Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Always. I’m a chronic over-packer.

Yes we do. Every image we deliver is post produced with our unique style of basic post production. This involves color correction, exposure adjustment, selective black and white processing, clarity adjustments, tone-mapping, and other corrections. Many photographers will not post produce any, or will only post produce “select” images from your wedding. This means that you may have pictures that are too dark, have strange skin tones, or other common photography flaws.

The Visualized Arts Wedding Photography team is acclaimed for developing a unique style of wedding photography that is deeply rooted in wedding photojournalism while influenced by fine-art and fashion photography. We love using creative lighting, unique perspectives, angles, compositions and artistic post production refining to bring out our clients personalities and beauty while telling their wedding story. We pride ourselves on not just being photographers, but rather artists creating unique and expressive imagery. To see examples of our quality and style, please visit our Portfolio as well as schedule an appointment to see one of our albums.

Although we do have experience in most other fields of photography, we prefer to excel and focus on wedding and event photography. If you need a good referral, feel free to contact us.

If you have any other specific questions that aren’t covered above, please feel free to give a call or fill out the contact form on this website.

Yes we have a studio and we typically shoot in studio and on location.

Our images are made available to you for viewing through a secure, easy-to-use proofing gallery. You will receive a passcode to access your images and are free to share it or keep it restricted to close friends and family.

Images from your session will be available to purchase in your online proofing gallery for one year and longer upon request. For more information on print ordering and pricing please refer to the “Print Pricing” page on my website.

Yes. The price varies depending on the package purchased. A CD of 25 favorite images is included free in the Diamond Package.

Yes, absolutely! Bring along anything that represents you – this includes musical instruments, athletic gear, sports jerseys, dancing shoes, purses and pets. Be sure to bring someone along to help if you bring a pet.

You don’t necessarily need to “dress up” for your portrait session. The best pictures are usually captured when you wear clothing that you are comfortable in and outfits that match your unique personality and style. We recommend trying to keep things simple by picking solid colors and coordinating your wardrobe as much as possible – the only exception is to avoid wearing solid white.

Also avoid busy patterns, bright colors, or logos and consider bringing along several different clothing changes. Adding or removing a jacket, changing into different shoes, or putting on a different shirt can change your outfit just enough to make it appear that you are wearing an entirely different wardrobe. Also be sure that your clothing is clean and free of wrinkles. Specific gender specific recommendation are listed below.

Ladies:

Start by getting plenty of sleep the night before. Tired and baggy eyes will show up in the final images. On the day of your portrait session, be sure to apply your makeup the same way you would on any other day. It’s usually not a good idea to try out something new right before having your pictures taken. We want your images to be a true reflection of you! Consider bringing a brush, lipstick, powder, hair clips and a pocket mirror with you to have on hand during the portrait session. Applying lipstick (even if you don’t typically wear lipstick) will help your lips standout. Dry, chapped lips never look good in high resolution photographs! Your hands will probably be in a few of the images so consider doing your nails right before your portrait session. Along with that, kicking off your shoes can be a fun way to shake up the look of the images so you may want to get a pedicure too. Don’t be caught by surprise with chipped or worn out nail polish!

We recommend bringing at least two outfits. Most high school senior girls change into three or four outfits during their session. Select a wardrobe that can be coordinated together (for example, pants that look good with two or three different shirts, etc.). Watch out for bra straps that might be hanging out. And of course, be careful not to wear a dark colored bra under light colored shirts or you might be surprised what shows up in the final photographs.

Guys:

Consider getting a haircut a few days before the session. On the day of the session, take a shower, shave and comb your hair. Get ready for the portrait session like you’re planning to meet someone important or special. It’s tough to capture great senior pictures if you show up tired and ungroomed, dirty clothes (yes, it happens!). Bring at least one extra change of clothes, preferably two or more. We totally understand that most guys don’t want to change multiple times, but you should have at least one extra shirt and pants on hand. While we want you to wear clothes you feel comfortable in, keep in mind that your parents, grandparents and the rest of your family will want to display a few of the photographs from your session. Bring a comb and at least one reasonably conservative set of clothes so that everyone is happy!

Each additional page can be added for additional cost and includes the design time/revisions and three retouched image.

Our signature Visualized Arts album contains 20 pages and 60 images. If you’d like to add more pages and images, each additional page can be added at additional cost and includes the design time/revisions and three retouched images.

As with our other products, production times vary. However you can expect to receive your album 4-6 weeks after placing the order. The process before placing the order varies in duration depending on how quickly you respond to the instructions for the album design as well as the amount of changes you request after the initial designs. Some brides complete this within a month or two, others take over a year.
Similar to the post production process, if you require rush-processing, a fee of $100.00 will be charged. Additional fees for rush shipping may also apply.

Generally print orders are available within two weeks after the sale.
If you require rush-processing, a fee of $100.00 will be charged. This fee also covers expedited shipping.

All your images will be available for viewing in on our website’s private secure viewing area. Also I generally will post about every shoot on my blog and possibly my portfolio.

Your photos will generally be ready within 2-4 weeks following the wedding. I go through a careful process of choosing the best images from the day and processing each of them with individual attention. We try to make every effort to have all your images completed immediately after your honeymoon. We encourage all clients to view images initially in our studio, where our display equipment are is calibrated.
All your images will be available for viewing in on our website’s private secure viewing area.

We typically deliver anywhere from 30-80 images per 2 hour engagement shoot and for weddings we typically deliver 75 images per hour.

Because most weddings occur on weekends, we do not shoot engagement sessions on weekends. If you can only do your engagement session on weekends, we can tentatively schedule your engagement session on a weekend, however, if a wedding is scheduled for that weekend later on, we will have to reschedule your engagement session.

We encourage you to do your engagement session as soon as possible. The latest we suggest is at least eight weeks prior to the wedding date due to the time necessary to post produce each image (4 weeks) and complete your product order(s) (4 weeks).

Post production for engagement sessions are completed within four weeks after the date of the shoot. If you require the images to be completed prior to four weeks after the date of the shoot, a rush-process fee of $100.00 will be charged.

We’ve dedicated the entire day to your wedding, so we won’t be racing off to catch other plans that evening. However, we need to charge for additional coverage primarily because there are additional costs of having the team stay for additional hours. The lighting assistants and second shooters all require additional compensation. Furthermore, the additional photos taken all need to be post produced, adding to our overall costs.

We understand that not everything goes as planned during a wedding. We never pack up before the contracted time; and moreover we’re not leaving on the dot when the contracted time is up. Instead, we will ask you at the end of your contracted time whether or not you would like to extend. If you would like us to stay, we will charge the rates specified in your contract rounded to the closest 15 minute increment.

For a variety of reasons, we have to charge for the time in between events. The fact is, we’re never truly resting during the day, whether we’re backing up images, setting up for the second venue, traveling to the second location, taking venue shots, or making up for lost photo time because of wedding day delays. In many cases, we use that “”downtime”" to take you and your significant other out for a photo session or more family portraits.

The amount of time we suggest you set aside for photos depends on the time of day.
Preparation Shots – Duration: 1.5 hours
Ideally we would have 45 minutes for the girls and 45 minutes with the guys.
Couples session – Duration: 1 hour to 1.5 hours
We highly suggest doing this before the ceremony in conjunction with a “first look.” That way you can enjoy the rest of your day without having to worry about taking too much time out for photo’s. Also this is when the makeup and hair are fresh. We’ll set up a first look moment so it’ll still be a surprise when you see each other. Be sure to give us at least a full hour so we can capture the amazing shots you see in our portfolio.
Family Formals – Duration: 1 hour
Have a list of pictures that you want with your family/friends right after the ceremony. Typically this is done at the altar but we can do it any location you’d like. Also, have one person from each side of the family that is really organized (and loud) to move people in and out of photo’s.
Bridal Party (Optional) – Duration: 0.5 hour to 1 hour
This is where we take the bridal party out for some fun shots. This is also nice to handle before the ceremony so that you can rest and enjoy your day afterwards.

We have shot in the darkest of dark chapels and reception halls so no need to worry! If the situation allows, we will set up additional lighting to ensure we get bright crisp pictures. Some chapels do not allow for flash photography; and for that reason, we shoot on camera’s with superb low-light performance and lenses with low apertures.

While Visualized Arts Wedding Photography is based out of St Louis Metropolitan, we serve clients all around the world. Our destination wedding photography packages are simply our standard packages plus the cost of travel and reasonable accommodations if necessary.

No we do not. We eliminate duplicate images, test shots, missed focused shots, shots with bad expressions and other images that may dilute the overall product delivery. For example, because we shoot with low apertures, sometimes we take a few extra shots to make sure we have the perfect focus. We don’t expect you to have the expertise or the time to zoom into each image to select the one with the sharpest focus, so we spend hours doing that on our end. In another example, candid laughs and emotional tears are some of the best images from the day. Unfortunately, they can also yield some unflattering facial expressions. We might snap a few extras of any of these moments to make sure we have a great shot with the ideal expression for the moment. With our expertise if processing millions of images each year, we may eliminate ones that we feel are duplicates and only deliver the best one.

I always shoot with an assistant/2nd photographer with rare exceptions. This frees me up to focus on shooting and looking for special moments while ensuring that between the two of us, we don’t miss the important ones. The 2nd shooter offers a different but complementary perspective and allows us to work efficiently throughout the entire day.

Yes. You are hiring me to shoot the wedding, not another photographer working under my name.

Typically 6-12 months in advance as soon as you have a date and venue. If you’re not the plan way in the advance type of guy or gal, fret not. Check with me for availability.

I require a 50% initial deposit and the rest of the fee to be paid on or before the wedding day.