These are just a few questions we hear from time to time… if you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. Above all, we want your wedding to be a super fun, memorable experience, and for you to walk away with products and images that you are excited about for years to come!
Who is Sean Hoffman Photography?
How would you describe your photography style?
Once we hire you to photograph our wedding, who will be there to take the photos?
Do you bring assistants or second shooters to our wedding?
Is a consultation mandatory?
Why should we have an Engagement Session?
How do we book you for our date?
Why do we need a wedding contract?
What is the purpose of the retainer?
Canon or Nikon?
Color or Black & White?
Film or Digital?
How many photos should I expect?
Can we give you a list of photos we would like?
What attire will you wear at my wedding?
What are your prices?
Do I get the copyright to my pictures after our wedding?
Do you retouch our images?
I’ve seen an album with a wood/metal/photo/canvas/two-tone leather cover. Could you get it for me?
Will we get a DVD with the images?
I’ve heard about First Glance, Boudoir, Trash the Dress what are these, and do you do them?
What happens if due to injury or illness you can’t photograph our wedding?
I have a friend who had her photographer lose half her photos due to a computer problem. Can you keep my photos safe?
The Million dollar question: Why should we hire Sean Hoffman Photography?
The TEN Million dollar question: Why should we NOT hire Sean Hoffman Photography?
Who is Sean Hoffman Photography?
Sean Hoffman Photography … that would be me. Born and raised in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley, professional camera-dude for nearly ten years, and proud new father of baby Silas! Although I photograph many subjects, I enjoy weddings and other celebrations the most because everyone is so happy and having a great time. I am blessed to have such a fun and rewarding career and I’d love to be your photographer. In addition, I often work with my good friend and talented photographer, Michael Brinkerhoff. We started working together years ago at the student newspaper and have developed a great professional relationship that yields wedding day photos that are much better than either of us could produce alone.
Top
How would you describe your photography style?
Many have described our work as modern, stylish, creative, fun, & energetic. Others have used words like awesome, killer, sweet, and epic! We do our best to ensure that we deliver photos that are timeless so that thirty years from now when you look at them they will look as good then as they do today. We photograph your day with an eye towards the creation of your album and stunning large wall prints. Most of the work is “photo-journalistic” In nature, with a sprinkling of “directed” shots to taste.
Top
Once we hire you to photograph our wedding, who will be there to take the photos?
You are hiring boutique custom photographers, not a wedding mill … you hire us, you get us. And yes we are responsible for the whole process end-to-end. We talk to you, our name is on your contract, We photograph you, we edit your images and we prepare your album. You wouldn’t want it any other way.
Top
Do you bring assistants or second shooters to our wedding?
No two weddings are alike. During our consultation we will decide together whether you would benefit from additional assistants but two photographers are included in every wedding package. Having two photographers allows us to get more good shots from more good angles all day long. Michael and I have distinct yet very complimentary styles that when combined, creates a very well rounded collection of images.
Top
Is a consultation mandatory?
We’ve often photographed couples from out of town, and done some destination weddings with couples we never had a chance to meet ahead of time. So a consultation is not “mandatory.” However we very strongly encourage a consultation because it gives all of us an opportunity to become familiar with each other. Many brides are surprised when we point this out to them, but amazingly enough your photographer is probably the only person who will be with you during every moment of your wedding! The quality of the photography is clearly important, as is being comfortable with the investment required for your photographer’s services, but don’t discount the importance of having someone who you feel will make you smile, will help resolve issues unrelated to photography, will be friendly to your family and friends and will basically be someone you’d probably invite as a guest if you’d met them in a social setting. The consultation is the perfect opportunity for us to find out if we fit well together.
Top
Why should we have an Engagement Session?
There are many obvious benefits you would gain from having an Engagement Session – nice photos of the two of you to share with friends and family, photos for save-the-date cards, sign-in guestbooks etc. and obviously having a good time playing “supermodels” in front of our cameras. The not-so-obvious benefit, which may in fact be the most valuable is that we will have an opportunity to work together prior to your special day. You will learn how we give direction and learn to follow it quickly (something important on your wedding day to maximize portrait time), and we will learn how comfortable you are in front of the camera, which angles are most flattering, what to look out for etc. The bottom line is that you will get awesome engagement photos and your wedding photos will likely be better as a result.
Top
How do we book you for our date?
Once you’ve decided to hire us as your wedding photographers there are two things you must do in order to secure your date: sign the contract and deliver your retainer payment. Once We’ve received both we will lock your date and begin preparations for your wedding.
Top
Why do we need a wedding contract?
The wedding contract serves several purposes. It is a legally binding agreement, which means we are legally bound to provide the products/services detailed in the contract. This is something we take very seriously. You are paying for us to provide these services and deserve the ‘peace of mind’ that comes with making a financial commitment to us. Secondly, each side knows exactly what is expected of them. All terms agreed upon (payments, deadlines, product, services, delivery times, etc.) are spelled out very clearly in the contract.
Top
What is the purpose of the retainer?
The retainer serves two purposes.
Along with the contract it secures your date. Until the signed contract and retainer are received the date is considered open and in the event that two couples are vying for the same date, the first to deliver both items books the date.
It compensates us for work we do before your wedding, including but not limited to scouting locations if appropriate, arranging for assistants/second shooters, the meetings and phone calls we have, preparation of contracts, quotes, etc and it compensates us for the fact that once we lock your date we will not accept business from other clients.
Top
Canon or Nikon?
I use Nikon, Michael uses Canon, but that will make no difference to your photos.
Top
Color or Black & White?
All photos are taken in color. When we feel an image will look significantly better in Black & White we will make it Black & White. Of course if you would like your whole album in black and white (I’ve had clients consider that) we’d be thrilled to do it for you!
Top
Film or Digital?
We shoot digital as our primary medium and offer Fine Art Black and White film as an add-on option for discerning brides who love the look of film.
Top
How many photos should I expect?
It depends on the length of the wedding, the number of guests, the various events that go on, the photography opportunities you work into your schedule and a variety of other factors. That said a typical 8 hour wedding usually results in about 500-900 final images.
Top
Can we give you a list of photos we would like?
We will gladly accept any lists you would like to give us and attempt to get any shots you list.
Top
What attire will you wear at my wedding?
We try to dress to the occasion. We will not be wearing suits to a Hawaiian Luau, nor will we be wearing t-shirt to a black tie affair. At our consultation we will determine the appropriate attire.
Top
What are your prices?
You can find some information about pricing on our Investment pages.
Top
Do I get the copyright to my pictures after our wedding?
Well, kinda. In these cases, photographers retain the copyright for the photos, but you’ll be given something called a reproduction and display release. That allows you to print and share your photos with whomever you like, how ever you like!
Top
Do you retouch our images?
Yes, every image you’ll see will have received custom cropping, color, and tone corrections. We don’t believe in showing unfinished work. For print and album orders, these images undergo much more detailed retouching and it’s one of the reasons you’ll want to order prints directly from us. For more information on this topic, head over to the Image Processing page!
Top
I’ve seen an album with a wood/metal/photo/canvas/two-tone leather cover. Could you get it for me?
We work with various album companies, and will certainly work with any others in order to get you your dream album.
Top
Will we get a DVD with the images?
All packages include a DVD with full-resolution copies of every image that makes it through the final round of quality control. Although many photographers still rely on the old business model of keeping control of the images in hopes of scoring some extra print sales, we believe that you are hiring us for our creative abilities, our professional equipment investment, and our time. As such, we get paid to create the art and the art is yours to enjoy.
Top
I’ve heard about First Glance, Boudoir, Trash the Dress – what are these, and do you do them?
I’ll answer the second question first: yes. We encourage Brides to seriously consider a First Glance, and we do offer Boudoir, Trash the Dress, and Day After sessions.
So what are these?
First Glance – This is something we set up for couples who want to enjoy the first time they see each other in their wedding outfit in privacy. We will enlist your best friends to help pull it off, and we guarantee that it will be a fantastic special moment for the two of you to treasure before the whirlwind of fun and excitement of the wedding day steps into second gear. First Glance opportunities typically result in fantastic, intimate photography. But of course after taking some photos we will step away and allow you and your husband to be to revel in each others’ company without the “paparazzi”
Boudoir - Sometime playfully called “Naughty Bride” … this is a session during which we create some awesome classy, totally tasteful sexy photos for you to give to your hubby as a gift either on the wedding day itself (requires a separate session) or sometime after the wedding (a book of YOU makes an excellent birthday or Valentine’s day present). If you make the time the morning of the wedding we can do the session as you get ready, and it would result in no additional charge (of course we would keep the photos secret from your hubby!)… your bridesmaids will be there to cheer you on and suggest poses and whatnot… of course you decide how sexy you want to be, most of the best shots are not really revealing at all, and just play between your expressions, some clothing choices and posing. Keep in mind this is totally clean fun. Think of it as an opportunity to unleash your inner Victoria’s Secret Angel/Catherine Zeta Jones.
Dudeoir - Yes, you’ve read this here first. This isn’t 1950 anymore and brides no longer have a problem admitting that they like to see their hubby’s sexy bod. So if you’re the dude in the wedding and you’d like to surprise your bride with some sexy photos of yourself, bring it up and we’ll hook it up. As in the case of Boudoir… it’s totally clean fun… basically you’ll get to pretend you’re somewhere between Brad Pitt and a Hanes model. There is no charge if we shoot this during the course of the wedding day.
Day After Session - The name says it all. It’s an opportunity to let your hair hang down, wear your wedding dress (or not) and take some relaxed, fun shots (much like your engagement photos) the day after your wedding. Of course it does not have to be THE DAY AFTER.
Trash the Dress – This is similar to the above, except that some of the photos might be taken in the water, or in the sand, or in the grass, or otherwise in situations where the dress may get wet/dirty. My preference is for shots where the dress only gets wet, but if getting it dirty is your thing, let the mud-slinging begin.
Top
What happens if due to injury or illness you can’t photograph our wedding?
This is a very important question. First of all let me tell you that this has never happened in 5 years of weddings. Second, remember that you are hiring two skilled photographers so if something should happen to one of us, you will still get the other and a qualified replacement second shooter of our choosing. If something should happen to both of us we will make every effort to find an alternative team of equal talent and/or refund your money if necessary.
Top
I have a friend who had her photographer lose half her photos due to a computer problem. Can you keep my photos safe?
When a client told me about what happened to her friend I honestly got a lump in my throat. The thought of losing half one’s wedding photos is just something I can’t even wrap my head around.
You’re in luck. You hopefully have seen our photography and enjoyed it and either booked us, or plan to book us (good choice! <grin>). Having already suffered a hard drive failure a couple years ago, I’ve made data security the top priority in my editing routine. From the moment you photos leave my camera, there are never fewer than two copies on-site and a third copy off-site. Your photos will be safe with us!
Top
The Million dollar question: Why should we hire Sean Hoffman Photography?
The reason you should hire us is because you value quality of service above everything else, and realize that you will be spending a significant portion of your wedding day with your photographer. You want someone who will not just take amazing photos, but someone who your family and friends will want to say good-bye to at the end of the evening. If that is what you are looking for then let’s sit down and find out about this awesome wedding we’ll be working on!
Top
The TEN Million dollar question: Why should we NOT hire Sean Hoffman Photography?
I’ll be honest. This is a difficult subject to breach. You would think that we would want to book every single Bride and Groom who visit our site. We even thought so when we first started.
However the reality is that we are NOT the right photographers for all couples out there.
Here are some signs that you might be visiting the wrong photographer’s site. If you identify yourself with one of these don’t be too concerned… but if you find yourself silently nodding at more than one… maybe your gut is telling you something.
- You like what you see and see that we’re obviously competent, so you plan on asking us if we could shoot your wedding to look more like what Jerry Ghionis or Jeff Ascough does. Hey, we’re flattered. But no. We’re not Ghionis and we’re not Ascough, nor are we Jasmine* or anyone else whose work you may have seen and liked. If you see a specific image you’d love to recreate… by all means let’s talk, but if you want us to shoot in the style of someone else…
- You want a photographer who will run the day, ask your family and friends not to take photos, so that we can get our work done faster etc. There are many photographers out there who not only will satisfy these desires, but some will actually contractually require such things. That’s not us. Sure your family wanting to “get a shot of the formals” will slow things down somewhat, and yes, having a drill sergeant that scoots you from one event to the next probably would result in a more orderly event. We don’t believe the beauty in life lies in the orderly. We believe that the aunt who asks us if she can get a shot of the formal is NOT doing so to disrupt a timeline, but to capture a precious moment. This is your day, not ours, and we are there to help your memories last a lifetime not create our own.
- The first thing you looked for as soon as you got to our site was the “Investment” page, or you’re thinking of sending us an email that basically reads “Hi, my name is Mary, please send me your price list.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a budget or being price-sensitive. We think of ourselves as money-wise too. However the service we offer is a Luxury in terms of the quality we produce, the products we sell, the time we spend with you and the time we spend with your images. Don’t get us wrong… we feel our prices are a good value, but we are by no means budget photographers. If you’re simply looking to mark a checkbox and photography and the services offered by your photographers are of secondary importance to you, we probably aren’t a a good fit.