FAQ means "Frequently Asked
Questions". When I first conceptualized this section I remembered back to how I felt when
I went through this whole process. The wedding business was a bit of a mystery to me and there were few guide posts as to where or how to do things. My approach is bride and groom centric, answering queries I have been asked by couples over time. Please read through this FAQ before visiting me. It will also help empower you when you meet with other photographers and wedding suppliers.
Please note I have built my business by holding to uncompromisingly high
standards in quality. Some of what is written below will be different from what
budget photographers will say and offer however I desire to spare you the heart break of poor imagery.
Easy answer is to read what people say about us on various forums or the feed back we have received. But since you are here: Your wedding is probably the most important event to date in your life. if you want to have it captured well hiring anyone other than an experienced wedding photographer is going to be a gamble.
I believe you have three options.
1. Have a keen relative or hobbyist shoot it.
2. Have a Bridal Studio/Company shoot it.
3. Have an independent professional wedding photographer shoot it.
Very briefly options 1 and 2 run the risk of receiving back generic work, or worse mediocre work. Keenness is to be applauded however it rarely makes up for skill, and bridal houses and/or wedding photography businesses have many amateur, non-specialist wedding photographers on their payrolls. This may mean you may or may not have their regular photographers at your event. It is likely, unless you firmly stipulate it in the contract, that the work you are shown to make the sale was not shot by the photographer you will eventually have at your wedding. Buyer beware.
Independent specialist wedding photographers tend to be more expensive than a bridal studio's but our reputation, and the knowledge the principle shooters will be present, grants you peace of mind that you are going to get great work back. Additional benefits are that you deal directly with the photographer, who has usually built a long track record of quality work.
A good wedding photographer is usually:
As you prepare for your wedding day one of the big questions is how best to capture your wedding. Choosing your photographer can be difficult. Over the years many magazines answer this question, and it is always the same thing, so put aside your InStyle Weddings, Martha Stewart, Cleo, Cosmo, or whatever you have been reading and let me conglomerate everything right here for you to review.
Important factors.
Do you like the photographers style?
Deal directly with the photographer not a sales person.
Do you think you can have a good working relationship with the photographer?
Make sure the photographer whose work you like is going to be the one shooting for you. Many former owner/operator companies are now following the bridal studio model. As this degrades quality we have AVOIDED this model like the plague even though it is a better business model. The cost to the reputation for quality is a cost I am unwilling to pay.
Have a realistic budget. USD1000-USD1500 (RM3500-RM6000) will get you a good photographer.
Do not be pressured to pay a deposit on your first meeting. Think the decision through carefully and talk it over with your fiancé.
Look at a LOT of their work. Not just the samples of the best of the best or the hired model shots. The reason I show so many weddings in my gallery area is to show we have consistently HIGH quality from year to year.
If you find someone who matches these criteria you should book them....if we aren't able to shoot that is! ;-)
I am asked this question a lot by budding shooters but it dos not matter. I shoot or have shot with most of the major brands. We are not sponsored by any one but I am open to the offer!!! ;-)
Remember the most important component in photography is the person holding the camera. Their knowledge of light, angles, lens and camera limitations all play a part in making the photo. Think of the camera as a painters paint brush. In the hands of someone inexperienced it can capture the image, in the hands of a (dare I say) master it can convey emotion and feeling.
Yes we shoot thousands of colour images every week. All shot in digital RAW format. Please review the samples located here and here.
I will touch briefly on this as there are many
good articles regarding this subject on the web. I believe strongly that every
actual day wedding professional should
shoot in RAW format with NO exceptions. Make sure you establish your
photographer will shoot RAW before you book them.
RAW captures an ENORMOUS amount of detail and enables the photographer
to correct problems with photos easily. It is a safety net to both the
photographer and you. Shooting RAW as
opposed to JPEG empowers the
photographer to make critical judgment calls for correcting images after the
event. Amateurs usually shoot in jpg, surrendering to their equipment for
the judgment call on image colour, exposure and quality. I have yet
to find a camera that does this well. The advantage of shooting in
jpg is that the photographer saves themselves time and money BUT at the cost of quality
to you.
If you care about the quality of your wedding, and as you are here you obviously do, insist your actual day photographer shoots in RAW format. If they say there is no difference my advice is to drop them and get another photographer immediately. They are either inexperienced, lazy or ignorant. Not really the type of person I would want shooting my wedding!
Once completed editing the RAW images your
photographer WILL RENDER the images from RAW into a usable format such as jpg,
however this is very different from shooting in the format in the first place.
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ALL of them, other than blinks, duplicates, or those rejected for aesthetic reasons...meaning I don't like them! It is very difficult to put a number on this as every wedding is different. Some dinners can be covered in 400 or so images. Others go on for days and can have as many as 3000 images.
Bottom line: We take as many images as are needed. This is usually in the 1200-1800 region. You get them all back. No 300, 500,600 800 packages...we give you them all back as it is the major event in your life. Why live with limits? I don't want to impose any on you :-)
We regularly put up images from weddings we shoot on this site. You will find them by clicking the "Recent Wedding Images" link on the sidebar. While I have not personally counted them, each of the links on that page have 100-150 images, so there are THOUSANDS of images for you to go through.
I understand that this is different from many other photographers who want to show you only their best images, and if that works for them all power to them. However, I approach weddings from the perspective that were I hiring a photographer, I would want to see an EXTENSIVE number of good photos rather than a handful of shots designed to "sell me" their services. We offer a team who CONSISTENTLY DELIVER an EXTENSIVE number of photos that you, your parents, and in the future, your own children will remember your special day by.
I aim to give you PEACE of MIND, and, if you remember that my partners are as experienced and as committed as I am, you will realise we offer really good value for money on that count.
I regularly have fans asking when I will be updating my web site with new images so I am motivated to I do it as often as my busy schedule allows as it reflects Johnny, Hock Sengs and my own personal philosophy which is:
"You are only as good as your last shoot"
I am not content to let our reputation rest on our past imagery.
The WORLD is our studio.
Every where and anywhere. Our studio is portable as our clients are typically mobile and prefer their portraiture on location, ON their wedding day. This enables us to give very different portraits than those offered as engagement shoots by Bridal Studios, capturing your joy as experienced on your wedding day.
Note the studio flash in the left shot. Location: Renaissance, KL
Sometimes but generally for weddings it is unwise considering the amount of equipment we bring coupled with the inability to be in two places at once.
In my opinion two photographers can UNQUESTIONABLY cover a wedding MUCH better than a lone shooter. Usually there will be two or three very experienced photographers at every wedding. They are all successful photographers in their own right, and run successful photography businesses.
Yes. We supply albums from the traditional to the modern, including the currently popular photo books up to the more up market photo montage story telling albums. You can find samples on this site.
Many of my clientele are from overseas and we shoot worldwide. If you are located "outstation" or overseas, I am able to travel to cover it. Our fees, airfares and accommodation charges make us competitive to similarly skilled professionals in your area.
Most Bridal magazines recommend about 10% of
your total wedding budget. Most informed couples I speak to have budgets between
RM5,000 and RM7,000. This is realistic for a good photographer in
Malaysia. In terms of quality compared to overseas Malaysians get a
tremendous deal in terms of value for money. Our pricing starts at RM3800. (at time of writing) for Malaysian weddings
including editing from RAW to jpg. Editing
means light/colour/exposure correction. It does not include cosmetic surgery.
Please note you it
is the make up artists AR to do your makeup, not the photographers :-)
There are much cheaper photographers available, but having personally been the victim of
such a shoot when I got married many years ago before I knew better. I believe that a
realistic budget will make you a very happy person in the years to come. Compromising
on your photography could be a recipe for pain. (I know this first hand!!)
I like this quote:
"It’s unwise to pay too much. But it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better." - John Ruskin.
The legal rights to the photos belong to Grant Corban Photography Sdn. Bhd. These rights include usage of the photos for self promotion, editorial work, publication and public display on the Internet or any other media as the occasion arises. Don't let this scare you. It is totally NOT in my interest to present you in a bad light. Self promotion may mean publication in either books, magazines, or television.
You may use the images for any non-commercial purposes, including web page display, printing and/or burning extra CDs for your friends and family. However use in any commercial publication or for the purpose of advertising requires my express WRITTEN permission. Reason: There have been occurrences of our work being published by Malaysian magazines whereby the magazine has omitted giving credit and in doing so inferred they own the rights to the photo. Tut tut!
A deposit and signed contract is required to confirm your booking date. Calling me on the phone and telling me to hold the date open for you is not considered booking me. I am one person, and can not cover more than one event in a day. Therefore book EARLY! Popular dates may be booked up to 18 months in advance. That said, if there are two people vying for the same date I will need to choose one of them and not the other. This is an unbiased business decision.
I like to sit down with the couple the week following the wedding for them to select the images they want. It then takes about 2 weeks to finalize the soft copy. Factors outside our control, including public holidays, overseas shoots and/or clients uncertainty in what photos should be in the album may add to this timeline. But this gives you a good idea.
This may well develop into a section by itself but for now I will keep it brief. Remember the goal of the day is to have fun! You are the king and queen of your day so you should be relaxed and enjoy it. These tips are in no particular order.