Wedding Blog
Mr. Peony and I decided very early that the one thing we wanted to splurge on was photography. We’ve both studied photography and knew that after the wedding, when our memories start to fade, we will only have the photos to remember our wedding day. (Plus we’d be able to tell our grandchildren, “Look, grandpa and grandma weren’t always so old and wrinkly - look at these photos and see how young and vibrant we once were.”)
So we began scouring the web.
Immediately, Something in Blue caught my eyes. A husband and wife photography team, they are a favorite of many brides in the New York metropolitan area for their vivid shots with gorgeous lighting. A big plus was that they’d shot at our venue in the past, so we can get an idea of how our photos would look. Take a look at some of their work:
The only caveat? They are pure photojournalists. They will not do any posed shots (and I know my parents want some posed portraits), nor will they Photoshop anything (what if I wake up with a face full of zits on my wedding day?). In addition, they are a bit on the pricey side - they quoted us $5,000 for a full day coverage which includes:
An engagement photo session would cost another $800, which is the most I’ve been quoted. If we decided to go with them, we would definitely need to cut back elsewhere.
Another team we found was John & Joseph Photography, two Korean brothers based in Seattle (they’re willing to travel for assignments). Their work is GORGEOUS - an impressionistic style of photojournalism. Apparently, they’ve won all sorts of awards for their work and are ranked among the top in the nation for wedding photojournalists. Check out these photos from their latest wedding:
I knew they would be expensive, but I thought to myself, “Well if everything in NY costs double the rest of the nation, maybe they won’t be too expensive since they’re based in Seattle.”
They promptly emailed me back with an extensive quote. Their packages range from $3,400 for 6 hours of coverage by one photographer and 400 photos (the cheapest)……all the way to $13,000 
for 11 hours of coverage by both photographers, 900 photos, albums, the whole shabang. Engagement sessions run from $300 to $800. We would also need to pay for round-trip tickets and two nights lodging. Totally out of our budget. 
Then I came across Henry Chan. Here are some photos from the first page of his blog:
Beautiful! The best part is that he’s within our budget! Henry charges $3,600 for 8 hours of work (and $300 each additional hour), with 500-700 photos, travel and assistant. We emailed back and forth a few times….then when we finally set our date, we told him.
…he’s booked on our wedding date. 
He’s only booked one day in April 2008, and it’s our day. What are the chances?
However, he did recommend some other photographers who are within our budget and similar to his style.
The search continued…
|
Share this post: Photographers
oh no! actually, that happened to me, too… found an awesome photographer, got all set to go, and then one of his couples switched their wedding date to ours, and because we hadn’t signed anything yet… 
BUT, he did find us a photographer I LOVE, so i am happy about the way everything turned out!
i love henry chan! i actually just emailed him the other day to set up an appointment. good luck with your search~~
one of my referred vendors is jeremy evans thomas - http://www.lifeinblue.com He’s affordable, and Philadelphia is close by. He also shot Mrs. Ladybug’s wedding. He’s great and also has a photojournalistic style.
I recomend Tony Yang of Yang Photography. His work is beautiful and tells a story. His website is http://wedding.knsaber.com/story/ Mrs Ant used him as well as did I. He is a close personal friend from college but I would have used him even if he wasn’t. His work speaks for itself and his prices are great for what he does.
I’m getting married in December in NYC and using Frank Ammaccapane at Natural Expressions. http://www.naturalexpressionsny.com/
Frank uses a photo journalistic style but will also do posed shots. He’s great!!!!
Why is there something so amazing about a bride in a subway station? The contrast is beautiful! I love it.
If I only lived near a subway….
I’m getting married in Sept. 07 & just took our wedding portrait/engagement pics in July — using Wedding Box in Flushing. Their photographer Rex is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I highly, highly recommend them — and their price is average, with very flexible packages. http://www.wedding-box.com : )
I know you’ll get 800 suggestions, but if you want another, call Jerome Braga http://www.studio1923.com
He’s amazing. (In fact, someone tried to steal him for our wedding date in February. I guess I would be upset if he were booked and maybe try to steal him too.) He’s photojournalistic but he’ll do all the posed shots for your family if you want. Plus, you get everything with him and his assistant: a website with photos all set to music after the wedding, digitals of everything, he styles a bunch of shots (a few hundred if I recall), engagement session, album (a cool one, not those old fashioned ones), and he’s super easy to work with. He’s got different packages, but I think they all include those basics.
Awww Miss Peony, that’s too bad! Henry is doing our wedding. I love Henry! I am sure whomever he recommends will be just as great.
My husband and I loved Henry Chan, however he was also booked for our wedding, but we found Gabriel Gibson and fell in love! He was fabulous there is one picture on our website http://www.alyandjordan.com/?p=154 and here is his:
http://gabrielgibsonphoto.com/
His prices are very resonable, and he is great to work with.
Alright, I agree you’ll get tons of suggestions - but, that’s not always a bad thing, right? Plus, who doesn’t love looking at wedding photos?
Every one of our guests who sees our wedding photos has nothing but raves for our photographers - Kristin Spencer and her husband, Jared. We have received so many compliments on our wedding photos the best of which is, “I wish I had known about them for our wedding.” And, while they’re based in Rhode Island, they will definitely travel!
Here is the link to the blog with oodles of examples of their work: http://www.kristinspencer.com/blog/
And, if you’re curious, our wedding photos are here: http://www.kristinspencer.com/blog/C586723384/E20070309140446/index.html 
Good luck with your photographer search!
I agree you’ll get tons of suggestions - but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Who doesn’t love looking at wedding photos, right?
We’ve received tons of compliments on our photos (curious? check them out: http://www.kristinspencer.com/blog/C586723384/E20070309140446/index.html) and we couldn’t be happier! Our photographers’ style is similar to the photos you posted.
Kristin Spencer Photography - based in Rhode Island, but willing to travel - check out the blog! http://www.kristinspencer.com/blog/index.html
and her website is http://www.kristinspencer.com.
Good luck with your search!
Check out Kenny Pang
The picture of that little boy peeking his head around the pew is too cute!!
Good luck with your search!
My photographer works in NYC and his packages range from $2500 to $6,000. He is a photojournalist (and a member of the WPJA) but he will spend an hour doing posed shots and he includes an engagement session. Here’s his website:
http://weddings.forbescreative.com/
Also check out my post about our e-pics to see how they turned out. http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/07/19/come-on-baby-dont-fear-the-reaper/
Good luck!!
that’s too bad about henry chan - he did our wedding last october and we were so pleased with the photos.
ps- miss snow pea, our pics are just before your engagement pics on henry’s blog
i love something in blue too… but i do find it strange that they wont even do family portrait shots! not one! it’s such an important shot too! maybe the most important!
I think you should try out Julie Flynn. She’s really nice, I e-mail her a couple of times and I’m thinking of doing my engagement session with her. I think her price range is pretty reasonable.
Hello. Ms. Peony. I’m Homes’ FI. I saw you at Highlight studio the other day. One of my friends bought a dress there. wat a small world. anywaz. Amy told me to check out your blog. haha. I booked Spencer Lum from 5 west studio. He is super nice and i like his work alot. Check out his website. price are prettty reasonable.
Pics 3-5 from Henry Chan is of my friend’s wedding! He did an amazing job! So sorry to hear he’s booked for your date….maybe you want to try Kevin at Dynasty Weddings. They are pretty reasonable when it comes to prices. You can check them out at http://www.dynastyweddings.com Good Luck!
Pictures are the most important thing for me and my fiance also. So we called the photographer that I had dreamed of using and found out what dates she was availble and used her schedule to set our wedding date!!! It may seem extreme, but it was the only way I could know for sure I could get her!!
Check out my photographer Brian Tsai at Life Mosaics. He doesn’t charge an arm and leg for destination weddings. He’s based in Texas, and is probably expensive for Texas, but since I live in CA, he was actually less expensive than a local photographer. You can see his work at http://www.lifemosaics.com
Call Kenny Pang! Go meet with him.. you’ll love him and his work!
We just had an engagement shoot with him yesterday and I am even more convinced that we made a perfect choice for photography!
Good luck!
I am going to put my name in the hat too I travel and my packages are very afforable:)
http://www.melissakoehlerphotography.com
THanks!
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Peony, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer
Engagement Date: June 28, 2007
Wedding Date: April 18, 2008
Venue: The Fountainhead
Blogging Since: August 7, 2007
About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Latest Gallery Pics