The Aisle Guide wrote an awesomely-accurate article on this. Definitely sums it up perfectly! We’ve found eight hours to be the average amount needed to cover a “full” day.

As a general rule we aim to be as non-invasive as possible. The last thing we want to do is deter you from fully experiencing and enjoying your big day. Other than the specified portrait session(s) that we usually try to schedule in one large chunk (generally sometime during the first half of the day), we like to remain flies-on-the-wall and catch all the candid moments as they’re naturally occurring!

Matt & Lesley will be your photographers 99% of the time!

Absolutely not! We will always help guide you through any “poses” we’re looking to set up.

Although there’s always a few posed shots during shoots, we do try to lean more what we call “prompts,” which are actions we’ll ask you to do (usually walking or interacting with your partner in a certain way) in which we actively capture your natural reactions and expressions during them. They make for more genuine-looking photos, and they end up being a lot of fun!

We do offer the option to order prints and albums through our business, although we do not include it in any of our shooting packages. Generally, any printed products are ordered à la carte after the completion of the photography, once our clients have seen their photos and picked their favorites.

Prints of numerous sizes, types, and styles are available for direct purchase directly through the online gallery link you’ll ultimately receive when your photos are finished.

To get a more detailed idea of hour we handle specifically album production, please inquire with us!

Yes, we do have liability insurance that is accepted at all major venues. All we need is an email address from your venue to send the certificate to and we take care of the rest.

Currently, Gelfman Photography does not offer videography. Although we have the equipment and the knowledge, right now we simply don’t have enough hands! However, we know the vendor search is a time-consuming and convoluted process, so to aid our clients in this we’ve affiliated with several local videographers that we’ve had the pleasure of working alongside over the years to provide you with some great options for videography coverage.

All photos are individually assessed to be treated in a way that has them looking their absolute best—there’s no mass-preset or filter just slapped onto your images in bulk. We make sure colors are accurate and vivid, pictures are given some extra sharpening if needed, skin tones look natural and flattering without any heavy light or color casts, and there’s no overly-distracting elements left in the photo that are enough to “ruin” or distract from the main subjects in focus.

Please expect a turnaround time of 8 to 10 weeks for the fully-edited gallery of all your photos.

However, we deliver a “sneak peek” gallery of highlights of your day within the first two weeks of your wedding.

We remain in contact with you after the event to give you updates on the editing process, and always make sure you’re in the loop during that waiting period.

We always bring an array of flashes/strobes of different powers as well as continuous LED lighting so no matter the setting we’ll have the tools to light it accordingly.

Most definitely. Weddings and events are all about planning and having a back-up for your back-up. They’re extremely important days for everybody involved and nobody can afford to risk losing what was recorded or the ability to continue recording. We shoot with specifically-chosen equipment that stores everything to two memory cards at once and always carry extra cameras, lenses, and lights in our bags to use as replacements if anything happens to our “main” gear during the course of the day.

We ask for a flat $500 booking retainer and the remainder of the total is due by or on the date of the wedding itself.

However you’d like to pay in that span of time between signing with us and shooting with us is totally up to you. Some choose to pay in increments, some pay the day before the event so they don’t need to be concerned with it on the night-of, and many just pay us at the end of the evening before we head out.

We accept all major forms of payment (cash, checks, credit, payment apps, etc.) and are always happy to work with our clients in whatever way we can so the entire process goes as smoothly as possible for all parties involved.

We accept cash/money order, check, credit (Mastercard/Visa), as well as most major payment apps (Zelle, Venmo, and CashApp).

We mainly cover Suffolk and Nassau County in Long Island, New York. For an additional travel fee we will cover events in the greater New York area (Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Westchester, etc.) as well as Connecticut, and New Jersey. As far as something like a destination wedding, we’re always open to discussion—never hesitate to ask!

If you're looking for a type of shoot that we haven't listed, please feel free to contact us—we'll likely be able to accommodate you.