I made a transition from obsessed hobbyist to professional in 2004.

The Typical Process...

Finding a great photographer can be hard enough - the last thing you want to do is get lost wading through confusing details before & after the shoot.  That's why I'm committed to "keeping things as simple as possible." The following is a broad-stroke overview of a typical wedding or portrait session.

One: Introduction & Details

* We have our first conversation, setup an informal meeting, and talk about your wedding!
* You pick a package, send in a 150.00 deposit to lock in the date, and Brad confirms.
* If your package includes an engagement session, we will schedule a session at your time & choosing. (files delivered approx. 1 month later)

Two: The Wedding

* The week or so before, we make contact to confirm any last minute details.
* The day of, Brad brings his 'A' game, sets up early, and pours every ounce of himself into capturing your wedding day!
* (note: Remainder of balance due on or before this day.)

Three: About 1 to 2 Months Later 

* Brad finishes editing, delivers a DVD of files with instructions on how to order your included prints.

Four: At your convenience

* You order as many or as few of prints as you like, the order gets fulfilled, & Brad drops them off a week or so later
* You wake up in the morning, look at your pictures, and go - "YES! This is what I wanted!"
* If there is an issue, do call & we will work on it together until we get it right.

6 Months from when your disc is delivered.

Per the package agreement we've made, simply email the filenames, quantities & sizes that you would like & I will make the order.

One good thing to remember about my approach is that the disc which contains your photos also has a print release form.  This means that the files really are "yours", and thus you aren't required to make prints through me.  People seem to like this because it means you don't have to track down your wedding photographer 15 years later just to get reprints.

I believe very firmly in standing behind my work and valuing a client just as much after the shoot as I did before.  This applies to print quality: If there are any problems or issues with a file, please email or call and we will work on it together until we get it right.

Hopefully that won't happen, but realistically, sometimes life DOES happen.  In that case, I have quite a few pro & semi-pro friends who cover eachother's backs for cases like that.  One of my favorites is here:  www.meganmerrell.com.

I take my equipment very seriously & am continually investing to get the best quality image of your day.  Out of all the odds & ends I have, these are my favorite pieces of gear:

• Nikon D300
• Nikon D90
• Nikon 70-200 VR f/2.8
• Nikon 17-55 f/2.8
• Nikon 85mm f/1.4
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8
• Nikon 30mm f/1.4 (New Fav.)
• Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye (New Fav.)
• Nikon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6
• Nikon SB-800 Flash
• Alienbees AB800 Studio Flash
• Alienbees ABR800 Studio Flash
• Alienbees AB400 Studio Flash
• Pocket Wizard Transcievers (The best.)
• Bogen/Manfrotto 3021BPRO Tripod with 484RC2 Ballhead
• A quadcore Dell & a Macbook Pro
• Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, etc

Those things listed,  I do believe that someone with a disposable camera + a creative spark can blow away the guy who simply relies on expensive setups or the latest photoshop trends.  Yet still, I do love gear. Especially Nikon gear.

I've found that digital affords me not only the latitude & resolution to make excellent prints, but also the flexibility to truly "create" in the digital darkroom.

Also, the ability to responsibly shoot a larger volume of shots with a quicker turn around helps me produce more truly excellent images.  This is because I honestly don't claim to be a great photographer.  That may sound bad to put on your photography site, but it's true.  I respect the "Greats" who can evaluate a scene, shoot 12 shots, and produce 12 winners.  For me, it's more of a math game: I know I can get those twelve same shots by shooting around 35.  And this keeps me constantly at work, pushing myself to get better and lowering that ratio.  The upshot is that the 23 "so-so" shots that are leftover still serve to cover an event or scene on a documentary / memories level.

Also, I believe firmly that digital is where the industry is going.  With portrait photography, staying in step with that only makes sense.

Just email me or call - At any given point in time I usually have two or three complete backups of your files.  A recent fire at my office at church confirmed to me how important redundant, offsite backups are.  Also, I try to never leave a wedding location without two complete copies of the day's files on me.  For me, the stakes are just too high to not do it this way.

Sure!  Click here and here for a couple examples from one of my weddings last summer.  I've found that the D300 & D90 do a tremendous job in handling large print sizes.

(Note: each of these are approximately 5 MB downloads)