Amber + Andrew 06.14.08
Posted on June 30, 2008
I have known Amber for a few years through my personal journal, we randomly met on a Sex and the City group of all things ironically enough. She’s been with me (at least virtually!) from my hobby and love of photography turning into a business and when she became engaged I was honored to be asked to be her photographer! Her and Andrew got married in Wooster, Ohio at the OARDC Butterfly Garden and got VERY lucky with the weather. This month has been quite the nasty one when it comes to weather and I think it has been supposed to rain on just about every Saturday since May. The rain clouds cleared out just in time for their outdoor ceremony and it could not have been a more beautiful setting. The butterflies were flitting around the butterfly garden and the flowers were all in bloom! It was BEAUTIFUL! I highly reccomend this location to any and all brides in the area! The reception was just as lovely and I was VERY excited to see an old friend… the same cake from Adam + Anna’s wedding last year from West Side Bakery! YUM! It was delicious! The bride and groom had a lovely time and the location again was perfect! Thanks guys for letting me share in your special day!
Vendors
Hairstylist: Hairbenders
Ceremony Location: OARDC Butterfly Garden
Reception Location: Hilton Garden Inn
Florist: Green Thumb Floral
Cake: West Side Bakery
Dj: JR the DJ
Corey Talks: Formals, Tips to Make Them Quick!
Posted on June 29, 2008
I’m hoping to keep this a Sunday tradition over here on my blog…. so if you have any suggestions for topics please let me know!
Formals, Tips to Make Them Quick!
One problem I seem to run into again and again is that formals are taking a lot longer than the bride and groom budgeted time for and it is leaving less FUN time to play with me outside of the church. Most of you have booked me for my photojournalistic approach to your day and not for the posed shots that your Mom and Dad had when they got married. So, when your time gets cut short and we can’t play as much, I feel that you haven’t got what you paid for from me and you are sad at the end of the day because you didn’t get as many pics as you had hoped. Keep in mind that I do everything I can to get through the formals and to our play time – but without help from the bride and groom I can’t always guarantee that we can do it without arriving later at your reception than planned. So below are some tips from me to make sure we get our time together!
1. Add 30 minutes at least to the time you THINK it will take for pictures! Most brides and grooms think an hour after the ceremony ends is sufficient time to take pictures. However, most fail to realize that even with a grand exit, people never leave as quickly from the ceremony venue as you think they will. People get to chatting with friends and families and time goes by and you are still waiting for them to leave. Also, if you are doing a recieving line, that takes a LOT longer than you expect it will. I don’t think I’ve had a bride yet turn to me and say “gosh that went quick!.” Same thing with the formals before the ceremony, someone is always running late, someone didn’t get the right tux etc. You will be thankful for that half hour buffer!
2. Know your bustle! Another huge time consumer is the bustle. Practice it in the store at least twice and practice it again the day before or the day of so things run smoothly. Have at least two people that know how to do it incase one person is too busy when you want bustled. You may think it isn’t such a big deal now but that is probably one of the biggest time munchers!
3. Let Family Know Who is in the Pictures! Make sure that everyone knows before the big day if they are wanted or expected for formal pictures and when they are needed. This includes the bridesmaids and groomsman. Make sure if it is before, that everyone knows what time they have to show up READY by and if after, that they need to stay and not leave with the crowds. Most often grandparents leave because they didn’t count themselves as “immediate family” and then you have a shot at the reception with them but it’s not quite the same. So make sure EVERYONE knows that they are wanted.
4. End Pre Ceremony Formals 30 Minutes Before Arrival Time! Another huge time sucker is when guests start to arrive as we are taking our formals before the ceremony starts. It’s a temptation to talk to you, congratulate you and then start wanting pictures with you, their family and their friends. I am more than willing to take them – but each one of those shots you hadn’t planned on because Aunt Betsy wasn’t supposed to be there until an hour later will eat into your time you had set aside for pictures with your friends. If you say yes to their request for a picture, I cannot say no.
5. Have a Plan of Action! Going along with number 3 – have a plan of action of the set up of pictures that you want. I do not accept shot lists (the ring, the ring in my hand, the ring in his hand, him picking up the ring type lists) but what I do like are the lists that let me know the groupings that you want. Me and the bridesmaids, me and my parents type list. This then lets me know ahead of time where we need to start and how things need to roll. I will come up with how to pose you, but if I am already able to know that I need your family and the family dog, I will be that much ahead of the game making things run that much smoother.
6. Just Me… I really hate to say this, but I’m going to have to say it. To ensure that not only your formal pictures go fast but that also they are quality shots I do need to ask that you ask your friends and family to hold back their urge to take pictures alongside of me. Not only does this take extra time from your formals by having to wait on up to 20 people to take their shot of the pose (no kidding, it’s happened many times to me and other photographer friends) but the other problem is that almost 100% of the time when there are other people taking pictures I do not have all eyes looking at me for the pose. I can tell everyone to look at me but naturally you are going to most likely look at your camera, your best friend etc. than me – a virtual stranger. If this request makes your friends and family upset, I do at least ask that they wait until I am finished taking my shot. When they are shooting at the same time I am, their flashes can ruin my shot when my flash goes off at the same time making everyone ghost people.
7. Start Big, Go Small. My main goal is to whittle down the people staying afterwards for formals by taking the largest group shots first and allowing those people to leave as I work through the group. This way your guests can head on to the reception and it is less people to slow down the process. So make sure everyone knows that they’ll be staying for shots but they will be free to leave as soon as they are over so to plan carpooling accordingly. My goal is to end with just the group going out and taking the fun shots afterwards so if the bridal party is going with, let them know that they will be last for the formals in the church.
8. Ask the Expert! When you are drawing up your timeline for the day, feel free to call me, shoot me an email or whatnot to ask me how long you think you will need for formals. It all depends on your bridal party and family size for what I would suggest. Typically I say 1 hour for formals, 30-45 minutes for the fun shots (again depending on what you want).
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope that maybe this helps your day run a bit smoother and enables you to have time to enjoy your husband and have some fun times with me!!
Kristy + Ryan 06.13.08
Posted on June 27, 2008
I have had the pleasure of knowing Kristy since I was 12 years old and she’s always been one of my closest friends. We’ve been through a lot together and it’s hard to believe just how far we have came from our days in school together with nothing better to do than wonder where we should set off our fireworks (we both had a serious love for things that go BOOM and my Dad fed that love!). So when I had the rare opportunity to either be IN the wedding or shoot the wedding (or both!) it took me a long time to decide what to do. I eventually decided that she had plenty of people that would love to be at her side the day of the wedding and that I would rather be able to be at her side in a professional capacity. In the end, I’m glad it worked out the way it did because things got pretty hectic the day of the wedding.
Vendors:
Bridesmaids Dresses: David’s Bridal
Bride’s Dress: David’s Bridal
Florist: Bride’s Aunt
Bra Straps: Strappity-Do-Da
Reception Hall (all-inclusive): Windsor Hall in Canton, OH
Corey Talks: Why Photographers Charge "So Much"
Posted on June 22, 2008
I’m starting a new piece on my blog to supplement the pictures called Corey Talks. In it I plan on talking about various topics about weddings, photography etc. Feel free to comment and submit questions or tell me I’m crazy. I figured I’d start with the topic that gets lots of debate in the wedding world.
Why Photographers Charge So Much
If you go to any public forum where vendors and brides can both post, there is always the debate on why photographers charge so much. Many brides think that $200 (for example) an hour is an awful lot of money to charge for “clicking a button a few times” and don’t get how we can charge such high fees for our services. Keep in mind I am only discussing why we charge what we do hourly – later I may explain why we charge what we do for products (albums and the like) that are often in packaged rates. There are many things that go into our hourly pricing and below I’m going to highlight a few of them.
The Eye Most important in my opinion when hiring a photographer is their eye. I am sure every person here has that picture that Mom took when you were a kid that you would have loved… if only your entire head was in the picture instead of just your chin. Sounds simple enough to frame a picture but in reality it isn’t. Face recognition is starting to help some of this problem in the newer cameras but weddings are VERY fast paced and those functions take time to focus. Often, the people have moved by the time your camera is ready for that shot. We also have the ability to see angles that most people don’t see. From my own wedding, there are pics of us cutting the cake that the photographer took and the ones from the guests are not as great because they didn’t focus in on us and you could see random people peeping in and out of the edges.
Editing This is the biggest reason for the hourly rate. Back in film days, photographers based their hourly rate on the time it took to develop the film and print it. Digital is no different than film – we just use a computer to develop our pictures instead of chemicals. For an 8 hour wedding I can have up to 40 hours of editing work which takes us from $200 an hour down to $34 an hour (40 hours + 8 hour wedding).
Equipment Many people come to me complaining about their digital point and shoot and the delay between the time they press the shutter release and when the picture actually gets taken. With a digital SLR, that is not as much of a problem (although sometimes it will be slower due to data being written to the media card). That is why professionals typically carry a DSLR and typically a higher grade one. The cameras are not cheap to own and need to be replaced as they get outdated and worn out. Part of what you are hiring is the ability to shoot continuously so that an essential second (the kiss is a big one that can be missed without a camera that can take pictures in a rapid fire fashion) is not missed. Another element in this topic is lenses. You are paying a professional, with high grade lenses to take portraits. Most of these lenses actually cost MORE than the camera bodies themselves because of the grade of work and glass that goes into them. This also enables the photographer to take pictures in low light situations (chapels that do not allow flash and reception halls to name a couple) where many people cannot normally get an image.
Data Storage Just because film isn’t used anymore doesn’t mean that the cost of storage for your images is free. For a high speed data card from a quality company, it can cost up to $25 a gig to store files. Some photographers do reuse their cards, but many purchase new for each wedding (personally I do not yet but plan to in the future for extra security of files). Even though they may be reused they still do wear and tear like any other piece of equipment and will need to be replaced. I take upwards of 100 images an hour per event and need to have enough storage on me to contain all of those files because sometimes it just is not possible to dump images during the day onto a hard drive and reuse a disk that day.
Every bride has to make the decision on what is important to her when dividing out her budget for her wedding. Some choose to spend the bulk on the reception, some choose photography, some choose flowers – it is all in what you are more about personally and I’m not trying to say that photography is the most important or what you should choose. However when making your decision, I hope this helps you see that what I do goes beyond just pushing a button during the day – there is a lot more to it!
Shoot with Beckstead
Posted on June 19, 2008
Last week I had the amazing expeience of taking a workshop with David Beckstead, one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the United States. He is just simply awesome. I learned SO much from him and he was the nicest person. Very friendly and easy to get along with. The workshop was hosted by Cat McKinley whom was just the best hostess ever. I can’t rave enough about this workshop, it was THAT good. By far the best money I’ve spent towards my education in photography. We went to some fantastic places in Akron and Cleveland with our model brides – the Akron Civic Theater, Stan Hywet and The Arcade in Cleveland. We also did a quick jaunt around downtown with our bride as well. The best of the best (IMHO) of what I shot is below. Beware it is very picture heavy!
Thanks so much to David for being such a wonderful teacher and Cat for setting everything up!
Elizabeth and Kevin
Posted on June 17, 2008
Elizabeth and Kevin got married on June 6th in Steubenville and they got lucky with weather! It was supposed to be an ugly day with storms and rain but the rain held off and although the day was a bit sticky, it could have been a lot worse! They were such a great couple – Elizabeth is a sweetheart and her dress was divine! Their bridal party was a great group and definately ready for good times! The Maid of Honor gave one of the best toasts I’ve heard from a Maid of Honor in my life, it was wonderful!
Elizabeth and Kevin have good photographer taste too… check out their awesome Trash the Dress session with Carrie of Brooke Mayo Photography! As you all know because I repeat it daily, Carrie and Brooke were my wedding photographers so I was really excited to hear they were using them during their honeymoon!
Vendors
Ceremony: Bell Chapel United Methodist Church in Steubenville, Ohio
Officiant: Rev. Jeff Proya
Florist: Anna’s Flower Box
Limo/Transportation: Total Transportation
Reception/Caterer: Steubenville Country Club
Dj: “Dr. Johnny Fever” of Disk Jockeys & Bands Unlimited
Cake: Aubrey’s Bakery
Kristy and Ryan Tease
Posted on June 14, 2008
I can’t say enough warm and gooey things about these two, truely. I have been friends with Kristy since I was 12. A teacher made the vast mistake (for her, not us!) of placing us next to each other and from then on we were partners in crime. Many a house met the TP treatment in our misspent youth (my ex boyfriend got the best treatment EVER ha ha). We even came out of retirement last year for kicks and TP’ed one of her bridesmaids (she blamed it on the neighbors!). She has always been such a good friend to me and her groom is such a wonderful man. She’s had some doozies in the men department and I cannot explain in words how happy I am that she has found a guy that is just all around awesome. He treats her like the princess she truely is and treats her son like a prince.
I will save my tale of what all went down on her wedding day, but from this picture you’d never know what she went through to get to this point. She was a radiant bride!!!
Kristy and Ryan (and of course Mason!) I love you guys and I am so excited for you all! *kisses*
Stay tuned for pics from Elizabeth’s wedding, my workshop with the phenominal David Beckstead, fair time and Amber and Ryan’s wedding (theirs was today, BUSY WEEK!).
Jennifer + David 05.31.08
Posted on June 12, 2008
This wedding came to me very last minute due to an emergency with the photographer they originally hired. I am so glad that I had this date open because this couple was some serious fun! They got married at the Old Calvary Church in Sandusky, Ohio and then we went to a waterfront park for some pics and then to Cedar Point for some more pics. They rounded out the evening at the Kalahari Water Park for their reception which was just gorgeous – and even had entertainment in the form of Slider (the Cleveland Indians mascot)_! They danced the night away to some great music! The DJ was phenominal and I’ve never seen such a large crowd hit the dance floor or a groom dance SO much in my life! What a great party!!! Not only were they a fun couple but they were SO much in love that even I teared up a time or two during the ceremony. This wedding was exactly why I love what I do – the couple was so in love and everyone was excited to celebrate with them! Thank you to both Jennifer and David for having me!!
Thanks again to my sidekick for the day, Thomas of T1Photo, for coming out!
Vendor Details:
Church: Old Calvary Church
Reception: Kalahari Resort
Florist: Corso’s
Cake: Flour Girl
DJ: Kym Malley, Soundscapes
Limo: Northwest Limo
Elizabeth and Kevin Tease
Posted on June 8, 2008
Normally I am NOT this fabulously quick at editing images but when I was transferring files this picture/series leapt out at me and I had to post it because I know Elizabeth is watching!! I will post all my gushing later… but the quick synposis is that Elizabeth and Kevin got married yesterday in Steubenville. The weather thankfully held off so they didn’t have to worry about rain and we were able to frolick a bit around the golf course before the reception for some fun shots. However this shot I stole Kevin and Elizabeth from their reception for a few quick moments to get some steamy shots of the two of them. Sometimes it’s a great thing because the couple are soooo busy worrying about talking with their guests that they don’t get a moment to enjoy their newly wedded bliss! I made sure to get them some smooching in!
Thanks guys for having me… and have fun shooting this week with Carrie with Brooke Mayo Photography!!! How awesome is it that Elizabeth and Kevin are doing a honeymoon shoot with one of my photographers from my wedding (you are also very lucky because they are AMAZING!!!)??? We were definately meant to work together!
Now I’m off to bed because I have an amazing workshop tomorrow morning with the uber famous David Beckstead!!! He’s one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the United States and is in Akron for a workshop and I couldn’t be more stoked! Stay tuned for some (hopefully) awesome pics from that.
Jennifer and David Tease
Posted on June 3, 2008
As I posted yesterday, I had a fabulous weekend in Sandusky with Jennifer and David. They got married at the Old Calvary Church in Sandusky, moved to some outdoor shots at a nearby park on the waterfront and then went over to Cedar Point for some pics on the beach where they got engaged and in the park itself. The weather ended up being amazing – they called all week for rain and storms all day but it was blue skies and not a drop to be found! They finished up their magical day at Kalahari Resort for some scrumptious dinner, delicious cake and dancing till midnight!
As you can imagine, there are lots of pictures from this amazing event so here are just a few teaser images from Cedar Point until the processing is done! A special thanks to my amazing second shooter, Thomas of T1Photo, for coming out and helping me!
