Bruce Berg, award-winning Oregon wedding photography

No, that is NOT a comment from one of my brides. The only complaints we have is "There are too many great photographs to choose from"!

There are no 'do-overs' in a wedding. For many brides, they wish there were.

Photographers are a funny lot. Some can be very pleasant and laid back, but not helpful or organized, letting YOU pick up the pieces. Others can be so directive and 'in charge' that you no longer feel it's fun, let alone that it's your wedding.

Over the 24 years that I’ve been in this profession, I’ve heard thousands of stories of how bad photography has ruined weddings. These range from couples never getting their photographs to missing key images to horrible lighting to disruptive and rude behavior and even a lawsuit.

This says it all:

“I found my photographer on the net. Her website looked very professional and when I called her, she seemed very nice. Her prices were reasonable and the images I saw online looked great. Plus, she gives a DVD with all the images so I can print them myself.

On the day of my wedding, she was nice, but didn’t organize people or tell us what to do, so my family had to do it and that was very stressful.

A month later when I got the DVD, the pictures were horribly disappointing. Sure, there were hundreds of images, but only a dozen or so that I really liked. Most looked like they could have been taken by my guests. I was devastated!.

I haven’t been motivated to organize the photos and put them into an album. Plus, most of the albums I can find don’t look that great. The wedding was so beautiful and we put so much time and energy into it, but now I have almost nothing to remember it.”

Don’t let this be your story!

Thoroughly research your photographer and visit at least three photographers if you can. Make sure that they have a first rate studio and facility and find out how many years they’ve been in business full-time. Meeting you at a cafe is a warning sign about the fact they don't have a studio and aren't here for the long term. Your wedding is not the time to hire a semi-professional and right now there are dozens of them around. Also, insure that they (not an associate) will be doing your wedding photography.

Find out what you are getting for your money (albums, retouching, service).

Just giving you a DVD of all your images? This should be a GIGANTIC BIG RED FLAG.

Photographers offer this in lieu of albums so they can save a lot of time and hassle on their end. This practice truly is in the best financial interest of the photographer and not in yours. I'm leary of this practice, and so should you for these reasons:

1. Your digital photography files will not be custom color balanced or color balanced from your photographer..its way too time consuming. Or retouched. Or with any fun effects to make them unique.

2. Our color monitors are custom color balanced with our professional lab. If we sent a file to another lab, there is no way the color will match. This will apply to you and your DVD as well. From my observation, well over 75% of the "professional photography" images that I encounter have problems with their color. This is one of the main drawbacks to digital. It took us over 2 years to solve and correct this problem. Because this is your wedding, I believe this should be important to you too.

3. Costco prints vs. professional photography lab prints are miles apart. The optics, color density and range, sharpness and contrast cannot compare between one and the other. Megapixels are totally irrelevant in this regard.

4. OK, maybe you're different than me, but I'd be afraid of losing or misplacing this DVD if I were you....let alone damaging it and then what? Plus, are you going to be able to print off it in 20 years with how rapidly technology is changing? True professionals pride themselves in archivally protecting your images in a variety of ways.

5. Design. One of my employees was quite a scrap-book person. Once she started working here though, she was blown away with all the acceleration of knowledge she had to attain to come up to speed with what we do. We have spent decades now designing books that truly tell a story, that flow, that move emotions, that are unique. It is akin to being a director of a movie...there is much more than what meets the eye. Plus, we find albums that are stunning and will last forever.

6. Service. Isn't it nice when others put EVERYTHING together for you?

7. Finally, when a photographer sells you the DVD, ask yourself, except perhaps for a referral, what motivation do they have to blow you away with the images, since there is no chance for them to sell additional photographs for friends and family? We want to go the extra mile, not only for your total satisfaction, but so others as well.

Pricing?

For those wedding photographers that don't just sell DVDs, many charge you on the back end. Meaning that they won't give you most everything you need upfront, so their prices seem lower. Then, after the fact, they charge you more for the things you really needed in the first place.

I charge a realistic fee upfront, so if you don't spend a dime more, you will have an album that tells a story and won't be disappointed. That makes us seem initially more expensive, because we aim to please at the very beginning.

Granted, some of my brides want a bigger album, parent books or wall portraits that go above the original plan, but it's not a necessary component. So really look into what you are getting for your money.

Most couples allocate 10-20% of their wedding budget to photography, as this is THE one place NOT to skimp. Price should take a back seat to the photographer's personality and quality. It is the only service you will have that will last for a lifetime. Believe me, I’ve heard the regrets hundreds of times of shoulda coulda woulda.

I believe you should choose your wedding photography like you chose your rings: by looking for something that you will love forever.

Chateau Lorane Vineyard

The Campbell House

Downtown Athletic Club

Eagle Rock Lodge

Eugene Country Inn

First Christian Church

Whisper-n-Oaks (outdoor Oregon wedding location)

Hinman Vineyards

Other Locations near Eugene, Oregon:

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Tolly's Restaurant

University Club-Portland

Services in Eugene, Oregon

Passion Flower (florist)

Reed & Cross (registry)

Sweet Life Patisserie (cakes)

Bellamissa (Custom made dresses by fashion designer Bess Noble) Arts-Directory.org / Photography (photography web directory)

Bruce