What style of Photography do you do?

The look and feel tends to range from quirky to elegant to vintage and our shooting style is a hybrid of Photojournalism (although I’m so sick of hearing that term), meets spontaneous fun set ups, with a tad of (and I do mean a tiny tad) of tradition thrown in.

If we shot your entire Wedding in “true” Photojournalistic style, you would slap us silly and end up with an Album full of peoples backs, bums, nose picking, mouths full of food etc etc. Every Parent/Grandparent and yourselves would scream “but we have nothing to hang on the wall”. There would be no family and friend shots taken and there wouldn’t be a location shoot. On the day, you would end up saying “what are we meant to do now” and after you see your photos you would inevitably say “But there are no photos with Mum & I”. We have been doing this for a long time now and feel we have a really good balance of  what works and what doesn’t work.

Will you be the person shooting my wedding?

This question is crucial to ask any Photographer you meet with! Many couples meet with a Studio Manager experienced in sales techniques and are very clever in their “pitch”. Some Companies have many Photographers working for them and despite the photos you may view and love from their website or albums, you may never get allocated those photographers . Before you are swayed by the glossy sales pitch and million dollar studio, meet with the photographer that will be shooting your wedding and view their work. Look at a whole wedding, not just their “featured” images. Also, as the photographer will be with you for the entire day, make sure you get along well and feel comfortable with them. The last thing you want is to only meet your photographer on the day of the wedding and find that they are arrogant, sleazy, incompetent, aloof or a control freak. If you don’t get along, it will show in your images.

Our answer: When you make an appointment to meet us, you actually meet US. We own the business and will photograph your wedding. All the images you see on our website, our books, albums and slideshows are taken by Rog or myself. We take great pride in Popcorn Photography and the images we take – and at the end of the day, you are meeting us based on those images.  We believe that your wedding day is about you, not about us telling you what to do and when to do it. Of course we will guide you and suggest things but it’s YOUR day so Rog & I are relaxed and flexible with everything.

When we do your free “Boy meets Girl” Shoot, we all get to know each other and have a bit of a bonding session. It’s great fun and you get to see how we work and interact. If we say “just go and play with each other” or “show us how you feel about each other, but just with your faces” and you have no clue what we mean, we will give you a demo, Rog & I are a couple also and have no qualms in being silly or cute. This session is so valuable in breaking down barriers and helping you to feel comfortable in from of the camera, so when your wedding day comes around, we pretty much continue where we left off and you enjoy your day from start to finish with us.

Are you part time or full time?

Full time or if there is a word for more than full time that would be it. We eat, sleep and breathe photography and running our business about 18 hours every day. We try and have one Monday off every few weeks so we can have a play date and relax.

Part time Photographers may be cheap as they earn an income from their day job and working on weddings of a weekend is a quick way to earn some “play” money. But, it’s also a hobby for them  and they may only shoot one wedding every few months. I have no idea how they would have the time to process your photos after the wedding with the love and time each image takes to make beautiful. We hear horror stories all the time about people hiring part time photographers or friends and I would hate for you to spend your hard earned money  (no matter how cheap they are) on someone who get’s home from their real job at 5.30pm Friday afternoon and attends your wedding Saturday, has a quick look through your photos on Sunday, burns them to a disc, get’s some prints done at Big W Sunday afternoon and posts them to you on their way to work Monday morning.  Plus, results tend to vary from ok to oh no. The images  tend to lack attention to detail, lighting and composition. Please, don’t hire a part timer or a friend, you deserve better than that and it’s just not worth the risk with what can go wrong. Remember there are no second chances with wedding photography.

Will you hold a date while we decide?

Sorry, we are unable to hold a date without a retainer. Our services are provided on a first come, first served basis and we generally have bookings up to two years in advance. We only shoot 1 Wedding per day, so if you would like us to Photograph your Wedding but are unsure of which package you would like, fill out the booking form and pay the retainer, so no-one can beat you to your date. Packages can be decided upon later.

Do you offer videography?

No we don’t. We specialise in photography only. We can recommend some videographers though, so just ask.

How does the album design work if we want an album?

You simply tell us your favourite photos and we will design an album based around them. You get to proof the design online and then we just make changes till you are totally happy with it..

How long before we get our album?

Once the album has been designed and approved by you, the album will take approximately six weeks to be made.

Do you shoot with film or digital cameras?

We shoot with the high end DSLR’s

Can our guest’s follow you around and take photos of us?

My honest answer is this: They are your guests, so of  course they can take photos of you but we cannot work to the best of our ability if we have people following us around, jostling for the best position and bumping us out of the way. You have invested thousands of dollars to have us photograph your wedding and provide you with beautiful images, so we really do appreciate if your guests can be respectful of the fact that you have hired us to do the job.

At every wedding there is at least one “Uncle Bob” that fancies himself as a Photographer and stands in front of us, walks through our shot, tries to “pose” you, stands opposite us and uses flash in our faces, and doing all this while wearing a bright red jacket. You might not see a problem with this, but guess what, Uncle Bob is going to be in every single photograph, wearing his bright red jacket and every time he fired his flash, there will be a big white flash blob.

We encounter this situation at every wedding and with the age of technology where everyone has a phone camera, point and shoot or DSLR, it’s becoming a pandemic! So long as you don’t mind us asking your guests to politely move if they are in our way, it’s all good.

How much time do we need for location photography?

The more time you give us, the better opportunity we get to capture amazing photos for you. 1 1/2 to 2 hours is perfect. Just remember to factor in travel time.

Can we give you a shot list of photos we want?

You can give us a shot list of family photos you want, but it is best to give the list to someone who can be your “people wrangler”. This should be someone who knows everyone and can “wrangle” them together for each shot you want. As we don’t know anyone except yourselves (bride and groom), we would be wasting a lot of time trying to work out who belongs in each photo.

We don’t work off a shot list throughout the day. It really hampers our creativity and we would most probably miss important moments as we would be looking at the list all day instead of what is happening in front of us. We work very candidly throughout the day so working off a list is not really our style.

Do you offer discounts?

We  offer discounts at random times throughout the year, so keep an eye out on our Facebook page and our blog.

Are you willing to customise a package if none of yours fits our needs?

Absolutely, just send us an email with your requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Do you offer Elopement packages?

We sure do. Packages range from $850 – $1,100 but cannot be booked for Saturdays as these are for full Wedding packages.

How many camera bodies do you have?

Rog & I each have two, so that’s four camera bodies at your wedding. (Every photographer should have at least two)

Do we need to give you anything on the day of our wedding?

Yes please, we request 6 bottles of water and 6 can’s of diet coke, plus 1 main meal for Rog. Taking photos is thirsty work

Can we just call in to see you?

No sorry… We are open by appointment only as we have a home studio. No-one likes to get caught in their PJ’s.

What is the Boy Meets Girl Shoot?

It is a Pre-Wedding Shoot which is a “bonding session” and “portrait shoot” rolled into one. They are included in all our packages for free because they are essential in developing a rapport with you and also it allows you to get comfortable in front of the camera, which can be a little daunting. “PDA’s” (Public Displays of Affection) can be embarrassing for some people, especially in front of total strangers who want to take photos of it. So, the Pre-Wedding shoot is a fantastic time to overcome the embarrassment as we have fun with it, relax and really get to know each other. We also talk about the “big day” and how to exchange rings, kiss, ignore us and anything else that arises. It’s a great opportunity to shake off any nerves and self esteem issues, not to mention get some exquisite photos in the process.

If we didn’t do a pre-wedding shoot and just turned up on your Wedding day, cameras firing, it would take you a lot longer to relax and I guarantee the first 100+ shots would be rubbish (unless of course you are naturally very confident in front of the camera) as you would be stiff, uncomfortable, red, smiling at the camera and asking “what do you want me to do?” while looking like the proverbial “deer in the head lights”. That may sound harsh, but it’s true and having the experience that we do, we truly believe in this process and the enormous benefit it makes to your Wedding day photographs.

Are you Members of any Professional Associations?

Absolutely, we are members of WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers Internationl) and WIPM (The World Instituate of Photographic Masters)

Any advice on choosing a photographer?

Always choose someone whose work you love. If you love the look and feel of their images, you should love yours. Price is only secondary and photography is a major investment.  After all, when your wedding day is over and everything is packed away and gobbled up, all you have left are your photos, so please choose wisely.