Atlanta portrait and wedding photographers Craig & Cathy Willis
770-439-6065
Our Style
Romantic Wedding Photography
We offer the perfect blend of Classic romantic wedding photography and journalistic style photography.
This page was first set up with a description of the 4 main styles used today to photograph weddings, but no matter how I tried to word the description of the different styles, journalistic, traditional, fashion or creative/artistic, it is very difficult not to show bias in the description it's self. So please read on and see what is really important about style.
No mater what a photographer calls their style, what is important is that the photographer takes photographs that you fall in love with. Then discuss how your day will flow, if that fits your desires of how you want your day to go, then you have found a good match.
Most photographers have a set way they do things, to expect you are going to magically change the way they do things is unrealistic, so ask the question, "How would you suggest that the photography be scheduled for our wedding". and let them explain the style they use, and how they suggest that your photographs be scheduled and completed.
If those suggestions fit what you had in mind, again, then you have found a good match.
Journalistic style photography
This is how we photograph 80% of what we photograph at a wedding normally. It is actually a method of making photographs, not a certain photo.
Photographing the bulk of the wedding day in a way that let's the couple enjoy their wedding, is a key element that has made this style desirable. Although few couples ask for pure photojournalism on their wedding day the main aspect is that they don't want to be have photos that look stiff and posed. Some grouping of the subjects is necessary because of photographs that you want to make sure are made. But having a fun and relaxed atmosphere during the few formal shots that are made is very important. With this style a better part of the final photographs are made without the photographer controlling the people in the photo, just controlling that the photo is great.
Traditional style photography
We do have packages that are more geared toward having us just cover the basics, however during the time that we are there we seek to capture great candid moments in addition to making sure all your must have requests are photographed.
Most of the more established studio photographers were for many years called, traditional wedding photographers, and nothing was wrong with that until too many inexperienced photographers were taking mostly posed portraits and neglecting covering the events of the day.
This happened because of the 80/20 rule in life also applies to wedding photography, even with journalistic photography coverage.
That means, 80% of the normal wedding photography orders will come from only 20% of the total photos captured.
If a photographer gets too hung up on that fact, they tend to restrict what they will shoot during the wedding.
The fact that, too many were doing just that, restricting what they would photograph at the wedding, that is what really what put a black eye on this style of photography.
Yet this was really being done by the more inexperienced photographers were they were spending excessively long amounts of time after the ceremony taking their formal family photos and denying the couple from enjoying their wedding day. And only photographing a list of "sellers" and not capturing the whole wedding as it unfolds.
There are still many excellent wedding photographers that call themselves a traditional wedding photographer, one more time I must point out how important it is that you see and love the photography that is made by the photographer you are considering. Then ask how the days events will be scheduled, and decide if this photographer is right for you.
Please note:
We at Craig Fine Portraits offer the perfect blend of the two, We photograph in a journalistic style, capturing the emotion of the day in hundreds of beautiful photographs for you to treasure. And having been train and making fine portraits for year, are able to do your formal portraits in a way that flatters and make everyone look as good as you possibly can.
Two problems exist today with wedding photography.
Digital photography has given us many neat and fantastic creative advantages, that can be learned and performed so much easier then back in the days of film.
And the price for a good digital single lens reflex camera has made it very common to find people who are very new to photography with one of these great cameras.
So they start photographing weddings to make a few bucks on the side, while still working their 9-5 job.
These photographers do not have the training, and knowledge in most cases, but do have some raw talent to capture an image.
Where they lack, is being able to handle the pressures of the situations that can and do occur because of their lack of experience, and their lack of training means they normally will not pay attention to details that will help their subjects look their best.
Knowing how to analyze the face, and position people so they look their best, is a very important part of wedding photography.
And because they have other work that pays their bills, they don't want to offer customer service, and leave you to try to figure out how to display and present in a nice way your images.
For many this is not doing them a favor, I look at it as "hit and run" wedding photography.
The other problem is...
Most of these new photographers who have not taken the time and discipline to learn how to photograph people.
This is the reason I call what they are doing "hit and run" type situation is because after photographing your wedding, they give you the un-edited images, and washing their hands of any customer service, and leaving you to make it all come together yourself.
In most cases, the images seldom make it any further then a folder on your computer, because you don't know all the things you need to know to fully correct and edit these digital images, and don't have experience to put it all together in an artistic way into a nice album.
Will we sell you your digital files or negatives?
To give you these files and negatives for you to take to the corner drug store, and have them printed too green, or too light or dark, makes us look bad.
Even from a pro quality lab like the ones we use, there are many occasions were we have to send prints back to be redone to meet our high standards.
And when we do sell you the digital files, they are already adjusted for good color and density so that you will get great prints.
Also we do something special for those who own the files and negatives, and that is after that point, anything you wish to order, having us handle it through our labs, you get 1/2 off the current price list for print services.
Computer enhancements and other services are not reduced, just the price for the prints, once you own the files or negatives.
What is, romantic wedding photography?
Some photographers think that it is a look you create with a filter, sure sometimes I use soft focus or star filters, but to me romantic wedding photography means, making photographs that show the love between two people. When I am photographing a bride and a groom, I let them interact with each other and tell them to pretend that I am not even there. I let them spend some special time together and I record it.
I think that the bride and groom need this time, If they are not given a few minutes alone together without being told every move to make they can go through the entire wedding day and at the end be totally worn out and not even have said anything to each other except their vows.
What would be the perfect blend of traditional & photojournalistic coverage? After all we will have family there at the wedding and I do want make sure we have photographs of them.
Weddings are actually 3 events in one, two family reunions and the celebration of the wedding.
Much attention has been given lately to the photojournalistic style of wedding coverage, yet many photographers have been photographing weddings in a non-obtrusive, un-directed photojournalistic style long before there was a name for it.
Craig Fine Portraits photographs normally a mix of 20-25% of the total days photography directed at the family and formal portraits and 75-80% being the capturing of the day as it unfolds, or any mix of the two according to what you want.
Looking for emotion and feeling as well as recording the details of the day, this is known as photojournalism, it is a way of working, not a certain shot.
For example:
If the photographer directs your wedding party to all jump into the air at the same time for a photograph, that is every bit as much posed as any other photo they direct. It may be a fun shot but photojournalistic approach means that the photographer is not asking for a action to photograph, they are there capturing the events, feelings and fun and crazy things as they occur naturally.
But I don't want to have the formal portraits take up most of my wedding day, how much time is needed?
In all honesty, we do not want to spent a lot of time on formal portraits. It is your wedding day, not ours. That means we sit down with you and listen to what you want to have happen.
One month prior to the wedding day we sit down with you and go over the details of the day so that when we are there on the wedding day itself there won't be any question about what you want. It is important to know what family members will be there that you desire to be photographed with.
Also If you don't have grandparents for example, on the wedding day it can bring the bride to tears if the photographer were to ask, do you want photographs of you and your grandparents, or a parent that has passed away for that matter.
Also knowing how much time or how many formal photographs you want taken, we can suggest the best way to make this all happen without distracting from the wedding and reception. I have always felt that anything more than 30 minutes total after the ceremony is too much. If your list of formal portraits will take any longer than 30 minutes to accomplish then I suggest that anything that doesn't require the bride and groom to be together be done prior to the ceremony.
A half an hour with the bride and her family and bridesmaids, and another half an hour with the groom and his family and groomsmen is all that is needed prior to the ceremony at the very most. After the ceremony you do any of the formals that couldn't be done prior to the ceremony, that means anything where the bride and groom are together at the same time.
Only 15-20 minutes for the groups and another 10-15 minutes to get the romantic and formal traditional photographs of the bride and groom. I personally feel that it is in bad taste to take the bride and groom from the reception for any formal portraits. Once the reception starts only photojournalistic style photography should take place.
What do you mean by, design your own package?
Can you tell me how many 8x10s, 5x7s or 4x5s you want to tell the story of your wedding day prior to the wedding?
Until you see your photographs you just don't know. And so why should you be told how many of each of those sizes is needed and how many of the hundreds of photographs we will take at your wedding that will be desired by YOU to be in your wedding album?
With our design your own package program you decide how many photographs, how many are to be 8x10s, 5x7s or 4x5s etc. We supply you with the price list for each of the services and you make the choice yourself.
If you choose to spend more than the original package you contracted for then you will spend a little more, it's that simple. For example, our $1,000 package and coverage of the day is the same as if you were to do a $3,000 package with most other photographers. We believe that this special day needs to be covered properly and not cut short because you are doing a small package.
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