Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do you shoot film or digital?
We typically photograph in digital format. We have found that with the technological advancements in digital photography we are able to get the quality of film, the ease of sharing/printing/posting of digital photos and are better able to document the whole event without the worry of missing anything while loading film. Plus, with digital the photos can be printed in black and white, sepia, or color. That being said, we still love and can shoot in the medium of film as well, though our rates vary with film, as our costs increase depending upon the amount of film desired. Please contact us if you are interested in pricing for film photography.

2. Do you do portraits?
YES. While our approach to photography is photojournalistic, we do understand the importance of getting photos of all the groups of important people on your special day. We simply try to apply our photojournalistic style to all of our portrait sessions by keeping it as natural and fun as possible in a setting that is comfortable to our clients.

3. How much time do you require for portraits?
For a portrait session that is to take place during an event, we require a minimum of 1 & 1/2 hours. This requires that all desired photo subjects are available and ready for portraits at the designated start time. If you have an exceptionally large family or wedding party, we advise scheduling more time for the portrait session. Additionally, if it is important to you to have distinctive couple portraits on your wedding day, we advise selecting a special setting and allowing more time for those portraits. When it comes to capturing creative and natural-looking portraits, you need to feel relaxed, not rushed, and we need the time to be mindful and creative about our work.

4. Do you prefer to do portraits before or after the ceremony?
We have found that portraits done before the ceremony go more smoothly and enjoyably, and turn out better, than those done between the ceremony and reception for several reasons:

First, the best portraits occur when neither the photographer nor the subjects feel rushed. When portraits are done between the ceremony and reception, the couple and other photo subjects feel rushed to join their guests, and the photographers feel rushed to allow them to do so. This results in a less natural and comfortable portrait session for the subjects and less time for creativity on the part of the photographer.

Second, we have found it to be challenging to gather all desired photo subjects away from the guests who are excited to congratulate and visit after the ceremony. This factor can have a few different implications: either the portrait session takes longer than anticipated due to the time it takes to gather all subjects, or the couple decides to forego desired shots or omit important people in the interest of returning to their guests quickly.

For these reasons, we encourage couples to consider having a “first look,” a quiet moment for the couple to see one another for the first time before the ceremony, and then proceeding with portraits before the ceremony. Our clients who have opted to go this route have said that, not only did they feel more relaxed during their portrait session, but they did not feel that they had lost any dramatic effect by seeing one another before the ceremony. In fact, couples have overwhelmingly agreed that they valued the quiet time the “first look” allowed them as a couple – time that they would not likely have gotten together on an otherwise hectic day.

All of this being said, if seeing one another for the first time as you walk down the aisle is important enough to you as a couple to accept the aforementioned effects on your portraits, we understand this priority. We are willing to accommodate your desire to do your portraits after the ceremony, and will work with you to make this go as smoothly and quickly as possible.

5. Do you edit the final images?
We perform basic editing of the final images, including basic color correction and red eye reduction when needed. If necessary, we perform further editing on the images presented in your album. Additional editing to your specifications is available at a rate of $100 per hour. Depending upon the extent of editing desired, you can estimate 3-5 photographs can be edited in one hour.

6. Are the images available online?
After several requests from our clients and their guests, we are happy to offer the option of making your images available online for family and friends to view and/or print. Please let us know if you would like us to include this option in your package – it is available at no additional cost.

7. Do you offer flush mount albums or fine art coffee table books?
Yes!

We are pleased to offer our clients the very fine line of AsukaBook Coffee Table books in a couple of different sizes. Please visit our rates page for pricing on our Coffee Table albums.

We are still working on our product line and pricing for our flush mount albums. Please inquire with us directly for more information or check back – we will update this section, as well as our rates page, when we have more definitive information.

8. What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept personal check, money orders, and cash payments. If you would prefer to pay by credit card, we can offer PayPal processing of your credit card, but will have to pass their 2.9% processing fee on to you.

9. How are payments divided and when are they due?
We require payment of one-half (1/2) of your total bill (minimum $995), in addition to a signed contract, to book a date. The final balance is due on the day of your event.

10. When will we receive our final images and prints?
Image processing and printing can take anywhere from 8-12 weeks, depending upon the season. We will give you an estimate of your particular processing time after your wedding (when we have a better idea of how much work is on our desk at the time!).

11. How long have you been photographers?
We have been photographing weddings, people, and places professionally since 2005. For several years (we couldn’t even tell you exactly!) prior to starting our business, we both studied and pursued photography as a personal interest and provided photography services for family and friends.

12. Do you provide references of former clients I can contact?
Absolutely! In fact, we encourage you to review our Testimonials page on our website and to contact us for names of clients you can contact directly for more information. It is important that you get a good idea of the photographer(s) you are considering to determine whether or not our style is a good fit for your special occasion.

13. What if we would like you to stay longer than scheduled?
We will make every effort to accommodate your request to stay past our scheduled departure time, at our contracted hourly rate. We are generally able to accommodate this request, as we never schedule more than one wedding on any given day. However, there are occasionally family obligations that will require our presence shortly after our scheduled departure time.

14. Are we expected to provide meals for you at the reception?
Yes, we do request to be fed during the course of your event. We learned at our first wedding that four or more hours gets to be a long time to go without refueling, particularly when we are on our feet and actively trying to capture your day. Never fear, though: since there are two of us, you will never be without a photographer! We generally alternate taking our meals during your reception and will quickly drop the oh-so-important task of eating to return to shooting if something occurs that requires both of us to capture (cake-cutting or toasts, for example).

15. Are we responsible for any travel-related expenses?
Included in our package rates are 100 miles of travel, each way (200 miles roundtrip), from Bellingham, Washington. Travel of distances greater than 100 miles from Bellingham is billed at the Federal Mileage Reimbursement rate. If we are not able to return to Bellingham by 10:00pm after your event (taking into consideration our travel time from your venue), we will bill for reimbursement of overnight accommodations. We are also happy to travel by air to your destination; please contact us to discuss travel-related expenses for your unique event.