Keep all of your photos forever! Every package includes a CD with at least 700+ of your professionally edited photos. Store your files on your computer, create prints, and share them with family and friends! And to make sure every picture is sharp and vibrantly colored, every single one of your wedding pictures undergoes a 3 Step Editing process. With our professional team by your side, you’ll be the most relaxed person at your wedding! Imagine this: time to enjoy your soon-to-be husband, family, and friends, while our husband/wife team and lighting crew organize your entire portrait schedule and keep you and your guests laughing and having a good time. There will be no need for your family members to huddle around you frantically asking questions like, “Where should we be for pictures?“ and “Can we get one with the bride and her cousin?“ because we’ll know your cousin’s name by the day of your wedding! Our extensive family pose list will keep everyone in order and will keep you relaxed and smiling the whole time. Our Three person team is able to capture all of the important moments We know when to stay out of the way and let the moment happen, and when to step in and make sure your pictures will be amazing. You can be sure that every special moment will be captured. Ross & Melissa James are your two full time photographers on your wedding day, and our lighting assistant, Jeff, also shoots during the ceremony. You get the same team every time, with no company photographers. Your wedding deserves the real deal. “Top 10 Things Wedding Photographers DON’T Tell Brides” click HERE to receive FREE report! Choosing your photographer is the most important decision you need to make... besides who your groom will be! Years from now, your pictures will be one of the only ways you will be able to re-live the most important day of your life. Your future children are going to want to re-live the day your family began, and you need crystal clear pictures that truly tell the story of your day. In light of all this, your photographer is honestly one of the most important people at your wedding. With digital products so available, everyone is a wedding photographer these days. And it‘s easy to take at least 5 good pictures and put them on a cool website. But this is your wedding day we’re talking about. You’ve got one chance to remember this forever, and you want to see more than 5 awesome images. You want to know if you’ll get amazing pictures of the moment when you put your dress on for the first time, if your photographer will know to capture your mother’s face during the ceremony, and if all of the little details that you spent so much time on will be remembered. Frequently Asked Questions Q. How many photographers will be photographing my wedding, and will it be Ross or Melissa James? A. Ross & Melissa James and a lighting assistant will be the photographers at your wedding. We do not hire assistant photographers, you get the real deal every time. Q. How would you describe your photography style? A. How does narrative storytelling or Interactive photojournalism sound? Those words may not make sense to you, but what they mean is that we stay out of the way during the ceremony and reception moments, but we interact with you and your guests during the portrait times to make sure you like how you look in your pictures. This blend of interaction and behind the scenes style creates the best story of your day. Also, Melissa James shoots primarily in black and white and most often captures candid, spontaneous moments. Ross James shoots full color portraits, and uses portable lighting equipment to make you look your best. Q. How do you guarantee every wedding picture will look great? A. Every single one of your wedding pictures undergoes a 3 Step Editing process, which makes sure that every picture is sharp and vibrantly colored. 3 Step Editing Process: 1) Rough Edit- all pictures from the wedding day are sorted through, and all pictures with eyes closed and poor lighting are removed. This generally takes 6-10 hours. 2) Image Correction- our dedicated Editing Team goes through every image and perfects lighting, color levels, and sharpness. 3) Color Toning- our dedicated Editing Team again goes through your images and highlights color tones, giving every picture vibrant colors and depth. Q. Are digital files included in your packages? A. Absolutely. All packages include at least a low-res CD with your wedding images on it. You should be able to access your photographs at any time, and to keep them for archival and printing purposes. We keep all of your files forever, so you can re-order pictures at any time. Q. What is the general price range of your packages, and do they include travel? A. Package prices vary depending on the US Region you live in, and how many hours you want, if you want an album, etc. But every package includes complete travel costs. To give you an idea, Northwest Region Packages start at $5400. You can click here to let us know more about your wedding location and date, and we’ll send you an email with detailed pricing information. We’d also love to speak with you on the phone about your wedding details. Q. How do you decide how to use the wedding day coverage hours in my package? A. Before your wedding day, we talk about when to do getting ready portraits, bridal party pictures, family pictures, couple pictures, etc. and together we create a Portrait Schedule. This gives everyone something to follow and removes any confusion about when people need to show up for pictures. Q. Do you do family portraits at weddings? A. If portraits of you and your family are important to you, we will not only reserve time in your Portrait Schedule for them, we will plan out a detailed “Family Pose List” before the wedding. This list will be handed out to family members on your wedding day, and will allow them to know where and when to show up for portraits. The list makes this family portrait time go very smoothly, and makes sure people aren’t coming up to you all day asking, “Do I get a picture with you too?” Q. Do you provide a way for my wedding guests to view the wedding pictures, or do I have to figure that out? A. Your guests will be able to view and purchase your wedding pictures on a personalized wedding website that‘s included in your package. Guests will receive website cards at your wedding so that they’ll know where to go to view your pictures. And to top it off, you and your guests will receive 2-for-the-price-of-1 print prices for a limited time on your website! Q. What’s a Fashion After Shoot? (Sometimes called “Trash the Dress”) A. A Fashion After Shoot gives you more time to create amazing pictures of you in your dress, without the stresses of the wedding day. Plus, you spent so many hours on choosing your dress, and you deserve to wear it one more time! And if your dress gets a little dirty while you’re creating edgy, unexpected fashion portraits, that’s ok! (We can also make sure it stays almost spotless if you’d rather keep your dress very clean). Some packages include a Fashion After Shoot right after your wedding day, but you can also upgrade to a Destination Fashion After Shoot, which can take place anywhere you want, anytime after your wedding. Click here for more Destination Fashion Shoot information. Recent Bride Speaks Out and Reveals the Raw Truth about Wedding Photographers My name is Kelly and I live in Ellensburg, WA with my hubby, Matt. We met in high school, and I actually couldn’t stand him when I first met him. But his sense of humor and compassion eventually won my heart, and we were married on August 9, 2008 in our hometown. After we got engaged last year, we dreamed of a romantic summer wedding, complete with outdoor pictures and a traditional ceremony at my church. The best advice I heard was to do my research and find a good wedding photographer, so that all of our hard work and planning would pay off, and we could remember every memory and detail forever. So we made it our priority to find a photographer right away. But where to look? After browsing the internet for awhile, we noticed that most photographers’ websites only had about 5-10 really great pictures, which left us wondering what the rest of them looked like. I began to wonder how to tell if a photographer would truly be able to capture all of my wedding memories, or if he/she was just an average photographer with a couple good images. After doing some research, we identified the few things that our photographer HAD to have, which were: photographer is fun to work with and makes us laugh (especially during the dreaded family portrait part), able to give us hundreds of great pictures (not just 3 really great ones and 600 average ones), allows us to have our own files on a CD, and is able to handle photography emergencies. Eventually, we came across Ross James’ work and became very interested in his photography services. Ross’ website said that his “10 Step Portrait Planning System” would make sure the wedding day goes smoothly, and that every picture would look amazing because he individually edits each picture. I liked the pictures that I saw, but I was still skeptical. After meeting with Ross James and his wife, Melissa, we were totally blown away. They had hundreds of different wedding pictures for us to look at, which made us start to trust that we’d get some good ones too. They also explained their 10 Step planning system which included creating a schedule and family pose list with me and my family before the wedding. Ross explained his unique editing process, which accounted for the rich colors and interesting style of their pictures. They showed us their back up equipment, in case something went wrong with their main cameras. I was also relieved to hear that they understood our wanting the digital files and that a CD with files was included in all of their packages. But our favorite thing about them was the fact that they were a married couple who made such a great team. Ross was the eccentric artist, and Melissa was the organized director. No one else could compare to the quality of their work and organizational skills, so we booked them for our wedding and crossed our fingers that they’d be able to do all that they had promised. When our wedding day arrived, I was so nervous. Would everything go as planned? Would everyone get along? Would this day be everything I had hoped it would be? The whole day was a blur of family, friends, and laughter. Ross & Melissa brought in their team and followed me around all day, snapping pictures and making us laugh. Our wedding guests started jokingly calling them my own “paparazzi” with their matching shirts and popping flash. They successfully managed the family portrait time, expertly sorting out what family goes with whom, and it passed by in no time. The day really did go as planned, just as I hoped for, and in large part because of the fun and organization that Ross and Melissa brought with them. After it was all said and done, and we were relaxing on our honeymoon, I realized that Ross & Melissa really had been able to do all that they had promised… and more. I still get family and friends commenting on how much fun they were and how great the pictures looked. Oh, did I mention the pictures? We ended up getting over 700 amazing pictures. I love every single one of them. Our ceremony location didn’t have flowers outside, so Melissa arranged to have our pictures at a garden near the church. I was so glad that we could still have a garden full of flowers in our pictures. My favorite pictures are the ones telling the story of when we first saw each other. Ross & Melissa had set up a special scene in a hallway with windows, and they had me sneak up behind Matt and tap on his shoulder. They were able to capture the look on Matt’s face when he first saw me, and the excitement and romance we felt in this once in a lifetime moment. I still tear up every time I see these pictures. I would more than recommend that you visit Ross’ website and take a look at the hundreds of pictures he has posted for you to see. The website address is: www.RossJamesPhotography.com/Yakima. As soon as you contact them, I’m sure you’ll see why we were drawn to their fun personalities and friendliness. Tell them that Kelly sent you! By the way, I wasn’t paid in any way to write this article. I was a bride, just like you, looking for a truly great photographer and not sure how to tell if I’d found one or not. I did this just as a way of saying thanks to Ross & Melissa for everything they’ve done for me. They were able to give me a beautiful, visual story of the most important day of my life. Kelly Larsen Ellensburg, WA PS: If you’re still searching for a photographer, please visit Ross’ website at www.RossJamesPhotography.com/Yakima and see what you think. You’ll thank me for it!