I’m working on Ginny + Marc’s wedding photos right now and I had to show you the gorgeous bouquet Ginny carried, designed and created by Lori Parker, from Floral Emporium. I love the innovation and the use of the sunflower centers is just genius. The yellow petals are gorgeous and showed up in the bridesmaids bouquets, but their absence in Ginny’s bouquet set it apart. The centerpiece of the bouquet was a brooch from Ginny’s grandmother, which not only gave the bouquet meaning, but added to the contrasting textures and colors. It’s so simple yet modern and I’m in awe of the florists who dream up creations like this!

I love how weddings allow artists in so many different areas to come together and be creative… and I know those artists appreciate the brides they work with (if they don’t then you should be working with someone else). It really is a treat to be able to work in a job that allows you to do what you love and I think weddings have changed the way people look at and think about art. All of the types of design, music, photography, videography, etc… that take place at a wedding have evolved from 20, even 10 years ago… which is why your parents might not understand why you want to spend such a large portion of your wedding budget on photography (thanks mom+dad). When you think about your wedding in terms of bringing together artists who are going to help create unique and personal elements for possibly the biggest celebration in your life… it kind of changes your perspective.

ps. yes, I do think there is such a thing as bad art. I would not call everyone in the wedding industry an artist… i just needed to get that off my chest.

It was the eve of Dawn’s birthday when David proposed. He gave her a present and inside was an engagement ring that he designed and Dawn said yes. They set about preparing for their wedding and their marriage, which if anything is an adventure. So, last month on a rainy spring day, I joined them in Arlington, Virginia for their wedding.

Some gorgeous florals took center stage at the reception, where a lot of the decorations were handmade by David and Dawn. Curly willow came from the mother of the bride’s backyard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and stood as beautiful mini trees in the center of each table. Since David is a carpenter he made the centerpiece boxes that they stood in, and the gorgeous multi-tiered cupcake stand.

See that amazing cupcake stand? I think all of the kids, including the ring bearer below, were amazed by the display of dessert :)

After the wedding and reception, I headed into the district for some photos of David and Dawn with a true DC backdrop. It was steadily raining, so we brought out umbrellas and shot some romantic images… rain just tends to lend itself to a really interesting and romantic backdrop. (have you seen the new pride + prejudice?)

We had some fun with the umbrella as well of course, and I think they pulled it off perfectly… it’s always important to have fun when you’re taking pictures.

…and after all the pictures they were off on their honeymoon to Brazil!!  Thanks for braving the rain and I think the pictures are totally worth it. I’ve had such a good time getting to know you both and it’s a been a privilege to photograph your engagement + wedding. View the slideshow below to see a more complete overview of the day, and then check out the full gallery of images. Just register and then use D+D’s last name to enter their gallery. Comments left on this post will help them earn a free print, so leave them a note or let me know what you think!

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personalized cards tablecloth quilt TOMS flowers napkin

Over at the District of Columbia war memorial we had a bit of shelter until the rain really let up. It was tucked away just off the mall so we could avoid the usual crowds.

The cherry blossoms had begun to bloom so were were able to incorporate another DC landmark into the photos, and it just looks gorgeous. I’m really tempted to make a trip over for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

We saved the best for last. There’s nothing like a good old fashioned stomp in a puddle, like what you did as a kid. I’m so glad I was able to spend some time in DC with Dave and Maria as it’s always a fun place to visit. I’m really looking forward to their wedding in October and will bring you more of their story then!

A week ago I met up with a great group of people for a shoot out. I’m not sure if that’s even the technical term, but that’s what we called it. Lindsay, a friend from college, organized most of it as she wanted to get together photographers and models so we could practice and learn from each other. While there was no set schedule to the event, we started out at Andre’s Wine + Cheese Bar in downtown Doylestown. We shot indoors and practiced off camera lighting, but what was most interesting was seeing what each person did. While I like to travel a little bit lighter I was impressed by Keesha’s umbrella and flash set up… and I was also eyeing Lindsay’s external battery pack for a near instant recycle time on her flash. It’s always good to see what other people are doing – not so you can just copy – but when you’re in an environment that’s open to learn from… you can learn!

Part two of the shoot out took place outside. I decided to try something new and only used the lensbaby I bought at Imaging USA for my lens. If you’re not familiar with lensbabies, they are basically a variation on a tilt shift lens. Instead of a constant plane of focus, you can move around the lens so that there are only specific points of focus. This can do some really cool things, but of course it takes more than just an interesting lens to create a great image. I’m still working on it, and you really have to slow down and take your time since it’s manual focus. While it’s a different look for me, if you’ve seen any of the abstract work I did in college you’ll know it’s right up my alley. I’m looking forward to working it in to some of my shoots – let me know what you think!

I have a lot to fill you in on since my last post was almost a week ago. I’ve had a lot of travel in these past few days, as well as excitement with Mike + Kaity’s wedding this past weekend in the Wappingers Falls area. You might have heard about – or lived through – the storm the northeast experienced as well, and the dramatization on the weather channel made me wonder if I would even make it up to the wedding. I sat in front of the tv Thursday night seeing report after report on precipitation, road conditions, and that you should cancel your travel plans if you haven’t already. I was sucked in, I admit it, and while the storm did drop a lot of snow thankfully the highways were perfectly safe to travel on and I arrived as scheduled.

Another wintery wedding. Mike + Kaity’s wedding day was fabulous and what made it so fun is that I know them so well. Both runners (like myself) they also graduated from Houghton and we share stories of meets, long runs, and the time spent together that comes from being a part of a team. It was fun to catch up with some old friends at their wedding and enjoy the reunion that so often comes along with the day. Can’t wait to show you more!

There’s no bigger compliment than having someone refer me. I appreciate so much when a couple – their parents, a friend – takes the time to share their experience and photos and recommend someone work with me. There’s also something about that connection that puts people at ease. It takes away some of the doubt of “who is this person” when you’re able to draw upon first hand experience. This may sound crazy but it works the same way for me. When I am able to work with such amazing clients I can only hope they will send their friends of similar taste to me.

I value the friends you refer to me so much that I’m officially enacting my 2010 referral program. This applies to everyone – you don’t have to be a current client to take part in this so everyone really wins. So before you fall off the edge of your seat, let me tell you how it works:

1. Tell your friends who are engaged to contact me
2. Your friend contacts me, mentions your name, and books their wedding
3. You receive $100 print credit and your friend receives $100 print credit
4. Use your credit within 1 year on a new session

How does that sound- pretty simple, right? I really can’t have credits last forever and ever, which is why they must be used within a year. However, you can totally refer 7 friends (or more) and store up $700 of print credit for your next session if you’d like. Now, it’s a different story if I shot your wedding. If I’m your photographer and you refer a friend, you can use credits up to 1 year after the wedding on your own photos – yes your own photos! So, after the wedding, tell a few friends, and perhaps have enough credit to get that gallery wrapped canvas you’ve been eying. One year after your wedding, you will have to follow the normal rules like everyone else and apply the credit towards a new session… but then you can do an adventure bridal session, some updated family photos, or newborn pictures when your baby is born!? haha I think I just got some stink eye on that last one.

Thank you so much to those people who have sent weddings to me in the past. I appreciate it so much and it really is what allows me to keep doing what I do. I love getting to know my brides + grooms and it is even more fun when I’m able to see them at other weddings as well. I look forward to working with more connections and sending you some prints + products in the process!

Blythe had a gorgeous bouquet for the wedding and I wanted to share an image for the day but I’m going to wait to show you more until the full post. That does bring me to another topic, and actually a question I was asked: “When are the pictures going to be finished?” This is the money question – everyone wants to know, and everyone wants to know why it’s not sooner. So, I thought I’d answer both of those questions for you here.

Question #1: The photos will be done in 3 weeks.

This is actually a big jump in turn around from what I used to do. If I shot your wedding in the past, don’t feel jilted, there’s reasons for the time then too. The main reason my turn around is faster is that I’m better at editing. When you shoot 1200-1800 images per wedding, it can take a lot of time to cut them down, edit each one and make some fine tuned adjustments to the best of the bunch. I’ve refined my workflow and just have more experience with the large number of images.

Question #2: Why aren’t they done sooner?

As I said, when editing 1200-1800 images, it takes time. Let’s start with importing all of the images, all 20-36 GB of them. Once they are all safe and sound, it comes time for editing. If I spend 15 seconds per image, that averages out to 5 – 7.5 hours. Not that bad, but you add in editing to the daily routine – taking care of emails, other clients, traveling for and shooting the next wedding, designing albums, ordering prints, blogging – they don’t always take precedence. Also, I leave some time for the rest of my business and life to happen, and if I’m able to finish them sooner, of course I love to do that. After the images are edited, they are processed into jpgs, re-named by category, burned to a disc, and saved as smaller files to be loaded on to the proofing site. Once they are uploaded to the proofing site, the best 20-30 are chosen for the blog, and the blog post ensues. Whew. There’s a lot of behind the scenes work and I think when you see them you’ll agree they’re worth the wait.

…you can do things like this! I just got back from Nita and Matt’s wedding and it was fabulous. Since time was tight between the ceremony and reception, we planned for some night photos as well and got the supplies together to make it happen. I absolutely loved doing it and am going to have to work on incorporating more creative night shooting into weddings that allow it.

There’s more where this came from, and I can’t wait to show you the rest. I’ve been busy traveling from Virginia to New York for this wedding and my blogging seems to suffer because of that, but there’s so much to post I can already tell this coming week is going to be a good one.

I always appreciate when someone takes the time to let me know how they felt about their photos and experience with me as a photographer. Feedback is essential since photography – the experience, the trust, and letting me be a part of your lives – is really about you, and not me. I simply can’t be successful if you aren’t satisfied.

Which is why I was blown away by the email I received yesterday from Brendan + Stephanie whos wedding is featured below. They sent me a great inside perspective on what it was like to find me as a photographer and work with me. It is also the kind of email you frame and re-read when you’re having a bad day – and yes I will probably do that.  So, you’re wondering what this email says, right? Well I’ve asked them if I could share a bit, so here you go – probably my best review ever.

Way back in February (maybe even January?) Stephanie and I were really enthralled with your art when we found your website.  Watching you blog about your different clients and experiences was a great way for us to feel like we were getting to know your style, even before emailing and calling you.  Your appreciation for natural beauty and your ability to manipulate ordinary objects to create visual impact really drew us in.

Everyone knows you capture brilliant images and turn photos into art, but I’d also like to tell you about our experience with finding and choosing a photographer, and why we appreciate you so much.

When Stephanie and I were calling around to different photographers, we came across a wide variety of personal styles, price ranges, and packages.  One fellow was very inexpensive, but his photos didn’t look any better than some that I might take with my own little point-and-shoot camera (glare from the flash reflecting off windows, etc… awful).  Another guy we talked to took reasonably nice photos, but he was trying to get us to sign a contract with him right away.  He LITERALLY told us over the phone that if we signed up with him RIGHT THEN, he’d throw in an extra this, a little of that, etc.  Stephanie and I just didn’t feel good about all the pressure.  When we called you, you had such an easy-going attitude about the whole thing.  You were so very open, accepting, and flexible that when we got off the phone for the first time I turned to Stephanie and said, “I LIKE this woman!  I think we found our photographer!”  Your flexibility really came through again when we had to figure out how to do our engagement session, and you really worked to accommodate our crazy schedules.

Ultimately we followed our gut feelings, and chose you over some more traditional photographers who were less expensive.  Let me tell you how I feel about that investment now, after having gone through the whole wedding process.

The money we paid you to come and shoot our wedding is some of the best money we’ve ever spent.  I consider the service (and products) you’re providing us to be an incredible value, and worth every penny.

Honestly, there are some things you can skimp on during your wedding.  If you buy a less expensive dress, that’s ok since you’re only going to wear it once.  If you go with a less expensive cake, that’s ok too since you’re only going to eat it once.  HOWEVER, the photographer you choose is ESSENTIAL since those photos are going to be some of your most lasting mementos.  NEVER SKIMP ON THE PHOTOGRAPHER!

Professionally, you were brilliant.  You shot moments I didn’t think anyone else would have noticed other than Stephanie and I (the moment after we walked back down the aisle, and paused to hug on the front porch or the Glen Iris… incredible).  I can’t say enough about the way you worked the event.

In addition to that, we like you personally and we were glad to have you at our event (Kaylan too!). I guess the whole point here is that Stephanie and I are extremely satisfied with what you’ve done for us.