Wedding Photography - How many wedding photos are enough?

At Kauai Island Weddings we offer 300 Photos with our standard photography package, and sometimes we are asked: 300 Photos for a Wedding sounds like a lot. Aren't 36-100 pictures more normal?

Well, yes, it’s true that most photographers shoot 36 to 100 images for the same price we shoot 300. It’s also true that 36-100 shots can’t possibly capture the beauty and elegance of a beach wedding on Kauai. We will shoot those 100 pictures in the ceremony alone, the most emotional part of your event. We have the bride walking onto the beach, the groom waiting in anticipation, the couple holding hands, the Hawaiian lei exchange, the blessing of the rings, the exchange of vows, the exchange of the rings, the kiss, the Hawaiian wedding song; and that's just the wedding ceremony taking only 20 minutes. After the ceremony we will spend about an hour and a half with the couple taking a variety of romantic beautiful shots on the beach. We simply can not shoot your complete event in 60 photographs, it's not possible...

The original reason behind 36 photos was that that’s how film was sold in rolls of 24 or 36 shots, and when the change over to digital came along, many photographers just kept everything the same; although they did shoot more images, they would only tell you about them later and offer them to you at an extra cost. Every photographer we know will shoot more than the 36-100 pictures you have commissioned from them, and will try to up-sell you after you've received your pictures, letting you know that he has additional photographs that are gorgeous and you can purchase them at an additional cost. So when hiring your wedding photographer interview them well, find out about how they handle additional pictures and also inquire about copyright issues to your images.

Even though your wedding photos are of you, the bride and groom, and you have paid for them; copyright law dictates that the photographer owns the images. Most companies charge extra for a copyright release, and this is generally for a specific image, and not the whole lot. At Kauai Island Weddings all customers get a free joint copyright to all of their images - that's a great added bonus, and it's free.