ARTful & AUTHENTIC
Wedding PHOTOGRAPHY
Marc M Wilson
Wedding Photographer
Christchurch | New Zealand
I’ve always had a passion for creatively capturing and conveying the beauty of things, and approach photography as an art form that blends creativity and reality. People in meaningful moments adds another dimension of depth, so that’s where wedding photography comes in for me—immortalising meaningful moments as art: those genuine interactions, the awesome atmosphere, funny incidents, capturing character and quiet interludes—the stories of your special day, conveying them in lively, engaging and creative ways as stunning story-art pieces.
My background as a nature & people photographer, artist and graphic designer feeds into the quality and uniqueness of my work, for a style that lends well to a contemporary wedding photography—from the shoot, through all-important processing, to designing beautiful photo books.
I enjoy joy, most good things, conversation, the arts, nature, beauty, a cup of tea and live by the beach with my lovely wife, a handsome stupid cat and a cute dog inherited from children who have now left home.
You call the shots
It’s your wedding. So it’s good to talk it over first with a cuppa to help establish what you’d like, I listen to your requests or ideas, offer any suggestions and we plan anything we need to.
The Options
Generally, shooting a wedding means that I show up and cover any or all of the various meaningful stages of the day—or days—such as:
- engagement—this is entirely separate from the wedding shoot, but I thought it best to mention it! You may want a ‘mini shoot’ as a couple somewhere when you get engaged. As well as a great source of announcement shots, it’s also a great opportunity for us to get familiar with the experience together before the wedding.
- preparation—shots of the venue settings, bride and or groom getting ready, ring shots, etc
- Ceremony—all the important people and moments
- People—organised group/family shots as well as candid shots
- Photoshoot—a bride & groom portrait session, short, or a more special with a venu visit somewhere
- Celebration—all the same as above for the reception event!
We’ll also discuss style of images—the kind of thing you like, whether specific or a range.
I like to visit the venue with you at some stage beforehand—preferably at the same time the occasion will occur.
The Shoot
For all these stages of your wedding, I will be hunting out ‘genuine moments’ on the scene—you’re going to love these! Of course I fight hard to capture and document all the key occasions—like the isle, the ring, the kiss, etc. Then there’s group portrait shots which are usually more posed and more formal.
We will have agreed on the key things you want covered, so I will be working in the background—or foreground when needed and will direct people and groups as required for portraits and group shots and to help with a good setting—lighting, background, etc.
I’ll be working to achieve beautiful, quality wedding photography that deeply captures the occasion.
The Outcome
After all that, I’ll have thousands of images to sort through. I select and categorise the best ones and apply a refined customised process of digital development that really makes the most of each one.
You will end up with 10–20 hero shots, 100–200 great/key moment shots, 500–1000 good shots—there’s all the occasions and people, groups and things like rings, clothes food tables, etc.
WEBSITE // At the end, you will get access to your own gallery website of photographs of your wedding. You can invite others to see the website too—so you can share with family and friends.
IMAGES // You can download any of the images from the website gallery for use on social media etc. I will send a download link to full size image files of all the top shots, or any specific ones you want.
EXTRAS
PRINTS // Quality art prints of selected shots can be ordered at whatever size you’d like. These can be prints, framed prints or printed canvas.
BOOKS // This will be your more precious possession! The whole story told through the best shots, collated into a stunning, professionally designed, perfect bound wedding book—you’ll never regret this!
The Process
A huge part of great-looking wedding photography is in the post-processing (development) of the images. This is an art form in itself and can play a huge role in how awesome your images look. With my background as an artist and graphic designer (and photography!), this is another strong point I offer.
I give custom attention to all the images, not a blanket one filter fits all, working them through a suite of refined adjustments and effects that I have developed over the years.
I offer a range of development styles to suit your taste and wedding and can also do multiple style copies for some images, ie colour & B&W or vintage, etc. After a point, there is a small charge per image for this.
For the main hero shots you’d like to frame, I may do further editing work to really enhance and make the most of them as an art piece. For any further special shots, editing would be charged on a time basis.
FAQ
Do you do a preliminary site visit?
I prefer to visit your venue before the big day and preferably with you—so we can plan a few things out and know what to expect.
Do you get the photos to us quickly??
Yes! I think that’s important—I know what it means to see and share them! It’s a point of difference I can offer because I don’t cram lots of weddings in, so I can focus on yours more than is usual in the industry.
I do my best to find a few key shots within the first few days that you may want to share with family and friends.
After that, it depends on the size of your wedding and can vary depending on how much else I have on, but I aim for within two weeks and less than four weeks.
How do you charge?
Your wedding photos and album are an investment—things you will deeply treasure as they become more precious over time.
There are many variables to a wedding shoot and a lot of work around it all. So I prefer to do a package tailored to your particular wedding and wishes.
It’s important to me that everyone is happy, so we can discuss what you are after and work it out to suit.
As a guide, I offer 3 packages, which can be customised to suit:
FULL STORY
I’m yours for the whole day of shooting, covering all events such as getting ready, venue & details, ceremony, family groups, bridal party photoshoot, bride and groom photoshoot/s (as many destinations and settings on the day as you like), reception and candid or quick pose shots of guests and setting shots.
Quality edits and styling of all images
Full custom editing of all ‘hero shots’.
Online galleries to share with family and friends.
Online optimised size and full-size print files of all shots.
From $4800 + gst
SELECT
If you have a more standard wedding but don’t want photos of everything, or it’s a smaller or simpler wedding. Otherwise, as above but fewer photos and fewer hero images.
From $3600 +gst
BUDGET
Small, simpler weddings or partial coverage ie only the ceremony and Bride & Groom. For when there’s not so much to cover or you don’t want many photos or have the budget for it.
Around $2400 +gst
EXTRAS
Prints, photo book design & printing, extra or further special image adjustments and treatments, and travel beyond Christchurch would all be at additional cost.
Does the cost include all the photos?
Yes. You will have access to all the images on your own gallery website. You can download as many as you want as HD jpeg files (good for posting online and smaller prints).
It also includes the direct supply of all the ‘hero’ shots (usually about 20-50) as full resolution files for print enlargements etc.
If you want a larger number of full-resolution files, this can be arranged and there will be an extra charge for time in executing this.
WHEN DO WE PAY?
We can negotiate payments to suit, with a deposit to confirm the booking. I will give you an invoice for the balance to be paid before releasing your precious photos.
Do you travel?
That’s a case by case basis these days! But worth telling me about your plans and asking.
extras
PRINTS
I can look after all your prints with gallery-quality printing—enlargements mounted, framed or printed canvas—edge-wrapped or framed.
I use a variety of specialised professional services according to what’s the best fit for what you want, chosen for best quality, service and value. I will give you options and prices before ordering.
PHOTOBOOKS
This should NOT be an extra—it’s a must-have!…You are going to looove your wedding album book! It’s an investment in something you will deeply treasure as it becomes more precious over time. And why would you get me to take all these gorgeous photos just to have them sit on a hard drive or float about in a cloud??
I offer a range of bespoke albums: they are all superbly designed (I’m a seasoned graphic designer too) so that the arrangement of every image and page is perfected to maximise awesomeness and bring out the best in your photos. It’s about choosing the right images, in the right order, laid out in the right way—no automated naff templates here!
Whether leather-bound, embossed & boxed or a more magazine-style softcover with a simpler layout, I use a selection of specialised suppliers and options to match your budget and preference.
VIDEO
If you would like some video coverage of any aspects of your wedding, I can’t do both at once (!), but I do have videographers I know and trust to work with, or can work in with someone you choose.
If you’d like some shorter clips of non-critical parts of the day (ie other than the ceremony and isle shots)—when I don’t need to be taking stills at the same time, I CAN do that and it will add a bit extra to the deal (depending on how much & long).
Most wedding videographers charge a similar amount to photographers (depending on the extent of coverage), so if you want some video but aren’t keen on this extra, full-video investment, a shorter reel by me of non-critical moments may be a happier option.
Extra mile things
You may want some extra special things, for example:
- for the photoshoot—a mountaintop, etc—or simply a variety of venues, we can work it out.
- I can also get involved in helping with suggestions for (or organising) settings/destinations;
- You may want to take advantage of having extended family gathered to have some well-considered group portraits done;
- The more preliminary site visits and rehearsals the better the results on the day too;
- Second photographer/ assistant photographer: getting multiple angles of key events is an option;
- Extended website galleries or photo editing or printing
Portraits and Family Photoshoots
As well as weddings, I do portraits for people and families, with a flavour for real-life settings—around home or at a chosen place.
Event photography
I take a ‘documentary style’ approach to events—catching the live flavour of things through primarily candid capture (you didn’t see me take it), as well as any obligatory organised shots, such as groups etc.
Fine art photographs
Over the years I’ve accrued a collection of creative, artistic photographs where I like to bring out the beauty of things around us. These often have an abstract element to them. Most are available as quality artwork prints.
Moments are a moment—make them immortal in X-factor images to rock your married socks for years to come!
Get in touch for a no-obligation chat, or to go for a date & engagement of my services!