Robert Wheater Photography
Visalia Weddings
New Brochure [download here]
May 25th
This is my new brochure. There is a wedding version of the brochure coming soon. I have revised all of my wedding services and the new wedding photography one will be up in a week.
Services and Prices Brochure 2010
Mar 17th
Here is a download for my brochure for 2010. I prefer web brochures these days because I prefer a green manufacturing system. I am not going to tout that I am the greenest this or that… it is a way of life and nothing to advertise really. This web brochure is in .pdf format and if you need any assistance, email me and I can assist you.
Photo Tip | Your Prints
Jan 31st
Prints really matter. A lot of people love printing their photos at home and I do myself sometimes, but I usually print something to hand to my sons. They love getting pictures of a bear that I photographed or a macro shot of a bee, my oldest is four and I just like handing him photographs even though they end up on the floor or in the hands of a one year old. These pictures are for that purpose. Any photograph you print on an inkjet, no matter how great they say the ink is, no matter how good your film paper is going to lose quality quicker than traditional photographs.
Traditional photographs are not printed, the photographs are created by exposing light on light sensitive paper. Make sure you get photographs not prints. Photographs will last longer because of the process. Inkjet papers can last longer through a light coating that is applied in some pro shops, especially UV coating. Most of us cannot do that. Well, that really is where the professional photographer comes in.
All those inkjet pictures you have printed over the last few years will be almost completely faded in 20 years in storage or half that on the wall in a home display. Well, over half of the local professionals use inkjet printers from the last few years. Odds are that if you have a photograph in the last few years they are digital prints to inkjets. Your pictures will not be around when your children are older, they will be faded. They might still be recognizable, maybe.
All those that have stuck with film have actual photographs, not prints. In my home, we have photographs, not prints. The entire purpose of the professional photographer is to give you photographs, make sure your photographer is getting photographs to you and not inkjet prints. If you are getting inkjet prints make sure they are coated. Even coated inkjet prints will not last as long as a photograph.
Robert Wheater can be contacted right now by clicking here.
Taryn+Nick
Nov 28th
I had a great time photographing Taryn and Nick’s wedding with Teresa Ferguson. It was a great wedding in Visalia and was one of my last of the year, wrapping up the wedding season. As a wedding photographer, my season tends to end between September or October. This wedding was a great way to end it.
If you would like to book me for your wedding contact me today or call at 559.334.3977. You can also email at info@robertwheater.com.
27 Visalia Wedding Vendors
Sep 21st
I decided to make a quick list of some of the local vendors I have heard of or worked with. Almost all of these are located in Visalia. Brides in Visalia will have an easier time searching around using this wedding service list.
Visalia Florist | Tulip Floral Studio
Visalia Florist | Touch of Class Flowers
Visalia Florist | Peter Perkens Flowers
Visalia Florist | An Enchanted Florist
Visalia Florist | Sequoia Plaza Flowers
Visalia Wedding Dresses | What’s Up Europe
Visalia Wedding Dresses | Happily Ever After Bridal
Visalia Wedding Dresses | Annabelle’s Bridal Boutique
Visalia Wedding Dresses | Karen’s Bridal and Gifts
BRIDAL INFORMATION | Bridal Breakfast Club
Visalia Wedding Location | Koetsier Ranch
Visalia Wedding Location | Victorian Garden
Visalia Wedding Location | Visalia Convention Center
Visalia Wedding Location | Holiday Inn
Visalia Reception Location | Orange Blossom Junction
Visalia Wedding Location | White Horse Inn
Visalia Wedding Location | Evergreen Island
Visalia Wedding Location | Wonder Valley
Visalia Wedding Location | River Ridge Ranch
Visalia Wedding Location | River Island Country Club
Madeleine’s Bridal Boutique and a Vision of Elegance
Visalia Limo Service | Classic Charter
Visalia Limo Service | Love’s Limousines
Visalia Limo Service | Image Limousines
Wedding Videographer | Blare Media
Wedding Videographer | AWC Production
Wedding Videographer | On Point Video Production
Wedding Photographer | Robert Wheater Photography
Wedding Photographer | Visalia Wedding Photography
Wedding Design | Mindforged Studios
If you would like to receive a free brochure in your email, fill out this form and I will get one out to you. The brochure has a lot of great information for brides and is updated often to stay current. If you need a wedding photographer call me today at 559.623.7423 or fill out this form real quick. You can also email me at photo@robertwheater.com.
Fashion Photographer
Sep 15th
The beautiful Natalie
Over the weekend, my photography group got together to take a look at lighting. I used between 3-4 off camera strobes. Our model was the beautiful Natalie Symanski. Fashion photography is natural for me, the style and the look are part of the way I learned. I looked at fashion advertising and media when I needed inspiration for photo shoots. My wife gets a kick out of our magazine subscriptions today, she loves Maxim magazine and I love Vogue. She hates ads, I love them.
I am attracted to fashion photography like a moth to fire and I have found that it is definitely a niche of mine in the area. Fashion has a look that a lot of people can’t get down and can’t figure out. For my style of fashion photography, I move fast, I use a minimum of three strobes and I try and create dramatic shadows. I’ll shoot through objects like a plant to throw shadows across my backgrounds. I like to visualize myself as a viewer of the fashion, a critic of the situation in front of me instead of as a photographer. I try and think of a scenario that involves the camera being a participant… the camera might be a voyeur in the closet, it might be a stranger on the couch, a shoe… I try and create a scenario that puts me in a different place in a different state of mind.
I love shadows... pianos are a plus.
I apply fashion photography and photojournalism with a unique twist for wedding photography. I approach a bridal preparation session like a fashion event of a major designer… looking for dress and shoe details, details in the room and exploring the area involved from a scenario point of view. I love to come into the room and think about a story I can tell from a different point of view and I love to hide my strobes around the room as I work, moving them as I move. Usually when I first walk in.. I look for a closet and start there… as a piece of clothing or a shoe or a hanger… I will move around the room imagining the motion and evolution of what is happening to the bride.
Weddings are treated as runway shows for me. The unique look of high end fashion photography applied to weddings is amazing to say the least. First, every person coming down that aisle is a story. Using long, fast lenses I am able to remain outside of the limelight and shooting the procession as if they were each their own part of a greater story. That’s what a wedding is, it’s a story. A story you only get once. As I shoot in a fashion style, I also get all the traditional shots that everyone loves to have. The combination of fashion and photojournalism in weddings is one that makes weddings look incredible. Wedding photography is not a competition, I always ask brides to find a photographer that has a portfolio they love. When a bride comes to me, she is usually looking for a fashion edge in her wedding photography. A lot of wedding photographers have the same look and a lot of brides like that same look… and they can save a little money. This isn’t about money, this is about a fusion of art and memories.
Brideography Package
Sep 3rd
I am now offering a Brideography package. It covers several photo shoots and is designed to cover several months to a year while you prepare for your wedding. The Brideography is a photography story of you preparing for your wedding day. It can be purchased separate from your normal wedding photographer or you may add it on to one you already have with me or the one you are going to get.
Preparation shoot is included with brideography package 3
During the reception, you will also get a slideshow with music showing the preparation that you went through to get to your wedding. To do the Brideography, you coordinate with me before you go searching for a dress, the florist, the venue, etc… You get several sessions leading up to your wedding that tell the story of your preparation.
The Brideography comes in three packages for varying numbers of shoots and reserved days. The first package covers the search for the dress and the bridal shower. The second package adds on another on-location shoot (maybe the florist) and the bachelorette party, although you get to see the pictures before anyone else… you can blackmail your girlfriends.
The third and final Brideography package covers the search for the wedding wardrobe, I will also follow a bridesmaid group on a separate occasion (if needed). I will follow you to the florist and other vendors as planned. I will go to five different vendors with you. You will get your bridal shower covered and the bachelorette party (if you want it covered). On the day(s) leading up to your wedding, I will shoot a spa or stylist and your preparation for the wedding.
The brideography packages start at $1000 and you get a disc with your images and you get a slideshow. The length of that slideshow is based on the package you purchased.
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Gallery Wrap
Sep 1st
A gallery wrap is a great display piece. I love them. My print lab for wraps is Mpix, one of the best printing labs in the world. To make a gallery wrap, I start by taking an image and editing it to print on a canvas. The canvas is printed and then wrapped around stretcher board so you can see the image wrap around the side. As a photographer, I like to see my images displayed in different ways and one of these is on canvas as a gallery wrap. Photography is an art form and should be displayed as such.
Gallery Wrap from Mpix
If you would like a photographer in California, call me today at 559.623.7423 or quickly contact me with this form.
Fashion + Wedding Photography
Aug 25th
I love fashion photography. It is bursting with creativity and many times edgy. I understand that people like different things in their images. I like to bring a fashion/glamor edge to all my photography. I can edit photos to the preference of my client. Classic black and white images for your wedding, I have a few styles of black and white and sepia styles to choose from. I usually edit images with three different styles. My three primary styles of editing are black and white, color and a style I like to call ultra-real.
My black and white editing also has a few choices ranging from deep black, to high key and then what I likc to call classic chocolate. Deep black focuses on bringing out the deep shadows and mood of the images, high key black and whites are bright and filled with a lot of white, the classic chocolate is not quite a sepia tone image but more of a mix between a deep black and a sepia.
My color images can be edited in a few different ways. One way is the way it was taken right out of the camera with little editing. Another style is soft and vibrant where I work to bring out great color tones and glow without making the image look edited, usually just small editing for perfect color and a little saturation is done. The last color style is toned down to be a mix between a black and white and a hint of color. A lot of black and whites for my child photography are done like this where I make a black and white image and then bring out small bits of almost undetectable color in the eyes, cheeks and lips… sometimes the hair too. It is almost undetectable at first but you will definitely see the difference in some images, especially up close facial portraits.
My signature style is what I like to call ultra-real. It is time consuming and is the reason you might have noticed something different about my images. There is no exact way to edit an image for this style of editing because most images have to be approached on a piece-by-piece basis. Images take a great deal of work to get to jump off the picture. These images have more depth and drama than normal.
I like to mix all these styles up in my photography. I love to sit down with my clients and come up with the way they want their images to look. Many wedding couples want a mix of black and whites, maybe the bridal images in ultra-real and then the rest in color. There is no difference in the cost of different editing. I just like to explain to my clients that they have a lot of options and showing samples of the editing really helps sometimes. I also stress the importance of continuity in the sessions and they should really keep parts of the sessions to similar images. A bridal portrait session might look great if it is all black and white but together they would look like they were not a set if they were a mix of color, ultra-real and two different types of black and whites.
Here are some examples of the editing styles. These are by no means limitations, these are just suggestions for the bride and groom.
Deep Black
High Key
Chocolate
As Shot
Soft and Vivid
Hint of Color
Ultra-real (Signature)
Wedding Ceremony
Aug 25th
Wedding photographers meet many challenges when photographing a wedding. One of the hardest challenges is capturing the candid moment right before and during the ceremony. There is a reason that most wedding photographers have no ceremony images in their portfolios. I usually use two camera bodies or have an additional photographer (and sometimes two extra photographers) during arrival of guests and through the ceremony.
The problem with photographing the ceremony is the fact that the photographer cannot be two places at once, cannot change lenses and cannot have technical issues. To answer this, I use two camera bodies with different lenses and an additional photographer. If a camera goes down I can switch to the other camera and there is always the additional photographer. Photographers only get one shot at these moments and you need to have a photographer you can count on. So, look through the portfolio and make sure you see that they cover all times of the ceremony, not just the posed formal shots afterward. These can be shot time and time again. What you want to see is proof that they can shoot and make great shots all the way though your wedding.
Depending on where your wedding is, a wedding photographer has different sets of challenges. Most catholic churches do not allow flash during a ceremony. Photographers need to have special lenses in order to compensate for this. Outdoor weddings can also challenge a photographer depending on where the sun is. Just a few things to keep in mind when looking for a photographer for your wedding. If you would like to book me for a wedding, call 559.623.7423 or email at photo@robertwheater.com.
Here are a few of our images taken in challenging situations like ones explained above. In one image, we have a wall of light behind our wedding couple and the bridal party, which is sometimes a difficult shot. No one was able to take pictures with their digital cameras except for my wife and I, with our Nikon DSLR cameras. Everyone else had white with black silhouettes. I take a creative approach to capturing your wedding images and with two, sometimes three photographers we get great shots from multiple angles and styles.
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