Arnaud Delalande

Arnaud Delalande is a professional photographer based in St. Moritz, whose homepage introduces him as "at your service in engadin" and "specialized in reportage, weddings, sport and events". French-trained, he has worked as a freelance photographer in St. Moritz since 2007. For a couple planning an Engadin wedding from abroad, two things stand out at once: his site is written in English, and his wedding packages and prices are published in full.

Background

His "about me" page sets out his training and career in dates. He studied at the Ecole Française d'Enseignement Technique, a photography school in Paris, from 1993 to 1996, gaining the CAP in professional photography in 1994 and a photography diploma from the same school in 1996. In 1997 he won the Marc Flament prize, a national competition for photography students in Paris. He then served as photographer and lab operator during his French military national service.

His professional years before the Engadin were spent in France: freelance work in France from 1998 to 2006, with Photozoom in Samoëns (1999 to 2001) and Serre-Chevalier (2001 to 2003), and Aventures Photo in Morzine (2003 to 2007). From 2004 to 2007 he worked for Photozoom in St. Moritz, and since 2007 he has been a freelance photographer there.

The same page lists clients he has photographed for, among them the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz, the ski schools of St. Moritz and Sils, Blick, Davidoff, NetJets, the Concours Hippiques St. Moritz, and St. Moritz Experience, for which he names clients such as Audi, BMW, ABB and Biotronik.

The wedding packages

The package and price page is unusually complete.

Package Marriage 1/2 Day, CHF 2000. 5 to 6 hours on location, described as ideal for the highlights of the wedding. It includes time for couple pictures, attending the religious ceremony, organizing the group photo, and spontaneous portraits of the couple and guests during the apéro. An optional photo book of 60 pages, 29 cm by 30 cm, starts at CHF 200, with choices of format, paper and number of pages.

Package Marriage 1 Full Day, CHF 3100. 10 to 12 hours on location, "from the dressing to the wedding cake", with the same elements: couple pictures, the religious ceremony, group photos and portraits during the apéro. The optional photo book starts at CHF 250.

Both packages include the photographer, copyright and postproduction, and the same services: the photos in high-resolution JPG on a USB stick; an online gallery that can be shared with an access code or publicly; and, within 72 hours, a selection of a few photos for the couple's social networks. Travel to the location is included within the Engadin; outside the Engadin, travel expenses are added.

For shorter bookings, the page gives an hourly scale: CHF 450 for 1 hour, CHF 800 for 2, CHF 1150 for 3, CHF 1450 for 4 and CHF 1750 for 5, each including the photographer on location, a CC BY-SA 4.0 copyright license, postproduction and high-resolution JPG files. That scale suits a short civil ceremony or a proposal shoot. For bookings over 4 hours he invites requests for an individual quotation, and he notes that extras such as assistants and special equipment can be arranged.

The portfolio

The marriage gallery reads like a map of the Engadin. Captions name couple portraits in Val Roseg, weddings at the Hotel Kronenhof (Claudine and Martin), the Palace Hotel (Denise and Adrian), Muottas Muragl, the Hotel Waldhaus in Sils, the Hotel Monople, Morteratsch, Celerina and Silvaplana, and a wedding in the church in Val Fex. There are several proposal shoots, including at the Kulm Hotel and the Kulm Country Club, and pictures of the dressing, the rings, the exchange of rings, the wedding cake and the photo apéro, as well as bridal portraits, a picture of sisters and a baptism at Regina Pacis. Named weddings also include Viola and Raphaël and Edele and Alessio.

His event gallery adds birthdays and parties at the Suvretta House, the Kulm Hotel and Badrutt's Palace, an aperitif on a chairlift, concerts and staff portraits. The portrait gallery includes a best man, family shoots in Samedan and in the studio, children outdoors and a pregnancy portrait, and his portfolio also has separate sport and landscape sections, the landscapes mostly Engadin skies and sunsets. For a wedding couple, these show he is used to working in the Engadin's larger hotels and at outdoor mountain locations.

Language and contact

The site, including the price page, is in English, and the menu offers a "Book Me now" link and a contact page. Captions mix English and German ("Hochzeit Denise & Adrian"), and the about page has a French heading. The site does not list languages spoken, but a couple from abroad can read the whole offer in English before writing.

What the site does not settle

• Delivery time for the full set. The 72-hour social media selection is stated; the delivery time of the USB stick and full gallery is not.
• Number of images. The packages promise the photos in high resolution but give no count.
• Civil ceremonies. The packages mention attending the religious ceremony; the site does not describe covering a civil ceremony separately.
• Travel costs outside the Engadin. Added to the price but not quantified.
• Booking terms. No deposit, cancellation rule or lead time is given.
• Second photographer. Assistants can be arranged, but the price of a second person is not listed.

Who it suits

Arnaud Delalande suits couples marrying in St. Moritz or elsewhere in the Engadin, especially at one of the hotels or mountain locations in his portfolio, who want to know the price before they write. The half-day package covers the highlights and the full day runs from getting dressed to the cake, with travel inside the Engadin included in both. The English-language site lets international couples assess the full offer without translation. Couples marrying outside the Engadin should ask for the travel supplement, and those who want albums should budget for the photo book, which is an option rather than part of either package.