Frequently Asked Questions
Photography Services
What kind of photography services do you offer?
I focus primarily on commercial photography. This includes, but is not limited to: Business headshots, casual headshots, business group shots, product photography, interior building photography, exterior building photography, commercial land photography, residential and commercial real estate photography, food & drink photography, advertising photography, editorial photography, automotive photography, and event photography.
Do you do passport photos or other portraits for documents?
No, I do not. My suggestion would be to go to Costco if you have a membership, or London Drugs or Shoppers drug mart if you can’t do Costco.
Do you do family portraits?
No, not normally anyway. I’d be willing to make exceptions if your family is willing to be incredibly silly, awkward, or weird.
Do you shoot weddings at all?
Haha, no.
Do you offer only retouching/editing services?
Yes, editing services are available at a rate of $50 per hour of editing time, minimum 1 hour.
They photo itself also has to be large enough, and of high enough quality for me to edit!
Do you offer photo-restoration of old and worn out photos?
Yes! It’s billed at the same $50 rate of retouching and editing with 1 hour minimum.
The original photo has to be of high enough quality to restore. Having the original print is always helpful, but not necessarily required.
Not sure if your photo can be restored or think it might be too damage? Email a digital copy to me to see if we can help you.
Can do you something like Google Street view but for my home or business?
As a matter a fact, I can! I have all the necessary equipment and software to create a virtual walk-through of any building, interior, or exterior, that acts similar to Google Street view where the user can “walk around” and “look around.” Email me with information about the space you’re looking to have done to get a quote and further information!
Are you able to travel outside of Edmonton?
Yes, but any travel outside of the City of Edmonton, not including adjacent Suburbs will be billed accordingly.
What are your rates?
Pricing varies heavily on what type of photography is needed. Some services have a flat rate, others have an hourly rate + per image rate. Other services could be hourly shooting rate + hourly editing rate.
For the most services though, there is a base rate of $175 per hour.
But definitely get in touch to get an accurate estimate!
What is the turn around time for photos?
Turn around time varies heavily on the type of photography needed. It could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. On average, I’d say turn around time is 1-2 weeks.
Rush is available at an extra cost.
What’s the process like for getting a photoshoot done?
The process is different from varying types of photography, but for the most part, the process is as follows:
First thing’s first, we need to get a solid idea of what we want the image to look like. Some people go “You’re the professional, I’ll leave it up to you.”, which is very true. But if you tell me you want a pet, and will leave it up to me because I’m experienced with pets, I might end up getting you a cat when you actually wanted a dog. So, always have a solid, or even rough idea of what you want.
Once we’re actually in the shooting portion of things though, you can review the photos as we shoot to discuss what’s working, what isn’t, what can change, and what we can do in post-production.
After all the shots are taken, they’re backed up for safety, and then I will usually sort through them to get rid of bad ones (blinks, bad facial expression, blurry, etc) and then send you a proof gallery to choose photos from.
As you choose those photos, you can also let me know if any specific edits you want done and I’ll do my best to accommodate.
After they’re done editing, I’ll send them to you, but will not send the invoice until you’re satisfied!
Photography Equipment
What kind of camera do you use?
I personally shoot with Canon. Particularly the Canon 5D Mark III and the Canon 5DSr.
I‘ve heard there’s high quality lenses, and low quality lenses. What kind of lenses do you have?
In the photography world, there are what are known as ‘consumer lenses’, which are the more affordable lenses offered to the masses. And then there are the ‘professional lenses’ which are much higher quality in terms of image quality and build quality, but also cost 2x- 4x more than consumer lenses.
Worry not though, since all my lenses that I shoot with are ‘professional lenses’ that will give you the best quality possible.
Do you have those big fancy lights?
Yes! I have an assortment of studio lights ranging from big to small.
Do you have a studio?
I currently have a home-studio, with an area of the home dedicated solely to studio work. It’s large enough to handle almost anything. Except maybe a car or a really large sofa…
We need to have dozens of people photographed and we can’t all come to the studio at once, can you come to us?
Most definitely! I’ve designed my studio and my equipment to all be mobile and can set up practically anywhere. If you have a large amount of people you need photographed and it would be easier for me to come to the office, then I can definitely do that. So long as there is sufficient space for me to set up. Open areas and high ceilings are preferred.
What kind of computer do you edit on?
I personally use Windows, as I can get better hardware for cheaper than buying through Apple. I also personally loathe apple – but that’s a whole other story.
My current PC is running an Intel i7 8700k with 6 cores, 32GB of RAM, and a nVidia 970 GTX graphics card. This allows me to get most tasks done as fast as possible, to save me time, which saves you money.
Topped off with 2x 27″ Samsung IPS monitors, which when calibrated, will give me the best colour accuracy, to give you the best colour photography.
What kind of back-up system do you have to ensure my photos are safe?
I employ a 13.5TB external array of harddrives, with redundant back up so that if drive crashes, the others will catch it. I also have an off-site back up of all my files which are updated every 6 months.
When you shoot with KTB Photography, your files will be kept on back up for at least 5 years. After those 5 years is when I will consider deleting things that I deem non-essential to keep.
Photo Prints & Art
Are your images real or are they photoshopped?
I’ve never liked this question, because there’s no such thing as “real” in photography.
The thing is, digital cameras, and even film, do not see the world the same way that our human eyes do. My eyes don’t have a super telephoto zoom to see clearly far away, or an ultra-wide to things directly next to me without turning my head.
Then there’s the whole colour and dynamic range problem too. Ever notice how sometimes your photos are too blue? Or too green? That’s because of a function called “white balance”, which our eyes naturally do for us, but cameras use 4 different colours to try and recreate that balance, and most of the time we have to adjust that in post-processing after shooting to get it as close to accurate as possible.
But my biggest issue with a “real, unedited photo” is that our eyes can take in a much wider range of light than a camera can. If I stared at a beautiful person with the sunset behind them, I would be able to see both the sunset and the person clearly and they look great. So I go to take a photo, and the sunset looks great, but now the person is all hidden in the dark! So I adjust to get enough light on the person, but now my sky is all pure white and not at all how I saw it with my own eyes! This is where a feature called “HDR” comes in, AKA High-Dynamic Range, to try and imitate the range of light that humans can perceive. HDR has a lot of… side-effects, so to speak, that change how an image looks too.
Ultimately, what’s real in a photograph isn’t what’s natural, unedited, and untouched. What’s real is what the photographer sees; and ultimately, what the photographer chooses to show viewer in the final image.
So long story short, my images are photoshopped. They’re not “real”, but they are the truth. My truth.
Do you offer prints from commissioned photoshoots?
Yes! I can print up to 16 x 20 inches in house, fully assuming that the printer isn’t having a temper tantrum that day. You know how printers are the worst piece of technology ever? Now imagine that, with a much more expensive, complex, high-tech photo printer. Yeah – fun.
When you print through me, my monitors are calibrated for colour accuracy, and the software is set up in a very particular way to ensure that what I see on my screen matches the print out as much as possible. With that being said, the prints I offer do cost more than if you were to get them printed online or by a big-box store. Reason being is because they can buy their ink in bulk, at insane corporate discounts, and also their quality is significantly lower than mine due to less quality control.
Anything larger than 16 x 20, I have to order in. I also have access to all types of different print materials, from regular paper, to canvas, wood, even metal (they’re super cool).
Can I use the digital files you give me from the commissioned photoshoot, and get them printed at Wal-Mart or Costco?
Also yes. When you get a photoshoot done with me, you have certain limited rights to those photos, and one of them is being able to reproduce them in print. You can use those files to order prints online, or in person from any store in the city.
Although these prints will be cheaper than what I can personally offer, their quality goes down along with their price. Just something to keep in mind.
Personally I would avoid Wal-Mart like the plague. The best big-box store printer in my opinion is London Drugs.
How come some of your art prints cost as much, if not more than unique hand-drawn prints by other artists
A lot of artists paint on canvas, which is actually a relatively affordable material. There’s photos that can be printed on canvas as well, which results in more affordable prints, but I’m personally just not a fan of canvas. I’ve always been more a framed print kind of person (even if it’s a Canvas, it’s better framed), and frames are actually very expensive. Then as we get into more unique materials such as prints on wood and metal, they cost more as they’re more unique and different from the standard.
What’s the largest print you offer?
As large as your imagination. Currently the largest print I have for sale is 5′ x 3′ feet.
