10 Things You Should Know About Hiring Swiger Photography For Your Wedding Day
You get engaged and before the excitement of this new season of your life has worn off, your mind starts spinning with all the details needed to plan the perfect wedding day. Amongst choosing the venue, type of ceremony, officiant, florist and all the other vendors, you will probably hire a photographer to capture the day as well. And if you have landed here, that probably means you are interested in having Jordan and I apart of your wedding day. We have worked with hundreds of couples over almost a decade and in that time there are a few common questions we get asked and so we have compiled that list here with our most informative answers! We want you to love who you hire to capture your day and this Q&A should help you decide if Swiger Photography is the right company for the two of you and the wedding day you are planning! Got more questions? No problem! Contact us to set up a time for drinks on our roof deck to discuss all things wedding!
1.) We are unashamedly pro couples saying I Do how they want to!
When it comes to clients, we don't have certain types of venues we prefer over others or a particular type of clientele we prefer. To us, the two main things we look for to decide if we are compatible with an interested couple is A) that they are planning the kind of wedding that speaks to who they are and B) that they value the photography process and believe that photos are important. Whether your wedding is taking place in a backyard, ballroom, farm or brewery is just the details that get us excited, its not how we decide whether or not we are a good fit. We want authentic couples, dedicated to saying I Do in a way thats right for them.
2.) We proudly believe that Love is Love
It probably goes without saying, but we believe in every couples right to marry the person of their dreams and to be treated with dignity, respect and given the same joy filled experience as anyone else. We've worked with trans* folks, queer and non-binary couples, lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, straight, and anything in between and we proudly display their love stories on our blog, social media and portfolio.
3.) We are a wife and wife team and we think that's pretty cool
If you decide to choose a package with two photographers, we offer something rather unique! Most photographer that offer two photographers rarely have a steady second shooter, unless they are a couple. And if they are a couple, it is often two of the same style of shooting. Jordan and I believe that our magic power is found in the fact that we approach weddings very differently from each other, which gives our couples a well rounded and unique version of their day. I, Amanda, have been a photographer for almost 10 years now and I am the one who focuses on providing you with the type of images you would expect from your wedding photographer, all while keeping my posing fresh, fun and authentic to each couple. Jordan on the other hand focuses on the candid, in between type moments which allows for you to also have a more photo journalism style to your day, portraits and album (should you add one!) as well.
4.) We believe in posing that is fun and authentic, not prom-ish or stiff!
The worst feeling is to get photos back of yourself and to look at them and not see the real you. Or worse, have a photographer who has no idea how to direct you or what poses work best with who you are and how you look. Its my job as a professional to capture your most authentic and in love self, all while understanding that most people have no idea what to do in front of the camera or have insecurities that come out as soon as my camera goes up. I approach every session by getting a feel for each couple and who they are and then choosing poses or prompts that feel like them, all while allowing them to make it their own. It's never a one size fits all and so every session ends up looking different and I love that about my job! I'll guide you through what to do and then encourage natural interaction between the two of you (and maybe tell you a corny dad joke or two) and pretty soon you'll wonder why you were nervous in the first place.
5.) Wanna know what's usually in our bag?
We are Canon shooters with a side love affair with the Sigma Art series so we usually have a mix of both companies gear in our bag. Amanda loves her primes, while Jordan favors zoom lens, which again makes us the perfect pair. The specifics of what we carry?
- One 5D Markiii
- One 7D Markii
- Canon 50mm 1.4
- Canon 85mm 1.4
- Sigma Art 24mm 1.4
- Sigma Art 35mm 1.4
- Canon 24-70mm 2.8
- Canon 70-200mm 2.8
- Four Flashes and triggers
- One Video Light
6.) We can handle almost any lighting scenario
One of the things that I am most proud of is that I have shot in all types of venues. This allows me to know what I need in almost any given situation to create images that are consistent with the ones here on my website. Dark church? Big ballroom? Cool industrial space with uplighting? Really bright sunny day? Raining? We've got you covered and will give you options about what we think will work best!
7.) With that in mind though, we always favor natural light!
The images you see on our website are full of beautiful vibrant light and this makes the colors pop and our clients look natural and like themselves. While we come prepared for any situation, we will always look for natural sources of light and work to use that first, especially when it comes to portraits. Sometimes this means using a porch to shoot outdoors when its raining or rearranging a hotel room to have you get dressed closer to the window or watching the radar to predict when we can go outside for photos. If you trust us to do what we do best, your images will look like the rest of our work even in some less that ideal circumstances
8.) We believe in getting you images RIGHT AWAY
There are many photographers that give their clients less than 10 images as a preview and then nothing else until weeks or months later when they get their whole gallery. Or worse, maybe no images at all. Not with Swiger Photography. We are so excited to look through your images and get them into your hands that all our wedding clients get a preview of their images in 48 hours and that preview is always at least 50 images. We want you to have images to share with friends and family and to make you feel confident in the way we captured your day. Your images are always high resolution, able to printed and shared by you and never ever water marked.
9.) Engagement sessions are (almost) always included!
Engagement sessions are what make wedding images magic. This is why I give all of my clients who book us more than 6 months out a free engagement session so we all can get to know each other better and I can walk you through some poses so that when you do them on your wedding day, you fall into these great positions more naturally. And did we mention its a lot of fun too? Getting married sooner than 6 months and still want an engagement shoot? Let us know and we will see what we can make work!
10.) We believe in giving back to the people who hire us
Last thing you should know about Swiger Photography is once you join the family, you get discounts for LIFE. We offer an awesome friends and family program that gets you discounted session fees and print discounts. Wanna do a boudoir session? Anniversary session? Maternity or family session down the road? You will never pay our normal prices (unless its for an already discounted session like our minis) AND we also give our clients additional freebies and discounts for referring their friends to us as well. Its our way of saying thank you for choosing to hire us!
Got more questions? Click HERE to contact us now and to find a time where we can chat more!