FAQ about Columbia Wedding Photos by Jeff Blake

What is wedding photojournalism?

How soon do I get my photos?

Do you travel outside of Columbia?

How many photos do I get?

How does the album get created?

When is my deposit and balance due?

Do you accept major debit/credit cards?

FAQ about Columbia Wedding Photos by Jeff Blake

What is wedding photojournalism?

Traditionally, wedding photographers would pose the couple at every stage along the way: "Hold that knife right over the cake like so while I set up the lights!" etc. Photojournalists, on the other hand, document the action, capturing the moments as they happen. For newspaper assignments, photojournalists never direct the action; the only posing or directing we do is when photographing a portrait. The lighting might not always be perfect with a photojournalist, but the moments and emotions captured are much more real.

How soon do I get my photos?

Way quicker than with the vast majority of wedding photographers! Most of the time, if you take a week-long honeymoon immediately after the wedding, the photos will be posted to your website before your return. Albums take four-eight weeks from the time you approve the design.
Do yourself a favor and ask your friends and relatives that are married how long it took to get their photos; you might be surprised to hear many of them did not receive their photos for many months, and in some unfortunate cases, over a year. I could not in good conscience ever do this. More than a decade of working on immediate deadline at newspapers has given me the skill to process photos very quickly while still giving each photo the attention to detail it deserves.

Do you travel outside of Columbia?

Yes, I will go anywhere in the world. I've photographed weddings in Puerto Rico, Maine, Rhode Island, Washington, DC, and throughout the Southeast. There is a nominal fee for weddings more than 100 miles from Columbia.

How many photos do I get?

I edit down all the photos we take to the best 500-700, then tone, crop, and give you ready-to-print images on a disc. Unlike other photographers, there is no limit to the number of photographs we take. However, not every image is ideal, nor would you want prints of each of the nearly identical 100 plus photos we will take of your first dance, for example.

In addition, unlike most photographers, I individually crop and tone in Photoshop each photo I give you, so every photo looks its best. Since I crop each photo by hand to the exact dimensions they will be printed, the photo finisher will not inadvertently cut off heads, etc.

Please keep in mind that the larger and longer the wedding and reception, the more photos you will get.

How does the album get created?

You give me a list of photos from the web gallery you want included in the album and which photo you want on the front and back cover (if applicable). I send the photos to my professional wedding album designer, she designs the album and sends it to me in a PDF file. I send the PDF file to you, you either approve the design or request any changes.

My designer includes changes to up to five spreads (a spread is two facing pages) for free, after that he charges us a $10 fee for each additional changed spread. Once the design is approved, I submit it to BookBinders, who then prints and binds the book. The design takes about two weeks, the printing about four weeks.

When is my deposit and balance due?

$500 is due at the signing of the contract. The remaining balance is due no later than fourteen days before the wedding day. These are non-refundable.

Do you accept major debit/credit cards?

Yes.