FAQ

Email me to check your date. Once we lock it in, I'll send a short questionnaire so I can personalize the session. Every project starts with a real conversation, not a form.

For most sessions, no deposit is required — pay in installments leading up to the date, pay in full ahead of time by check or Venmo, or settle up the day of, whatever's easiest for you. Weddings are the one exception: a $250 non-refundable deposit locks in your date and is applied to your total.

I'm based in Elkader, IA. Anything within an hour is travel-free. Past that it's a flat $100, and for trips far enough to need an overnight I just ask that you cover the hotel, and we'll sort that out in advance. Sports teams are the exception: the booking fee already covers the trip, so this travel fee never applies to team sessions.

Photography is the focus, but I also shoot video as an add-on, and for weddings, video is a specialty of mine. Just ask and we'll talk it through.

It depends on the collection: up to 6 hours with Moments, up to 8 with Essential, up to 10 with Signature, and up to 12 with Forever. We'll plan the timeline together so those hours land where your day needs them. Moments is usually built around the ceremony, your portraits, and the start of the reception; the longer collections stretch from getting ready through the heart of the night.

A $250 deposit reserves your date — it's non-refundable, but it's applied to your total. On Essential, Signature, and Forever it comes due at your engagement session, so you'll have already shot with me before you've paid anything; on Moments, which doesn't include a session, it's due at booking. The remaining balance is due no later than the wedding day, paid in full or in installments along the way. Check, credit card, Venmo, or cash all work, and 7% Iowa sales tax is added to the subtotal.

A preview of a handful of favorites lands within 48 hours of the wedding, and your full gallery follows in two to four weeks. Everything is delivered through an online gallery with full printing rights for personal use, and prints can be ordered through my partnered pro lab.

The $250 deposit is non-refundable, even if the date changes or the wedding is canceled. On my end, it works the other way: if I can't perform due to illness, accident, or weather, every payment — including the deposit — is refunded. All of this is spelled out in the photography agreement you sign at booking.

Yes, with Essential, Signature, and Forever. It's how we get comfortable working together before the big day, and it's where your deposit comes due. The Moments collection doesn't include one, which is part of why it costs less.

Then you shouldn't have to pay for a session you don't need. On Essential, Signature, and Forever you can trade the engagement session for a $250 credit toward a wedding film, an album, extra coverage, or prints. It isn't redeemable for cash and it doesn't come off the collection price — it just moves that value to something you actually want.

Yes. A cinematic highlight film, about 5 minutes, is a $750 add-on, delivered in 4K. Wedding video is where I got my start, so it's a specialty.

Your film streams in 4K through VidFlow at a private link, and you can download it to your own cloud storage to keep.

Each session is a flat booking fee based on the tier you pick: $75 Basic, $150 Special FX, or $175 Photoshop Elite. The fee covers one trip on your scheduled photo day: individual portraits, the team photo, editing, and the online gallery. Families order prints and downloads separately through that gallery. Booking more than one team the same night? That's still one booking fee, and if the teams pick different tiers you only pay the higher one.

The team does, and how is up to you. A team or activity account, a booster club, a local sponsor, the business office, whatever your program allows. I invoice you, you forward it to whoever is covering it, and it never goes to you personally. When several teams share one trip, the booking fee is split between them, so each team gets its own invoice for its share. I bill through QuickBooks with Net 30 terms. Pay by ACH, check, or Venmo. If the organization paying is tax exempt, there's no sales tax as long as I have their Iowa exemption certificate (Form 31-014) on file.

Basic covers the essentials: individual portraits, the team photo, and a mobile-friendly gallery. Special FX adds fire, lights, and smoke special-effects edits on the individual portraits. Photoshop Elite builds on Basic with advanced green-screen composite work for senior banners and graphics, plus the option to order team posters. Special-effects edits aren't part of Elite.

Yes. Add the Team Marketing License to any tier for $50. You get individual digital photos to edit, crop, and build into hype graphics for team and school accounts. The license covers team and program marketing only. Families still buy their own downloads through the gallery.

Makeup sessions are available for $35, for a single athlete or siblings, and are billed to the parent, not the team. There's nothing to pay up front: the $35 is added to your photo order, so you pay once at checkout. Makeup sessions cover individual portraits only; gallery products are purchased separately. Athletes who miss photo day can't be added to a completed team photo unless Photoshop compositing has been arranged, and a team-requested return trip is billed separately.

Galleries are delivered 5-7 days after the shoot, often sooner. Athletes self-register by QR code on photo day, families get branded confirmation and reminder messages, and face-match technology makes sure everyone gets the right photos.

Yes. Every team gets a poster design, and families can order it from their gallery as an 11×17 print for $20.

Bring a few. We'll plan it together based on your locations and how much time we have.

We reschedule, no charge. Iowa weather is what it is, and a bad forecast shouldn't cost you a good session.

Probably. Email me the details and I'll tell you straight whether I'm the right fit.

Sites start at $500. The final number depends on the size and features, so email me what you have in mind and I'll quote it.

Clean, practical sites for small businesses, nonprofits, and local organizations. Recent ones include Iron Events Wrestling, Little Warriors Wrestling, Driftless Gravel, Clayton and Fayette County Conservation, Central Athletic Boosters, and KCTN.

Whatever fits the project and stays easy for you to keep up long-term. I'll recommend what makes sense rather than forcing one platform on every job.