For weddings, at least a year out but it really depends on your wedding date; May, Jun, July, August, September, October and November are very popular wedding months in Illinois and they tend to book up fast.

Once you’re ready to make it official, I will put together your wedding contract and email it over along with the link to your invoice for the non-refundable retainer fee of $1000. That amount is applied to the total amount due and the remaining balance 30 days before your wedding day.

Yes, I do and it’s priced at $1600 for up to 8 hours. However, I have been a one-person shooter for the most part, my entire career. For every wedding, I come fully prepared with plenty of experience in being able to document every action, reaction and everything else in between, thoughtfully and beautifully. I work very diligently from the moment I arrive, to my end time to make sure I honed my abilities to be capture it all and to this date, I have never missed any key moments. I know it might be a questionable predicament; wondering if having a solo shooter is enough to cover your day but I want my clients to know, I have never ever felt that my clients were getting subpar wedding coverage because of the lack of a second shooter.

On the contrary, it’s just the opposite for me. Why? Because every photo my second shooter takes, I’m likely right in front of them taking the same photos as well. One of my BIGGEST fears is taking a small step back or leaving a certain angle to chance, only to realize that something wasn’t capture correctly or enough of. I’m very particular about my work and only want to make sure my clients are getting my absolute best. There is absolutely no do overs when shooting a wedding so I’m extremely thorough about my work, from every angle. Mindset is to always to photograph every wedding, as if it was literally my own.

Some might ask, “what about the groom’s reaction to the bride’s grand entrance” It’s very simple; I advise every bride to pause for 4-5 seconds before they take their first step. Those seconds is all that is needed to capture that sweet tender moment or “what about the getting ready photos”. Again, it’s relatively simple; for the most part, both the bride and groom have always gotten ready at the same location so after I capture the bride’s getting photos, I head over to the groom’s suite to capture a few candid getting ready photos. If the groom and groomsmen already come dressed, I still make it a point to get a few mock photos.

I would love to meet with you prior to our engagement shoot or wedding; however, I understand life can get busy for us all so no worries. We can handle everything remotely. Just let me know what information you need and I will do my best to accommodate your request. For example, if you would like to see more of my work, I will gladly show you complete events online. If you would like to talk about packages and get a sense of my personality, telephone calls, and skype consultations can be arranged too.

Yes, I am! If your venue needs proof of insurance, please allow me a few hours to get that sent over to you.

I’ve photographed at dozens of venues, so there is a good chance that I have. However, if I have not, I will get to the venue early on the day of and be sure to perform a thorough walk-through to scout out the best photography locations so it’s not done during your allotted coverage time.

I typically deliver anywhere from 25-40 files for the portrait sessions. Excluding the mini session that will only include 10-15 files. For weddings, I typically deliver 60-80 images per hour. Please note, I don’t put a cap on the number of images produced but keep in mind these numbers may increase or decrease depending on the flow of your day and the number of details and formalities needing to be captured. Please feel at ease knowing from the moment I arrive, to my end time, I’m literally shooting non-stop. There’s always something to capture, whether it be the couple, family or guest.

I do not, I eliminate duplicate images, test shots, missed focused shots, shots with bad expressions and other images that doesn’t meet my high quality standard. For example, because I shoot with low apertures, sometimes I take a few extra shots to make sure I have the perfect focus. I don’t expect you to have the expertise or the time to zoom into each image to select the one with the sharpest focus, so I spend hours doing that on my end. In another example, candid laughs and emotional tears are some of the best images from the day. Unfortunately, they can also yield some unflattering facial expressions. I might snap a few extras of any of these moments to make sure I have a great shot with the ideal expression for the moment. With my expertise of processing thousands of images each year, you can guarantee you will receive the very best quality work of images.

Yes, most certainly! Once you book, I will mail you my welcome package with Engagement Session Style Guide with tips and ideas for your engagement session. One of my biggest engagement session tips when considering locations is not to think too much about what landmarks you want in the background. In many cases I can make something work but I wouldn’t want that to be your prima ry reason to choose a spot. Instead of a single backdrop, think about the location in terms of an environment or atmosphere (i.e. the feel of the city, or the feel of nature). I, of course, would encourage any location that has some sentimental significance–like it was your first date spot or where you first met.

Hearing this breaks my heart a little bit. I can’t tell you how many people I know who hate their wedding photos because they had a ‘friend’ do it. This is one of the biggest days of your entire life. You spend months planning, finding the perfect dress, details, colors, flowers, venue, invites, cakes, etc and trust me, you aren’t going to remember the day. Time flies by and years from now it will be a total blur. Why go through all the trouble if you’re not going to have compelling images to remember it by?

This really depends on how big your bridal party is and how extensive your immediate family is but I would say, at least an hour. Remember, after family and bridal party photos, we still need time for just you two! Value this time….trust me, it’s the only privacy the two of you will get all day!

There are three important factors to capturing great images: having the eye, knowing your camera and being able to understand and manipulate light. Lucky for you, I’m an expert at all of them! First of all, I come prepared with PLENTY of lighting. I can always add light. So, night time photos, sunset photos and candlelight ambiance are never a problem. However, removing light is not possible. So, what do you do when it’s too bright? You have to know how to use that light to it’s fullest potential. I avoid bright sun. Shaded areas are best but if we have to be in the bright sun, it’s all about the positioning. As for inclement weather, unless it’s seriously raining out, nothing can stop me! But, heavy rain could ruin my equipment and then I’m definitely out of business!

A First Look is when the Bride and Groom are staged to see one another before the ceremony. Their reactions are captured on camera and then either bride & groom or bridal party photos follow. This a good idea if there isn’t much time in between the ceremony and reception to do all of your photos or if you have a very extensive list. It’s also a good idea if it’s important to the Bride & Groom to enjoy some of their cocktail hour, which is usually surrendered to formal photos. During our consultation I will suggest it to you if I think it will make our day go better. It can often relieve stress and spread things out more. Don’t want to do a first look? Trust me, I get it. I’m totally traditional too. It’s great for the photographer but not always for the Bride.

Engagements and bridal portraits turn around is about two weeks. Once the files are edited, they will be uploaded to your online gallery. I will email you once it’s been sent and from there you can download your files to your computers. For weddings, due to the amount of photos to cull and post process, turn around time is 9 weeks from your wedding date. I will however, send you a sneak peak within 2-3 days after your wedding. Once the wedding files are completed, they will be added to your online gallery. The gallery is for you to just view your photos. If you have any questions, let me know. If not, once I get your approval, I will mail you the custom USB drive with all the edited files you see on the gallery. You’ll also be able to share the online link with family and friends as well.

Yes, you do! All wedding collections/sessions come with full print release/usage rights. However, I do ask that you please do NOT print your images from a low quality printer like Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, Shutterfly, etc. The quality of your images will not reflect how beautiful they really are! You can order high quality fine art prints from your personal gallery! My wedding clients receive 30% off the cost of all printable products I offer! You will receive a COUPON CODE to enter during checkout when you receive your images. These products will be shipped directly to your door. If you post your images online, all I ask is if you can simply credit Bozena Voytko Photography! 

Raw images are not usable images – at least to a client. Raw images need to be processed in order to create a final image. Part of my job is to process your images, perfect them and create a finished product. Asking your photographer for the RAW files, is like asking your cake vendor for an extra bag of flour, on the side. It’s only a partial ingredient in the overall product and means nothing on it’s own.

I use professional grade Canon equipment. Only the best for my brides! I shoot with two camera bodies all the time. I use two Canon R6 Mark II and Conon 5D Mark III for backup. I carry lots of lenses, Canon 28-70 f2.0, Canon 50mm f/1.2, Sigma 35mm f/1.4art, Sigma 85mm f1.4art, Canon 100mm F2.8, Sigma 24-70mm f2.8, Canon 7-200mm f2.8, Canon 16-35mm f2.8. I also bring my Einstein strobes if necessary; tripods, soft-boxes, tons of Canon Speedlites 600EX II-RT Speedlight’s, ring light, video light and Pocket Wizards. I get my workouts hauling my gear around!

Of course! It is so important that we collaborate on this. This is YOUR day and I want to give you exactly what you want but also keep in mind when looking at these images for inspiration, not all couples are the same. If it’s becoming a challenge, meaning the pose doesn’t look genuine then I might offer an alternative to it so it will look more flattering.

My contract does state my policies for handling situations like these. Although I do have a Rescheduling Policy due to Covid-19. If you’re having to reschedule your wedding because of COVID-19. I would advise you to get in touch with your venue first. It’s really up to them to decide. 

If something happens to where I’m unable to make it to your wedding (acts of God, sudden death in the family, severe car crash, etc.) I will do everything in my power to make sure you are covered. However, I have photographed over 300 weddings and haven’t missed one yet! In your contract it also states that if this happens and I am unable to provide a suitable replacement, I will refund all of your investment.

We all have this fear. It’s a scary one! The truth is, it really could happen to anyone. I shoot with 2 memory cards in my camera so I have some redundancy already for the day of your wedding. As soon as I get home I do three things:
1.) I take the memory cards from the wedding and upload all the files into two separate hard drives.
2.) and then I save them on my computer
4.) I have about 20 memory cards and your images do NOT get removed from that card until they are 100% completed and delivered to you. So, that’s four copies!

Bozena Voytko Photography, retains the copyright to all the images, per USC Title 17 (US Copyright Law). So just a little insight as to what that means, as the photographer, I retain the right to show off your gorgeous images to my other potential clients so that can see my beautiful work. You have solely, purchased reproduction rights, not the actual design. With your full print release (usage rights), you have the right to print and share the images being provided to you by, Bozena Voytko Photography.

A lot of photographers say they will give you the digital files, but that can be deceiving as some photographers only give a 8×10 resolution. So if you ever want to print an 11×14 print, you have to spend hundreds of dollars with the photographer for the rest of your life. That way prints and frames can ONLY be ordered by that photographer and no where else. All of my packages and (or) portrait sessions include the high resolution edited files which can be printed up to a 30×40 or higher and they are also not watermarked as well.

Incase of rain, we can always reschedule or decide on an indoor space. Unfortunately with weddings, we wouldn’t be able to reschedule. However with some planning we ca n use the rain to our advantage and create beautiful photographs.