• What services do you offer?

Third Element Studios is a full service photo studio specializing in commercial, wedding, and portrait photography.

Commercial services are 100% custom and are persons or businesses wishing to use custom or stock images in a commercial context. Image usage rights range from one time use to unlimited usage with exclusive rights.

Weddings are as unique as the people getting married, and as such we have three packages which offer a starting place for customization of your wedding package. All wedding packages include a DVD of all your final wedding images, all day photography, two professional photographers, an engagement session, and online proofing and ordering. Additional services include photo guest books, “Fine Art Vision Art Books” and premium post processing.

Portrait sessions are important for remembering moments in your life, whether it is photographing your pregnancy, family, baby, children, or senior, third element studios offers custom portrait sessions that fit your needs and allow your uniqueness and originality to be captured.

• What type of camera equipment do you use?

Third Element Studios uses a full line of professional Nikon cameras, lenses and speedlights, Profoto studio strobes, mac and dell computers, and Adobe CS5 software.

• When will I get my photos?

Wedding photos are generally available within 1 month of your wedding day. A short teaser is available online within 1 week, and albums are usually ready within two months depending on how much additional design time is needed.

Portrait sessions are generally available within 2 weeks.

Commercial photos are generally available within 2 weeks depending on the size of the project.

• How are my photos protected?

All photos are backed up in three locations: online, in studio, and off site.

During weddings all photos are backed up during the day and additionally in camera. We only use small cards so that in the very unlikely case of card failure there is a backup of your card and not all of your images are gone.

Upon retiring to the office the images are moved to the work in progress computer for production and backed up again on our self healing network attached storage system.

When production is finished your final edited jpegs will be backed up on the internet.

Finally your original raw images will be burnt to a Blu-ray disk or a DVD and placed in our safe deposit box at our bank.

• Do you travel?

YES! in fact, annually Third Element Studios photographs more weddings outside the central valley than locally. We have photographed weddings as far away as the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland, Florida, Oregon, Texas, and Iowa. Additionally, commercial shoots have taken us internationally to Ethiopia, Albania, Russia, and Guatemala just to name a few. Third Element Studios is road ready and experienced in providing top of the line professional photography services anywhere in the country or around the world.

Third Element Studios is located in Visalia California and travels free of charge from Bakersfield to Fresno. Additional travel fees apply to any event or photo shoot outside of this area.

• When do you use flashes?

Third Element Studios has the ability to shoot anywhere in any conditions, and as such we have a full line of speedlights for use on and off camera in addition to a full mobile studio with generator power.

As a general rule we do not use flashes during wedding ceremonies in an effort to be respectful and unobtrusive; however, when needed we have the ability to add light in any situation.

• Where can I see more photos taken by Forrest and Zach?

Both Forrest and Zach believe strongly in personal work and make an effort to maintain a personal website. Forrest’s website can be found at CavalePhoto.com and Zach’s website is ZachNiles.com.

• If we book Third Element Studios to photograph our wedding or event, who will be my actual photographer?

99% of the time, any shoot requiring two photographers both Forrest and Zach will be the ones photographing the event. In rare instances either Forrest or Zach are not available, we maintain a strong network of qualified 2nd shooters and assistants that are able to provide the same product. For events requiring only one photographer, either Forrest or Zach will be photographing. We take extreme pride in our photography and as such we would never sub-contract your photos out to another photographer.

• What is Fotki/SmugMug?

Fotki and SmugMug are online photo hosting and storefront which we use for all of our online proofing and ordering. Fotki is our old store and SmugMug is our new store. Fotki and SmugMug use industry leading security encryption for personal information, and allows for us to password protect your images so only those who you choose to see them can. On occasion there may be instances where you have issues viewing your images if you do not have the latest version of  your browser, we recommended FireFox.

• Do you photoshop my images after you take them?

We offer two different levels of post processing or photoshopping of your images. All images taken by Third Element Studios receives basic post processing which includes: basic color correction, exposure leveling, contrast correction, and selection of final images. Additional premium post processing can include: removing blemishes, stray hairs, braces, or other alterations to the original photo. Premium post processing is available for an additional fee.