Thomas suggested that I try the dress on with a belt that had a bevy of fabric flowers.  It just completed the dress! 

From there, the wedding took on a "romantic, vintage" theme to match the bridal gown.  The wedding cake was modeled after the dress's belted accessory.  The centerpieces were hobnail white ware as a nod to the vintage theme.  The chargers complimented the hobnail.  We chose white on white flowers because they were delicate and romantic.  The table linens were ivory, cream, and sandlewood.   The invitations were written with calligraphy in wide sweeping and whimsical strokes.  The seating cards and the seated dinner menu were done in the same calligraphy.  The bridesmaids wore satin Vera Wang dresses that were aubergine with an off-gold belting.  The colors were chosen in honor of the groom's alma mater, the University of Washington.

Traditions: I carried my late grandmother's handkerchief that was wrapped around the stems of my bouquet.

Other fun elements: My dog, Brady. met us at the reception for a quick photo.  On the day of the wedding, the bridesmaids had a yoga session at the Figure Eight Island yacht club.  The bridesmaid gifts included yoga mats for the lesson and a personalized bag and makeup case that they could carry to the church.  Our band was Black and Blue .  Zach played guitar with the band for two blues songs.  The band invited the wedding party and family up on stage to perform various songs with the band."

Another super cute detail to the wedding: Jenny and Zach met in medical school and they are both doctors. The favor that they gave their guests was a pill bottle with lavender M&M's. The label said 'Love is the Best Medicine'! So cute!
Congratulations Jenny and Zach!

The wedding of our lovely couple, Melissa and Chuck, is featured on the Southern Bride and Groom website. Read their love story and view their wedding details at this link.

I thought all of my newlyweds out there would be interested in checking out this new magazine. Here is a link to the online copy of the magazine. You can view an online version of the issue and the interior design is awesome!

Here are a few photos that are currently featured in the Raleigh Metro Magazine from my coverage of the Triangle Wine Experience. What a fun night!

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is published in the December 2009 edition of Professional Photographer Magazine.

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home "photo printers," we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they're paying for time and expertise.

The average one-hour portrait session

First, let's look at the actual work involved:

• Travel to the session
• Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
• Shoot the photos
• Travel from the session
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 - 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
• 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
• Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it's not uncommon to end up with 1,000 - 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don't forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though now some DSLR's  cost under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don't forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio

Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don't have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos...and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that--professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Shawn, Pamela and Gavin Richter - cofphoto@aol.com

Our website - Caught on Film Photography

Our photography forum - Learning Digital Photography Together

The story behind this shoot is kind of entertaining. I bought this vintage 1950's prom dress from Ebay for the awesome price of $30 as an Alice in Wonderland halloween costume for my daughter. When it arrived in a beat up old Budwiser beer box, my daughter said it was not her style. I knew it was a bit over the top for a 7th grader and decided it would be cool for something else- I just didn't know what. The dress was super small. I guess it is true that people were smaller in previous generations, because that dress was little- probably a size 2.

I was looking around for models with red hair for my fall bridal shoot, and I met with Alison to consider her as a model. She just happened to be a perfect size 2. I brought the vintage dress with me to her fitting to just see if it would work for something and suggested that Alison try it. She fit the dress perfectly and lit up with excitement at the thought of modeling in it. The light blue color looked great with her hair color and we decided to skip the traditional bridal gown and go for a vintage/bohemian bridal look. To update the look of the dress, I cut off the bottom of the dress and made it shorter and added some new ribbon. I decided to feature Alison's beautiful hair and have it down in loose spiral curls. I bought jewelry, hair accessories and shoes and ended up making the bouquet myself in the car on the way to the shoot! I guess the moral of the story is that you can have a unique, creative look on a very small amount of money. We had Alison's makeup professionally done by the fabulous Amy Kennison of Mac. Amy completely translated my vision into reality and she looked amazing. The shoot took place at Orton Plantation Gardens. The perfect place to find fall color! 

I am so excited to announce that one of my photos will be featured on the cover of The Bride's Book magazine. It is always a huge thrill to be featured on a cover and I am so pleased that the image is one of the photos that I took of Rachel at the Dudley Mansion this past July. Congratulations to all of my ladies involved in this shoot! Tonya with A Carolina Wedding, Jennifer with Salt Harbor Designs, Amy Kennison with Mac makeup, and Jan Wutkowski with Amuse Artisanal Finery.

We would like to congratulate our good friends, The Dessert Divas, on their article in the latest Wilma Magazine! They make the most delicious cakes imaginable! At a recent event, I overheard a woman exclaim after one bite of cake, "Oh! This is simply divine!". What an excellent description! Their cakes and desserts are divine! I had the pleasure of photographing the Divas and one of their cakes for the magazine article. We had so much fun, so I thought I would showcase the article. Take a look at the other cakes the Divas have made recently on their blog and don't forget to call them for cakes for any occasion! (910) 399-6276 or (910) 599-1290.

I am very excited to announce that our image of our fabulous couple, Jonay and David Zies, is featured on the cover of Southern Bride and Groom Magazine. The issue will officially be out the end of May, but I have the first copies and I thought I would share our exciting news! Thanks to Donna, editor of Southern Bride and Groom Magazine, for choosing our image and passing on a few preview copies. We are thrilled with the results!