When you choose McGrath Photo, you pay a fully refundable $200 deposit. We return your entire deposit should you need to cancel at any time, even on the day of the wedding. You pay the balance only after you have seen all of your images, and then only if you are thrilled with the results! We guarantee you will love all of your images.
Unlike many photograhers, we don't just show highlights on mcgrathphoto.com. Any photographer can find 50 great images out of 100 weddings and create a stunning portfolio. We show every single image.
When you book a photographer, you are looking for consistency across the entire wedding, yet most photographers show only their best 5 images from each of their best 5 weddings! Perhaps you will be shown a full wedding, but again, is it a recent wedding? Or is it a wedding that went especially well for the photographer?
There are lots of tricks in the photography business, but you won't see any of that at McGrath Photo.
We show you every photo from every wedding!
Take a look at my gallery, then call or email for an appointment.
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If you are still reading, and would like to know what makes McGrath Photo special:
- I use only the finest equipment that money can buy.
- The Canon 1Ds MarkIII 21 megapixel
- I bring 160 Gigabytes (34 DVDs worth) of memory cards to your wedding
- I have a 24 processor Windows PC, specifically designed for photo editing. Working on a super-fast PC is easier, more enjoyable, which means it is a pleasure, not a chore, to edit your wedding photos.
- My Camera shoots to a primary card, and a backup card, for the ultimate insurance. What happens if a memory card goes bad? I have it covered.
- The Canon 24-70mm L series (pro) lens, the Canon 80-200m L series (pro) lens. Simply the finest glass that money can buy.
(others: buy a conusmer grade body (no backup), and a consumer grade lens. Contrast, color, sharpness, all suffer)
- I use twin lighting for the best possible lighting
(others: use a single flash, for flat lighting, with blown out facial detail)
- I use only the finest editing software: Adobe Lightroom
- Every single image is meticulously adjusted for color, exposure and cropping. I spend 100 hours editing each wedding that I shoot. No other photographer will spend so much time to ensure your images are perfect.
- I give you natural looking images
(others: run special photoshop filters that I admit do have an instant-appeal, but the skin tones are not natural, and the images will not stand the test of time. Do you want your wedding photos to look like CSI Miami?)
Have you seen the black and white images with a single rose, or champagne glass, in color? Or weddings where every image is on a slant? Or where every image has exaggerated color and contrast? The images looks surreal. Such photography may look neat, interesting, perhaps today and for a few years, but in 10 or 20 years those images will say 1990! You want photography that stands the test of time.)
- I use 7 monitors to ensure your images look great on hp monitors, on dell monitors, on samsung monitors, on eizo monitors, on ibm monitors, on desktops, on laptops. I own one of each, and I review every single image on every single monitor.
- In short, I spare no expense
(others: spend as little as possible)
- My clients, and my weddings, are the most important thing in my business. Costs are secondary.
- When you book McGrath Photo, you really do get more than you pay for.
Let me finish by saying, I am open and honest about every aspect of my business. My costs, your costs, what I provide, the way I work. You simply won't find another photographer that cares so much about your day, about your images, and gives you so much for the money.
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Tricks of the trade, that we don't use:
- Kickbacks. It is common practice for the photographer to compensate the wedding hall, or the DJ for a referral.
- Websites. A great website doesn't mean a great photographer. It means the photographer paid between 1k and 5k for a great looking design. Look at the images, the real images, not the home page or the wedding highlights, or the blog. Ask for a full set of images from four recent weddings, two shot outdoors, two shot indoors.
- Show only your best images in your gallery. By the time the client gets their wedding photos, and realizes that they aren't getting those incredible portfolio shots, it is too late.
- Create an album with images from several weddings, using only your best few images from each wedding, to make the album look extra special.
- Both of the above are deceptive and misleading. You aren't going to get those incredible portfolio pieces. You might get one or two if you are lucky. You should look for a photographer that shows every single image from all of their weddings, and not just a wedding that went particularly well, or was shot outdoors or in a recetion hall with plenty of windows where exposure is easy.
- Put a white border around the image, with fancy typography. Notice how it makes a mediocre image look okay, or a good image look great?
- Promise the client 1000 images, but do so by providing 4 copies of every pose. 500 images is about normal for a 10 hour wedding. Any more and you are providing duplicates.
- I'm a photojournalist. This usually means that the photographer hasn't mastered the required flash techniques and posing skills to photograph large groups.
- If the photographer can't shoot indoors, in a dark reception hall, show only outdoor weddings.
- If the photographer can't determine accurate expsoure, over-expose everything and correct it in editing. Yes, this works, but ultimately you lose tonality and detail.
- Show lots of fish-eye images. This is another trick that gives an image instant appeal, but it can be easily overdone. I have seen weddings where half of the images are shot with a fish eye.
- Give every photo a vignette - a dark edge. This is similar to processing tricks like a single rose in color, slanted images, boosted color and contrast. This isn't a style, it is dated. Your images should look as good in 10 years as they do today. Heavily processed photography simply puts a date on your photos.
- This is the most popular trick of all. Run a photoshop action, like Daily-Multivitamin to boost color and saturation. Sure, this has instant appeal, but the photos aren't real. Look for an accurate record of your wedding day. A child's real skin tone, and real eye color. Not an artificially enhanced version.
- The photographer designs the album himself. At McGrath Photo, we use a professional album design service. While I could design a great looking album, I prefer to leave it to the professionals. People who do this for a living.
- Use a local lab for prints. This is very common. All our prints are handled by a professional lab, where membership alone costs our studio $1200 a year. Let me show you a Pictage print, compared to a Target print. You will be amazed at the difference. The difference is not subtle, it is striking.
- Shoot without insurance. Again very common. We carry full General Liability Insurance.
- Use another photographer to shoot your wedding. Common in the larger outfits where the main photographer is in high demand. He will either a) use another photographer entirely, or b) start your wedding and move on to the next one, thereby making 2 sales on one day. When you hire McGrath Photo, you get me.
- Use an outside service to edit your photos, like shoot dot edit. At McGrath Photo, I edit all your images personally, so they meet my high standards.
- Show only weddings shot at lavish venues. You have to be careful here and evaluate the photo, the lighting, the exposure, the composition without regard to the venue. Most people see the photo as great, simply because it has a magificent backdrop. Try to ignore the background, and concentrate on the people in the photo. Are they well placed in the frame? Well exposed? Are the skin tones accurate? Is there detail in the face (i.e. not blown out)?
- Double booking. I shoot only one wedding per weekend. I feel that if I shoot a Saturday wedding, I am not fresh enough to do justice to a Sunday wedding. Could you get married again the next day, or are you exhausted? Would you want to be that Sunday booking?
- Sales tactics. Try to separate the salesmanship from the photography. Your photographer doesn't have to be your best friend, but he does have to take great photographs.
- Making the sale. Never ever book on the day you meet the photographer. The honest photographers will ask you to book that day. Be wary of discounts to book that day. Take away a copy of the Booking Form and the Terms & Conditions. Review them both.
After all is said an done, I will say, do not expect perfection in every photograph. To do so would be unrealistic. It is an extremely hectic day, and the photographer will do his best to capture every moment. I do hope that after reading all of the above, you will consider McGrath Photo for your Wedding or Event.
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