Welcome to TGIF!
Friday, March 18th, 2011
The purpose of this page is to pass along tips and suggestions for making your wedding and portrait images the best they can be. If you feel relaxed, you’ll look relaxed and be at your best, so here are some ideas we have gathered over the thousands of images we have done. Take a look through them and see what you can bring into your own unique event.
We’re going to start with weddings since this event takes a lot of planning. All comments and information are strictly our thoughts on the matter and should be considered as part of the whole picture, not a play list. There are lots of gray areas, and very little Black and White rules, even though our focus is photography. OK, I’ve got that out of my system.
Index
Wedding Prep
The Ceremony
Formal Portraits
The Reception
The Party
Senior Portfolio
Model Portfolio
Dogs and Pets
Maternity
Family
Event
Wedding Prep
 The biggest gift that you can give yourselves on your wedding day is the gift of time. Like most things in life that are important, you want the time to enjoy the experience.
 We usually start our wedding coverage with images of the Bride and her attendants getting ready. Depending on the size of the wedding party and the location of where you are preparing for your day, we recommend a start time of at least one hour before you plan to depart for the ceremony. We recommend that the bridesmaids and flower girl be ready before we arrive, as their role is to be supportive of the bride and help assist the Maid of Honor with Bride preparations.
 The Bride should be at the point of applying final touches to make-up and not yet be in her bridal gown. Some of the best shots of preparing for the wedding come from helping the bride get into her gown as some of the gowns definitely take a group effort. The room that you choose to get dressed in should be large enough to comfortably hold all of those involved as well as one or two photographers. While everyone wants to see the bride and be involved in making her day the best it can be, you may want to limit exposure to guests and well intentioned relatives. The reception is designed for meeting and greeting. * Image 102
 Family portraits of the bride’s side are often taken during this same time frame and then the bride joins the group when she is ready. Space and time make for the best portraits, so when getting your home ready for the big day, keep the rooms that you want to have most of the photos taken in as wide open and free from last minute clutter. Also be prepared to have furniture moved around to provide the best lighting and poses.
 Having time on your side greatly relieves stress and allows you to flow evenly from one event to the next. We only book one wedding per day, so we are available for the amount of time you choose.
 A traditional photo that has risen to the top of requests lately is to obtain a creative shot of the wedding rings. This is the best time to have this done. We certainly do not want to remove the couple’s rings once the ceremony has taken place, so you must plan to have them at the prep location and assign your most responsible person to be in charge of them. Timeless images often take time to produce, give yourself time to smell your roses and sip some champagne. Your day is for you to enjoy, and it will show in your photographs.
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