They are also HUGE Seattle Seahawks fans and when I told them that we might be able to do their engagement session at Qwest Field, they were ready to go. I’m lucky that one of my great friends from college works for the Seahawks and was generous enough to gather special clearance for me to do their engagement session at the stadium on game day. It was a blast!

Fast forward to February… When someone books me for a February wedding, my mind automatically thinks “rain”. And so my planning goes forward with the knowledge that it’s February in Seattle. Well…. luck was on my side on February 20th as the day was as magnificent as it possibly could be with an unseasonably warm temperature of 60 degrees. It afforded us a lot of opportunities to travel around Tacoma!

Their wedding was huge, at almost 300 guests, and we had to hustle to get everything done on time. I had a million balls up in the air, juggling multiple locations (the venue, the hotel, parking, to our pre-selected photo spot at the Museum of Glass), meeting times, a large bridal party, lots of family, a tight timeline and 6 flights of stairs to the room where the ceremony was held (and 6 flights doesn’t seem like a lot until you are hauling about 100 pounds of gear and have to run up and down about 5 different times!). The wedding was beautiful though; the ceremony so very heartfelt and pure. Annie and Peter had a close family friend perform the vows and everything was just perfect.

Then it was onto the party! The room was packed with people, the band was playing, and everyone had a blast. Annie and Peter’s colors were lime green and blue – Seahawks colors – which was perfect for when the bride’s brother and cousin announced their surprise gift. Blitz, the Seawhawks mascot, made an appearance! He was hilarious and added so much to the party. Blitz & Co. did an amazing job with the florals – the flowers were some of the freshest I’ve ever seen (and not a single petal was damaged!). The tables were set with different sized bouquets, some short and some tall, complete with beautiful lime green runners. Everything was lit by candlelight and there was this warm glow over the entire room.

The party lasted well into the night before Annie and Peter took off onto their Mexican cruise!

Here are the details…
Couple: Annie & Peter
Date: February 20, 2009
Wedding Ceremony, Reception and Catering: Tacoma Landmark Theater
Hotel: Hotel Murano
Florist: Blitz & Co.
Cake: Celebrity Cake Studio
Band: Free Rain

And here is Annie & Peter’s wedding album!

To add to the fun, I contacted my good friend Corine Tran, who is a wedding photographer in New Orleans, and asked her if she’d hook me up with some awesome Mardi Gras props. She filled a box (and when I say filled, I mean 22 pounds of stuff!) and shipped it off to me this week. When it arrived, it was purple, gold and green everywhere!! But boy did these props add to the fun. Everyone had a really fun time playing with the pictures! It just added so much fun to the reception!

My assistant, Rebecca, and my new second shooter Josie both took turns manning the camera and coaxing guests into their crazy natures! I’m so happy with how this turned out, I’m now going to offer this service inclusive of all my 2010 packages! If you are a bride who already has a contract with me, you get it. If you are a bride thinking about hiring me, you also get this service… free. Whoo hoo! Who doesn’t like free, right?

So I found… it’s not hard to get people to be wild and crazy!

The bride’s family, as a surprise to the couple, hired Blitz the Seahawks mascot, to come entertain at the wedding!

Every once in a while, someone in the community donates a house or a building for what is called a Practice Burn. This allows the firefighters to do controlled training in a real life scenario kind of way. Essentially at the end of the day, though, the building is burned to the ground. If you’ve ever seen a true ripping fire, the power and the intensity is something to be feared, but is also so hypnotizing. You can be standing a block away, yet feel this intense heat and pressure all around you, but something about the fire just beckons your eyes and mind. It’s just amazing to witness. And watching these guys run in and out of a burning building is just a really wild experience.

My husband was kind enough to put in for photography access to this particular burn yesterday, which was approved by the Chief, and I went out to photograph some of the details of the burn. I had a lot of fun, I just wish I could have stayed until it was all in ashes (but it take hours and sometimes days for it to completely burn down all the way, so that wasn’t necessarily an option), but real life, work and kids called me away in the mid-afternoon. My mom even came out with the girls thinking that Maggie would enjoy watching the fire and watching daddy at work. Nothing could have been further from the truth as Maggie was terrified. Poor little thing… so my mom took her back to the car and they were entertained by throwing rocks in a mud puddle.

This was the first time that Maggie had ever seen Jason in his bunker gear. She’s seen him in uniform tons, but never full decked out with airpacks and everything. Even I have only seen it a few times in our marriage. So it was totally fun to see him working and doing what he does best! But at one point, Jason asked Maggie to hold his helmet.

So here are some details of the day… I’ll let the images speak for themselves and save you the narration.

But it’s worth the struggle for the times she is happy! Smiles only come around once in while, but when they do, they light up her entire face.

Jake recently posted a picture on his Facebook, as his assignment for his photography class was to “Paint With Light.” I’m familiar with the concept and employ it frequently in my off-camera lighting set ups, but he got a comment on this particular photo that was interesting. Someone wrote “You did this in photoshop, right?”

I get this comment a lot – both from my clients and from other photographers. A lot of people assume that most of what I do is done in photoshop rather in inside the camera.

I have a great deal of respect for the job Steve performs for me as a graphic artist and album designer. His style, creative vision and skill is a directional force and a major contributing factor to the look and feel of my images. He is one of the best in the graphic arts business and I’m totally proud of him and happy to have him driving us forward; constantly challenging me and making me strive towards something better.

But we both know this little fact… It’s not all photoshop.

While I was setting up at the Tacoma Bridal Expo a few weeks ago, I had a couple of photographers stop by and introduce themselves and chat a bit. This is typical vendor stuff at these shows as we use them to network with each other in the industry! But as they were perusing through my portfolio and looking at some of my images, one image in particular stood out. It’s a signature image in my portfolio, one that has come to define a certain amount of my business.

The one question that rang out again and again is “You mean that isn’t photoshop? How did you do that?”

I had established professionals, that are working in the industry, who could not figure that this particular image not only wasn’t photoshopped that way, but it was pretty much taken in camera exactly how you see it here. Brides and grooms are floored to know that we as a team only spent approximately 5 minutes on this image and it was done around 5:00 pm in the afternoon; on the summer solstice.

While photoshop is a major player in what we do, I have to admit that it makes me feel bad to hear people always ask me if we’ve photoshopped something. I’ve taken a lot of time and energy, knowledge and talent, poured it all into my craft in order to obtain and develop skills that set me apart from other photographers. I believe in getting the image right there in the camera as I take it and see it at the moment. I don’t wait for Steve to put something in that image that wasn’t already there. So I keep my images clean, my lighting perfected and posing natural and beautiful.

I like the fact that we’ve developed this romantic styling to our portraits, kind of a fanciful look where the veiwer isn’t quite sure if it’s real or fake. But I assure you… it’s all real.

So next time you see an incredible photograph, don’t automatically assume that it was all done in photoshop or because someone has a fancy camera. While these are powerful tools, ultimately the skill of the photographer is what makes the photo!

Today, I was making lunch when it was eerily quiet in the house. Julie was in her swing taking a nap, but Maggie was no where to be found. A quick shout down the hall produced no results and I knew she was up to no good. As I walked into my bedroom, all of a sudden she came darting out of the bathroom and ran as fast as she could to her bedroom. She totally knew she was causing trouble and that she was caught.

Little Maggie had gone into my make up drawer, taken out all the expensive eye shadows (left the cheap ones of course) and lined the window sill. Further more, she had taken my expensive make up brushes and was currently using the wall as her canvas. I now am the proud owner of a lovely painting done in the elusive eye shadow medium.

Little girls playing with mommy’s make-up. It’s a right of passage. So I laughed it off and made sure I grabbed a picture to remember the moment.

That’s kind of who I am though.

Most people who know me would say that I’m kind of high-strung. I am. I like things the way that I like them, I’m opinionated, and I am super-insane-crazy about timings and being on time. But all of those things are well within my control.

There is a ying to my yang though and when it comes to things I can’t control (like a 3 year old) I often times will just sit back and relax. Instead of fixating on the problem, I try to fixate on a solution, an alternative to the original plan, to get me back on track as soon as possible. I take the problems that come in stride and make the solution easy.

Often times my brides say that my presence is pretty chill on their wedding day. And I really strive to make that happen for them. There are so many variables and so many little things going on that there really isn’t a good reason for them to be worried or upset. The number one priority on their day is to get married to the man they love. Period. All the rest is just (excuse the pun) icing on the cake. And I believe if a bride hires good people around her that the person hired should take care of any issue that arises. So I do. And I make sure that I do my job to the absolute best of my ability because that is part of why people pay me to do what I do. Plus, when I’m chill, everyone else relaxes… which gives me better images in the long run!

So when my Maggie has destroyed the house playing with her toys, I just relax. At some point in my life I won’t be stepping on blocks anymore and I’ll miss the times that I did. And if my house is a disaster, I take comfort that at least once a day (at bedtime) the house gets picked up.

I’m a mom of a little newborn and a rambunctious 3 year old, I have a business to run, a household to keep, and I’m still recovering from two surgeries in the last 8 weeks. But add in the fact that my husband, Jason, headed off to Washington DC for 14 days for some training, I’ve been a little overwhelmed trying to keep things together.

My two bridal shows went off really well, and I have to thank my parents for their help in caring for my little girls while I was working the shows. But poor little Julie has had some issues that kept me running her to doctors and hospitals for tests and procedures. These issues have kept her from sleeping any significant amount of time and I’ve been pulling 19-21 hour days with only 3-4 hours of broken up sleep.

My poor coffee pot has been getting a workout over the last few weeks as I’ve been living off of coffee and sugar.

But tonight, Jason came home tonight and the second I saw him at baggage claim I burst into tears. I have to say that I missed him quite a bit this time around (he goes for training at least once a year). So we collected baggage and came home through Friday evening rush hour traffic. When we got home, we had the chore of doing laundry, picking up more prescriptions for Julie, getting dinner and all those other domestic types of things. Well, as I was lugging a basket of laundry back to the bedroom to fold, I walked through the west-facing living room and I noticed this bright pinkish light filtering in through the windows. A quick glance outside and I dropped the laundry, grabbed my camera and just shot off these beautiful shots from the driveway.

The sunset was incredible.

But it reminded me that even though I’ve struggled to get through the last few weeks, both mentally and physically, and even though it seems like all I’ve done is work, there is still beauty in everyday. And I need to stop and admire it just for a short amount of time.

The shoot itself was a lot of fun! Due to copyright considerations, photographing inside an art museum is actually pretty rare of an opportunity, so I was lucky to get the chance to do this. Add in the emotion of the actual moment happening in front of me and I can tell you that it was a wonderful experience.

Today when I picked up the mail, the magazine was kind enough to send me a complimentary copy – complete with my own by line. It’s a pretty satisfying moment when seeing my name in print!

But sometimes in life, we’ve gotta put ourselves out there, and when you are running a business, the only way to get business is to go to the client. The bridal shows are a unique opportunity to meet a ton of different brides all in one space and I probably talked to 100-200 brides over the course of the two day show here in Seattle. Add in my time at the Tacoma Bridal Expo last week and I was introduced to a ton of people. These bridal shows and a big ad in Seattle Bride Magazine are my two big marketing pushes this year so I’m anticipating a lot of exciting opportunities to come my way soon.

Even though the shows put me in an uncomfortable position, I also have to admit that once I find people at the show I click with, it makes the experience much more enjoyable. I met so many brides with whom I felt these great connections and felt like I could rock-out their wedding. On top of that, I met some great industry peep’s who I just know I’m keeping in close contact with. It’s always nice to have people around you that you can trust and rely on… and I definitely found some people like that this past weekend.

So my New Year’s resolution this year was that in addition to blogging two times weekly (which I managed to do pretty consistently last year!), every post gets a picture. So here is my Seattle Bride Magazine ad that you should be looking for; coming out this week!

This got me thinking about how every time I meet with a bride, they ask me “How do I know if my photographer is good?”

It’s a legitimate question since most brides see pictures in a photographers portfolio that they like and hire the photographer from there. Most of the time, they’ve found 1 or 2 particular pictures in that portfolio that they end up fixating upon, they price shop around and compare photographers based solely on pricing and/or packages, and make a choice from there. Unfortunately, this system is probably one of the worst ways of selecting a photographer and one of the quickest ways to be disappointed after the wedding.

Unfortunately, the rise of the digital SLR camera has created a photographer out of every person who buys a camera. While I truly enjoy looking at pictures that my friends take, and some people are quite skilled, there are a lot of people charging for wedding photography who have no business charging because their skill level just isn’t there. And unfortunately, it’s the poor bride and groom who end up getting taken for a ride when their pictures turn out mediocre or even just plain bad at the end of the day. So here are some things to think about when choosing your photographer:

1) The Use of Light
Photography is nothing if not the use and manipulation of light. It’s the key ingredient to making a photograph – you can’t have a photograph without some light. And a skilled wedding photographer knows how to use light and manipulate it to produce outstanding results.

For example…

The morning after I shot Katie and Ryan’s wedding, I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast and flipping through Katie’s Facebook page looking at the photos that her friends had already uploaded from the wedding. I ran across this particular picture (Thanks to Katie for permission to use this picture!):

It’s a cute little snapshot of Katie and Ryan during their first dance and one that I’m sure Katie would treasure… if it hadn’t happened that I got almost the exact same shot at a similar time.
(Please note that this shot is 100% unedited and straight out of the camera)

When compared side-by-side, it’s easy to see all the differences in these two shots. But notice how much better lit my photo is? My use of light, my equipment and my ability to light the scene really stands out, gives the photo dimension and gives the viewer the opportunity to actually see what is going on.

I’m a huge user of what is called off-camera flash. I love it. Whenever possible, I’ll use natural lighting because it’s easy, quick and gives the photo a very organic feel. However, dramatic lighting creates a mood, a tension, a passion and a scene. And I love to play around with different lighting schemes to truly capture a special moment.

Katie and Ryan wouldn’t have this photo if it weren’t for my special lighting techniques.

Nor would they have this incredible, sexy and passionate engagement photo since this entire session was done in the dark of night.

And as Evelyn & Jason can attest… their scene looked nothing like how it looked on camera. And that was solely through the use of lighting, my artistic vision, and skill.

Weddings are notorious for being poorly lit with very dim romantic lighting. So ask yourself as you are going through a photographers portfolio… What does this photographer do when the lights go down? Do they have the skill to light the scene? Do they have the equipment (such as cameras, lenses and off camera flash equipment) to know how to capture your wedding? Do they have a vision to bring it all together?

2) Knowledge of Posing

Posing is a bad word around a lot of brides these days. Just about every bride I meet will tell me that she wants “photojournalistic” types of pictures and “prefers the candid shots to the posed shots.”

That is all fine a good. And I understand where they are coming from. Most modern brides don’t want to look like their parents did in their wedding picture circa 1973 (sorry Mom, you and Dad were cute though!). However, photography has gone a long way. And posing isn’t what it used to be.

Back in June, I wrote a blog article about posing. I encourage brides to take a read and really think about what I had to say about making the moment happen for a couple.

My approach to posing is simple. I get my client into a flattering pose, flattering light and flattering angle. I then use different techniques to illicit a natural reaction. Most of the time, when you ask me about a certain shot in my portfolio, I will tell you exactly how I went about getting that shot. And it wasn’t luck. And it certainly wasn’t letting the client do whatever it is that they want to do. For most people, getting in front of a camera is a very unnatural thing to do. And it’s uncomfortable. Having a photographer give you the direction “Just act natural” probably doesn’t help or give you much guidance. But having a photographer crack a funny joke (this is where personality plays a huge role in your wedding-day success), when you are already positioned to look good, means you’ll get a better image.

My friend Ashley Turner sent me an excellent example of posing and let me use her pictures on my blog. (Thanks Ashley – you so rock!!)

She had a bride who wanted those natural, candid, unposed images. So she went about posing herself. This is what Ashley grabbed to begin with.

It’s a cute picture and all. But look at the difference when Ashley took charge and posed the bride. Her expression is so much more natural. She looks thinner and happier. Her dress looks prettier, the lighting is way more flattering, her eyes light up, and the photo is so much more polished!

Posing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, brides spend thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars on the overall look of themselves and their wedding. Investing in a photographer, a good and skilled photographer – whether that be a good and skilled photojournalist or a photographer that does more posing – is a necessity to making sure your images turn out.

And as a side note (and particularly because it’s a little pet peeve of mine)… Skilled photojournalists are hard to find. There are some amazing ones out there. But their skill allows them to not only capture the moment as it happens, but to make you look good at the same time. Too often you have photographers masking themselves as “photojournalists” who aren’t necessarily schooled or skilled at true photojournalism. They hide behind this “natural candid moment” idea because they don’t know how to pose their client. Beware… they are out there.

3) The Basic Skills of Photography – And it’s not Photoshop

Ahh… my favorite subject… photoshop. Those that know me know I personally don’t photoshop. I leave that skill and art to Steve because he is good at it, I am not (although my dirty little secret is that I am getting better at doing my own personal family pictures). Photoshop, however, is not a replacement for good photography. It just isn’t. You need to have clean files straight out of camera, and too many photographers take a photo and think “I’ll just fix it in photoshop later.”

Do you want that kind of photographer?

Your wedding photographer should have the basic skills of photography down pat. There shouldn’t be any question about exposure or color or white balance. It should just look good. Photoshop is only there to enhance the photo, tweak it a little more into a stylistic piece of art. Layering photoshop effect over photoshop effect is not good photography nor is it good photoshop work.

I often will turn my camera around to show my client or their friends and family at a wedding a photo. Because what I’ve captured right there on the camera is the bones of my photo.

So when you are looking for a photographer, look past fancy photoshop effects, and look at the bones of the photo. Are the whites white? Or do they have a yellow or bluish tinge to them? Is the detail of the wedding dress there? If it just looks like a white blob, well the photographer blew the highlights – and if they are showing that in their portfolio as the best of the best they’ve ever shot, you want to run, not walk, away. Are the blacks black? Or are they blue or gray tinge? Do you see a lot of distracting noise in the photo (does it look grainy)? Are their black and white conversions true white and true black? Or are they muddy, gray and without contrast? Is the focus crisp and clean? Is sun flare clean? Or does it cover faces and/or expressions? Does the photographer have a good grasp on the fundamentals of composition? Is the photographer tilt crazy (seriously, I once saw a tilt where the couple looked like they were almost upside down)? If you feel like you have to turn the screen of your laptop around to see the picture, it probably isn’t a good tilt.

I have a couple of friends, who again, sent me some examples of bad wedding photography. The good news is they aren’t wedding photographers and don’t charge money for this (they were just guests at weddings snapping shots). But to protect their outstanding reputation as a children’s photographers, I’m not going to share who they are.

Example of blown highlights. A lot of photographers will tell you it’s ‘style’. It’s not. It’s just bad positioning and a bad shot. Blown highlights and white space should be conscious and deliberate. Not a product of just not paying attention or not knowing any better.

Notice the bad positioning of the photographer to the bride? A good wedding photographer will eliminate distracting elements simply by positioning themselves better.

Color???  A good wedding photographer has correctly balanced photos.

4) “My <insert friend’s name or family member here> is pretty good with a camera and it’s going to do our photos.”

I hear this. All. The. Time.

This is what happens when Uncle Bob (sorry Uncle Bob, I still love you very much!!) takes your picture….

From Kara Schultz in Chicago.

And from Jen Williams in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

A skilled professional will be present, but oddly enough, not distracting, respectful, quick and quiet. Additionally, no matter what you say your expectations are for those photos, you are going to be disappointed when they come back dark, dreary, out of focus, poorly exposed and composed.

4) Actually a Business?

This is an interesting point to bring up… but is the person you are hiring and spending thousands of dollars with actually legally a business? Do they pay taxes? Do they have insurance? Did you even think this might be an issue?

For approximately $1500 anyone can buy a mid-range DSLR a couple of kit lenses. For approximately $100-$500, they can buy a slick flash-template website. They can set up a blog for free. After shooting a couple of weddings for free for some friends, setting up a couple of model shoots with people, they can hang out a shingle and start charging brides and grooms for photography.

Anyone you hire and give money to should be a legitimate business. Meaning that they have a business license, pay state, local and federal taxes as a business, have insurance to cover themselves and their equipment, and taken all legal steps to run their business 100% above board. Added bonuses – they should be members of their local Chamber of Commerce, active in their community and giving back, members of PPA and/or WPPI (Professional Photographers of America, Wedding & Portrait Photographers International). Brides and grooms are often surprised to realize how many “photographers” out there actually have not taken these steps.

Make sure that anyone you give money to, sign a contract with, and you plan on inviting into your wedding day is actually someone you can trust. And if in doubt – ask.

(Side Note: In case you are a current client of mine and you didn’t ask me… Yes, I am a legitimate business, have a business license, pay all taxes and fees to my local, state and federal governments, and am fully insured. I’m also a member of both PPA and WPPI and often do local charity work.)

In closing, I hope this has given brides a little something to chew on as they make their decision for wedding photography. Here are some tips, in addition to the information already presented, to help you in your decision making process.

1. Photography is really one of those things in life – you get what you pay for. The more skilled and better a photographer, the more expensive that person is going to be on your wallet. Don’t price shop. And don’t discount a particular studio because you feel you either can or can’t afford them. Invest in what is important.
2. You’ll hear it again and again, but the images from your wedding are the only lasting thing you have after the day is over. If you are going to invest thousands of dollars into putting together a wedding, you want to invest at the very least, 25-40% of your overall budget into photography. Because a skilled photographer will make you, your wedding and your memories look like a million bucks.
3. Buy an album. Seriously people… Discs of images are fine and dandy for archival purposes. And I know everyone has great intentions of making a do-it-yourself album after the wedding is done. But again, invest in what is important, and don’t skimp. I promise you in 5 years, you’ll be really happy you have that wedding album. (Please trust me on this one and learn from my mistake… I’m a photographer with the latest and greatest products available to me. It’s almost 7 years since my wedding and to this day my husband and my mother have not seen our wedding pictures because they sit on a disc in a closet. It’s sad. And I’m much too busy with life to do it myself… so the project just languishes year after year.)
4. Hire someone you like. I mentioned once before how important personality is… it is one of those elements that is vital to success. I learned early on in my career to work with people and couples that I like. People I want as friends and people I’d have over for dinner. And all of my clients are those types of people! But if you don’t fully click with your photographer, move on. Even if you like their portfolio and their price. Because your images won’t be nearly as good unless you fully trust your hired professional, like them, and enjoy their company. Of any of your vendors, you will work the closest with your photographer.
5. Keep an open mind while you are searching for your photographer. You may be completely surprised about what draws you in and what turns you away.