Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the FAQ page. If you have a question that’s not answered here, feel free to email us or use our contact form, and we promise to get back to you quickly.

Questions:

Q. Do you shoot film or digital?

A. We are 100% digital. Digital has lots of advantages; you get your wedding photos back more quickly, it’s much less expensive, and the photos look better. Almost all wedding photographers these days have made the move to digital.

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Q. What are “digital negatives”?

“Digital negatives” just means full-resolution images on a disc (CD or DVD) in jpeg format. This disc serves the same purpose that film negatives did back in the film days, meaning you can use the disc to make prints of your wedding photos. The colors are not reversed like in film negatives, and you don’t need any special computer software to use them. They’re just really big jpeg files.

You can also use the digital files to do all sorts of other fun stuff with your wedding photos, like upload them to flickr, facebook, myspace, or email them to people. You can even design your own albums or put them in digital picture frames. You can also make copies of the disc in case you lose the original. Having the negatives means you OWN your wedding photos forever.

If you’re still shopping around for a wedding photographer, be sure you ask any photographer you talk to about their policy on digital negatives. There are still some photographers out there who will not turn over the negatives, or will charge an extra fee to do so. Just be aware that if that if you don’t have the negatives, you will have to order all your prints from that photographer, and usually at a huge markup. In a sense, they will be holding your wedding photos hostage. This type of business model used to be the norm, but nowadays I would urge you to stay away from any photographer who won’t release the negatives.

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Q. Do I have to order all my prints from Stephen Hughes Photography?

Nope! Since all our wedding photography packages include digital negatives (see “What are digital negatives” above) you can get prints made wherever you want. Just take the disc down to your local photo lab, or upload the images to the online photo printing service of your choice (EZ Prints, Snapfish, Costco, etc) and get all the prints you want.

Of course, you also have the option to order prints from your private online wedding photo gallery on our website or purchase packages of prints from us. We don’t do insane markups on wedding photo prints, but you can still save some money by getting prints made on your own.

All the images on your disc will be carefully color corrected by hand so they will look great as long as they are printed at any reputable lab.

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Q. How many images can we expect to receive from our wedding?

For a typical 6-8 hour wedding, we usually take 1000-3000 photos, and then edit that down to about 300-600 keepers. Some wedding photographers seem to think that “more is better”, but in our opinion, part of the photographer’s job is to separate the wheat from the chaff, so you don’t end up with thousands of mediocre photos or a bunch of photos that are all the same.

So, you can expect to receive around 300-600 well composed, properly lit, unique photographs. This, in my opinion, is much better than delivering a billion photos which you’re then going to have to sort through and pick out the good ones.

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Q. Can we meet you in person before the wedding?

Absolutely! I would be happy to sit down with you in person, so that we can get to know each other, chat about the details of your wedding, and so you can look over some sample albums. We can meet at my studio which is in downtown Oakland, near Jack London Square, or I can meet you somewhere else if that’s more convenient for you.

The best way to schedule an appointment is to email me at  info@stevetakespictures.com and let me know where and when you’d like to meet up. Or you can use or contact form. Please be sure to include the date and location of your wedding in your email.

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Q. Do you require a deposit to reserve our wedding date?

Yes, we do require a non-refundable %50 deposit in order to reserve your wedding date. This is pretty standard among wedding photographers and is designed to protect us in case we turn down another job and then there is a cancellation. It’s never come up, but we have to cover ourselves.

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Q. Will Stephen Hughes be my wedding photographer?

Yes! Stephen Hughes will be your wedding photographer. Some photographers or studios will sub-contract other photographers as “associates” under that photographer’s brand. In other words you think you’re getting one photographer (the one who’s portfolio attracted you in the first place), but then they tell you that some other photographer will actually be shooting your wedding.

Stephen Hughes will be the one at your wedding taking the pictures. He sometimes works with 2nd shooters, or assistants, but we would never send an “associate photographer” to shoot your wedding.

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Q. When do I get to see the photos?

Photos from your wedding will be posted online within 30 days of the wedding date. We’re often able to get them ready quicker than that, but it does take time to edit the photos and color correct each photo by hand so that they look their best.

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Q. What is “editing and color correction”?

Editing means going through all the thousands of photos from your wedding one at a time, and selecting the best ones, so that you don’t have to don’t have to edit them yourself. See also “How many photos can I expect to receive?”

Color correction means adjusting the color, contrast, and exposure of each image by hand so each photo looks its best. We use special software and precisely calibrated equipment to accomplish this. Not all wedding photographers take the time to do this, but we always do it because we want your wedding photos to look their best.

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Q. What about re-touching?

Re-touching is not included in any of the wedding photography packages because it is so time consuming, however we often do minor re-touching tasks such as removing small blemishes at no extra charge because it can be done so easily during the color-correcting and adjustment process.

So while we’re not going to get into any serious magazine style airbrushing, or anything like that. There is a good chance that any nicks, cuts, zits, or bruises that might be present on the wedding day could mysteriously vanish from your wedding photos. You’re welcome!

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Q. What kind of cameras & equipment do you use?

Stephen currently uses Canon 5DMKII cameras and Canon L series lenses. The lenses he uses most often for weddings are the Cannon 24mm-70mm f/2.8 L, and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS. His other favorite lens is the Canon 50mm f/1.4. He also uses Canon 580EXII speedlights for flash photography and Alien Bees AB800s for portraits and photo-both setups.

If you’re not into photography and all that sounded like a bunch of random letters and numbers, then just rest assured that Stephen uses extremely high quality, top-of-the-line, professional-grade cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment.

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Q. What do some of your past clients have to say about Stephen Hughes Photography?

Check out our testimonials page, or you can read what some of our past clients are saying about us on our Yelp.com page.

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