team – John & Joseph – Wedding Photographer based in Los Angeles

4R

Reliability – this is binary. We rely on our team to always show up and show up early. Miss a wedding, we’ll miss you too.
Responsibility – The amount of responsibility you’re handing for us. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th shooting – they all matter.
Result – Solid results matter to us and this is where we notice you. This is also when we call you more frequently and bump you to the next level (translation: $$)
Relationship – Our professional relationship with you over time. You become our partner (translation: $$$)

You don’t get paid for the hour.
You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.
– Jim Rohn

ETIQUETTE

Be nice to everyone. Especially to all working vendors. Never underestimate a person in casual clothing – they are usually the important ones.
No Alcohol of any kind. Even if client offers, decline.
Talk to us first. Do not talk to any staff or planners. If you have any problems or needs, talk to our team first. We prefer to take care of all issues without bothering anyone else.
Do not make side comments, react to client having a conversation with anyone, do not offer unsolicited advice. Stay quiet with a client and let the moments happen.
Be a photographer. You are not a stylist, planner, family member, or whatever. Don’t do anything else except what you were hired to do.
If a guest asks you for something (“can you take my picture?”) Then do it and do it nicely.
Eat in vendor room only. Do not eat any passed tray food or drinks.
No selfies with anyone or anything.
If you need to check your phone, go find a dark corner and do it out of sight from everyone.
No networking. We don’t need anyone to network on behalf of us either. Just focus on capturing memories for the client. Network at “Networking Events”.
Eyes and ears everywhere – at our luxury events, there are planners, planner’s assistants, client’s assistants, other vendors everywhere watching photographers. Hidden security cameras are everywhere. Be professional at all times.
What to wear
- Weddings and evening events: Black. Clean, professional black attire. No denim, no casual black, no athletic black tops, no yoga clothing, no dark gray, no dark navy, etc. Shoes can be comfortable as long as it’s black or pure white (i.e. white chucks or similar). White soles are OK.
- Daytime Events (Baby Showers, Birthdays, Kids Parties, etc.) or Wedding Rehearsal/Welcome Party Events – Neutral tone, clean business attire. Browns, navy, light blues, pastel colors, etc. Men in Brown, blue, gray suits with white shirts are ideal. Women in similar equivalent dresses, suits, slacks, or similar professional looking attaire. No denim, no yoga, no t-shirts or casual shirts.

photographers

No Format. Always format before the shoot. Once we start shooting, no formatting. Most unintentional image losses are photographer errors.
Dual Slot – always write to two cards at once. Simultaneous recording of everything.
Always shoot RAW. We only want RAW photos.
3×3. Shoot everything from 3 angles and 3 distances. 3×3 = 9 photos of every item.
Shoot a lot. We really mean a ton of shots. You could never give us too many photos. Overshoot everything and when you think you have enough – shoot it over and over again. Our principal photographers each shoots 10-30,000 images/wedding.
Photographers: Shoot Vertical. Horizontal only if there is a reason behind it. We love vertical photos – makes people look taller, skinnier and eliminates clutter on the sides. Also, John is allergic to horizontal photos.
Shoot guests. Photograph everyone 3 times. (1) at cocktail hour (2) at dinner table (3) candid shot. Our clients care about the people they invite. Avoid “baseball card” photos – or tight headshot of a guest. Always include the context of what is happening – tell a story with your photos. Review this link for sample guest photos.
During the ceremony, never, ever walk across the aisle. Walk around the back where guests won’t see you. Be discreet!
During reception, be aware of seated guests. If you are shooting in front of them, squat down or keep moving so that you are not blocking the guest’s view.
Tag team – always ensure someone in our team is present with the client before going to the bathroom, vendor room, or checking your gear.
Be aware of our team’s camera angle so that you are not in their picture. Do not be directly across from our other shooters. Shoot from a complementary angle so that you are adding something to the collection, not yourself in client’s pictures.
Chimp very little. Photographers that “click then look” will often miss important moments and their images have little focus because their attention is not at the subject.
Never, ever delete photos. There is a good technical reason for this – if you delete one image, it only deletes from 1 SD slot but not the 2nd slot. After the event, when we download your cards, the two simultaneously recorded cards are seen as different cards by our downloading software. This causes a big headache later – not only we’ll still see which ones you deleted but we also have to comb through duplicate downloaded images. Trying to erase your mistake will only amplify it. Everyone shoots blurry, out of focus, and badly exposed shots – own it and freely experiment. If you shoot 100 images of one scene and give us one gold – we will keep calling you.
Just a pet peeve – please do not wear camera backpacks. Use satchels, slings, fanny packs to carry gear.

videographers

No Format. Always format before the shoot. Once we start shooting, no formatting. Most unintentional image losses are photographer errors.
Dual Slot – always write to two cards at once. Simultaneous recording of everything.
Photo is priority – always prioritize our photographers and their shots. Our clients add-on video to our team, so photos are more important.
No to minimal lighting – we prefer none to little auxiliary lighting on our video at our events. It’s OK to increase ISO or change lens with better f/value.
Slow and steady – we love slow, steady, and long clips. We do not use or like any fast gimbal movements, encircling type shots, or tilting type shots.
During the ceremony, never, ever walk across the aisle. Walk around the back where guests won’t see you. Be discreet!
Tag team – always ensure someone in our team is present with the client before going to the bathroom, vendor room, or checking your gear.
Be aware of our team’s camera angle so that you are not in their shot. Do not be directly across from our other shooters. Shoot from a complementary angle so that you are adding something to the collection, not yourself in client’s pictures.
Never, ever delete footage. We know of a videographer that formatted awhile trying to delete a shot! We don’t care about junk footage – just keep shooting.