August 9, 2009
Albums! Yay! Albums rock. So let’s sit back and think here for a minute. You have your wedding, it’s great, your photos are great, and you made sure to get those handy digital proofs. Good! Now you can box up that DVD and have the pictures there for years to come. You can make prints 5, 10, 15 years down the road. You’re set.
But. The digital copies of your wedding day photos are your digital negatives. They are there should you need to make additional prints. However, since they are negatives, they are not a completed display of your wedding images. You never heard of people in the old days (you know, like 19EIGHTY. whoaaa. kidding.) taking out their film negatives to show to everyone. That’s because negatives aren’t for display. They’re your backup, and I want you to have that.
Albums and prints are the finished products. They are meant to be displayed. A print tells of a moment in time. An album tells a story. Your wedding album is the story of your wedding day. Anyone who opens and flips through it should feel like they were there. Coffee table albums are a great way to present your wedding images. They are not bulky, but are beautifully printed. The coffee table albums I create are printed on varnish paper, which has just a bit of a shine. They read like books, with “floppy” paper. They are different than flush mount albums that have the thick, hard pages. These are meant to be just like a book. Sure, the pages are obviously thicker than a book and a whole lot prettier – but you get the gist. Your album design is printed right on the pages and it comes in a case for protection. I think coffee table albums rock! They’re great for putting… um…. on your coffee table! Duh 
August 8, 2009
I love it when my mom, sister-in-law, and niece come over to visit. Sure, they live about 40 minutes away, but I’m always flattered when they make the trip out for some dinner and an evening visit. They were out this past Tuesday and Lydia was in full force. Here are some fun images of her playing! I just love her to itty bitty pieces!
August 7, 2009
“If I get the digital copies and rights to print in my package, why should I bother getting professional quality prints when I can take them to Walmart?”
Secret: When this question is asked, every photographer gets this inner expression:
Professional prints are a must. You spend hours upon hours planning a wedding. You research flowers, try on a million (it seems) dresses, pick the. perfect. colors., and obsess about how to do your hair. All of a sudden those Malono Blahnik’s don’t sound like such a bad idea.
And then you get your wedding photos. And you just adore them. Great!! Now what!! Well let’s head over to Walmart!. See the disconnect? I’m not telling you that Walmart is bad. I tend to get a lot of t-shirts and cookies with fake icing there (which I love for realz), but when it comes to your wedding, please invest in some professional quality prints! These are the photos of your wedding that will be hanging in your house for years to come. Everyone who comes over will look at your wedding picture and oogle over how beautiful you were on your wedding day. Why print all of those wonderful memories on a 2-for-$0.99 print? That doesn’t do justice to your beautiful day.
Professional prints are just that – professional. They are printed through a high-quality photo lab that checks for color correction and weird crop factors before printing one piece of their work for you. These are prints that will last. They are high-quality, durable, and fade-resistant. They are printed on the best photographic paper available. Companies invest thousands upon thousands of dollars to get their prints just. right. Just like your flowers! Just like your dress! And just like your wedding photos should be.
Next – what size?! Oh crap. What size?!? Eeekkkk. Well let me help you out just a little bit with some common print sizes: 5×7, 8×10, and 11×14. These are all just fine, but what size you order depends on where you plan on displaying your photo. I typically describe a 5×7 as a “desk photo”. You take this in to work and say “Look at me on my wedding day !! No. You weren’t invited, weird co-worker, but I’ll let you look at what you missed! ” An 8×10 is good for displaying on shelves. I have one of my wedding photos printed on an 8×10 and it sits on my upper landing right when you walk into the house. 11×14 – wall photo. An 8×10 hanging on a wall will look miniscule. Bump a wall photo up to an 11×14, or even a 16×20.
Here is an example of these three image sizes as compared to a regular-sized paperback. (Also, Water for Elephants comes highly recommended from me. It’s by Sara Gruen and a great, easy read). I hope all of this helped you to make great decisions when it comes to your professional wedding prints!
August 6, 2009
It seems as though a lot of brides these days are looking for a little extra touch for their hair on the wedding day. Some choose to use fresh flowers, which are beautiful. However, fresh flowers are obviously only good on the wedding day.
Another idea is to use a hair pin. There are hair pins that have jewels and rhinstones on them, but I personally think these ones with the flowers are just divine! As always, you can purchase one on Etsy – a site I always recommend. There are so many options there, including every color imaginable. Here are some of my favorites and links to the stores!
Powder Blue Bijoux
Velvet Owl
The Honey Comb
August 4, 2009
Two weekends ago I was very excited to work with Kim of Kimberly Reed Photography for my Trash The Dress session. If you remember, I shot with Kim before on July 4th. There are times when I really love to get in front of the camera, as it’s a great means of learning more about what it feels like and how to give and take direction well. It’s a fantastic experience that I recommend for all photographers!
Kim, Alyssa, and I ventured out to the Strip District upon deciding that a session was actually a possibility. It had been off and on rainy the whole day and we decided to give it a go – and it was a great decision! We got some awesome moody shots with the sky and I love the results. We had a fantastic time, and needless to say my dress is going to make it out alive Check out some of the great photos on Kim’s blog.
July 27, 2009
It seems like the “vintage” look is really popular these days, but I really love some true vintage photos. Especially ones of my grandmother. These just make me smile -what great memories to be able to share! These photos truly show why photography is important – these images will now last a lifetime thanks to the internet. The memories in these photos will live forever. Your family history is forever preserved with a single click of a shutter.
My grandmother at 27… my how the times have changed!
At age 4 or 5. My mom tells me that horse is still in West Park.
Yes, that fabulousness runs in the family. Obviously.
July 26, 2009
Happy Anniversary to us! We were married one year ago today. It was wonderful, and this past year has been great! We have bought a house, sold a house, carved our first turkey, became an uncle and aunt, flown to Jamaica, ran in the Pittsburgh marathon, and watched the Pens with the Stanley Cup – in Detroit! It’s been great, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I tell him every day (or I try to) that I love our life and I love him very much! It would be awfully hard to be a wedding photographer if I wasn’t crazy in love with my own husband, now wouldn’t it? 
Here are some quick recaps from our first year together..
July 24, 2009
#75: Learn Lightroom. Accomplished! I spent some time recently with Heather Lahtinen of Weddings by Heather learning Adobe Lightroom. Can I just say – what a great experience!! I typically catch on to technology pretty quickly, but I just was not excited to learn Lightroom via books and online demos. Well, in comes Heather! She offered a Lightroom workshop at her home and I was able to learn a lot about Lightroom in the matter of 7 hours. The training was great and I feel really comfortable with the application now! Sure, it’ll take a little while to figure out all of the keyboard shortcuts, but I’m still very happy that I went, so “Thank You, Heather!”
A snapshot…
