I’ll never forget this one time I was second-shooting a wedding. I was standing next to the lead photographer at the very end, telling her about my love for wedding photography and my passion for providing couples with their beautiful memories. She paused, looked at me with a blank stare and said, “I honestly don’t get why couples even bother hiring a wedding photographer. They never actually do anything with the photographs.” I took a second to process the words she just uttered to me and thought to myself, “that’s exactly why I’m going to be a boutique photographer.”

Many wedding photographers will say that their job is to capture every moment of your wedding day. Some even promise that they will capture not just the important moments, but also every moment in between (the good, the bad, the awkward, the random). They offer all of your images on a CD/USB with print release and promise to deliver you thousands of them, not keeping any image “hostage.” For many couples looking for their wedding photographer, they might find this philosophy to be enticing. But, in reality, this is exactly the opposite of what I have found couples actually want in the end. When you begin to start planning your wedding day, hiring a photographer is a given. You know you want the biggest day of your life captured, but many couples are just left with a CD/USB of thousands of images, dozens of questions and a job unfinished.

You might be thinking/asking yourself:
• Now what?
• What do I do with these images?
• How do I choose which ones to prints?
• What medium (canvas, metal, fine art, acrylic etc) will look best in my home?
• How do I put together an album?
• Where do I print them?
• Which image out of the 30 almost identical images is the best one
• Who has the time to figure this all out?
• Why the heck do I need so many images?
• My friends and family don’t want to look through thousands of images, heck I don’t want to sit and go through thousands of images.
• I can’t hang thousands of images on my wall.
• I can’t fit thousands of images in an album.

All of these questions and the feeling of being overwhelmed just leave you with the “I’ll do it later” (aka never) mentality. So, why did receiving thousands of images on a CD/USB with print release seem like such an awesome incentive?

As a luxury boutique-wedding photographer, I feel it is my job to ensure you do not have to ask any of those questions.

Here are the 5 reasons why you don’t want thousands of images and a print release from your wedding photographer.

1. It’s too overwhelming.
It’s my job as the professional photographer to cull down the images to the best of the best. I don’t want to overwhelm you with so many images, making it almost impossible to choose. I have found through personal experience, even with my own photos, that you become so emotionally attached to every one, it becomes difficult to figure out which ones are best. I’m not going to give you 30 images that look alike. I am a firm believer in the “less is more” and “quality is better then quantity” philosophy. Culling photos is tough, but it’s part of the job of a professional photographer. It’s pure laziness on my part if I gave you every shot and expected you to decide which one is best.

2. Less impactful imagery.
I am there to tell your love story on your wedding day through my artistic eye. When I pick up my camera and look through the viewfinder, my mind begins to anticipate every movement my subjects will make. I’m not “trigger happy” – clicking the shutter repeatedly to capture every second and hope that I get the shot. It’s about clicking the shutter at the right moment, not just any moment. I set up my shot and wait for the right moment to happen, and then I click the shutter. Every moment doesn’t need all 30 shots/30 seconds of it happening. You want just that one moment, the moment that says it all.

3. Important moments can actually be missed.
When I photograph a wedding, my eyes are always open and looking for those precious moments you want to remember. I make sure to photograph every beautiful detail that has gone into making your day perfect and every important raw moment as it unfolds. If I was too focused on capturing all of the in between, random, unimportant moments, the odds of missing an amazing important moment are much greater.

4. Everyone will enjoy looking through ALL of your wedding photos.
When the wedding is over and you sit down at your reveal session with me, you will see the story of your day unfold before your eyes. Every image that will pass by on the screen will be as unique and as beautiful as the last. When I present you with only the best images that tell your story, your experience as you go through them will remain in a constant state of love and excitement. No one watching will be saying, “How many more are there?”

5. You end up having to finish the photographer’s job.
As a luxury boutique photographer who has done all of the hard work for you already, I can then easily help you choose the photos to print, design you a beautiful wall display, and have your story laid out perfectly for your album. I handle all of the printing, ensuring that the coloring, sharpening, cropping and quality is top-notch and archival. I even deliver you your finished beautiful photos ready to be displayed and enjoyed forever.

What would you rather be left with after your wedding? A beautiful archival finished album and wall display ready to be enjoyed, or a bunch of questions and work to do?