Frequently Asked Questions

STYLE:

What type of photography do you do?
We photograph weddings in a very journalistic style but don’t think photography should be limited by a specific “genre.” Our goal is simple – to document and showcase the beauty of your day. We adapt to tell the story of your wedding day to include documentary style, portraiture and fine art photography. While we are very hands-off and unobtrusive in our coverage of the day, we do believe that there is a time and place for gorgeous, casually posed images of the bride and groom together. So while we won’t stop you and make you pose while cutting the cake, we would like about an hour (or more!) alone with you both (if possible) sometime during the day to create some images of you without your wedding party or guests looking on. We also believe strongly in preserving all of the details of the wedding; from your cake to your shoes.

Do you still take posed family images?
Absolutely. We strongly believe in those family images, as they are records of your entire family at an important time in their history together. A few weeks before your wedding we will send you a questionnaire covering the details of the day and among the other questions is a list of posed images – these are the family groupings that we traditionally photographs at each wedding. You will have space to write in your own additional groupings. PLEASE bear in mind that the hallmark of our coverage is journalistic and real-time, so a very long list of posed images will hinder our ability to cover the event in a documentary manner. We provide you with nine groupings and strongly suggests your final list include no more than 12 or 13 total. These groupings are quick, easy, and largely informal and we try to make them pleasant and enjoyable for everyone involved!

Can we give you a shot list of photographs we want you to take?
Other than the family groupings, no. It is very helpful to know what important relatives and friends are coming to your day, and if any events bear special significance, but repeated requests for posed images and having us work “from a checklist” is counterproductive to the work you’ve seen here on our website. “Shot lists” provided by many major bridal magazines are a great idea, but please understand that we generally WILL capture those images without prompting.

Do you provide black and white as well as color photography coverage and is there an added expense for black and white images?
We process the photos in color and black and white at no added expense. Our books, albums and prints will all be delivered in color unless you tell us otherwise.

I noticed you also shot on large and medium format cameras. Do you shoot weddings with film or digital?
We photograph weddings with our digital cameras but love the look of film for portraits. Let us know if you are interested in having some of your portraits taken with our film cameras.

What is cinematic fusion?
We approach our cinematic fusion work the same way we do our still photography. Meaning you get a wedding day film with both the still photos and the video merging seamlessly as one. We believe that using photos and video allows us to document your story by revealing the beauty, the moments, the sounds and the feel of your day. In the end this brings out the essence of that one day you hope you never forget.

How do you create the films?
We don’t have a prescribed film for your day. Every wedding and every couple different and we believe every story should reflect that. With that said, we will interview you as a couple before your wedding day and use video footage and photos to produce a short-length documentary of your day.

COVERAGE:

Are Tim and Jenn the only photographers?
Tim and Jenn are the only photographers that work for The Love Project. Occasionally, we will hire a steadicam operator for our packages that include photo and cinematic films or an assistant to help with lighting.

How many pictures will we get?
The number of photographs taken depends on many things – the time allowed for portraits, hours of coverage, types of events. Our bare minimum is 500 images, but often it’s much, much higher.

Do we get to keep the negatives?
We provide the high-resolution digital files (the digital equivalent of negatives). When the files are released to you, we will provide you with a list of resources from which to get quality prints. We do retain the copyright to the images and the right to use them for promotional purposes, competition, professional review, and so on. You will get a written release that will allow you to make unlimited personal reproductions and copies for your friends and families.

Do you come to the rehearsal?
Rehearsal dinner coverage is available if you’d like to add it to your package; otherwise we do not attend the rehearsals.

Where Do you live? You travel? Right?
We live in South Nags Head right on the ocean (I know hard life!) … but don’t let that throw you off, we spend part of our year in New York City and Minneapolis where you will often find us working for our editorial and commercial clients. We have been all over the world for our work. If you are in the Outer Banks or Hampton Roads area, there is no charge for travel time or mileage. If you are more than 150 miles from the area, there may be an additional charge.

What is the online gallery?
The online gallery is a private, password protected section on our website where all of your wedding photographs will be placed online for you and your family and friends to view. it is also a secure shopping cart – which allows you (and your family and friends) to order prints and select album prints online. All you have to do is provide the password to anyone who you want to be able to view the images.

Do you do engagement sessions?
Yes, we do. We love engagement sessions and the creativity that most of our couples have when it comes to those sessions.

Prints & Albums

How long does it take to get our products and images?
Once the wedding has been photographed, we will take up to a week to process, edit, tone and upload your images to your personal website. The DVDs with your high resolution images are authored at the same time the website is released and delivered within two weeks. The books and albums will take up to 12 weeks to be individually designed, printed and shipped. The films, given the great amount of time to produce, will be finished and delivered within 12 weeks.

How does the album design process work?
We give you six months to select the images for your album, should your package include one. You do get to preview your album design and make three rounds of changes to it before a change-fee is assessed. Once you approve the layout, we will help you choose your album cover style, color, imprinting, and other small details. Then you’ll sign off on the book and it will go to print. All of this process can be completed online simply and easily. Once you choose your images, it takes about four weeks to produce your first draft and each round of changes generally takes two business weeks to complete.

What will my album look like?
You have a couple of choices – from leather bound traditional albums to our fine art bound hard back books. Our traditional albums are in a traditional style book your images are printed on photographic paper and set down in mats. The pictures and the pages are separate from each other. This is the look of most older wedding albums where the images were inset into the pages. In our fine art hard cover books, the images are printed directly onto the pages on some of the nicest fine art paper available, much like in a coffeetable book you’d buy at the bookstore.

Business & Details:

How many weddings do you book per day?
We only book one wedding per day. In fact, we try not to book a wedding within three days of each other. This keeps us fresh and excited for each wedding.

Do you have insurance?
Yes.

What kind of equipment do you use?
We use an extensive amount of Canon professional cameras and lenses. We have remote cameras we can mount anywhere for unique compositions. We have remote lights we can trigger from our cameras and wireless microphones so you can clearly hear your vows. We have eight digital cameras in our arsenal, numerous HD video cameras and cinematic video equipment including a jib, dolly and steadicam. Our array of gear is like a photographer’s toy store.

Do you have back-up equipment?
Yes. Both Tim and Jenn have four professional grade cameras, two are used as a backup and a remote. The other two are used for different focal length lenses to give you a visual variety for your day.

Can you hold the date for me?
I’m sorry, but we can’t hold the date or pencil you in without a retainer and a signed contract. We accept bookings on a first come/first served basis. If you are interested in booking us, make sure you call us and let us know your deposit is being sent.

What is your payment schedule like?
A deposit/retainer fee of $1,000 is due to reserve your date. 50% of your balance is due 90 days before your event with the final amount due the week of the wedding. if booking under thirty days before the wedding the entire contract amount is due at the time of signing.

Can we pay you part of the amount after the wedding?
No, I’m sorry, we do require full payment before the event. However, we do have clients that will order and pay for prints and albums after the wedding (sometimes as wedding and/or Christmas gifts).

I have to cancel my wedding. Can i have my retainer back?
Sorry the retainer fee and all monies paid are non-refundable. The retainer guarantees that we will hold the date exclusively for you and once you’ve signed the contract we do turn down all other commissions for that date.

What if you, like, die?
If both of die we can guarantee we will NOT be at your wedding. And pretty much that would be the only thing that would hinder us from being there. Despite the circumstance, we will still supply you with coverage from our our extensive network of photographer friends from around the country (all of whom have similar accolades).

If we decide to commission The Love Project for our wedding, when should we book?
ASAP. Since we cannot “hold” dates or “pencil you in”, dates are booked when…well, when we receive the deposit and signed contract. Most of our commissions contract us within a year of the wedding date, sometimes as close as two months prior, sometimes a full calendar year ahead.

If we run overtime, will you stay?
Of course. Most of our packages include unlimited hours which means we will be there as long as the party is still going on.

On the contract, you mention a model release, why?
We might want to use your photos for promotional purposes on our website, but they will not be used or sold for commercial purposes.

Do you offer discounts for off-season or non-saturday events?
We rarely give discounts on our photography packages considering our work and traveling schedule. But we often send out promotions to those on our email list.

Do we need to feed you at the reception?
It would be really lovely if you did. It doesn’t have to be the same as your sit-down meal (many caterers offer “vendor meals” as an add-on option) but feeding us ensures we stays cheerful, mobile, and that we don’t faint from starvation. We prefer to be fed when you are fed because when you are eating you’re not at your most photogenic. And then when you’re done, we want to be done as well to continue your coverage.

Can our family and friends take pictures with their cameras? Will that bother you?
Of course they can and it doesn’t bother us in the least bit! We do request they not swarm the family photographs right away because we would prefer all eyes facing us in your images, but we doesn’t mind at all if they snap away from the background. We prefer family or friends not come along for the bridal images or the images of you two alone for privacy purposes and because, frankly, other people can be distracting! But we definitely welcome other cameras during dancing, cake cutting, and other events.