Know you Photographer and know your clients.....

Judge Judy laying down the e-session law:

engagement session complaint

Wedding Photo Tips from Wedding Bells Website

get perfect wedding photos

Your wedding is one event you want to make sure you’ve covered from all photo angles. Follow our seven tips to ensure you get great pictures.

“Everything happened so fast, I hardly even remember my own wedding!” It’s one of the most frequent complaints made by newlyweds and it’s the reason your wedding photographs are so important. The key to capturing all the moments you consider essential is to consult with your photographer before the big day to discuss the types of shots you want and the people who should appear in them.

Here are seven points to consider to get the best wedding day photos:

1. Give your photographer a list of must-do shots. A professional wedding photographer will likely cover all the traditional wedding-portrait situations, but he or she will need to know your special requirements. If you want a specific shot of you with your long-lost best friend who’s just flown in from Tunisia, or a series of family portraits featuring your mother with her second husband and your father-in-law with his new wife, be sure your photographer knows.

2. Even if you love the look of candid photographs, a must-have list is still very important. Countless couples have chosen a photojournalistic style of photography, only to discover they really would have liked one or two posed shots with certain people.

3. Consider these wedding photography styles when making up your must-do list:

• A portrait of all your guests together (often assembled on the front steps of a church or temple)
• A portrait of the bride with each of her maids, and the groom with each of his groomsmen, so you can later present the photos to your attendants as special thank-you gifts.
• A "generations" shot, which might include the bride, her great-grandmother, her grandmother, her mother, her older sister and her niece, for instance.
• A series of candid shots covering a tradition that reflects your family’s heritage.

4. Agree with your photographer on scheduled times for posed wedding photos. Make sure everyone to be photographed knows when and where to meet for these shots. Often, the longest part of the process is rounding up the relatives. Assign a bridesmaid or groomsman to assist your photographer. He or she can help identify guests needed for particular shots.

5. Consider alternative photo techniques to add special interest to your wedding album. For example, black and white wedding photos are very popular these days. Ask your photographer about including a portrait shot at a site chosen especially to bring out the evocative nature of black and white photography. Remember, even the simplest elements can look absolutely striking in black and white. We’ve seen gorgeous pictures using steam locomotives, a stark clapboard country church, the many-columned portico of a cathedral and a funky storefront as backdrops. Other great props: antique cars and horse-drawn carriages, a weathered wooden fence and an open window.

6. Don’t discover after the fact that you’ve got plenty of shots of family and friends, but no keepsake of your wedding site. If you’ve put a lot of effort into your wedding and reception decorations, make sure the results are captured on film. Ask your photographer to take a few shots of these areas, without people if possible, including close-ups of special items such as a ceremony floral arrangement, a table centrepiece, a table setting or the entrance area.

7. Request a groom portrait. Many women opt to have their bridal portrait taken by their wedding photographer days or even weeks prior to the wedding day to ensure an unhurried and beautifully composed photograph. Now, more and more couples want a keepsake of the groom in his wedding finery as well. Book a separate sitting for him and let him enjoy the attention and pampering usually reserved for the bride.

in the works

I am teaming up with my husband, Astig, in order to offer wedding motion pictures to my Wedding clients. Please go to his BLOG, in order to view the first test we did on the weekend.

Obviously, these kids are not getting married; but, you can get an idea of how we will shoot and edit your event.

Enjoy! Please let me know what you think.

everyday....

Not sure why I thought to write that yesterday was a "work day", when everyday is a work day!!!! Spent most of today trying to get better deals for my clients, but still maintain the same quality. Very difficult to do these days with everyone crying poor, and charging more for less. Still was able to figure out some more short cuts to my bottom line so that I do not have to increase prices just yet. Still working on the new and improved lcpweddings.com site....should be up soon.

Safe Long Weekend!!! Happy Victoria Day!!

work day today

Working all day today at the Wellington St. office...maybe for the last time. Met with Errol to discuss the new and improved website for www.linicampbellphotography.com. It is still in the works, but I will let you all know once it is up and sprinting!!

Found out some new information on getting an iPhone friendly website, and the potential pitfalls of picking one type of convergent device over another. I need to think about what kind of devices my clients' use. Any feedback?

Good Article from Wedding Bells Website

Here is very informative article on why you might want to consider having an engagement shoot:

why you need an engagement session

Everything you need to know to capture the perfect engagement photos!

By Roseanne Dela Rosa

Participating in engagement photos is certainly becoming more and more popular these days. You only have to peruse photographers’ blogs to notice the surge of e-photos (a.k.a. engagement photos) being posted. So what exactly occurs during engagement photos and how do you capture the perfect shots minus the cheese factor? We spoke to a photographer G. M. and asked him to give us the ins and outs of perfecting the right engagement photos. And, if you’re still not sold on the idea, the photographer gives you three good reasons why having an e-session actually benefits you!

Weddingbells: Can you give us a general overview of what an engagement session is? 
G. M.: “An engagement session is usually a one-to-three-hour photo session on location with a couple. It's almost like a ‘warm up’ for the photographer and the couple, without the nerves and busyness that surround the wedding day. Nowadays, most photographers call them engagement sessions, e-sessions or lifestyle sessions, however, I call them connection sessions. The reason for this is many couples that I’ve shot have commented on the feeling they get when we shoot these. They feel reconnected. Many [couples] get so caught up and busy with the planning and just life in general, that they rarely stop and just hold each other.”

WB: What are the benefits to having engagement sessions?
GM: “I find couples are much more relaxed on the wedding day if we have shot together beforehand. I usually meet couples seven months to a year and a half in advance of their wedding. If the next time I meet the bride is while she is getting dressed the day of her wedding, trust me, we are strangers once again and she is going to feel uncomfortable. Now if we meet four to five months prior to the wedding day for their connection session, and then we meet again to go over their images, and then I see her on the wedding day, she is going to feel much more relaxed as we have already worked together more than once. These sessions are a great way for the couple to see how their photographer works, if they make you feel comfortable in front of the camera, and the way they process the images afterwards. For me it's the perfect way to see how couples interact with each other. Every couple is different, every couple connects differently; therefore, there is never a one-size-fits-all solution and pose. All these reasons combined, make for even better images on the day of the wedding.”

WB: What are three things that couples should consider when booking these engagement sessions? 
GM: “Firstly, I ask all my couples before we set up their connection session what look they want (i.e. urban, natural, grungy, etc.). Once that is decided, I will suggest a few locations to match that look. Secondly, the time of day for the session will have a huge impact on the mood of the images. Mid-afternoon and high sun will give a much more edgy, hard look. Late evening, an hour or two before sunset will produce a warm, much more intimate look and feeling in the image. Lastly, I get asked a lot about clothing. For me neutral tones are best. No big logos or patterns, but overall, just wear something that you feel comfortable in.”

WB: What makes a great session?
GM: “A great session is created when the couple is comfortable enough with their photographer that they forget he/she is even there. They are connected with each other so emotionally that it can be captured in an image—this makes for a great session. Everything else is secondary to that emotion and connection.”

WB: Do you notice any trends or patterns that couples are asking for these days?
GM: “I think many couples want a more natural look, less posed, something that their parents didn't have in their photo albums. My couples want an image they can hang as art and showcase, not hide away in a box in the basement.”

Another great idea is to use the images together in a Guest Book that your friends and family can look at and write comments in, at your wedding.