just because we're meticulous and experienced pros doesn't mean we're not fun to work with!
There is no undo/redo button to press on your wedding, which means that your first priority should be finding a photographer who is thorough and professional. I provide this service by being very meticulous with timelines and communication, by always bringing an assistant/second photographer to every wedding, and by having multiple backups of cameras, batteries, flashes, lenses, files, etc. If something breaks at your wedding, you will never notice it because we will have rectified the situation within seconds.
But just because we're meticulous and experienced pros doesn't mean we're not fun to work with! My team and I love what we do, and we are passionate about making beautiful images and having a good time in the process. People often comment that my assistant and I are like ninja dancers--we float in and out of the action, capturing moments you never would have noticed, blending in effortlessly and seamlessly with the flow and spirit of the celebration. We love a good party, love to laugh, and love to take pictures of your crazy little nephew break-dancing at the reception, or your grandmother holding court at a corner table...
At the same time, we always make sure to budget ample time for family portraits and the beautiful couples photos that we are known for. We always work a "twilight" shoot into the schedule, which takes no more than 5 minutes out of your reception time, and produces stunning, magical photos in the afterglow of the day.
I do not "sub out" work. I am always the primary photographer at all weddings I book. I firmly believe that every photographer's eye is unique, and that with something as personal as your wedding photography, hiring a McPhotographer is not the place you should be cutting corners.
I do not have the fastest turnaround in the business, so if you are looking for instant gratification, you might want to take this into consideration. I spend a lot of time on your images in the editing process and in Photoshop, whittling down anywhere from 4000 to 7000 photos to about 800 "Selects" and 75 "Highlights", which I work on in Photoshop to give them that "magic touch" that my photos are known for. We get very booked up in the spring and fall, and are more concerned with doing a good job on your photos than getting the job "in the can"...So we can sometimes get backed up, especially towards the end of the season, and it may take a little longer for you to get your photos. Our general policy is that turnaround time is 30 days, but sometimes we need to extend this to 45 or even 60 days to accommodate the busy season.
We are moving towards an all-digital business, wherein the sole product we provide in our Standard Package is a DVD set of the high-resolution files with rights to unlimited personal use for you, the client. You can share them on Facebook, design your own books on Blurb or Snapfish, make your own website with them, print out Christmas cards...whatever you want to do. The images are yours to do as you like with so long as their use is non-commercial, and you provide me with photo credits and links to my site as a courtesy wherever possible.
We also design beautiful albums, which we have hand-printed and hand-bound by one of a number of album manufacturers (of your choosing). If you are interested in large prints that you would like to have custom-enhanced for that extra touch, you may order them through us as well. We prefer to print on Kodak Metallic Endura paper, which has a beautiful effervescent sheen to it, and makes your photos look almost three-dimensional.
However, because of the ease, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of your local lab, be it Staples, Wal-Mart, or your local photo lab, we encourage you to make your own smaller prints of your favorites, right in your own town, and make as many as you want. If you are not satisfied with the quality from your local labs, you can order prints through us online and we will guarantee your satisfaction.
What sets you apart? I have a very strong and distinct personal style, which comes from a fine art background. I was a very serious painter in high school and college, and a huge fan of Impressionist and Post-impressionist art. When I first picked up a camera, somehow that feeling that I got when looking at a Monet or Van Gogh came through. I felt I was SEEING light in that same kind of way...my influences are generally painters and photojournalists, so my photos always have a little something "different" to them, and though they fit very easily within the current style of wedding photography, they do not look like the work of every other wedding photographer or "wedding photojournalist". I try to stay abreast of the current trends without getting sucked into them, and I really work hard to put both myself and the personalities of the people I am shooting into my photos.
I am also very attuned to the particular vagaries of light and weather that we have here on the Outer Banks. We get a lot of different kinds of weather here and the quality of light is constantly shifting, and it's important to be able to make beautiful images in all those different conditions, working WITH the weather and not fighting it. If you look at the current covers of Outer Banks Bride and the Outer Banks Wedding Guide, both of which feature my photographs on the cover, you will see two very different weather situations--one a beautiful, soft summer day, with lots of blue sky and green seagrass, and the other a wild and wooly nor-easter, with big clouds and wind blowing the bride's dress in a "Gone With the Wind" kind of look. Both photos were chosen as cover photos because, even though extremely different in feel and mood, they both represent something iconic about the Outer Banks.
Because I am also a landscape photographer and a surf photographer, I know how to work the wind and the rain and the light. Even in the rain, we can get great shots. The streets get shimmery, we pull out the umbrellas, cue the music, and your own movie unfolds before your eyes...
How long and where? I have been in business on the Outer Banks for 6 years.
Best advice you have? Rule #1: BE IN LOVE. Know that she or he is the one. If you get this one thing right, none of the rest of this stuff really matters. If it's blowing a gale, if the cake falls on the floor, if your brother says something really stupid at the rehearsal dinner, if the caterer runs out of food or the groom is running late because he ripped his pants...any mishap that occurs on your wedding day will be a tale told forever amid laughing friends, part of the grand adventure story of your marriage, which starts today, regardless of the conditions. You will weather far greater storms in your marriage. If you are truly in love, every one of them will feel more like an adventure and less like a struggle. SO BE IN LOVE.
Rule #2: DON'T CUT CORNERS WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY! The cake will get eaten, the flowers will die, the invitations will eventually end up in a box, the dress will hang in a closet forever...but photos are forever. You will still be looking at those photos 20, 30, 50 years from now, to remember your day. Make sure you get good ones.
Rule #3: Make sure YOU look your BEST!! Now's the time to get in the "best shape of your life"...do it now; change doesn't come overnight. You want to look good in those photos that will be hanging on the walls for the next 50 years, don't you? So make it a priority to get in shape and start taking care of yourself.
Rule #4: RELAX!! Get plenty of rest. Don't stress out. Don't sweat the small stuff. When it's time to walk down the aisle RELAX and take it all in.
Rule #5: This is YOUR moment. Smile. Laugh. Be happy, be silly. Keep your head held high, witness all your loved ones there with you to celebrate this most important day of your life. Wink at your groom. Don't be afraid to cry. It's your party, right? Savor the moment; we'll make sure to capture as much of it as we can so you can remember it later. Your job is to be IN the moment.
Rule #6: Never forget rule #1.
What is your favorite part of the job? I love those moments when something happens that gives me a lump in my throat or brings a tear to my eye. Usually it happens when couples have written their own vows, and I get blown away by how eloquent and heartfelt their expressions of their love for each other are. Sometimes it happens during the first dance, or the father/daughter dance, when the father is just beaming at his little girl, or maybe even tearing up a bit. Sometimes it's a toast, when a little brother or longtime friend tells a story that has everybody rolling on the floor, laughing and crying at the same time...
At one wedding I photographed at the Whalehead Club, the bride and groom had chosen Keith Urban's "Makin' Memories of Us" as their first dance song. The groom, a big, muscular, imposing man with a shaved head, stared deep into his new wife's eyes during the entire song and sang every lyric to her. "I'm gonna be here for ya baby, and I'll be a man of my word...Speak the language in a voice you have never heard...I wanna sleep with you forever, and I wanna die in your arms...in a cabin by a meadow where the wild bees swarm...and I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you, and I'll win your trust makin' memories of us." I had never heard the song before, and it just floored me. It was like a marriage vow set to music...And he so meant every word of it, out there with her on the dance floor. Those are moments you never forget.
Of course, snapping a killer photo is always a thrill too, but that happens hundreds of times during the day:)
What is your favorite place? Are you kidding? There are too many to count! Jockey's ridge, the Hayman Street Gazebo down the street from my house, the Oregon Inlet bridge, surf spots that will remain nameless, Nags Head Woods, Coquina beach...and Ocracoke...ah, Ocracoke...
What are your favorite hobbies? My personal photographic projects are probably my greatest passion; you can view some of them on my website. They feed my creativity when shooting weddings, and the two aspects of photography help each other...my personal work makes my wedding work more creative, and my wedding work helps me with speed, efficiency, and working with people when I'm out shooting in foreign countries or among people I don't know so well.
Aside from that, I love to surf, cycle, travel, and read. I also play guitar and sing, formerly professionally, but now photography has taken over my life and I don't have much time to play gigs. But I have a great circle of friends down here, most of whom are musicians, so most parties turn into big jam sessions with eight-part harmony, hand drums and guitars and mandolins...It's big fun. I'm a huge Irish music junkie as well, but I pretty much keep that to myself, since it's an acquired taste...
I have an 8-year old OBX retriever named Mona Lisa who loves to chase tennis balls and hang out with my friends. Nothing brings more simple joy than seeing a dog wagging its tail...It makes happiness seem so easy to achieve.
What is your favorite meal? A smoked salmon bagel from Max's Real New York Bagels in Kitty Hawk is pretty hard to beat, even if you go all the way to New York...
Please visit my website and view my Wedding Style - A Gallery of Destination Wedding Photography. www.weddings.chrisbickford.com
