DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: With digital photography taking the forefront in our industry we feel that it is necessary to inform and educate our couples on just what Digital Photography really is! We will try to do this in easy terms that the average person can come to terms with. In some cases the photographers have not yet come to terms with it!

We would like to start by explaining that capturing digital images has completely and positively become the only way to record a wedding or any other photo for that matter. Overnight the film cameras have become obsolete. The reason is that the new high resolution photos taken with a good digital camera can be made into just about anything you want. Because they are digital they can be taken into certain programs on a computer and manipulated to be color, sepia, or black and white. They can be cropped, repositioned, the tone and colors can be changed, different things can be altered or removed, and to be honest, the sky is the limit.

At this point we would also like to explain that there is a bit of work involved in this process as well as the capability and knowledge to accomplish the right outcome. Many hours are spent fine tuning a special photo that may be going into a competition or being made into a large portrait for your family to treasure forever. The outcome is usually not just a photo but a work of art! The experts that produce this art do have to be paid for their time and expertise but the end results can be astounding!

Now we would like to tell you a little bit about what a digital image is. Most of the newer professional digital cameras can shoot in a raw format that can be manipulated in many ways without loosing any of the quality of the original image. If images are shot in a high resolution they are large files and this makes them clearer and sharper images if taken correctly. Keep in mind that the average person cannot even open this file on his computer. There are special programs that are made for doing this and if you are a computer geek or Photo Shop expert you may want to do your own editing of your images. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and always be sure to backup all of your images before you start! If you are not going to edit your own images there are lots of great photo labs that can help you with the process. You send a copy of the images you want to them and they do all the cropping and color corrections for you. We will give you a list of some of the better Labs and album companies to use or you can find your own online these days. You may even know of a good Lab or Album company in your home town. When we give you your CD or DVD to take home, your images will be in a jpeg format that can be viewed with no problem. You can also do what is typically needed to print if you have a program like Photo Shop that will allow you to do this. In the jpeg format you do loose a little of the quality when you do a lot of manipulation or changes. It will not be anything that the average eye will notice but we want you to understand the difference between jpeg and raw formatting. If you are computer savvy and want your images in raw format you can request this when ordering your photography package. There is an additional charge for this service.

Even if you do not intend to do your own editing and printing you will want to make a couple of backup discs when you receive your images. We recommend that you keep at least one copy at a relative or friends house just in case of a fire or robbery. You do not want anything to happen to your original images. Always be careful not to save or copy over them when working in your photo editor. Save all manipulated files to a separate file on your computer.

RESOLUTION: In simple terms resolution determines the final outcome of your image. If you have ever printed an ad or done any computer graphics you may know what DPI means. If you have never heard this term before it means Dots Per Inch. Try to visualize this: If there are 10 dots in a square inch your inch does not appear solid. If there are 600 dots in your inch it is a lot more solid. Therefore when printed it is clearer. That is why when you send something to print you have to send it with a higher resolution (or more dots per inch) to get a clear print. We hope this helps you to understand why the higher resolution is so important. You should also realize that the higher resolution is not so great when you use your images on the computer. Most computer images are saved at 72 DPI. On the computer screen these images look acceptable and also load faster if used in a web page. Most print images are saved and printed at 300 DPI or sometimes even higher depending on the use. If you print an image at 72 DPI it will look grainy and have pretty poor quality.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS: Using a professional photographer to record your memories and special moments is even more important then you can imagine. Our photographers make a great effort to capture your images on the finest equipment available. It is their responsibility to provide you with images that you will treasure forever. It is important that your original digital images are taken correctly to keep the need for manipulation or corrections to a minimum. Remember that you will either pay an expert to do this or you will be putting the effort into it yourself. In most cases with professional images the only changes might be cropping, sizing or changing the color to black and white, which only takes a few minutes. This is not a time consuming or expensive process.

If you have ever wondered why most professional photographers are a little expensive you might want to consider the fact that their equipment is very expensive and does need to be kept up to date! It is not uncommon for a photographer to charge $5,000 to $30,000 to shoot a wedding and produce a final wedding album for you. In these situations you never own your own images. These photographers will usually shoot about 2000 images and then narrow your choices down to about 800. We feel that this is a little overkill for a Maui wedding. It is also pretty exhausting for the couples.

At Romantic Maui Weddings we believe that it important to give you great images, but since you are coming to a destination for your wedding or honeymoon, we want to provide you with the images to take home and do with as you please. When you leave Maui your images are yours to keep and take care of. You can view your images on your computer and take the time to put your own album together. Whether you do it yourself or have an Album company produce it for you, you will save lots of dollars! Again, if you have no clue where to send your images we will give you a list of your best options for the traditional wedding album or wedding books.

When we meet with you in our office after you arrive we will ask you questions pertaining to your guests and what you expect from your photographer. If you order any of the deluxe packages, he or she may even attend this meeting. At that time you can let us know if there are any special shots you feel you want or MUST have! Your photographer will always take the standard posed and expected wedding photos but if you have a style of photography you like just let us know. We love to shoot candid shots that capture the feelings and emotions of the moments you will be having. Keep in mind that if you are not having those emotions we cannot record them (just a little humor).

With the larger package, your photographer will meet with you shortly after the wedding. At that time you can view the images the photographer has chosen for your package. These images are always the best and in an order that tells your wedding story. You will then have the option of purchasing any additional images that you may want At this time you will also be given an image release to assure that when you get home and try to make prints, you will not have any problems.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. Hopefully it has been helpful to you. If you have any questions feel free to call our office at any time! 800 808-4144.

Mahalo!

Sandy