I usually only do about five weddings a year. As a full time freelance photographer, my photography business is made up of magazine clients, book publishers and corporate clients for whom I do corporate reports and advertising imagery. I limit the number of weddings I do because I find them both challenging and creatively draining. It's very difficult to do forty weddings a year and still keep your imagery fresh and creative.

Like most things these days, you can find anything to fit any budget. And, like most things, for the most part you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, the wedding photography business is an extreme example of this, in part, because getting into the business is relatively easy. A box of business cards, a cheap camera and you're a weekend wedding warrior. In my case, I'm neither the cheapest or the best photographer out there. When choosing a wedding photographer, I'll offer the following advice;

1. Talk to potential photographers, find out how many weddings they do a year and how long they've been doing it. This will give you a starting point to evaluate their work.

2. Obviously, you want to see some examples of their work. A web gallery or portfolio will work here. You're looking for images that YOU like. Art is subjective and what one person likes may not be for the next. Once you've looked at a few portfolios, you'll quickly get a feel for what's good and what's not so good to you. One important note here, thanks to the internet, the hardcover portfolio has pretty much disappeared so, don't be put off if you can't see one. On the other hand, if they don't have a website or online gallery, you should probably keep looking.

3. Forget about references, the last time you applied for a job did you give out the names of anyone you weren't sure would give you a good reference?

4. Equipment. Is the photographer using professional equipment and more importantly, do they have at least one backup for every piece of equipment? I was once a guest at a wedding where the only piece of equipment the hired photographer had was a $500 digital point and shoot. These are great for personal work but, the challenging lighting conditions and styalistic requirements of wedding work is too much for this type of camera. It's kinda like a mechanic working on your car with a combination screwdriver and one adjustable wrench, great for small jobs around the house but, not professional tools for a professional job.

5. Digital or film? Either is fine however, does the price include prints and albums? Do you have to pay extra to get the disk and make your own prints? Are you getting the negatives so that if you need a copy of an image 10 years from now, you don't have to try to find the original photographer. They go out of business all the time so, if you don't think ahead, you may only ever have one copy of your wedding pictures. I've been married for eight years now and we hired a pro who has since moved on so, I only have one set of prints from my own wedding. I should have followed my own advice.

6. Lastly, talk to the photographer. Either on the phone or in person. Are they likable? Do you think you will connect with the photographer? This is probably more important than anything else. If you don't get a good feeling about the photographer or worse, they don't really like you, I guarantee you won't be happy with the results.

My pricing is for all digital work. After I shoot your wedding, everything is edited and processed for optimal printing, burned to a disk and delivered to you. This means you can make as many copies of your wedding pictures as you like.

As well, I include a private web gallery that you can email to your friends and family so that they can see the pictures of your wedding day.

My prices start at $1,750 for a four hour job. This includes all your images post processed for optimal printing quality, a high resolution disk so you can have as many copies printed as you like and a web gallery of your images online to share iwth friends and family. I also include travel within 100 km of Calgary. GST is extra and you can pay with a credit card if you like.

For more detailed pricing or to discuss the specifics of your wedding, feel free to call me. Please note, I usually don't supply initial quotes via email so, call me instead.

You can go HERE to see a slideshow of some recent wedding imagery.