FAQ

I accept cash, Venmo and Zelle. Checks are not accepted.

I deliver high resolution digital images via an online gallery, typically at or around 1920 pixels per long side.

As the creator of the art, I own the copyright to all images I create, which is both state and federal law. Don’t worry though! You’ll receive a license to use the photos in nearly any way you like, with only a few limitations (like not being able to remove my logo except in certain circumstances, not being able to sell the images or assign rights to them, and no commercial uses without permission from me).

You are welcome to print images up to 8×10 inches on a home printer for personal use. For wall art, sizes larger than 8×10 and all other print needs, you can order professional prints, canvases, and more directly through the gallery. I use one of the best professional printers in America, White House Custom Color. Please note: your license does not include permission to print photos at budget printing locations like CVS, Walmart, Shutterfly, etc.

Yes, non-commercial clients can purchase the copyright for $1500 per gallery, or $500 if you allow me to use the photos for promotional purposes. You will then have complete ownership of the images and can do anything you’d like with them, and unless you choose the promotional option, I will no longer have any right to use the images in any way. Commercial clients will need to negotiate a separate agreement on a case-by-case basis.

Absolutely! Feel free to share the photos anywhere you like, as long as my logo remains visible. You can remove my logo for use at home or for use in a personal/commercial website design (as long as the website belongs to you), but please leave the logo on for all other purposes.

You may edit the photos in any way you like for personal use that won’t be shared online or through email. For any image that could or will be shared online (social media or otherwise) or sent to others through email, please don’t edit the photos beyond basic cropping. I’ve worked very hard over the years to develop my style and vibe, and when others see my work, it should look like my work.

If you need more extensive edits, I’m happy to do them for an additional fee.

Yes, I carry liability insurance and I’m licensed to work in San Luis Obispo County and others.

You can find all session types here.

I primarily shoot on-location (beaches, downtown areas, homes, businesses etc) but if you have a session idea that works better in a studio, we can rent studio time locally, for an extra fee.

Sure! Assuming the details of your session remain the same, as long as you request the reschedule at least 21 days prior to your session, I’m happy to move your session to any open date on my calendar. Reschedule requests inside of 21 days will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Reschedules within 7 days of your session are typically not possible without an additional fee.

Of course! You are always welcome to cancel, but I definitely recommend rescheduling if possible, because you’ll lose 50% of your payment if you cancel, regardless of the reason for cancellation and if you cancel within 7 days of your session date you will forfeit your entire fee.

Why the hefty penalties for cancellation? Because the closer to a session date the cancellation, the more difficult it is to re-book that date, which means a very large potential loss of income and loss of time from the work already performed getting ready for a session like scouting locations, consulting with clients, preparing mood boards, prepping equipment, etc.

The good thing is, if I do manage to book a new session for your canceled date at the same booking fee as yours at least 7 days before your scheduled shoot, then I will fully refund your session!

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a guarantee that your session will be refunded. Any refund is fully dependent on my ability to book a new session of equal or greater fee on your date.

If I’m unable to attend, I’ll try to reschedule first, or if that’s not possible, I’ll attempt to find a replacement photographer of a similar skill level – either one of my associate photographers or a peer in the local community. If none are available, I’ll refund your fees in full and I’ll give you a $50 discount code valid one time towards any future booking, and the code is transferable!

You are welcome to coordinate your outfits on your own, or I can provide a Pinterest board with all kinds of outfit inspiration. One suggestion: if wearing matching colors, it’s better to wear similar shades of the same color rather than everyone wearing the exact same color. Also keep in mind that bold prints, patterns and graphics can be very distracting and draw the attention away from you. Consider solid colors or less-obvious patterns/prints.

If you booked a Signature Session, then yes! It allows outfit changes. Keep in mind that the more outfits you change into, the less time we have to photograph you, and though one hour seems like a long time, that time can be eaten up quickly by multiple outfit changes. I recommend two outfits per one hour session.

Absolutely! As long as they respond well to your direction, dogs and other pets that can be easily directed or managed are welcome in any session. And even if they're a wild one, I'm totally fine with you bringing them as long as you don't mind them running wild, lol. Please note, I can’t guarantee that your pet will be looking at the camera in any shots, but we’ll work together to try to make it happen!

You can typically expect to see your edited images within 7 business days of your session! A three day rush is available for $50 per session, a next day rush is available for $100 and a same day rush is available for $200 (same day rushes are not available for events that end after 8p).

If it’s raining, we can either reschedule the session or explore indoor location options. If it’s just gray or windy, or even if it’s just sprinkling a little here and there, we’ll still shoot! Gray days provide very even lighting and we can get some great shots. I do reserve the right to cancel and reschedule if the weather worsens during the session.

Yes, you’re welcome to bring a guest for support or to help with any little ones. Please note, if you want them to actually be in the session and be photographed, there’s an extra fee of $50 per adult, which is due in advance or at the session itself. There is never a fee for extra children, as long as the children are siblings. Children who are extended family or friends are $25 per child.

Sure! Assuming the details of your event booking remain the same (for example, there is no additional cost to me like a longer driving distance or extra equipment needs), and as long as you request the reschedule at least 21 days prior to your session, I’m happy to move your session to any open date on my calendar at no extra charge.

Reschedule requests inside of 21 days will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but are not guaranteed.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the extremely high potential of lost income from not being able to re-book your original event date, if I agree to a reschedule within 7 days, there will be an additional fee of $250 due prior to reserving the rescheduled date on my calendar. If, at that point, you prefer to cancel and book another photographer, you are welcome to cancel, but please be aware that cancellations within 7 days of your event are fully non-refundable.

Of course! You are always welcome to cancel, but I definitely recommend rescheduling if possible, because you’ll lose 50% of your payment if you cancel, regardless of the reason for cancellation (including deaths in the family or moving out of the area) and if you cancel within 7 days of your session date you will forfeit your entire fee.

Why the hefty penalties for cancellation? Because the closer to a session date the cancellation, the more difficult it is to re-book that date, which means a very large potential loss of income and loss of time from the work already performed getting ready for a session like scouting locations, consulting with clients, preparing mood boards, prepping equipment, etc.

The good thing is, if I do manage to book a new session for your canceled date at the same booking fee as yours at least 7 days before your event, then I will fully refund your session!

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a guarantee that your session will be refunded. Any refund is fully dependent on my ability to book a new event of equal or greater fee on your date.

If I’m unable to attend, I’ll make every reasonable attempt to find a replacement photographer of a similar skill level - either one of my associate photographers or a peer in the local community. If I'm able to find a replacement up to my standards, I'll pay them the fee you paid me to cover your event, minus a small portion to cover any work I've already done, AND I'll give you $100 in credit towards your next event of two hours or more. If I'm unable to find a suitable replacement, not only will I refund your fees in full, but your next booking with me will be 50% off!

For most events, you can typically expect to receive your full gallery within 21 days of your session. We'll provide ten or fifteen images from your event for a sneak peek or press use within 3 days.

If you need your full gallery delivered sooner, a 7 day rush is available for $100 per session, a 2 day rush is available for $200, and a same/next day rush is available for $300. Same day is only available for local events that finish before 9pm.

PLEASE NOTE: Larger events with 100 or more guests may take an extra week for delivery.

If it’s raining hard, then I will only be able to photograph the parts of your event with indoor locations. If it’s just gray or windy, or even if it’s just sprinkling a little here and there, I can still shoot! Gray days provide very even lighting and we can get some great shots. But heavier weather conditions make it impossible for me to continue to photograph due to the potential damage to my equipment.

PLEASE NOTE: There are no refunds for your event being interrupted or canceled for any reason outside of my control.

I photograph weddings throughout the Central Coast (including San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara and more). For a $500 travel fee, I photograph weddings in the SF Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Basin. Travel beyond these regions is possible, just ask for a custom travel quote.

Most couples book 6 to 12 months in advance, especially for peak months (May through October). If your wedding is sooner, reach out anyway because occasional openings do pop up!

My work blends documentary storytelling with modern portraiture – natural, emotive and cinematic, more candid and less posed. In addition to the beautiful photos I’ll be getting of you throughout the day, I also mingle with your guests, getting to know them, helping them feel more comfortable around me, and that helps me capture genuine interactions, real expressions and especially, a lot of small or interesting details that are often missed by photographers.

Absolutely. Though I aim for a more candid day overall, there are definitely times when we’ll be doing posed photos, and I will guide you in a way that will help you feel natural and comfortable instead of stiff and over-posed. My goal is to create relaxed, flattering images that really feel like you.

Sure! I’m happy to review your wedding day timeline and offer suggestions so we make the most of the schedule and lighting.

All wedding tiers include:

• High-resolution images exported at 100% quality.
• Full standard editing (color correction, lighting adjustments, cropping, etc). Retouching is extra (blemish removal, stray hair removal, replacing closed eyes, etc).
• A beautiful, high quality online gallery for viewing, downloading and sharing your big day. Prints are ordered directly through the gallery. Gallery can be made private on request.
• Additional options can be added a la carte.

Your date is reserved once I receive a signed contract and 50% pre-payment. The remaining balance is due 7 days before your wedding. Until the first payment is received, your date will stay open for booking, even with a signed contract.

All you need to do to make it official is to pay your initial 50% fee and sign your wedding agreement! You can find pricing and booking information here.

Mostly time and coverage depth. Shorter packages are built around making sure we capture the most important moments of the day while longer coverage gives us room to breathe, which means better candids, less rushing during portraits and a more complete story of the day. With higher tiers, you can also get an additional photographer (better coverage), a lighting assistant (better low-light shots, like during a reception) or additional sessions (engagement, bridal portraits, family).

No. The packages are intentionally structured as complete coverage options, not ala carte menus. Each one is designed to work as a whole.

Shorter weddings are already accounted for with a separate elopement/micro-wedding package, which is priced well below the standard wedding tiers at $1200.

For weekday weddings, I offer limited discounts! From April through October, Monday through Thursday weddings receive $300 off, and from November through March, Monday through Thursday weddings receive $500 off.

Friday through Sunday weddings are always full price.

Local travel is included, which generally means Santa Barbara to Paso Robles and nearby areas. For weddings in the Los Angeles Basin or the SF Bay Area, I’m happy to travel for a $500 travel/hotel fee.

Services are not generally taxed in California, but any required taxes will be discussed in advance and handled according to local/state regulations when applicable.

Not always! But having two photographers can help a lot when timing is tight, or when you have a lot of guests (100 or more), or when special moments are happening in different places at the same time. For example, having two photographers means each partner gets their own photographer when getting ready in different locations. Or during the ceremony, one photographer can be focused on the couple while the other captures reactions from family and friends in the audience.

The dance floor is another great example. One photographer can capture the Bride and Groom busting moves on one side of the dance floor while the other is photographing a father spinning his daughter around on the other side, or one photographer can be on the dance floor while the other circulates among the other guests.

For smaller or simpler weddings, one photographer is more than enough. For larger ones, a second photographer is recommended if you want a lot more coverage and flexibility.

No, a lighting assistant isn’t an additional photographer. A lighting assistant helps carry and manage equipment, set things up/take things down, and hold off-camera lighting, all things that help your actual photographer create better images and focus on the things that matter instead of missing an important shot because he had to make multiple trips to carry equipment in or because he was setting up lighting in another room.

Engagement sessions are relaxed two to three hour portrait sessions with time built in to chat. It gives you plenty of time to warm up to being in front of the camera. We’ll talk ahead of time about the overall vibe, where we’ll shoot and what you’re thinking about wearing. On the shoot day, I’ll give you direction and pose you, and ideas from you are always welcome.

Engagement sessions are a great way to learn how I work before the wedding and to get more comfortable working together, which will make your wedding photos better, too!

You’ll receive 30 to 45 beautiful, edited images in an online gallery within 7 days of your session.

This flexibility lets you choose what makes the most sense for you: an engagement session in regular clothing before the wedding, or bridal portraits in a gown and tux either before or after the wedding. Some couples already have recent couple portraits, and others simply prefer bridal portraits over engagement shots.

Yes! Engagement sessions are available as standalone sessions or as add-ons to any wedding package. They’re a great way to get to know each other a little more, and give me a chance to help you get comfortable in front of the camera, before your big day.

I welcome any must-have requests (like VIP guests traveling from out of the country or sentimental details, for example), but I generally don’t take full shot lists. We’ll definitely chat about any must-have shots, but a list of every shot you’d like isn’t necessary – you can trust my two decades of experience to get you all of the shots you’re hoping for.

Definitely. I collaborate well with other vendors and I work closely with videographers to coordinate angles and timing so we avoid being in each other’s shots as much as possible. Alternatively, you can add the wedding film package when you book and I’ll coordinate booking a local film team I trust or have worked with.

Because weddings aren’t straightforward like most hourly jobs. Even the smallest wedding package requires planning, timeline coordination and editing and because there’s no second chance if something goes wrong, you want the best of the best doing that work, which requires a more premium cost.

Many people think of wedding photography as just “showing up and shooting photos on the wedding day”, but what you’re paying for isn’t just the time the photographer spends shooting on your wedding day, it’s everything that has to happen before, after and in-between, and it’s a lot of detailed work that requires significant experience and talent.

When extra time is booked in advance, it’s easy to plan for. Timelines can be adjusted, staffing can be set and everyone knows what the day looks like right from the start. When extra time is added day-of, it means changing plans that have often been locked in for weeks or months. I’m happy to offer day-of extensions when possible, but they can significantly impact us and our schedules, which is why they’re priced higher.

In most cases, staying late isn’t a problem as long as I don’t have a wedding the next morning, but because my overtime rate is higher than my standard hourly rate, the extra coverage has to be clearly requested by the Bride or Groom (not a planner) and paid for before the extra coverage begins, via Venmo, Zelle or cash.

Keeping album ordering separate lets you decide – you can order in advance, or you can order after you’ve seen your photos, when you might have a better idea of what you’d like included in an album. Either way is fine and the pricing is the same regardless. Tax applies to the purchase of wedding albums.

Depending on the length and scale of your wedding, you could receive anywhere from 300 to 900 (or more) edited photos from a full-day of coverage. In general, smaller weddings (small beach ceremonies, backyard-style or civil ceremonies for example) receive fewer images while larger weddings (150 to 300 guests or multi-day weddings) receive more.

Edited wedding galleries are delivered within 3 weeks (21 days) after your wedding. I also like to deliver a small sneak peek gallery within a few days of your wedding (sometimes next day!). It’s important to note that all delivery dates and deadlines are estimates only and not guaranteed. Quality always takes priority over speed.

Wedding gallery hosting is guaranteed for one year from your wedding date. While not guaranteed beyond that, galleries typically remain hosted indefinitely unless there’s a specific reason they need to be removed.

Of course! You’re free to share your photos anywhere. Credit is required when sharing publicly, but as long as my logo is clearly visible in the corner, you’re all set. If the logo will be cropped or not visible, then a simple name credit or link to https://namu.love will do.

Yes. Albums can be ordered before or after the wedding and wall art can be ordered through your gallery at any time. I use professional-grade printing labs for color-accurate, archival-quality products.

Hopefully your venue has a weather contingency plan with a backup location for the ceremony and reception, but for portraits, as long as the rain is just sprinkling, we can still photograph in it. Honestly, if we’ve got access to umbrellas, some cool photos can happen in the rain – you could end up with some very unique wedding photos! Unfortunately, to protect my equipment, I won’t be able to shoot in more serious weather conditions (heavy rain, storming, high winds, etc).

Yes. I bring professional camera bodies, lenses, flashes and storage cards to every wedding. Your memories are protected with redundant on-site and off-site backups.

Yes. I carry full business insurance and can provide a COI to your venue if they request it.

No. If a photo isn’t in your gallery, it wasn’t delivered for a specific reason – it either wasn’t up to my standard of quality, it contained something inappropriate (wind blowing up a skirt, for example) or it was too blurry to use. Those images are all deleted to save space.

And raw files are never delivered because they’re unfinished versions of images and not meant for public view. Even if you, a family member or friend have experience editing, no raw files are delivered because every delivered image is hand-edited to match my visual style and professional standards.

Delivered images include a very small, subtle watermark in the lower corner. It’s intentionally unobtrusive and helps protect my work while still keeping the focus on your photos.

In the unlikely event that I’m unable to photograph your wedding, we’ll try two things, in order. First, I’ll make every reasonable attempt to find a replacement photographer of a similar skill level – either one of my associate photographers or a qualified peer in the local community. If I do find a replacement up to my standards, I’ll pay them the fee you paid me to cover your event *and* I’ll give you $200 in credit towards any future portrait session or event coverage, with no restrictions.

If the first option is unsuccessful, I will refund your fees in full and I’ll also give you a gift certificate for one free full portrait session ($500 value), and one hour of free event coverage ($200 value).