So much advice! I'll be happy to share more as we get to know each other, but some of my main pieces of advice are:

Question the norms.  Remember that your wedding is about you two. It's so easy to get lost in other people's advice, family and friend's opinions, societal norms, magazine ideals, etc., but just keep reminding yourselves that it's about you and your love for each other. You don't have to do anything that doesn't feel right for you.  

Don't worry about everything being perfect. Seriously. There will be little and/or big things that don't go as expected on your wedding day. That's just life. As long as your main goal is marrying the love of your life before the end of the day and then living an amazing life together, the little (or big) things that don't go as planned won't phase you.  

Don't be afraid to ask your photographer for advice!  I'm here to help you! I'm happy to help you come up with a timeline, find the best spots for portraits, recommend vendors, etc. Use my years of behind-the-scenes wedding knowledge to your advantage!  

Absolutely! My top tips are:

Make sure you hire someone you actually like. It might sound obvious, but make sure you hire someone that you’ll actually want to hang out with on one of the most important days of your life. It can make such a huge difference if you actually enjoy the person who will be with you in some of your most vulnerable and excited moments.

Ask to see a couple of full wedding galleries. It’s fairly easy to get some nice highlight photos to show off on a website, but it’s so important to see if you like how a photographer covers a full wedding day from start to finish. Also, if you’re working with a studio who has more than one photographer, make sure the galleries you’re looking at are shot by the specific person you’ll be working with. Speaking of, you can check out some of my full wedding galleries here.

Make sure you like their photo style. Make sure that you actually like the way that your specific photographer photographs and edits their photos. If you like dark and moody photo style, make sure you hire a dark and moody photographer. If you like bright and colorful, hire someone who does that already. Sometimes folks hire someone hoping that they can just request a different style, but that’s not the best plan. You want to work with someone who specializes in what they do and has honed their specific style over time.

Awesome! I love hearing that! The first thing to do is reach out to me through the contact page, by email at info@trueleephotography.com, or by phone/text at (708) 406-9644! In true millennial fashion, I generally prefer email, contact form, or text.

If possible, I would love to meet up with you so we can chat face-to-face over a cup of coffee, a meal, or a drink so we can get to know each other better and make sure that we click! If that's not possible, a phone or video chat would be great! In order to officially book TrueLee, I'll just need a 50% retainer and a signed contract. Thus will start an amazing journey together!  

Heck yes! I love traveling and would love to travel to your wedding (wherever)! Just contact me and we'll figure out the particulars.  

I think my photography style could be described as a modern, photojournalistic take on classic wedding photography with a dash of an artistic style. I’m comfortable posing my clients or using a more photojournalistic approach - whichever fulfills my clients’ vision better. I try to photograph all the little details of the wedding day but tend to prioritize photos of people over objects. I love finding moments that are real and catching them so that you'll have them forever.

Over time, I've also learned how to direct a wedding day so that you end up with the photos you want and need, which is a very important skill to have!

My editing style is clean with true-to-life color so that your photos will stay “in style” for decades to come.

I know they're not always possible, but I think that engagement shoots are really helpful. They give us a chance to get to know each other more. They help you get familiar with having someone point a big camera at you before your big day. They help me get to know you more so that I can better capture who you are on your wedding day. They also help you get a feel for my posing techniques so that things feel more natural when the big day comes. You get nice photos in "normal" clothes. Also, they're fun! Most of the time, we just hang out, wander around, keeping an eye out for cool photo ideas and shoot whatever appeals to us. I promise it's not as scary as it might sound.  

I'll be happy to help give you some direction about what to wear before your engagement session!  Once we've come up with a plan for your shoot, I'll have a sense of what could look nice there and will be happy to pass advice along to you, if you want it.  I've even been known to do client selfie wardrobe consultations!  
In general, my advice is to wear what you feel good in. Whatever that outfit is that makes you feel cute when you put it on - wear that.

That’s okay! Truth is, most of us really dislike having our photo taken. I understand that it can be such a vulnerable experience and I’m happy to support you in that.

Feel free to share with me what makes you uncomfortable about getting your photo taken and we can brainstorm ways to make it less terrible. Sometimes that means me taking the reigns and telling you exactly what to do so you don’t have to guess anything. Sometimes it means that I’ll just focus on candids and avoid too many “pose-y” photos, etc. We can figure it out together.

(Also, know that I fully understand! I just got my photo taken for this website [on the About page] and it took me a long time to settle my nerves during the process!)

I will be happy to sit down with you, talk through your schedule and give you advice on how much coverage you could use.  6 hours is typically enough for a wedding of 100 people or less with a pretty succinct schedule. 8 hours is the most common.

I'm also happy to do custom wedding photography packages based on your particular needs.  

Ummm yes. I know of SO many good spots for photos! However, I subscribe to the idea that the best place that you could pick for photos is somewhere that is in someway meaningful to you. I love chatting with couples and figuring out if there's someway that we can tie their shoot location(s) in with their story. Was your first date a trip to the ice cream shop and then a walk along the riverwalk? Why don't we do that for your engagement session? Do you looove being outdoorsy and spending time in nature? Then, why don't we think of outdoorsy, nature-y spots for your wedding portraits? Love your city neighborhood and love spending time in it? Why don't we do your shoot there? I love it when couples embrace what they're passionate about and let their location choices be an extension of themselves and their story.

Of course, there's also always room for just liking the aesthetics of something and I can get behind that too. Basically, my answer just comes down to... let's chat and I'm sure we'll come up with some great places!

I often get asked about why there’s a second shooter and if they’re really necessary. That is an excellent question! I include a second shooter in every wedding package because I feel like a good second shooter adds SO MUCH to wedding coverage and tells a more complete story of a wedding day.

As the lead shooter, it’s my job to make sure that things stay on track, that I’m paying attention to everything that the couple and I talked about ahead of time, that everyone’s where they need to be, and that all of the main photos are covered. Basically, I follow (and sometimes help direct) the main action of the day. It’s my job to get the “safe shots” - meaning the necessary photos. Of course, I also enjoy getting more creative and doing fun shots when time allows, but it’s my job to make sure that everything is covered.

What I love about working with a second shooter is that it’s like having a second set of eyes and skills that can be looking for the “secondary action” and covering the day from a different perspective. Where it’s my job to stand at the front and photograph the couple walking down the aisle (the “safe shot”), my second photographer can get the beautiful shot from behind where you see the bride’s veil and dress and the aisle stretching ahead of her, or they can get the groom’s reaction, or they can get a photo of grandma wiping away tears. They get to find the secondary, side moments that tell a more full story of the day.

So, I’m a huge fan of second shooters. I only work with folks who are passionate, professional, and good at what they do. In my professional opinion, they’re indispensable.

Oh! Also, if I broke my ankle at your wedding or something like that (god forbid!), the second shooter can step in and take over as lead photographer. Thus ensuring that your day is still covered.

I typically estimate that it will take 6-8 weeks to get all of your edited wedding photos. Once I'm done going through and correcting each one, I will upload them to your personal photo gallery and send you a link. You will be able to see each photo there. You can also share the link to your gallery with family and friends! I'll also send you a super secret download pin number that you can use to download all of the photos for your personal use!  

Prior to receiving your full gallery of wedding photos, so that you don't have to wait too long before you see anything, I also like to give you a sneak peek of photos that caught my eye. I try to get those ready for you within the first week after your wedding (I'm not promising anything, but I've been known to get a handful of photos to some of my couples the day after their wedding).  

The short and quick answer is no, you don't.  

That might sound annoying and frustrating, but, I promise you, it's for your own good. No matter how amazing your photographer is, there are bound to be some bad photos - grandpa chewing with his mouth open, you "scratching" your nose, weird faces, blinking, etc. There will also be some unintentional photos - feet shots as I'm running from one event to the next, test shots while I get my settings just right, 45 photos of that one centerpiece because I wanted to make sure my reflection wasn't showing in it, etc. If I gave you all of those, it would make your eyes water. Believe me when I say it's much nicer for both of us if you just get the good photos. That being said, I try to include every photo that I think you could want because your memories are very important to me.  

Yes! You can check out some full wedding galleries here. When you click on them, it’ll prompt you to enter your email address and then you’ll be able to check out what a full wedding day looks like.

Once I deliver your wedding photos to you, you have personal use and print rights. That means you can do basically anything with your photos as long as it’s for personal use (so no selling them, using them for advertising, etc.).

You can also get them printed anywhere you like. If anywhere gives you trouble, just contact me and I can give you a signed print release form.

I also have to plug that, should you order prints through me, I work with the best printers in the biz, my prices are pretty competitive and I will give you a print product satisfaction guarantee, hint hint. 

I really want you to feel like your photos are your photos - because they are.

I have two main bodies - a Canon 5D Mark IV and a 5D Mark III. I shoot with all professional-grade L series lenses. I also have assorted flashes, video lights, stands, tripods, etc., etc. I'm happy to tell you more if you're interested!  

It is my honor to photograph LGBTQIA+ weddings. My heart swells when queer folks trust me to document their celebrations.

Even if you’re not tying the not in the traditional sense, I would love to document your commitment. I’m happy to be of service to those who decide legal marriage isn’t the right move for them, who are part of the polyamorous or ethically non-monogamous community, or who just want to celebrate their love.