Q: Do we get a copy of our digital negatives?
A: Yes, The digital negatives are included with every wedding and engagement package. We sell the digital negatives for our family portraits and weekday intimate weddings. We include watermarked low-res files with every wedding, portrait and engagement session. We encourage our clients to order prints with us because we adjust every image professionally. There is a reason you are drawn to all our imagery. Believe us, it’s the post-production– all digital images need a little bit of PhotoShop “love” to meet our standard of excellence. If you purchase the digital negatives from your portrait session, you’ll receive a 5×7 copy of every image posted to your online gallery as well as a lovely keepsake photo box.
Q: How far in advance do you book out?
A: We book weddings 6-12 months in advance. The most popular dates in Phoenix and Sedona are March, April, May, September, October and November. In Flagstaff: June, July, August and September. May & October are out busiest months! If you have a weekday elopement, we typically have availability 4-6 weeks out. For portraits we book 1-6 months in advance
Q: Do you require a meal at our wedding?
A: Yes, please. For any wedding over 5 hours we need to eat! We are on our feet 8-10 hours on your wedding day working hard and burning a lot of calories. Please feed your photographer! We prefer a hot meal but occasionally this isn’t available at certain resort venues. Most importantly we need to eat while the guests are eating and within site of the bride and groom. Dinner is the only non-photogenic time of the day (people are not usually happy about posing for a photo while eating). We eat very fast and often get up during the meal to photograph details, guests, etc. If we are out of the room, we could miss important impromptu moments.
Q: Why are you more expensive than other wedding photographers?
A: In short, you are paying for piece of mind and experience. It has taken us a decade to hone our craft, and become the photographers that we are today. We have shot hundreds of weddings and can manage any client situation or put out any wedding fire. Not only do we know photography but we also know our products, software, equipment and how to handle all of the stresses of album design, production, delivery and running a full time business. You may find some alternative options out there that seem appealing and less expensive. I would encourage you to view 3-5 full weddings from any photographer you interview along with a final album. Make sure their images make you feel the same way ours do, make sure you love their personality (you have to spend you entire day with the photographer), make sure the wedding they shot last weekend is as good as the portfolio they are showing you. We tell stories with our photographs and the best way to *read* that story is in a book. Our albums are truly a work of art and there are few photographers who carry the same high-end products. We design all our albums in-house and work with you directly on the final design. Choosing final images for an album or for your home is an overwhelming task, which is why we do the initial design for our clients and offer print consultations. Believe me editing 3,000+ great photographs down to 150 can be a daunting task. My best advice continues to be: stay true to your heart. If you LOVE our work, find a way to get it into your budget. If you splurge on one service at your wedding, let it be the photography…you can never go back and re-photograph a live event.
Q: Do you work with a second shooter?
A: Jamelle Kelly is the second photographer on most Cameron & Kelly weddings. We are both capable of photographing your event solo but we prefer to work together as a team. At this point we’ve been photographing weddings together since 2007 and we love the combination of our personality and style. Typically Cameron shoots the bride preparations and Jamelle shoots the groom. We divide up the “assignments” for the day based on what we know about the family from our interview with our clients. Our partnership runs like a well-oiled machine at weddings. Occasionally Jamelle or Cameron will take a wedding on their own or work with one of our talented photographer friends but it’s rare.
Q: If our wedding is a destination, how much is the travel fee ?
A: If your wedding is in Scottsdale/Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, or Las Vegas there is no travel fee. Cameron & Kelly Studio is based in Flagstaff, Arizona. We usually fly out of Flagstaff or Phoenix, AZ. If airfare, hotel, excessive mileage or car rental are required for destination weddings (usually outside of Arizona), the client is responsible for the direct cost. Cameron books all CK Studio travel herself.
Q: Will you attend our rehearsal dinner?
A: You may hire us to photograph your rehearsal dinner but otherwise, we do not attend rehearsals. Typically if we are already flying to a destination wedding, it’s easy to also photograph the rehearsal and we get acquainted with the family and friends prior to the larger guest list attending the wedding. Please inquire about pricing and note: we arrive 24 hours in advance of the contracted start time, thus potentially adding an additional day of travel.
Q: How many weddings have you shot? How many years have you been a wedding photographer?
A: Cameron has been making a full-time living as a wedding photographer since 2004. Before that she made a full-time living as a photojournalist. She has shot over 250+ weddings (she lost count years ago). Jamelle has been making a full-time living as a photographer since 2007 but has been photographing weddings since 2005. Let’s put it this way, we’ve seen it all, we both started on film and when you choose to work with us, you are choosing true professionals.
Q: When will we receive our album and see our photographs for the first time?
A: We feel strongly about returning your wedding pictures to you in a timely fashion. Your proofs will be available within 2-4 weeks of your event. Your album first draft will be available 2-4 weeks after your proof gallery is live. Most of our clients have their album in hand within 4-6 months. The time frame largely depends on the client’s ability to make comments and approve the album for printing. Once we have the approved album, the company requires about 4 weeks to print and ship it to us.
Q: Do you offer discounts? Do you shoot weekday events?
A: Northern Arizona is a destination wedding market, therefore there are a lot of elopements, off-season events and weekday events. Discounts and elopements are quoted based on our demand and availability. It doesn’t hurt to ask about our availability. We consider a n “intimate” wedding to be 25 guests or less including the bride and groom and bridal party. Please inquire about intimate wedding packages.
Q: How we pick out the images for our album?
A: We will design a first round draft of your album based on our favorite 200 images, usually found in the slideshow. After we present the album to you online for review, you may make changes to the design and the images based on your preferences. We find that our clients are not photo editors and we feel like part of our job is to remove the stress of selecting images for your wedding album. Our clients love this process and we feel that the storytelling images do not get overlooked. Most of the time, 90% of the final album remains how we initially designed it and the rest we customize based on our client’s preferences.
Q: Is it okay if our family friend plans on shooting the wedding as well?
A: Generally speaking, the more photos of your wedding day the merrier. We ask you to consider that at a minimum your parents and the groom’s parents should simply enjoy the ceremony and let us do the “heavy lifting.” We don’t mind if your guests snap photos all day; however, remember the more guests with cameras in their hand, the more photos of guests with cameras in their hand!! Occasionally we have had an Uncle Bob step right in front of us during the recessional or at a critical moment in the first dance, so we ask our clients to discuss the photography priorities with known family “photographers.” We do request that during the intimate portraits of just the bride and groom, we have you to ourselves. Frankly, it’s just ackward to have a friend or parent along for the romantic shots and they can detract from the natural moments.
Q: How do we book your services?
A: We require 25% deposit to secure the date with the contract and the remaining balance is due 8 days prior to your event. We will send you a custom booking link and you can either remit payment online with a VISA, MC or AMEX or drop a check in the mail.
Q: We cancelled our event, can we get part of our deposit back?
A: Unfortunately, no. The deposit is non-refundable and secures your date. Once we have that date booked on our calendar we have to forgo other potential events/clients.
Q: When do you shoot High School Senior Portraits?
A: Many parents don’t realize that the wallet sized print for your senior is due to the yearbook staff around Oct. 15th. They are strict about that deadline. Some charter schools have an additional month. This means your senior should be photographed either the summer prior to their senior year or in early September. Your senior will have tons of after school activities once school starts and we typically do not shoot on weekends. Additionally, it takes us 2 weeks to process a session and another week to order prints. You can imagine all the 17 year olds that call us October 1st for an October 15th deadline. It’s too late! We book up fast for these, so call ahead and get your preferred date on the calendar.
Q: What do we wear to our portrait session?
A: We encourage you to show off your personal style during your portrait session. If you are a family, we generally tell people to pick one printed item: ie: dress, shirt and pick coordinating colors from that garment. Most everyone else can wear a solid or a basic pattern that doesn’t clash with the printed garment. Please pick something that is flattering on you (and everyone else)! Do not choose something because it’s fashionable but looks awful on your body type. Choose clothing that you’ve worn before that gets you a lot of compliments! The camera does add weight and believe me, there are some things PhotoShop just can’t do. Style your hair and take extra time on your makeup and accessories but stay true to your personal style. If you don’t wear a lot of makeup, that’s okay, but you can still get a natural look with some makeup. If you need help with this, we have resources! Please ask. We request that you do not have “matching” outfits even though it seems easy to put everyone in jeans and black t-shirts, it’s really best to reflect a wardrobe you would normally wear. Our portrait sessions are all about capturing your true family and honest emotion. When everyone is dressed up too much people don’t feel normal and as a result they don’t look natural. Please do not wear bright white and black together– it’s too much contrast. Mid-tones are better ie: gray, blue, green, jeans, khaki, etc. You CAN wear black and we know it’s flattering (especially on new mama’s). We LOVE to chat about outfits, so give us a call and we’ll help you figure it out.