Thrill your clients by giving them wedding photography that tells a story.

With all the  competition in wedding photography these days, what can you do as a wedding photographer to make sure your clients hire you? What do clients always love? Their unique story. Story Telling with their wedding photography makes their photography uniquely their own.

There are many ingredients to successfully telling the story with wedding photography. Over the next few weeks this blog will list and categorize what for us are the most critical. Today we are going to concentrate on telling the story in wedding photography with communication.

Telling the story in wedding photography is for us the single most critical component of successfully shooting a wedding day.

All successful documentary wedding photography begins with communication.

Meetings and communication with the client are critical. Face to face meetings, phone calls, even brief exchanges over social media help to  create a relationship  for both client and photographer to know one another.

Out of the familiarity grows knowledge.

Out of the knowledge grows awareness.

Out of the awareness grows empathy.

To better relay this I am going to tell you a story about clients we had and how communication created and paved the way for a successful shoot.

This particular couple were a bit older on the scale of average age of our wedding clients. Repeated meetings uncovered the fact the bride to be was coming from a place where marriage was thought to be something that would never, ever happen.  It was obvious this was a highly emotional place they were coming from with that belief. Speaking to them frequently uncovered there great love for family and the wish for a ceremony and reception that all could enjoy , but that did not cause anyone any difficulty to participate in.

This meant we had to be aware of allowing the clients to enjoy a laid back reception but to not lose photographic opportunities that may be thought of us “too much trouble”

While the client desired their church wedding , it quickly became obvious the church was a critical part of their wedding day. This meant an approach to church shooting that was respectful of their rules but allowed us to show the spiritual nature of a religious ceremony.

Clients tastes will vary. If they, or you are not sure of styles and where and how you are shooting, there does exits resources to show them a variety of styles.

You can check out one such resource with the Professional Photographers of America. You can see it HERE.

Telling the story with wedding photography requires communication, a connection and empathy. This particular image almost did not happen. The bride was kind of not wanting to go to the trouble of an official exist. Family, and us, intervened and we ended up with a shot that was a favorite for both us and the client.

In closing I’ll remind everyone that the heart is an important piece of your wedding photography equipment. Carry it with you always and keep it open….you and your clients will be glad you did!

The Most Important Pieces of Equipment in Wedding Photography.

It isn’t about the equipment, the latest camera, the latest lens, the greatest pixel count or the best ISO performance. It’s about how you connect with your clients and create a relationship that allows one-of-a-kind images for that particular client. That is the most important piece of equipment in wedding photography.

As wedding photographers we love and appreciate gear.  As one grows in this industry we are often in pursuit of the latest camera, the latest lens, the latest and greatest lighting accessory. I am certainly guilty of this. But I want to challenge you with a question. Does the latest gear always mean a difference for your clients? There ARE times when the jump in resolution or a cleaner and higher, more usable ISO will make a difference…but are those the most critical things that support your clients? I would offer that it is REALLY about the people, about the relationship, about the empathy you can bring to your work and ultimately what translates into their wedding images.

Before starting I would suggest it is always fruitful if your searching for a wedding photographer to begin with an official and reputable organization such as the Professional Photographers of America.

You can find them HERE

Another organization I like quite a bit is the WPPI. The wedding and portrait photographers International.

You can check them out HERE

And if your interested in mostly photojournalism , a great organization is Wedding Photojournalist Association.

You can see them HERE

So How do we go about using these, our most indispensable tools?

1. Your Heart. The people and the relationship. Getting to know your clients and getting to know the little physical interactions between them. You get a chance to know their families and their back story of where they came from, how they met, what is important to them, what they believe , how they feel. Shooting their wedding photography then takes on new and deeper layers. You shoot wedding photography then, with your heart on the shutter.
2. Your eyes are one of the most important pieces of your wedding photography skill set.  Yes, obviously you need them to see, but what and how are you seeing for your clients? I like to anticipate moments that I believe will be momentous , find a unique perspective if I can, and work to have great timing. Move around and look from other directions to see all the stories, little and big that make up a complete wedding story.
3. Your Imagination in your wedding photography skill set. Never be afraid to try different angles. Never be afraid to try and shoot how something feels as opposed to only how it looks. You will learn to trust that instinct.
4. 

Wedding Photojournalism

Add True Wedding Photojournalism Skills to tell a complete and unique story.

As photographers we pursue the technical. We love the equipment to the manual modes to the lighting. These pursuits push us and makes us better photographers and that is undeniably true. This allows us to make images that stand apart from the crowd and even allows us to enter into competitions improving our overall skill set and gain recognition among our peers. After the many years and the many weddings we have photographed, I would say invariably what couples tend to treasure the most are images that are uniquely theirs. Wedding images that tell a story, their story! This is often referred to as Wedding Photojournalism.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing images for competition or images that require a high degree of technical expertise. These are part of a photographers complete skill set and should be brought to every wedding.

I believe clients value and have a higher degree of attachment and intimacy with images that are unique to them….because those images always have a story behind them and it is ALWAYS their story…

In the images above we had a wedding where the journey to the actual event had been storied and deeply valued. Hence emotions were high as were the celebrations….The image in the upper left was shot while they were inside the car capturing the reflection of the couple in the mirror from outside the vehicle. The facial expressions in the 1st dance tell the story and the last image, what ended up being one of the final dances of the evening was full of emotion and movement, which I love and so did our couple…

In the image collage above you will see an image of the shoes and dress that were found in the hallway where someone had dropped a few rose petals….a quick rearrange and we had the shot. The image of the practice dancing in the getting ready room is full of spontaneity and joy.  The last image in this collage is one taken bounced from a mirror while the bride was deep in prayer just before the wedding.

For this collection of wedding photography we have a shot from and through some greenery from an outside service. The image beautifully depicts the joy of the bride as she watches her father give her away. The next image shows a terrific example of how you can get real emotion and reaction from the couples formals.

This image stands alone as one of our favorites. The grandmother had been ill but at the wedding her full spirit was on display. The bride has told us many times that this particular image means so much to them as they had not seen her grandmother like this in many years and could now always remember this moment…If you ever needed a reminder why our jobs are so important read this again…

The joy of celebration was all over this wedding and with a couple who loves classic black & white photography. This is a great example of how weddings do not have to be huge or over the top to be beautiful.  It is the size of the hearts in the weddings, not the size of the wedding that counts.

Sometimes all it takes is a single image to convey a beautiful moment. Another of our favorite images. This was shot on a 70-200 at around 3.5 then textured in Photoshop to relay how it felt, not just how it looked.

This was not a overly large wedding and the 1st look was fantastic as you can see here. One of the formals was shot with us guiding and asking how the couple felt as opposed to how they looked and it ended up being very classic and timeless.

The first look for Dad was a tearjerker for everyone around and the full tight hugs show the enormity of the moment. One of the last dances of the evening had the couple surrounded  with perhaps the best dancing by any wedding party ever in terms of emotion and staying power…

The getting ready image on the left was taken totally unnoticed by the bride yet purposely done to show her natural beauty and was a favorite of her husbands at our unveiling. It was a lasting testament to someone so humble on just how incredibly beautiful she is inside and out. The exit was picture perfect (pun intended!) and shows their individual personalities, relatively quiet reserved beauty and somewhat extreme spirited extrovert

This collage shows both great celebration and impromptu group posing and gathering that were instant classics…

For this Florida Beach Wedding we wanted to highlight lighter colors and a sense of beach air….the getting ready mirror bounce was totally non-staged and most of us would be smiling at our reflection if we looked that good. The balance of the images were from the couple after ceremony beach setting but shows wonderful interaction between the couple as they played in the sunset..the final star-kissed moment was nothing more than lining up the setting sun with a kiss.

One of my all time favorite images. During the ceremony I noticed the little girl kept peering around and between the bride and groom to see what was going on. On one of those times I caught her, curls, inquisitive expression and all for a timeless image of one of wedding photography’s little, small and beautiful back stories.

The getting ready often offers excellent opportunities especially with the girls, but the guys have their moments too as this image of father and son and the humor of tying the tie was priceless.

The last image shows the bride and groom reaction to their friends, who were NOT singers, belting out a version of ” Islands in The Sun” where some were holding their ears and others were holding their stomachs from the guffaws and laughter.

In closing, what I hope we have stressed here is to pursue technical excellence and bring it to your clients through wedding photojournalism. Speaking for ourselves, we have a long way to go to be where we want to be as photographers. What I do hope we stressed is to get to know your clients.  Love them. Know their story. Then write that story with light to the best of your ability.

While it may be true that there is no such thing as a  perfect image, there ARE perfect stories.

Keep shooting and may all your shooting be happy…practice to develop great timing and press “heart” on the shutter…

Why 2nd Marriage (or any other number) Wedding Photography Matters!

In our career after shooting hundreds of weddings obviously every potential client who came through our door was not getting married for the very first time,  some were on their 2nd marriage and were still considering wedding photography.

Some were on their 2nd (or more) wedding

Some were renewing their vows

What we have heard a good deal of from this particular type of client is: “well, it’s not our first rodeo” or ” we have both been through this before” as if somehow finding the love of your life, later in life makes it mean less from a wedding photography standpoint.

People who hold to that belief are rarely ever our clients.

The wedding photography ALWAYS matters…let me repeat that, THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY ALWAYS MATTERS.

A celebration of love is not limited to two people who have never been married before and the term “newlywed” is not applicable to people only in the spring of their life.

The things for your photographer to consider are similar to documenting any other wedding.

1. What does the potential client see in your style of images that they like?
2. What would they prefer to see less of, or not at all photographically speaking. Would they prefer a concentration on just documenting the day rather than being put in some locations and guided on their posing?
3. Are their children or grandchildren who may be important to be included in the wedding photography?
4. Consider hours of coverage. Some 2nd marriage celebrations are shorter than a full scale 1st wedding. There are exceptions of course but working 10-12 hours that day versus 4 to 6 can change what gets covered and included.
5. Lastly, will you be shooting and covering the ceremony in a church, venue or other location? This may require a different approach than a 1st wedding at a church with getting ready coverage and all the bells and whistles versus a 2nd wedding at a courthouse with a mass ceremony for many couples at once…

In the end what truly counts is documenting the couples day, telling a story and showing true emotion…and that never gets old whether its wedding 1 or wedding 100! We hope you will celebrate your love, no matter where you are in life, with wedding photography that becomes an heirloom.

Print vs Digital, why there IS a difference!

Why the Printed Image is Not Dead!

If you are searching for a wedding photographer, you’ve likely been considering the print vs digital dilemma.

As photography moved out of the analog print age and into the digital age, it brought with it many advances. Namely immediate feedback and the ability to more readily share images and in a much more rapid manner. Combined with social media, friends and family can see images now quicker and on a much wider scale than ever previously.

For the Wedding photographer, this also meant as digital evolved a much wider gamut of capabilities by our cameras to function at light levels previously unheard of.  For photographers (like us) who bridge the ages and have shot film and transitioned to digital, the perspective is unique.

Is there any downside to digital? We would argue that digital has been misinterpreted as a “final” product and that the best analogy is to view digital as a kind of proof or negative that is more easily accessed, able to be immediately shared and with the ability to be carried around in your pocket on your smartphone or other digital device.

However, there remained photographers and clients who noted that holding an analog and true finished photographic print made the images entirely unique to their senses and emotions.  Now there is some  evidence to back that up. Check it out   http://associationmediaandpublishing.org/sidebar/Digital-vs-Print-Which-is-Better-For-You

and: HERE

In a nutshell, what studies have shown is that the feedback and retention are greater with a print than with digital.

Does that mean digital has no value or is ignored? For us the answer is absolutely not. We respond by educating our potential clients as to why print matters. No package is  offered without an album.

Our Studio refuses to shoot and deliver only digital images.

Digital, in our opinion, was never meant to be forever.

For us, the best way to serve our clients is to provide BOTH.  As we mentioned every package we offer includes an album. While that album is a base model, it DOES allow clients to have a true heirloom family item.  Often this is the first artwork of its kind after the marriage. Approximately 72% of our clients upgrade their album in either pages included, cover, style, size, or all of them !

Our clients come into the studio and are met with images and custom DVD shows being streamed to our 4K monitor.

But it is understood that we are ultimately selling is artwork and that means albums, wall hangings etc..

Seeing those products , touching them, feeling them is a different experience than just having the images stream across a screen.

What we want each client to have as a goal, is to imagine the story they want their albums to tell ten years from now.

What to talk to your Photographer about with Church Wedding Photography (or any wedding!)

In this day and age, with so many new and beautiful outdoor wedding venues, whether we are here in Blue Ridge Georgia or in the  Marietta, the question gets asked of us as the wedding photographers, am I going to get beautiful church wedding photography if the ceremony is in the church.

Our answer is a resounding YES!

While outdoor venues are becoming plentiful, there are some things to think about..does the venue have a back up plan in the event of inclement weather? Is the venue and terrain easily accessible for all your guest , regardless of age and condition? Is the location logistically fit for attendance of your planned wedding party and guest?

With that in mind, and with some the sanctity of the ceremony as a factor,  many are turning to the more traditional Church Wedding, but when doing so the question we get asked a great deal is will my wedding photography still be beautiful if the ceremony is in the church. Many church’s are a bit more centrally located for ease of access. This is one of the finest we have worked with and you can find them here:

We still love church weddings. It is important to note that most church’s do have guidelines and rules for the photography specifically during the ceremony. This may include shooting only from the upper level gallery or from the last pews. The rules may also state no flash photography during the ceremony. What we recommend is to meet with the officiant prior to the ceremony and go over what is allowed, and what is not.

The photographer, in the long run, needs to adhere to the rules and guidelines the church sets while still obtaining the photography the client wants. Be sure to your photographer is comfortable with challenging light settings and possible distance shooting.

Having your after ceremony celebration can really change the texture and climate of your wedding, giving you the best of both worlds. One of the best we have worked at is the Marlow House, you can find them HERE:

One thing we always recommend to our bride and grooms is to consider a pre or post shoot. You see it does not matter whether your wedding photography is taking place at or in a church or at a venue, your are very likely to have very limited time after the ceremony to shoot in. Barring seeing each other before the ceremony, it leaves all the couple images together and with family as part of the after ceremony images, and the time frame for that is usually less than one hour, and often half that at best.

With a pre or post shoot, the stress of the day is taken away, and you have just your time together to just play. This makes for a far deeper image base for the couples images.

Michael & Leah, A Love Story

What do you get when you take two gorgeous people, add in one of the world’s best wedding party, a family with tight bonds that adores you, add in the best of friends and people who love to dance and celebrate?

You get a true to life love story…a story of faith, hope and love.

You get a Tate House Wedding.

You get North Georgia Wedding Photography

The background is the inimitable historic Tate House Mansion. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and make plans. This is one of the preeminent venues in North Georgia, especially for a wedding.  They continue to innovate, plan, build, add and not stand still…

You can find them here:

www.tatehouse.com

That is evident by Leah’s getting ready in the new bride’s house that is just done so perfectly….every detail thought out…every fine touch added, all by folks who do it the best.

Michael and Leah have roots in North Georgia. Parts of their story developed here so being in North Georgia for a wedding was a given. It’s also why , if your thinking of north Georgia for a wedding and as a backdrop for your north Georgia wedding photography, you can see what Leah envisioned brought to reality here.

From 1st looks at a beautiful lookout point dodging raindrops, to cool surprises and one of the best wedding parties we have had the good fortune to work with.

Our goal is twofold…we hope the feelings jump off this page about Michael and Leah’s love story…and we hope you see the love we feel for them from behind the lens…and the families we so quickly fell in love with.

We hope you enjoy our take on A Tate House Wedding and North Georgia Wedding Photography.

Blessings

We believe Vail Wedding Photography should tell a story…YOUR story.

Because each of us has a unique story your images should be unique as well, while also holding to the style you hired your photographer for.

We have been asked what is the secret to a great wedding and great Vail wedding photography…  The answer, and the secret, is YOU!

We are as good as our clients who hire us, trust us and let us into their world to tell a story like no other.

In view of that, and Vail Wedding Photography, we are happy to show a few teasers from Casey & Breanna’s Vail Wedding.

If you like what you see here go over and give some love to the folks at Piney River Ranch. Monique and the entire staff there are experts and can help you visualize just what you see here.

You can find them here:

http://www.pineyriverranch.com

The beautiful video was handled by our good friend Sherri Innis…

You can see more of Sherri here:

http://www.sherriinnis.com

If you think the bride looks awesome (and she does!) you can see her stylist here:

http://www.parkerstylist.com

Vail Colorado.

Is there a prettier place in The United States than The Mystic Rocky Mountains?

When you are considering a Vail Lake Wedding you need to look at one of the finest in Piney River Ranch. You can check them out here:

www.pineyriverranch.com

You probably wouldn’t be reading this post, or considering a Vail Wedding unless some of what the gorgeous landscape itself called to you as your theme, your backdrop and your destination!

Vail Wedding Photography has no shortage of providers, but , whether considering local photographers or destination wedding photographers you will want to follow a few guidelines:

1) Make sure as you review the websites that the work speaks to you. Your Vail Wedding Photographer should be showing you not just highlights from multiple weddings, but an actual Album and /or show documenting the wedding from beginning to end. Vail Wedding Photography, like any wedding photography, should tell a story…and the story should be told in a unique way that makes it your own!

2) Once you have narrowed your choices down, ensure you speak to the photographers in person, on the phone or by Skype. Wedding Photography whether in Vail or any other location such as Atlanta, The north Georgia mountains, the beaches of Florida ALL have one thing in common, and that is that Vail wedding photography is a MUTUAL creation. Creating and having a relationship with your photographer is step one in the creation of the very first family heirloom! Look for shared interest, empathy and the ability to recall and speak about the stories behind some of the Vail wedding photography you love! A good photographer knows what is behind the emotion for his clients and knowing leads to great timing and the assistance, when needed, to help create and show moments.

3) Price. It always comes up. While you likely have some idea where your budget is, make sure you are comparing value versus just cost. Some destination Vail Wedding Photographers can offer tremendous value even with the cost of travel to a sought out location for weddings such as Vail. Your photographer should also be able to work with you, be creative on deposits and payments and help make your Vail wedding photography dreams a reality!

4) Trust. This is where the rubber meets the road! Once that relationship is established you will need to trust your photographers guidance and suggestions. This is where that relationship becomes so important. If your Vail wedding photographer has taken the time to be invested in you, to know your style, your likes, your dislikes etc. , they will be far better prepared to shoot YOUR story, not just a repeat of popular Pinterest . After all, shouldn’t you want your photographer to create what you can upload to Pinterest versus just copying what someone else has done?

5) Fearlessness combined with Faith.  This is the magical (but very real) combination of “going for it” to get you and that gorgeous dress out of then safe places and into the gorgeous places…A willingness to do so will give you many, many returns on your Vail Wedding Photographers images that are produced. As you see in the few teaser examples here, our bride was fearless, walking in the wet grass where we had just dodged a few showers to finally get where we wanted to be. One last thing, and perhaps the most important, an “attitude of gratitude” really does show in your images. This particular bride was (and remains) a shining example of that.

A Marietta Country Club Wedding with our friends Markeita & Eddie

Let’s face it, Marietta is just a cool place to be! A great climate, a usually solid economy, wonderful attractions and a deep historic background.

It is also one of our clients most favorite places to get married!

If you are thinking along those lines, the first thing you need to do is to check out the folks over at The Marietta Country Club…you can find them here: http://www.mariettacountryclub.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

Once you’ve decide this is the place to be, and let’s face it, these folks are awesome, really, REALLY consider the services of a wedding planner. One of the best we have worked with can be found right here in Jennifer Johnson-Lynch. Check her out here and tell her we sent you! http://belweddings.com/

A Marietta Country Club Wedding is just so different! Awesome usable outside space, terrific reception areas and a top notch staff! Add to that the terrific location and ease of access and you have the makings of an awesome venue!

But what makes any venue, in our opinion is how they cater to their customers. How do they work to bring their dreams and vision to reality? In this case it was all done by the brilliant touch of K. Mike Whittle Florist. You can check out more of Mike here: http://www.kmikewhittledesigns.com/

So now we have addressed the venue as well as the overall design and theme of the wedding. On to what we love so much, The Photography!

We shoot real, true life moments. We step back, let our clients breathe and just feel the joy of the moment and each others company. Getting the photography you want and creating some unique, one-of-a-kind pieces of art happens during those moments with each other! This is, in our opinion, the creation of the very first family heirloom!

That makes our job much more than pointing a camera.  It becomes a way of listening to your clients, understanding what they are comfortable with and having the true heart-sense to shoot during moments of peak emotion that show, truly who and what they are to each other.

We encourage clients to invest in their photography as it is one service that stands the test of time. The dress can be cleaned and packed away, the flowers wilt and die, the food is eaten and forgotten, but the photography, the photography last a lifetime! This is why our packages are all inclusive and we do NOTHING that does not include an album. We think of it as building a final product to deliver to you. That means we are shooting throughout the day capturing moments we will select carefully and choose to be the best individual images that tell your story and meet our standards. We also include a piece of wall art in all our packages which can range from mounted canvas hangings to giclee prints.

One thing we are so fortunate to hear, and we hear a good bit of it..is when our clients tell us they can’t wait for us to document other parts of their lives. We spoke about this in one of our earlier posts, The perfect client. The outcome of your experience with your photographer should result in the collaboration of unique, one-of-a-kind artwork that you love, some of it already hanging on their walls and true heirloom albums! Wedding Photography is more than just a digital file or the physical moment when you shoot, it too, we feel, is a blending of hearts and minds for a cause to produce something both timeless and precious. None of that works quite the same without all the excellent folks , listed here.

Markeita & Eddie, it was a Wedding of Dreams…and the story of the Banyan Kingdom continues…