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Why do you include two online galleries in your service?
When shooting at weddings we usually produce at least 500 good images. Some people find it a bit daunting to view such a large number so, as a complimentary service, we present a smaller selection of images that we choose to best represent the whole of your wedding in a smaller package.
We normally choose the photos for the smaller selection. If you would like to make the selection instead (and you would do this from the whole), then you must let us know in advance.
How long will these galleries be online ?
You will be able to view the images online in the galleries we construct for at least one year after the wedding. It's not that we are then going to take the images down or charge you for the ongoing storage, it's just that it's impractical to make long term guarantees on such matters.
If you are interested in guaranteeing the long term then the best way forward is to set the galleries up on your own domain name. If you have a domain available already we can simply put the galleries straight onto your server for no charge. Alternatively we can set this up for you - let us know what you expect and we can quote.
Can anyone download images from the galleries ?
Yes. They will be at a suitable resolution for viewing on the web which is less that that required for home printing. You are free to provide the high resolution images off your DVD to guests who wish to print images at home or at a local lab.
We want our guests to be able to order prints, without bothering us. Can you organise this?
Yes. Again let us know what you have in mind in advance and we will be able to outline several available options.
How many images do you actually take? How do you edit the images into a manageable collection?
We would normally expect to capture as many as a thousand images, sometimes more. Of any scenario, we would normally take several shots. This is because people's expressions differ from moment to moment and, all to often, they blink, sneeze or do 101 other things humans do which may spoil an image.
We use our discretion and experience to edit the images. Where there are duplicates, we use the time honoured technique of valuing smiles over frowns, and open eyes over closed. It would simply lower the quality of your experience if we were to put all the images online.
Unless you request otherwise, we will also use our discretion to crop images to improve composition and take out distracting detail. We will do this when aesthetically the final image benefits from such cropping.
What about alternative religious ceremonies and civil partnerships?
While our approach fits with the structure of traditional weddings, we are also enthused about the vibrancy found in many modern or alternative ceremonies, including civil partnerships. We'd like to do more!
Are there watermarks on your web gallery images?
There may be - but only temporarily in a preview gallery that we put in place before final payment is made. All galleries are otherwise completely free of annoying watermarks.
This is always a question worth asking of other photographers. Similarly when promised images on a disc, you might ask whether these are full size, high resolution, unwatermarked and individually adjusted for colour balance and image tone.
What about black and white images?
Digital capture gives fantastic creative possibilities - we can carry out a simple conversion of all your images for a small extra charge and add these image to the disc that we send to you.
You may also want to have subtle toning effects added to original images. We make this possible because all our original images are captured in colour.
What about image retouching?
Our normal service to prepare images, although carried out on an individual basis, does not include retouching. This is because retouching is a time consuming specialist skill which simply cannot be applied to the hundreds of images captured without adding days or even weeks to the processing time.
However, for the images included in your photobook, we will remove many spots and blemishes.
What about traditional albums?
We can supply traditional hand made albums prepared by craftsmen such as Queensberry.
Is photography your day job?
People photography is the Light Touch day job, not in a studio but on location, indoors or out. So the skills required to make the most out of challenging lighting situations and dealing with people are practised not only on weekends.
We possess skills in other areas, notably in respect of using the web to display images. Scott Hortop put this website together and sells his images online through another website he assembled. This technological literacy and an eye for design comes in useful when presenting your images.
Scott also sells photography through libraries; online he is represented by Alamy Images (mainly editorial images) and Getty Images (people lifestyle).
Many wedding photographers have five day a week day jobs and use the wedding photography to supplement their income. This allows them to charge lower rates for weddings than professional photographers who have to rely on photography as their only source of income. While it is quite possible that you will find such a photographer to deliver an excellent job for you, it becomes more of a gamble, and you cannot expect them to adopt the same time and care to processing your images that a professional might. You may be able to spot these as photographers who seem to do nothing but wedding photography; so ask to see examples of other professional work. You should also be wary of large agencies who hire in such photographers on weekends. Finally, be wary of photographers who pad out their portfolios with images they did not even take - hundreds of photos of an attractive bride and groom on a beach at sunset are available online at $1 per image and that shot on the home page might just be one of them!
What does four hours of shooting actually mean? How do you charge for extra hours?
For a photographer a wedding includes periods of intense activity, other periods capturing general activity and down time - usually when guests are eating or during travel from venue to venue. Unlike many photographers, the down time (within reason!) is not charged for so four hours of shooting means probably six hours of what other photographers might term as 'coverage'. In any case, when you receive a quote, all will be clearly explained and connect with your timetable for the day.
At some weddings in contrast there are long periods of continuous shooting and within this period you can expect us to take some short breaks. This not only keeps your photographers in tip top condition but allows us to review progress and organise image backups.
If shooting through a reception, we would not normally take photos of you and your guests eating and at this stage some food should be provided for us too.
On the day we will warn you when our coverage is due to end. We will in most circumstances be able to extend our coverage but cannot guarantee it if not booked in advance.
The key is to give us full detail of what you will be requiring in advance and we will quote accordingly and often be able to allow you to keep options on the actual service you are to receive open.
What about equipment - and taking care of the images?
The essence of Light Touch is not to get bogged down with equipment, to always be ready wherever practicable to shoot using natural light.
Light Touch equips itself flexibly to deliver the quality levels required the fit the situation and its client's needs, normally using high end standard or full frame digital SLR's meeting the quality standards demanded by the commercial photography markets. We have also invested in studio lighting equipment that can operate not only in grand interiors but even on location in a field.
The security of your images and getting the best out of them is paramount - they are subject to high end professional finishing, not the 'dump and run*' approach
- All images are captured in the professional RAW format to maximise quality
- They are backed up at the wedding and the backup taken to and stored at a different address to the originals
- The subsequent images are individually reviewed and prepared on colour calibrated monitors
- Final images are delivered in a colour space suited to maximise quality from your selected photo processor
What if we lose the images on our disc(s)?
We simply cannot make a long term commitment to store every image we take. That being said, in all probability, if two years after the event you somehow lose all the images that we have provided then in all likelihood we will still have them. You should note that it could be time consuming to retrieve the situation and there would be a charge to do so.
The safest approach (which takes account of the possibility of Light Touch storage being hit by a meteorite) is that you should make your own backups. We can supply additional DVDs at the time when the originals are burned for just £10. You should test them on receipt to make sure they can be read by your computer and then have them stored at a separate address to the originals. There are also many online options for the storage of images.
* 'Dump and run' is a term used by professional photographers to describe the process of supplying images as quickly as possible, where the price provided by the client overules quality considerations. Photos are captured as .jpgs (not RAW) using hit and miss in camera auto process (which actually ruins many good images that are quietly deleted) and then what's left is dumped onto a disc. It may look clever at a wedding to present the images there and then, but surely not yours?
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