Although we certainly hope your event is accident-free, we do carry liability insurance and can provide a certificate of insurance to the venue.
Of course! Equipment can fail at any time, so we are always prepared with additional cameras, lenses, flash, lighting units, batteries, memory cards, etc.
For a wedding we always use two photographers, and the second is not just an assistant but a fully-qualified professional photographer. This helps to ensure that all the important moments get captured, but it also provides important backup in the event one photographer gets hurt or is busy with an equipment problem. For other slower-paced events like bar or bat mitzvahs, we generally shoot alone.
I personally favor a photo journalistic style, with minimal posed images. I find such images to be more natural and representative of emotions and personalities. That said, there is of course a need for posed shots and groups shots. To ensure variety, I often hire a second photographer whose style is a bit different than my own, so we complement each other.
Absolutely! First, we use professional cameras that write each image to two separate memory cards as they are shot. Then, right after the event, all images are uploaded to our studio computer. Within hours, an automatic backup program copies all of the images to two separate hard drives and also to a protected cloud host. Until all three copies have been verified, the original dual memory cards are not erased.
The professional processing of thousands of images is a very time consuming job, so it will generally be several days to a few weeks before your image proofs are ready. However, we provide a sneak peek of 10-30 of our favorites within a day or two, via a blog post on our web site. We also provide you with a small set of those images sized just right for social media sharing.
We strive to keep your images indefinitely, but we can only guarantee two years because of potential technology issues. So far, we still have every image since we went digital in 2004! Moreover, all of our event packages have the option to get a copy of all the high-resolution images, so you will most likely have your own set as well.
Yes, you will have access to all your proof images online, and you may download them all if you wish. But even better, you can get all the high-resolution, unprotected images as part of whatever package you select. That means you will be free to share or print the images as you wish. Please keep in mind that prints you get on your computer or from a consumer lab will never match the quality of retouched, professional lab prints — so if you want a large framed wall print, I strongly suggest you let us produce it for you.