Archive for June, 2009

So many choices… so little time… How to choose a wedding photographer…

June 16, 2009

So the love of your life has finally popped the question… you’ve told family and friends… you’ve probably already started planning your day, and are now realizing that it’s not as easy as you thought!!!  Flowers, caterers, dresses, cakes, favors, napkins, so many things to plan!!!!  So when do you start looking for the professionals that will capture all of those details that you have planned out… the wedding photographer and videographer?  I can’t speak much for the wedding videographer, since that’s not my specialty, but I can sure give you some tips for looking for and choosing the right photographer for you.

There are many things to consider when it comes to finding the right photographer for your specific needs… sure there are tons and tons of photographers (thousands in the L.A. area alone!!!), and it will be a little mind-boggling at first, trust me.  So first… take a deep breath and consider a few things.  I always recommend to sit down (before you even start looking) and write down your needs… what you want, what you expect, and what you want to pay to get it.  Now … toss it all out the window, but keep it in the back of your head. 

First let’s think about what you do want out of your photographer… what is it that is most important to you?  Do you want a traditional photographer, photojournalistic, editorial? (feel free to read my previous post where I discuss the difference of those 3 styles).  Do you want to get time only, or prints as well? What kind of album do you want?  All of these things will play a huge role in your final decision.  Remember that whatever you get now will be an heirloom for your family for generations to come.  So do you want to settle for just ‘whatever’, are you ok with friends just taking pictures from those disposable cameras, or do you want to have something that will last a lifetime…

With photography, as with anything wedding related… you can get pretty much anything your heart desires – as long as you are willing to pay for it, of course.  So you want an amazing photographer to document your entire event, with 3 assistants, plus you want the CD of all the images, 2 deluxe parent’s albums, and an amazing wedding album for you made out of ostrich leather with a solid gold plaque engraved with your names on it and encrusted with diamonds? No problem!!!! …as long as you’re willing to pay for it, of course.   (yes.. that album does exist – and trust me, I nearly fainted when I saw the price for just printing it!!!! I can only imagine what it would cost for an actual bride after designer fees have been applied!)

I honestly believe that the trick is to finding a good balance between what you want to receive and then reconcile that with the budget you have for your wedding photography. 

So look around on-line, visit photographer’s websites… look at what they can do with images.  Personally, when I got married, I would not consider photographers that had a portfolio that had one image from each wedding all mixed into one gallery – I personally wanted to see more images from one particular wedding (at least 24 images from one event, but the more they showed the better).  I liked to get a better idea of what my wedding images might look like. I mean, if a photographer shot 2000 images, of course they can find one to showcase and add to their portfolio… I want to see more than one… I didn’t like the idea of just having one great wedding image from my wedding day.  Of course, like I said, that is just my personal opinion… I think that’s why I like to show tons of images from each event in my galleries (I have anywhere from 80-100 images per event in each one of the wedding galleries in my portfolio). 

Once you see what style you like, look at what they have to offer in their packages.  Do they offer packages or all a-la-carte?  What do the packages include? CD of images? How many hours? Album? What kind of album? Prints?  One thing I always emphasize to my clients is the fact that I color correct each individual image before they even go on the on-line gallery, and it is those color corrected images that are in the CD that they will receive.  This is important because some photographers give you the images “as-is… right off the camera” – that means that they may not be at their best saturation.  Sure, the prints you get from them will look good since they would surely color correct those images before sending them off to the lab, but what about the images you see on YOUR CD?  I personally like to know that any image ‘out there’ that I took will look great!

With the album in mind – ask what kind of album you will get.  Traditional? Matted? Coffee table album? Leather album? Hand made album? There are so many types of albums out there!  I personally offer the coffee table albums (linen and fully designed cover) and the deluxe leather lay flat albums as well.  You might also want to ask who designs the album? Does the photographer do the designing? Using templates? Or custom designed from scratch? Does he/she send it out to an album design company?  Do you get to see the album design before it’s printed out?  I personally feel it’s very important to see what the album will look like before it’s printed… but I know not all photographers do that.  And what happens if you need changes made?  Is there an additional fee for those changes? (This is usually the case if the photographer isn’t designing the album himself… he will most likely have to pass on the cost that he will incur from the album design company that he or she uses).  I personally design all of my albums individually (from scratch) – no templates or third party companies to worry about.  But I know this is not always the case… I happen to be a graphic designer, so I like to have full control of my own designs.

If you feel like they offer great quality, but you might not be able to afford the packages initially, maybe you can inquire about a-la-carte options… maybe the most important thing to YOU is to get them to shoot your wedding day, then you can worry about everything else later… so just ask for their hourly rate or a services-only package.  But beware that a la carte options usually tend to run more expensive in the long run than an actual package … but, it usually also means that you don’t have to pay too much up front. 

Another very important thing to consider is the deposit/retainer to hold the date. Most vendors in the wedding industry require a percentage as a deposit – anywhere from 20% up to 50% or sometimes more.  Think of that when looking for any of your vendors.  When I was shopping around for photography for my own wedding, I did notice most photographers that I interviewed charged 40-50% up front… the photographer I chose to hire only required $100 non-refundable deposit… and I loved that! It was such a huge relief to not have to worry about that payment at that point.  So that’s what I require from my own clients… just $100 to hold the date.

So now to what I believe is a vital part to consider – the chemistry between you and the photographer.  Remember that the photographer will literally be your shadow for the bulk of your wedding day – they will be right there no matter where you turn… so you want to make sure that you definitely feel comfortable with them… make sure you trust them and that you have good ‘chemistry’.  The more relaxed you are around them and their camera, the better your images will turn out!  If you feel tense and stressed out it WILL show.  I like to make sure that my clients are super comfortable with me… we laugh, we share jokes, we relax together – that way the images look more natural and more intimate.  When you interview your potential photographers try to pick up on what their personalities are like… aside from their profession, do they seem relaxed, do they seem like they would go with the flow- while still having a strong enough personality to take charge when they need to?

I guess there is no easy way to ‘weed through’ all of the photographers that are out there ready to capture the beauty of your wedding day… just make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you choose and that you trust them professionally and artistically!

Flower girl looking on as the bride gets ready for her wedding day

Flower girl looking on as the bride gets ready for her wedding day

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Just a little venting ….

June 15, 2009

I realize it’s been a while (well over a week) since my last post… I have been way over my head this week with ‘technical difficulties’… luckily I think I’ve fixed everything… but I just had to come into the blog and just vent!!!

So a couple of weeks ago Ana upgraded to a new camera… which is wonderful since it takes great images and it seems to be a great tool for her.  Notice how I said it ‘seems’ – since I haven’t officially looked at any of her images yet!!!  This little innocent camera upgrade is the root of my most recent migraine… not that it’s Ana’s fault, or even the camera’s fault – but I do have a bone to pick with the manufacturers.  Seriously… why is it that you buy one thing and then suddenly you have to upgrade on absolutely everything else too?!?! 

Ana got to try out her new camera one week ago… at a beautiful casual wedding we did (I’ll show you guys images of those as soon as I can).  So during the week I am trying to open up the images to do my grueling process of color correcting each individual image, exporting them to jpegs, touching them up, etc.  That’s when I realized I CAN’T open up or even SEE any of her images!!!!!! Instant migraine right there!!!!  I spent hours on google trying to figure out why (I could see the images in my own camera, so I knew they were there). By the way… thank heavens for google… it really saved the day!!.  As it turns out a new camera automatically means a new computer system upgrade as well (or at least system updates, which of course there weren’t any for my current version)… why the heck didn’t I know that?!?!  It didn’t even occur to me at all!  I use photoshop to do all my editing –and I love it.  I was perfectly content using CS2… it was simple enough to do what I needed (even though it doesn’t have all the thrills and frills of the new versions, of course).  Now I had to find the new CS4 to upgrade my system.  After finally resigning to the fact that I now had to upgrade my software, and possibly deal with learning a new system (all while in the middle of the busy wedding season!!!!)… I broke down and purchased it. I installed it the very next day.

So that’s where it all went downhill.  I went through the whole installation process – and several hours later, I had CS4 – and I was able to view and even open Ana’s images!! YAY!!! I was so excited… I even forgot about my migraine for a few moments!  So that evening I went to bed peacefully, and happily, thinking that order had been restored to my workflow.  Boy was I wrong!!!  The next morning I was ready to dive into work and get these images processed… right?  I tried turning on my laptop – and low and behold – windows wouldn’t even start!!!! CS4 crashed my windows!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! I was in tears!!!! 

Luckily I do know a little bit about computers – not enough to be in IT, but enough to know that I need to run a system check and maintenance.  So I ran the check and restored my computer to the last time it worked properly.  That was another turning point for the awful week I was already having… because that’s when my computer decided to delete portions of the work I had already done in the previous week (not related to the new images, of course) PLUS portions of CS4.  So now I had to redo some work plus try to uninstall and then reinstall CS4 so that I can continue working.  To make matter worse, apparently the Adobe people get paid a ton of money so they figured out a way to make the whole uninstall process a virtual nightmare and basically impossible.  You try uninstalling, then you realize it left a bunch of files in your system that prevents you from reinstalling again.  I mean it was THEIR program that messed up MY computer and I have to fix it!!! And they provide no help, guidance, or support – why would they?!?! At one point I couldn’t even click on anything on my laptop without a warning telling me that some files were missing – basically telling me that I couldn’t access ANY files at all!  UGH!!! 

Once again… google to the rescue…

After countless hours (over 27 hours to be exact) of google-ing, about a full bottle of migraine pills, and visiting an infinite number of forums… I finally found a couple of scripts to fix the problems, completely delete CS4, clean up the CS4 leftover files, and finally reinstall the software.  Of course, those of you who know a little about installing software, you know that all sounds easy enough – but it took me well over a day to do all of that!  I swear I am missing a patch of hair from the back of my head from all the hair pulling that I did!!!!

So after a week of basically not having a laptop … I am finally back on-line and back to work!  CS4 is officially working properly now (of course, I still have not turned off my laptop yet since the installation, so I’m crossing my fingers here).  Now I’ll be swamped trying to catch up to make up for last week’s work plus all the work that I had already done that my system decided to delete as well.  I guess sleep will be out of the question this week.

So the moral of the story – they really should warn you when you buy new technology.  I mean I know we all need to upgrade our equipment… but they should give you a bottle of pain pills with every new purchase… you know?!?! 

I’ll get back to work… and I’ll do a photography related post on Wednesday…

Walking through downtown Riverside in front of the musem

Walking through downtown Riverside in front of the musem

 

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The first kiss… let’s make it last!!!

June 5, 2009

So your officiant has just pronounced you husband and wife… it’s now time for your first official kiss as a married couple in front of your family and closest friends.  I say… let’s make it last!!!

I see far too many couples that give each other a quick peck that last a quarter of a nano-second… and you know what that means? – that means your photographer might or might not have caught that nano-second of a moment.  Or they might have caught you either going in for the kiss or coming out of it… since it was lightning fast. 

… I understand that some couples might feel a little awkward kissing not only in front of their family and friends with all eyes on them (I’ve met more than a few brides that truly wish that they weren’t the center of attention that day) – but sometimes it’s even more uncomfortable kissing in a temple/church to top it off!  I know… I understand… but I always beg my brides to hold it a few seconds (2 or 3 seconds would be awesome!!!).  Of course, your photographer is surely ready pointing his camera right at you and with the shutter pressed half-way …. just to make sure they raise their chances of getting that shot.  But, even the most expensive camera equipments might not capture that lightning-fast peck quick enough… you know what I mean?  Give them a few seconds to make sure they get one or maybe two or three shots of that first kiss. 

I sometimes get really extra lucky and they kiss for a few seconds and I can get a few different shots of the kiss – one that is zoomed out, and even one that is zoomed in!! I love giving my clients a few options for the first kiss.  The zoomed out picture is always very popular and brides love it because it’s usually a grand moment for the day… so you get to see the reactions of your bridal party as well as the setting where it took place.  The close-up of the first kiss is a super emotional image to capture because I know it will bring back wonderful memories!! It’s a very intimate shot that will bring butterflies to your stomach each time you see it.  It’s a truly sincere kiss… filled with love, happiness, and even a sense of gratefulness for each other’s willingness to profess your love for each other (I know that sounds a little ‘mushy-mushy’ – but really it’s a great shot to see over and over again).  Of course, I know some circumstances won’t allow for that close-up shot no matter how long you kiss for … depending on how close we are allowed to get (see my previous post for indoor ceremony rules to consider)… but still – that extra few seconds will give your photographer the opportunity to experiment for a brief moment. 

I have to admit, I am guilty of missing the first kiss – but only once… and it was a combination of circumstances that caused that little incident.  The kiss was lighting fast, but that wasn’t the reason why I missed it..  it was an over-zealous guest that jumped right in front of me to take his shot that made me miss my shot (he literally put his camera right in front of mine… my jaw dropped to the floor – I had never had a guest cross that line before!!!).  I actually did take the shot and I did include it in the bride’s images, since I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t even try to capture that moment.  I took 3 fast shots of that kiss… so I got them going in for the kiss, then the next image was the guest’s camera, then the next shot was them coming out of the kiss. 

So today’s lesson… hold that first kiss!!! LOL!!!

The First Kiss - at a beautiful Temecula winery

The First Kiss - at a beautiful Temecula winery

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The most important part of the day – the ceremony

June 4, 2009

The ceremony – the reason why everyone is there gathered to celebrate your love and happiness.  It truly is a wonderful event that should be treated with complete respect!  I truly believe that the ceremony is the most important moment of the day… and all eyes should be on the beautiful couple.  This is also the reason why some officiants do have a set of rules and guidelines that the photographers and videographers must abide to … and I think it’s a good idea for the bride and groom to be familiar with these rules as well.  Although it’s not vital that she knows these details, it’s always good to know what you should expect as far as the final images are concerned – because sometimes these ceremony guidelines will inevitably have an impact on the images that we can capture.  Not that it’s necessarily something to worry about, but I like my brides to have reasonable expectations. 

This is particularly important for indoor ceremonies… I would say most indoor temples/churches/places of worship have strict rules that we need to follow.  The most typical rules are: only stand in one spot, no moving, and above all, no flash.  I always ask my brides if there are any rules that we should be aware of, but I always check in with the ceremony coordinator to find out more details, of course.  These types of guidelines are important for the photographer to be aware of (and respect, of course), not only because they are in place for a reason but also because if you don’t respect the rules, you run into the possibility that you will upset the officiant – which could be quite embarrassing for all. 

I once had a bride who got married at a Catholic Church… there really weren’t too many restrictions except to try to not disrupt the ceremony.  Simple enough… right?  Well… that day both my assistant and I were in the front of the church – I was on the side of the groom, my assistant near the bride.  I wasn’t really focused on the bride (I remember I was actually trying to capture the parent’s emotions), my assistant was actually taking the bride/groom pictures during this time.  I was really focused on something (I was pointing my camera towards the guests, I think).  Suddenly I noticed it got very quiet and I glanced over at my assistant and she had this look on her face… she was very pale and was making this hand signal (like slashing across her throat)… I had no clue what was going on.  Then I finally heard the priest say: “photographers… please… please, sit down and no more pictures until I pronounce them husband and wife”.  OMG I wanted to crawl under a pew and just die!!!!  Apparently, what happened was that the bride was completely focused on my assistant and her camera… instead of looking at the priest during the ceremony, she kept posing for the camera (not on purpose, it was just an instinct for her)… well, the priest had about enough and decided to shut us down!!!  There were no more pictures after that until the kiss (thank goodness we were allowed to at least take those!!!).  I learned two things that day: first, even though I get focused sometimes, I must try to be aware of what’s going on around me; and second, try to be more discreet!!!!    

So back to these rules and what they mean for your images.  As far as the ‘no moving’ thing, I guess it kind of makes sense… if it’s an indoor location, that means there will be some kind of hard floor, and a lot of echoes if you’re walking up and down all over the place to take pictures (as you can imagine, it can definitely be distracting!).  As I have expressed in a previous post – this is the absolute best reason to have a 2nd photographer – because if you can’t move from one spot, at least you have 2 angles to view from (although, sometimes one of those angles is pretty much useless… but in some cases, it can definitely be a huge plus).  My assistant is usually near the front of the ceremony.  I usually position myself in the center aisle – usually the ceremony coordinator tells me exactly where to stand, or I might have a few feet of space that I can walk around in.  Usually, as long as I’m not distracting (and the bulk of the guests are in front of me) then I can have some liberty in movement – but as you can imagine, it’s still quite limited in terms of what I can capture.  This ‘no moving’ policy makes perfect sense as a way of respecting and honoring the ceremony – of course, the bride and groom have to realize that this means their photographer will probably not be climbing on the chairs to get an awesome angle… but most couples are perfectly fine with that. 

So what about ‘no flash’?… If it’s a historical building, flashes will always be frowned upon (for the sake of the artworks in the building).  Most officiants see flashes as a distraction to other guests and even to themselves.  In outdoor locations this isn’t too much of a distraction, since there is so much light as it is (and I know we prefer the natural light anyways) – but in an indoor (possibly poorly lit) venue, these flashes can be quite obvious.  This rule means that the only light that your photographer can use must come from the natural light… in my dream world, the church would be filled with windows that let tons of beautiful light in and the walls are nice and light!!! Oh… if only that were the case for all churches!!! (I can dream… right?!?!)  Sometimes I do walk into the church and I let out a huge sigh of relief when I see all the gorgeous windows and light!!! Other times I just grasp my camera tightly as I see the few windows coupled with the dark mahogany wood panels that cover the entire building from walls to ceiling!!!).  So … plan B takes place.  This is why I like to get to the ceremony location a little earlier… I like to go in and evaluate my lighting… as you know – these pesky little cameras need at least some light to function! LOL!   So – I meter the available light and adjust accordingly (usually a tripod will be necessary, and since I probably won’t be allowed to move at all… that works out great).  So what does this mean for your images?  Using available LOW light, will mean your images will have a sense of ‘moodiness’ to them – but that is something we assume the bride expected, since she picked that location probably for that same reason – for the drama and moodiness it portrays. 

Most outdoor ceremonies really don’t have too many rules… the officiants tend to be very laid back and truly understand that the bride and groom want the best possible shots – so they let us do as we please.  But, even then – I still, personally really don’t want guests to remember me at all… they might notice me (come on… I’m walking around with a huge camera at hand and I’m the one standing up while everyone else is sitting down, of course they’ll notice me momentarily) – but my goal is for them to really not remember me during the ceremony.  We still try to be discreet – no running or climbing on chairs (well… unless the shot would be too hard to pass up!!! LOL).

So why did I just do this long post about rules that the bride doesn’t really need to focus on?  Just so you keep them in mind, just in case you have a location that is super strict… make sure your expectations match what can actually be achieved.  Oh… one more little example… I have a wedding next year at an indoor location in Malibu… the paper that the bride showed me had all the rules to follow – literally it said: Absolutely NO images during the ceremony!!!!! Nothing!!!!  Their coordinator told them that the photographer might be allowed to take pictures from the back of the ceremony hall (it’s a long hall!!!) BEHIND a glass panel!!! So as you can imagine, I had to make sure the couple understood what that meant to them! 

OK… I’ll get off my soap box now… next post will be about the first kiss…but this time it’s something that will be helpful to the couple (I promise) 

beautiful indoor ceremony location

beautiful indoor ceremony location

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On your mark, get set…. let’s talk Getting Ready shots…

June 2, 2009

This part of the wedding day is a part that some brides really like to have in their collection of images, while others don’t really care for them much.  It’s definitely not a vital part of the day, but if it can be fit into timeline of events, and if you don’t mind the photographer being there – then it can add to the overall story of your wedding day.

Personally, I didn’t have any getting ready images of my wedding day.  I was a little self-conscious about having my photographer there while I was getting ready – but then again, my photographer was a man.  I actually had to drive to the hair salon to get my hair done (as well as my bridesmaids and my mom), and I did my own makeup (as well as my bridesmaids and my mom) – and we started really early in the morning, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to have him there at that time.  I also knew we would be too rushed and I didn’t really want him getting in my way (not that he did, but I know how I am – the more people are in a room when I’m stressed… the more frustrated I can become).  So that’s why I decided to forego any getting ready images on my own wedding day… but it is definitely something every bride should consider. 

So what does the getting ready include?  Well… that’s entirely up to you .  It can be everything from the beginning of the makeup/hair, or just the last few minutes, or just the putting on of the dress, or just the getting out of the house.  I have done each one of those scenarios at one point or another.  I always recommend to think about what you really want pictures of.  Do you want pictures of you without your makeup on at all?  Do you want pictures of the play-by-play process of your hair getting done?  Remember that getting your  hair done can take a while – and you really won’t have much variety of images (they’ll all look similar since there really isn’t much movement).  So would you like a ton of images of your hair getting done? Or just a few final shots (like the last steps of the hair do?).  Same thing goes for the makeup… you can have  your photographer be there the entire time… or just the last few minutes – when you’re getting you’re  putting on your lipstick and possibly blush.  Then you can decide if you want to have the photographer shoot the putting on of the dress… these are the most popular (and can be the most beautiful) shots of the getting ready portion of the day.  Here, you can also decide what part of the putting on of the dress you would like to have.  Do you want him/her to shoot you putting on the undergarments (like the corset/bra/petticoat)? Or would you like to start once you’re putting the dress over your head (or walking into the dress)? Or until after it’s on… do you want just the zipping up of the dress?  I always tell my clients to call me in when they’re ready and comfortable with us starting to shoot.  Some brides are very open and comfortable from the beginning, while others just want the zipping up of the dress – and either way is perfectly fine.  So definitely think about what you are comfortable with…and discuss it with your photographer.  Remember that if you will be getting an on-line gallery, all of these images will go on there as well… if you would like to shoot from the beginning, but don’t want some of these on the gallery – make sure to tell your photographer so that they exclude them from the gallery. 

During this time before the ceremony, if you have some extra time, you can always take advantage and shoots some family portraits that you can take off your list of formal shots. 

So how long do you really need for getting ready shots? Typically I recommend about 1 to 1.5 hours tops – but I have done getting ready shots in as little as 15 minutes (when the bride has a limited timeline but still wants these shots).  Typically I start the day one the hair has been started, so we capture the last phases of the hair do process, and plenty of the putting on of the makeup.  I usually don’t recommend starting earlier than that because typically you will not want to see hundreds of images of the play-by-play of each strand of hair being put in place.  In the couple of occasions when I have had to do them in 15 minutes or less, that’s usually because we are low on time – so the bride and I have discussed ways to be efficient during this time.  This means that their hair and makeup are totally done – I shoot her putting on her lipstick and touching up her blush – this creates the look of those shots and only takes a few seconds.  Then we shoot her putting on her jewelry (also just a few seconds).  Then the dress, and the shoes … all done the last 10 minutes (since the dress can take a while to put on depending on the number of buttons or lace-ups).  Then we’re off to the ceremony!  I know it seems quite rushed, but it can be done!

So make sure you discuss your getting ready needs with your photographer…you guys can come up with a good timeline and discuss what you would like to capture. 

Getting Ready series...

Getting Ready series...

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