Frequently Asked Questions
We are sure you have a few questions, and it's our goal to be a trusted member of your wedding planning team. Please find answers to questions we've had over the past 15 years to help you make the best choices for your day.
answers to your
Nothing makes me happier than having the opportunity to document love, whichever your pronoun, and whomever you love. I am grateful to live in this time period where gay marriage is legal.
For a 10 hour day, you will receive no less than 1200 images, but it is often in the 1500-2000 range. If there is a first look, we typically have about 80+ more images.
You will receive a full set of printable jpgs. MLP will retain the copyright to every image. Your contract licenses you to print the high resolution files for personal use. "License" is different from "Copyright." What it means basically is that, while you have the right to make reproductions for personal use, you do not have the right to sell or transfer the images to a third party.
All of your images receive personal attention and editing, they are color corrected (converted to black and white in some cases), contrast & tone is perfected, and images are cropped if necessary. All test shots, closed eyes, unflattering shots, shots where someone walked in front of the camera, etc., are discarded. We only retouch the images that are going into your album, and this is included in the album fee. Retouching includes actual pixel manipulation: softening of skin, removal of stray hairs, removal of simple distracting background elements. Additional excessive retouching, such as contouring, adding/removing people, head swaps, adding hair, changing backgrounds, is billed at the rate of $100/hour. You will be notified & invoiced if additional retouching work is required, normally it is not. We think it is important to not change the facts of the wedding day, if it is fall, we want to keep that color, if your dress had sleeves we won't remove them, if your veil fell in to the water, that is part of your story, and we won't "add" a veil in post production. The wedding day itself is magic, and it's important to be honest with your photographs and make you look the best you have every looked with our strategic prompts and direction IN camera.
Shopping for a photographer can be overwhelming, so I like to keep it as simple and straight-forward as possible. We have created a basic collection that includes everything you need to create the highest quality images: two photographers, a lighting assistant, up to 10 hours of coverage, all of the edited images are yours with license to print. Of course all of this comes with my pre and post-wedding devotion to your vision and images (which typically totals 7 hours per each hour of wedding coverage). I want to serve YOU first and foremost and it starts from your inquiry. There is plenty of room to add on to your package as your plans take shape. To give you an idea, my average local to NY & CT all day Saturday, 150-guest wedding price point is $12,500 with many clients spending in the $16,000+ range. My average local elopement or small wedding is $3500. Each wedding is given a custom proposal which includes everything you will need for the highest quality. images and complete coverage of your wedding.
I use Canon mirrorless professional bodies, Canon "L" series and Zeiss lenses. I shoot with two camera bodies, currently the Canon R5 and R3. I have two backup cameras: a Canon R6 and a Canon 5D Mark IV. I will arrive at your wedding with the following lenses (all Canon RF "L" unless noted): 28-70 mm f/2, 70-200 mm f/2.8, 85 mm f/1.2, 50 mm f/1.2, 85 mm Petzval f/2.2, 17 mm tilt shift f/4, Zeiss 100 mm Macro f/2, 15-35 mm f/2.8. I also will bring a 1.4 extender, six Profoto A1x AirTTL w/Soft Bounces, four flash stands. I also bring my three Profoto B1 500 AirTTL lights, with a 5' Octabox and a small softbox for formals. An LED light panel and an all purpose flashlight find their way into my second suitcase. As well, I bring two reflectors, 1/2 and full cto gels for each flash, a bridal umbrella and four Burberry umbrellas. To power the flashes during the reception I use two backup Profoto Li-ion batteries. The most important thing I bring is vision, experience and a genuine excitement to photograph your day, regardless of weather, timeline changes and unexpected events, we have seen it all!
While MLP must be the exclusive photographer for your event, I am happy to have your guests take photos. I ask that they do not photograph at the same time I am photographing the formals, as the eyes of those being photographed will be looking at various cameras in different directions which will result in awkward looking and potentially unattractive portraits. After I photograph each group, I will step aside to allow the guests to capture their shots, if time allows. I also request that the guests not come along to the creative portrait coverage as this can be quite distracting to the couple as I am doing my best to get you both relaxed and focused on each other (a friend yelling "smile" will take you right out of that authentic moment I'm trying to cultivate for you). And, please, we request that guests be respectful by not pushing us out of the way or standing in front of us while we are trying to capture the important moments. We always love an unplugged ceremony, however, as many iPads, selfie sticks, iPhones, cameras, shoulders, extended arms and hips leaning into the aisle block our view of you coming up and down the aisle and can ruin many incredibly emotional moments.
Once I get back to my home office after a wedding I am typically up until 6 am uploading and backing up your images. At this point, the images are uploaded and I am completely exhausted, so I finish backing them up the following day. Once your images are completely processed (6-9 weeks), they are also backed up in Georgia with Shootproof, so if Ida or Sandy ever comes to town and destroy my hard drives, please be assured your images will be safe. We do request that you also make backups once you download your images, as you will be responsible for your images once you receive the link to your images.
Yes, we have full liability insurance and are happy to provide your venues with certificates of insurance. If your venue needs insurance, we require that you notify us three months before your event date because Dominick at Allstate needs time to write your venue into our rider.
We are exclusively a photo studio and are happy to recommend videographers to you. When you do hire a videographer, make sure that they also take an unobtrusive approach to your day. Check also on their style, it's important that they also have a clean, natural, candid style. We have had the experience of coupling with hired videographers who work in a dramatic high contrast style, and their strong, shadowy light hindered our ability to document the day in a natural way. If your videographer isn't unobtrusive, and is right in front of you during the ceremony and first dance, etc., then we will have to adjust our shooting style, instead of shooting invisibly from the back of the church, or corner of the room with our 200 mm lens, we will have to stand next to the videographer, so that we are able to get a clean shot, without the videographer and their equipment in the way. This forces us to use shorter, more unflattering lenses, and to be visible to your guests during your important moments, possibly interrupting their view as well.
Because of my art history background, you can find me in a museum, or an architecturally important church, on my days off for inspiration. Other days, I'm on the court! I'm on two USTA 4.0 tennis teams and I love to play tennis in between editing and I go to the US OPEN every year! My oldest son is a classical music composer and my twins play the sax and viola, so I am often at one of their concerts!
I grew up in San Diego and then I moved to NYC to study dance at Alvin Ailey. I worked with Abrams Artists, where I was hired for jazz dancing for companies such as American Express and Vidal Sasson. I then worked in Gail Conrad's tap dance company performing off Broadway and danced in small parts around the Tristate region before getting my MA in Art History at NYU. During my studies I worked at Sotheby's Art Auction house where I enjoyed the dynamics of researching, preparing and curating 19th C European paintings in their biannual auctions. The experience was akin to having a museum move in and move out twice per year, I loved it!
Where I’ve been. Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, Japan, Cambodia, India, Thailand, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy (I studied art & literature in Florence), Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, St.Barth’s, St. Martin, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Harbour Island, Canada, Hawaii, British Columbia, Quebec, most of the USA.
We require a signed agreement and a non refundable retainer of 33% in order to reserve your wedding date. We book on a first come first serve basis and once we reserve your date, we turn down all other inquiries for that date. We cannot hold a date without a signed contract and retainer. Prime dates (June, September & October Saturdays) can book two years in advance, so don't wait, we'd love to hear about your wedding and how we can document it for you!
Relax and enjoy your engagement! We will work together on your timeline, confirmations and details in the months before your wedding to ensure proper coverage and the highest quality photography possible. Then, be present at your wedding, have fun and we will document it all.
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