Victoria G Review:
Dear Joseph,
I wanted to take a few moments to express our appreciation for the wonderful job you did for us during our wedding. But I decided instead to recommend you by addressing this email to anyone who wishes to hire a photographer to document an event of personal significance to them.
Choosing a photographer is not easy. In fact, entrusting your memories (and really the only relic of the event) to a complete stranger, can be frightening. You may have no clear idea what you want, or may not know exactly what to ask for. And even if you do know what you want, there's no guarantee the professional you hire will deliver. To top it all off, you need to spend a small fortune on this leap of faith. First of all, let me assure you that there is no simple way to make a choice that will guarantee you great pictures of your event. You probably have to spend a good deal of money and even then, you will only get great pictures if you have a great photographer. If you're reading this review, you're probably interested in finding a photographer who will provide that superb end-product.
For our wedding, Joseph did just that. He and his assistants were able to anticipate moments, were courteous, professional, and unobtrusive. They are also very talented on set pieces and candid shots, they use top notch equipment, are on time and offer a good selection of packages for you to choose from.
What can you expect from a great photographer?
Well, primarily, they must be able to make you look good. Check out Joseph's sample pictures. Examine how he composes them. What is in them? How they are framed? How vibrant the colors are and how intense the contrasts? Notice how he includes a good mix of close-ups and shots from a distance. Notice also how he varies the angles and the height as well as the lens used for each shot.
It's also quite obvious he invests a considerable amount of time in post production. We can also attest to his expertise in using natural light or flash, even in conditions which posed quite a challenge, such as very dim light at the Golden Gate or an evening reception in a room surrounded by windows. We particularly liked his ability to take shots where the subjects are lined up across the depth of the composition, so that the figures in the background look like they're receding, at times sharply contrasting, but often captured softly out of focus.
Joseph also does a great job capturing the feeling of the event, probably because his pictures lean toward candid/photojournalism type shots rather than set pieces (although he did a fabulous job on those, too, for us).In the end of course you have to answer for yourself the most important question: do you like what you see? Would you like your wedding to look like Joseph's samples?
If you look at Joseph's work you'll see that he exudes a certain mood. Is the mood of the photos to your taste? For our part we took months to make final choices for the album - the pictures were so good it was heartbreaking every time we had to "cut" one. Joseph never lost patience
with us and didn't rush us. He just kept in touch until we were able to make selections we could live with.
Everyone wants their own unique signature event. Tastes can differ. But there is one thing all couples want and should get out of their wedding photos. They ought to look like superstars. Thanks to you, Joseph, we did.