Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

Yes!!! I will travel anywhere you’d like me to go. I include travel throughout the state of Wisconsin and within a 150-mile radius of Denver, Colorado in my packages free of charge. And if you’re outside of those areas, fear not! My travel fees are minimal. :)

My packages and prices depend on the year your wedding taking place, and the state it’s taking place in (since I live in both Wisconsin and Colorado). Packages begin at $1899, but I also allow you to create a custom photography package that fits both your photography needs and your budget! Please contact me for more information, so we can work together to create a package that is perfect for you!

Definitely! Some photographers hire out weddings to other contract/associate photographers. I am not one of them. When you book me, you are stuck with me! Muahahahaha!

I do not require that we meet in person before the wedding, though I do highly encourage it. Because you may be spending more time with me on the wedding day than anyone else who is in attendance at the wedding, I like to make sure that I know you well and understand your vision for the wedding day. If you are unable to meet in person, a phone call or even a video chat online would be great. I have Skype, gmail/gtalk, and just about every other instant messaging system under the sun – just ask me to chat and I will be there!

Yes! Although I’m perfectly comfortable photographing a wedding solo, I prefer working with one of my talented assistants. Having an assistant photographer not only provides backup coverage in case my photography equipment were to fail, but it also provides you with a second angle of every detail of your day. Most likely you will get to meet my primary assistant Lexie, who has been photographing weddings with me for 3 years. I like to joke that I “found her on the street”. She was discovered downtown photographing herself for her senior portraits, so I offered her a job, and the rest is history. She is currently attending college for photography and graphic design, and we love working together at weddings! (side note – equipment failure is rare. I take great care of my equipment, and only once has my camera stalled during a wedding, in which case my assistant was available to continue coverage while I quickly switched to my backup camera).

Yes! This is a popular request, and I understand the desire to own a copy of all your wedding images. I do provide all of the high-resolution digital negatives (at least 8×10 in size, many larger) along with a copyright license that allows you to make prints from the files. I provide a copy of each photo in color, black and white, and sepia tone, because many times when you take a color file to one of the self-serve printing machines and try to turn it black and white, it will lead to less-than-desirable results. Printing a copy from the provided black and white photo will look much nicer! A side note – please consider purchasing an album as well! Recently, many couples have been purchasing digital negatives in lieu of an album, but in 50 years will you desire to sit and reminisce over a disc containing thousands of images?

Chocolate truffles! Just kidding…a $500 retainer and a signed agreement is all that is required to secure Kim as your photographer. The photography package you choose and all prices are written into the agreement so you don’t need to worry about any prices changing between booking and your wedding date. Any payments can be made by cash, check, or credit card. Please contact me (Kim) if you need more information or would like to book your wedding right away!

Yes! After your wedding, you may view your photos online in a password-protected gallery for 3 months. Depending on the package you choose, you may also receive an 11×14 proof magazine. This proof magazine gives you a hard copy of every photo taken at your wedding. It is great for family members to share if they do not have access to the online gallery, and it is a keepsake you can use to look at all your wedding photos (or order prints) long after the online gallery has expired.

On average, it’s about 4-5 weeks before the photos are available online for viewing, and may be quicker depending on the volume of weddings being photographed at the time. But I know how anxious you will be to see your wedding photos, so I do post sneak previews of some of the photos in the immediate days following the wedding.

I could bombard you with a million different technical terms (like Canon 5DMII and L-series glass, etc), but it’s really not about the equipment — more importantly, it’s that I know how to use the equipment. I use professional Canon equipment, and I have multiple lenses and cameras that I carry with me to each wedding. (I’ll admit it, I’m a backup maniac…I carry three cameras to weddings…I have backups of my backups!).

2011 is my 7th year of photographing weddings, and I have loved every minute of it. While in college, I assisted another photographer for 2 years before starting Life is Art Photography. With 9 years of experience I’ve photographed over 100 weddings, but I can still tell a good story about every single one of them. Like the time I stepped in a steamy pile of dog *poo* in the churchyard, or the child seated at the back of the church who yelled “Yay!!! …is it over now mom?” after the bride and groom kissed. Try it–ask me about any photo in my wedding gallery!

The best way to experience my photography style is by viewing my gallery of engagment and wedding photos. The gallery holds photos taken at real weddings and engagement sessions (not styled photography shoots with models like many other photographers show in their portfolios). No matter where your wedding takes place, I am confident that I can provide you with many gallery-worthy photos that you’ll love. I am a photojounalistic photographer, meaning I capture the candid and beautiful moments that are inherent at every wedding, but I am not a complete fly-on-the-wall. I may ask you to step into an area with better light, or I may move a distracting object in the background, because part of my job is also to make you look your best in your photographs. I will create artistic photographs when I see an opportunity, so I can provide you with photographs that are worthy of hanging on the walls of your home. So if you prefer photographs of the candid and fleeting moments at your wedding, you don’t want cheesy photos, and you like what you see in my gallery, please consider hiring me as your wedding photographer!

This is a tough question to answer. Rather than promising to provide a set number of images, I make sure I capture every fleeting moment of the day. Sometimes that means I’ll provide 20 photos during one hour of photography coverage, and sometimes it means I’ll provide 220. On average, I would say you can expect to receive about 100 photos for every hour of photography coverage my assistant and I provide.

Yes! We always scout out new locations before the wedding to make sure we are well-prepared and familiar with the area. If you’d like to see photos of some of the locations we’ve photographed for the first-time, just ask!

Oh do I ever! I have backups of my backups…of my backups. To each wedding I carry at least 3 camera bodies, multiple sets of lenses, and more than enough batteries and camera cards to cover the event. When I am done with a camera card, I can put it in a portable hard drive that will keep a copy of the photos I’ve just taken. And I always keep the camera cards on my body at all times – that way, if someone does happen to walk off with my camera bag, none of the wedding images walk away with them.