Unique Handmade Wedding Invitation Ideas Using Pictures

Unique handmade wedding invitations ideas are almost limitless if you stop and use your creative side. The number one thing that will make yours truly unique is you and your future spouse. By placing something about you in the invitations, you will immediately differentiate them from any others your guests have received before.

An easy way to achieve this is by adding one, or even a few of your favorite pictures to your handmade wedding invitations. These can be just about anything. It can be a picture you took from a vacation you took together, one that you took while out with friends and a special moment was captured, you can use one of your engagement photos if you had these taken, or you can even make a small collage of many of these pictures.

The key is to choose pictures that stand out to you while you are reviewing them, something that captured the essence of you two as a couple and radiates out of the picture itself. By choosing a picture that stands out to you and brings back fond memories, you will give your guests a window in to your life together through the use of your unique handmade wedding invitations.

To run with this idea you just need to take a few simple steps. The first is reviewing your pictures and choosing what you will use. Once you've chosen your picture, or pictures if you've decided to make a small collage, you need the stationary that you will add them to. For this you can either go to your local stationary store, or you can search through the many options available for photo invitations online. Either way, just make sure you get stationary that is specific to adding pictures.

If you are deciding to make your invitations at home, you will be using your home computer for the text part. Just search through the options available right on your computer for text fonts and styles to make it look nice. There are a lot of options available for this on your computer so this should be easy by testing a few versions on scratch paper.

Now you just need to put it all together. For this step you can either visit your local craft store and get the supplies you will need to complete your project, or you can use one of the many do it yourself kits available online. These kits come with all the supplies you need to complete your unique handmade wedding invitations, including the stationary. Make sure you download a template typically available with the kit to make printing easy and you will see great results with your finished invites, especially when you add your unique pictures to them.

Guest Book Picture Frames, Photo Books, and Signature Platters - Creative Choices For Your Wedding

Guest Books originated as a way to keep track of who witnessed a wedding in case any questions or discrepancies developed later on. They have evolved into books of well-wishes and blessings from friends and family and have become treasured keepsakes in their own right. In the last few years, the traditional guest book and pen sets have branched out to include: guest book picture frames, photo guest books, and guest book platters. Read on to see if you want to add a different and creative way of collecting signatures and well-wishes.

1. Guest Book Picture Frames: This unique and fun idea has really caught on. The guest book picture frame has a picture in the middle and then the mat surrounding the picture can be written on by your guests. It makes a lovely picture to display and to remind you of the love you were showered with on your wedding day. The mat is either paper or metal. These are perfect for outdoor weddings, afternoon weddings, or weddings that are less formal.

2. Photo Guest Books: Guests really have fun with this book. You need to supply either a polaroid camera or a digital camera and a table with the guest book and pen. You can also supply colored marking pens and pencils. The guests take pictures of themselves and while they are developing, they write out their thoughts, good-wishes or blessings for you and then tape the picture in. If you are using a digital camera, you will need to print out the pictures and add them later. This is perfect for a wedding where you know your guests would enjoy being creative and interactive.

3. Guest Book Signature Platters: Signature platters are another creative variation. These are porcelain white platters that arrive with a special pen for writing. Guest can sign their name and add any other thoughts or wishes they have. These platters are meant to be displayed and make lovely keepsakes.They are perfect for small, intimate weddings.

So, if you are thinking outside the book, try guest book picture frames, photo guest books, or signature platters for a unique variation on tradition.

Wedding Anniversary Scrapbooking Ideas

Are you looking for wedding anniversary scrapbooking ideas to help you create a unique gift for a special couple for their anniversary? This article has many simple ideas that you can use to create a wonderful and lasting wedding anniversary gift.

One of the most important wedding anniversary scrapbooking ideas you can use for an anniversary scrapbook is to have the couple's wedding picture on either the first or last page of the scrapbook.

A copy of the wedding invitation makes a really great introduction to the scrapbook. A scrapbook makes a creative anniversary gift for any anniversary year, but it is particularly effective for milestones such as; first anniversary, silver, diamond or golden anniversaries. For the 25th, 50th or 60th wedding anniversaries, you can start the scrapbook with the wedding photo.

Other scrapbooking ideas you can use are:

• Photos of the couple during each year of their marriage
  
  


• Photos of the couple's family at various stages of growth
  
  


• Photos of memorable occasions, such as weddings of the children
  
  


• Photos of the couple with their grandchildren
  
  


• Photos of trips and vacations
  

Wedding scrapbooking ideas, for the first year of marriage could include:

• Photos of the planning done for the wedding
  
  


• Copy of the wedding service
  
  


• Place cards
  
  


• Bridal registry
  
  


• List of gifts received
  
  


• Ribbons to represent colors used in the wedding
  
  


• Wedding favors that was used
  
  


• Notes about planning mishaps
  

You can also include the following in the Wedding anniversary scrapbook:

• Pressed flowers
  
  


• Napkins
  
  


• Christmas pictures of the couple together
  
  


• Letters and notes that the couple has written funny scenes from their lives together
  
  


• Invitation to the anniversary party
  
  


• Photos of the party
  

The colors you choose for embellishing the scrapbook should represent the year of the anniversary. For example, 25th anniversary is silver, 50th is gold and 60th is diamond. The colors used in other wedding anniversary scrapbooking ideas could be the colors the couple chose to have at their wedding or their own favorite colors.

Why Buy a Real Leather Wedding Album?

When buying your wedding album, you will have to make the choice whether to go for real leather or faux leather (leatherette). The price difference can be substantial and you might ask yourself: "Is it worth it?" This article tries to give the answer.

The feeling

While faux leather optically looks very similar to leather, the main difference can be found in the feeling of the album when you hold it in your hands. A leather album has simply a better feeling to it. Leather is a natural material and your hands appreciate that. This is not to say that a faux leather album does not feel nice, a leather album simply feels nicer.

The smell

Believe it or not, a real leather album smells better. Faux leather is fairly neutral regarding the smell, so when you give your album a good sniff, you will notice the smell of glue and paper. A leather album has a slightly more interesting whiff of animal skin. This adds to the slightly more special appeal of a real leather wedding album.

The weight

Real leather is heavier than leatherette. Your wedding album will be more heavy if bound in real leather. The weight is important, since a heavy album seems more precious and valuable as an object than a light if not to say flimsy wedding album. The weight of your album however can be increased by other means, for example the page strength.

The looks

As I wrote before, leatherette looks almost the same as real leather. Almost, but not quite! A leather wedding album still looks just a tiny little bit nicer and more elegant.

In conclusion

At the end, it depends where your priorities are regarding your wedding album. If you want to have the best wedding album you can possibly get, then go for real leather. If you want a nice album on a limited budget, faux leather is good enough. If you think that thick pages are more important than the cover, go for a faux leather album with heavy pages. In general, I would say that the extra money for leather is worth it. Still, a faux leather album can perfectly suit your needs.

Designing the iPad Wedding Album - Apps for Easy iPad Wedding Album Sharing

You have clicked the pics, edited them, designed them and made a memorable masterpiece out of your wedding photos. The last step would be sharing your well-designed new age iPad wedding album with friends and families!

Ways to share without fancy apps

Internet - Email and web albums

As we already know, the iPad can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi and 3G. Connect to your email account from your iPad, compose a new email and attach the wedding photos to this email. You can now email these photos to yourself from your iPad. You can later forward that email to friends and families. However, this is one of the most difficult ways to go about sharing your iPad wedding album.

If you happen to have Picasa web album or Flickr account, you can log on to it from your iPad and load the entire album at a tap of a finger. You can then share the uploaded web album with loved ones. This is one of the easy ways but not the easiest.

Sharing between iPhone, iPod touch and Mac/PC

Sharing between devices is another hassle free way. If you have the group of friends with whom you would like to share your iPad wedding album, and they happen to own one of the Apple's device listed above, you can easily share the album using Bluetooth. You can send an entire album with a tap of the finger.

Photo/Album sharing using apps

The iPad's very own MobileMe Gallery app

Sharing without using any apps might look as an easy option, but it is not helping you organize your photos in your iPad. In addition, this kind of sharing is a one-way sharing. While your friends might know what you are uploading, you might on the other hand be clueless regarding their photo uploads.

To solve this problem, iPad has an indigenous app called MobileMe. This is your iPad's personal data manager. One of the sub apps of MobileMe is the Gallery app. This application halves your time you spend on uploading the photos and sharing them with your family and friends. First, you need to sign up at Apple's me.com website.

With that member name and password, you log into the account through your iPad. This action will automatically sync all your photos with your account on me.com! The app has an offline mode. This enables you to flick through recently viewed photos of your web account, even without the internet. You can add your friends from your iPad. MobileMe will automatically suggest the names of the friends who already have the gallery app account on me.com. Once you add your friends, a blue dot will appear next to their name every time they upload new photos. Thus, you can be up-to-date on their uploads as well.

Picasa Web Albums for iPad

If you are a Google fan or hold a Gmail account, your photo manager, undoubtedly, would be Picasa. In such a case, you might want to link your iPad wedding albums to your Picasa web albums. This app helps you do just that. You can sign in with your Gmail id and transfer all your photo albums to this app. Once connected to the internet, all the photos get uploaded along with the tags and comment that you might have added for the photos. You can also password protect the albums and decide the privacy level. iTunes is not required for syncing the albums to the iPad when using this app.

FlickStackr

For those who maintain their photo albums in Flickr, this app is just perfect for sharing your wedding album iPAD. It is similar to Picasa web album app in its features. However, for creating a Flickr account, you can use Yahoo, Gmail or even your Facebook id.

How to Choose a Vendor For Your Wedding Photo Booth Rental

This year is really the beginning of the wedding photo booth phenomenon. Photobooths have been around your local shopping malls for the longest of time, but just in the past year more and more couples are opting to have a photo booth rental for their wedding reception.

Along with this new gained popularity, more and more photobooth rental vendors have sprung up too.

We've compiled a list of 5 things you should address with the vendor that will help you get the best photo booth rental to fit your needs.

1. Idle time charges.

These can be either help save you money, or end up adding a bit to your final bill. Many companies will offer you idle time for a fee, if you wish to split your photo booth rental time into separate time slots. For instance, if you had a 4 hour wedding photobooth, but wanted it running from 6 to 8pm, then resume at 10 after dinner until midnight, some vendors will allow you to do this while paying for 2 hours of 'idle time' which tends to be discounted rate. Other vendors may not offer this option, and ask you to pay their full hourly rate.

Ask the vendor if you could specially request a time for them to come set up the wedding photobooth before the anticipated start time. If you needed the photobooth to be set up several hours before your guests arrive, some vendors may charge you for idle time from the time they finish setting up until the start of the photo booth rental.

2. Template designs.

Will you be able to personalize the look of the template used for your photobooth pictures? Many photobooth vendors may have an in-house graphics designer who will work with you to design the template just as you like it to suit you and your fiance's personalities. You could ask them to get as creative as possible, or to co-ordinate the colour scheme with your wedding colours of invitations. Other photo booth companies may not have a graphics specialist, so you may be forced to choose between some really basic, cookie-cutter templates for your photobooth rental.

Take a look at some of the previous photo booth rentals they have done before, and see how other templates have looked like in the past!

3. Guaranteed up time.

No matter how thorough your photobooth company may be, electronics are electronics and sometimes they get fussy and stop working for no reason. Most photobooth rental companies will have backup equipment ready in case something happens. They may also have a guarantee up time policy which would guarantee a certain percentage of time that your photo booth will be working properly during the rental. If there is a problem, and the photo booth does not work for an extended period of time, they may refund a certain amount of your package price.

4. Extra digital copies.

This would be useful to ask in case you wanted to have a copy of the photos taken during the photobooth rental. Many photobooth vendors will upload the night's photos into an online gallery. Ask if you and your guests can download the high resolution version of the photo and if it would be okay for you to re-print or post them in other online sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Check out this link for the final tip to help you choose the perfect photo booth vendor on your big day!

Why Does Wedding Photography Cost So Much?

This is a common question that is asked a lot. Here are some things to consider when placing a value of Wedding photography.

Professional prints are a rip off, I can get a print for 0.19 cents at Xmart! That's true you can and all it costs you is a little time. You were at the Wedding having a good time, you pulled your camera and snapped off a shot, easy. What about the Wedding photographer isn't it that easy for him too?

Wedding photographers (the good ones) really care about the bride and groom. We want to take the best photograph possible for the given situation and in order to do so it requires us to be prepared and put some thought into every shot.

First is the equipment.
You must have good quality gear and you must have back up. At any given Wedding we bring 5 camera bodies, 6 flashes, 4 power packs, 8 lenses, lots of AA batteries, 50 GB of memory chips, extra batteries for the cameras, tools to clean and repair cameras or lenses, extra cables. Light stands, reflectors, a white balance target, light meters, 800 watt strobes for formals (3 of these), umbrellas, flash bracket, diffusers, and well you get the idea.

A good camera and equipment (gear) do not make one a good photographer. A skilled photographer can make good images with even mediocre equipment. The reason to get expensive gear is because it can make good work great, but it won't save a poor photo no matter how much money you have spent. Pro cameras focus more accurately, track moving objects better, focus in low light conditions faster and better, they are more rugged, weather sealed, shutters have a life of 250,000 frames. They have larger buffers so you can take more shots with slowing your camera down. The camera is only part of the equation. Your lenses can play an even larger role than your camera body in the quality of the images. In other words if you have an $8000.00 DLSR and put a cheap $300.00 lens on it you just wasted $7000.00.

Why do we need all of that gear? Simple, for backup, reliability, quality, and to create images that can't be created without the proper tools. We want to make images that have a third dimension to them.

It's called the WOW factor.

Yes anyone can buy a camera, flash, flash bracket and run around and call themselves a photographer. It's also a fact that anyone can buy a pair of scissors and cut hair, but I will bet you are going to have a skilled person cut YOUR hair. The same is true for photography, there are skills, technical learning, people skills, posing skills and things you can't learn like having a vision, seeing the light and looking beyond the obvious to create something great from something Others see as common.

Anyone can buy brushes and paint and take art classes, but not everyone will become an artist.

No it's true there are people out there that shoot an entire wedding with 1 camera, 1 flash and call themselves by various popular names (photo journalists). Now I don't want to start any fights but many professionals feel that the majority of PJ shooters and people who don't know how to light, pose or frame their subjects. Don't get me wrong there are a few that are really good, but I do feel that many people whom just one to make an extra buck hide behind the reputation of the good PJ shooters in order to take advantage of their clients. These are usually the guys who at one time realized that anyone can snap a picture, so why not get paid for it? The photojournalist wedding photographers that are really good are in a league of their own. They have unique skills, and have one BIG advantage over the want to be photojournalists and that is they actually have been photojournalists before getting into Weddings.

Ok. I am off that soapbox for now.

Hidden labor and time worked but not seen.
There is a lot of time spent after the wedding for the final production of the images and album that will be created. But before we go into that lets take a look and the hidden time and expenses that you would never know about unless you did wedding photography for a living.

At the initial meeting of a bride and groom we will spend about 2-3 hours discussing their day, giving them ideas and writing down information. We provide forms to help them organize their day (and their thoughts) and to help them plan. Our job is not only to photograph the day but to take stress off the bride and groom by giving advice and helping them plan the wedding day. The photographer you choose will be responsible for a good part of your day. If your photographer only wants to meet with you to take your check and then ask you what time do you them to show up you might want to consider a photographer that wants to actually get involved with the wedding day.

The average bride and groom will spend about 2-4 hours on the phone with us asking questions and preparing for the day. Add more time if there is an engagement session. Let's also remember all of the email's that will be sent back and for.

The wedding day photography schedule.
We will spend 1-2 hours with going over the sequence of the day and helping put in writing a time line of events. The purpose of this time line is to help the couple get the photographs that they want. This is also a major stress reliever for the bride because the photographer becomes that bad guy and gives the wedding party a schedule for the day. There is nothing worse on the day of your wedding then having a wedding party member be a no show until 5 minutes before, especially if you wanted pre ceremony photos. There is always one bridesmaid that takes forever to get ready and is famous for being late of forgetting things, the mean photographer that gives a schedule to the bridesmaids is doing so to help the bride so she won't have to dread dealing with the extra drama that can be created by slow and late bridesmaids, after all its her day.

Scouting the area.
If the events are at an area I have not shot at previously I will go to the wedding site and the reception area and photograph the areas and meet the people who will be in charge on the day of the wedding. I go back to the studio and load up the images and plan out shot I want to get using what is available in the area and then I organize the shots and plan them in a logical order. There is another 3-4 hours of planning, plus travel time.

The rehearsal.
We attend the rehearsal. This is good way of learning about last minute changes, getting to meet the family and wedding party and of course handing out the photography schedule. So there is another 2 hours on average.

The day before the wedding.
All of the equipment is cleaned, inspected and tested. Batteries are charged. Equipment is organized. Cards are formatted, cameras have their clocks synchronized, lenses and sensors cleaned, I organize my shot list, pack up the lighting equipment, tripods, etc. Another 6 hours of work.

The Wedding day.
The average wedding for us is 8 to 11 hours, yes we are not the 4 hour wedding photographers. I always wonder how they can get away with that.

Now it's nice to think that you can plan out a wedding day and after that you just execute the plan. Well now it's time for a reality check.

Weddings are organic.
They have a life of their own and not everything goes as planned. But, that's ok. Part of being a great Wedding photographer is being able to think on your feet, to be flexible and change all of the plans in a moments notice and still get great shots and keep everyone smiling. You want a challenge try squeezing 2 hours of shooting into 45 minutes. Oh yeah, the shots still need to be great.

After the Wedding.
OK the Wedding is over we get home about 1:00 am unload the equipment, start reading the images of the chips. Throw them online and wait for the money to roll in!!! In my dreams.

Just taking the images off the chips take about 3-5 hours. Next the images have to be processed.
We do not shoot in jpg file mode, we shoot in RAW. RAW is to digital what negatives are to film. The files have to be loaded into a RAW editor. We use Capture One.

Processing the RAW files.
The average Wedding will have 1000-2000 shots. I will spend about 10-16 hours processing the RAW file to get the absolute best quality from each one. You can take shorts cut and not be so picky, but any Wedding photographer worth their salt will want to make the proofs look great.

It takes time to do proper color correction (actually correction and white balance begins before the images were taken, that's what the white balance target was for). Files are backed up on three different external hard drives for redundancy. The chips are not formatted until all of the files are backed up.

The Album.
The RAWS are output as high resolution jpg files for building the albums and for posting on the Internet. Now we build the album. The average album takes 40-60 hours. You could buy software that automatically dumps photos from a folder into pre-made templates, and it takes about 20 minutes. But there is no creativity or customization involved. The photographer selects the images for the album and the bride and groom get to make changes 2 times. Many photographers work this way because it is faster. But if the bride and groom really appreciate good images and don't want a cookie cutter album then it requires creativity, communication and time.

Using Professional lab.
Professional photographers use quality monitors and hardware devices that create a profile that
modifies their screen display so when we edit and color correct, adjust the density and sharpen and image the print will come from the lab looking like the image on our monitor. Professional labs charge more because they offer a level of quality and consistency and used calibrated machines that are checked daily.

So let's total it up.
Initial meeting of a bride and groom 2-3 hours.
Time on phone and writing email's to iron out details and answer questions 2-4 hours.
The time line for the day 1-2 hours.
Scouting the area, travel and research, planning shots. 3-4 hours.
The rehearsal 2 hours, plus travel time.
The wedding day 8-11 hours on average.
Uploading data from chips. 3-5 hours.
Processing the RAW files, building web pages for the online shopping cart, uploading files and data back up 10-16 hours.
Build the wedding album pages 40-60 hours.

People who are talented make their work look easy. Talent, hard work, patience, flexibility and a good sense of humor are all part of being a great Wedding photographer. You are inviting this person into your life for the day of your Wedding.

So, when you buy a photo from the Wedding photographer your not just buying a piece of paper with some printing, you are getting a part of the time, emotion and investment that the bride and groom put into their day, and they trusted in that photographer to be there for them.

This person they have put their trust in has done a lot more than just snap a few pics.

5 Tips For Displaying Your Wedding Photographs

The wedding's over, you have a bunch of wonderful memories and a folder of gorgeous prints from your wedding photographers. You don't want those prints to languish in a box unseen, so straight after your honeymoon is the time to think about how to display your wedding photos. Seize the moment while the day is still fresh in your memory (not that it will ever fade, of course!). You probably want something more than just the traditional 8x10 print in a silver frame, so lets look at a few more options, both traditional and modern.

1. Create a wedding photo wall display
Pick out a selection of your favourite pics and have them all framed in a striking but simple style to match your decor. The frames can all be different sizes, as long as the colour and style ties them in together. Mix your formal couple portrait with some fun, candid shots of guests and perhaps the odd detail shot. Hang all the framed pictures on your display wall about 2 inches apart with the central photo at eye level. You can even frame up mementos of the day in a box frame, creating a still life with things like your invitation, ribbon and elements from the wedding decor and include that frame in the overall display.

2. Have a large canvas print made
If you've got one stunning photo that sums up the ambience and feel of your wedding and you have plenty of space in your home, how about getting a large canvas print made. These work particularly well when they are full length shots set in a beautiful landscape, or really striking artistic portraits, so talk about this possibility with your wedding photographer beforehand, so that he or she can create a portrait with exactly the right feel for what you have in mind.

3. A digital photo frame
If you don't have a lot of wall space, but want to keep your best wedding photos on display, a digital photo frame allows you to have a never-ending slide-show of your favourite pics. Again talk to your wedding photographer about this option, so that they can provide you with the photos in the right format.

4. Have a photo book printed
You may already have ordered a wedding photo book from your photographer, in which case it is probably already on its way to you. If not you can always produce one now. Photo books are a great way of combining the professional photos provided by your photographer with the best of the happy snaps taken by your friends and family. You can spend many a happy hour looking through all the pics and laying them out, or else get a professional to create the book for you. Whichever you do it is a great thing to have on your coffee table for friends to look through after the wedding.

5. A traditional photo album
There is still a place for the traditional wedding photo album, where the best prints are carefully preserved between acid-free tissue paper interleaves. Or if you want a more modern twist you can scrapbook your wedding photos into a beautiful book that combines journal with album, so that you can also include other mementoes of the wedding, such as pressed flower petals from the bouquet, ribbon, invitation or wedding programme, handwritten well-wishing notes from friends and so on.

Unique Anniversary Gift - Digital Photo Frame

Only gifts cannot make an anniversary special, you need time to make it special. Take your time to arrange something that would really mean a lot to your partner. Think to create something that would insist your partner to fall in love with you once again. This is the day to celebrate your togetherness and love that you have build between yourself in last years. Here are some unique anniversary gift ideas that can help you to influence your partner.

A computer, printer and digital camera can help you to solve this problem. These electronic devices can make excellent anniversary gifts in a short period. It also saves you from doing craft works. The computer can be used in many ways to make something unusual for your partner.

By the help of computer you can make a digital scrap book. The steps to make it are quite simple and effortless. First select some exclusive and romantic photos of you two by the help of easy graphics software which usually come with your camera, printer or computer. Do not forget to include the photographs of your first meet and wedding days. Then resize or crop the photographs by the help of the software and then add text to it. The text should contain your feelings and the memories of old days. As this is an anniversary gift so try to make it romantic and idealistic.

After printing the pages you need to buy few plastic pockets and an A4 binder to keep those printouts in a sequential order. If you want to do something unusual then select a theme and create your digital scrapbook. You can make your scrap book based on the theme "a journey", here you can situate your memories in a sequential order which can comprise your dating, marriage, home, children and many more moments that you have spent together. You can fix photographs of you two and you family at the first page and then the all other photographs and their details on the following pages.

You can make you anniversary gift more creative by taking the views of your friends and relatives. You can ask them to provide you some photographs of your wedding from their photo albums which are not similar to the photos that you have. Try to build an informal wedding album that consists of some funny and nonofficial photographs of you two.

You can present a hand made painting to your partner. This painting may of you partner or of something that they appreciate. You don't need do make a professional painting; this is just to show that you have time for your partner. This will really make an exceptional personalized anniversary gift which your partner will surely love to receive from you.

Spend your time and make something creative for your partner. Remember you time is the best gift for your partner. You can also get more ideas regarding digital photo albums and other amazing anniversary gift ideas from web. So select an exclusive anniversary gift idea and have a cheerful and romantic wedding.

Wedding Photography - 6 Questions to Ask Before Hiring Your Photographer

So you're planning your wedding photography and are ready to hire your photographer. Where to begin? Many brides are comfortable with such wedding planning priorities as the reception site and catering selection, but may not be as familiar with the process of hiring the right wedding photographer. Photography is one of the most important aspects of your day. Be sure to ask these important questions before signing on the dotted line:

Who will be taking the pictures?

Make sure that the photographer whose portfolio you review will be the actual person who takes the pictures at your wedding. The person whose name is on the contract should be the same person you met with. Some contracts claim the studio's right to send any staff photographer to your wedding. Do not sign if you do not agree with this policy.

What is the photographer's primary style?

Make sure your photographer knows exactly what you want. Do you want mostly journalistic style or formal poses? Some photographers are better at one or the other, so make sure you know his or her strengths and background to ensure you get the wedding photos you want.

Do you shoot mostly in color or black and white or both?

While some images call for color, other moments are best captured in black and white. Your photographer should have experience with both and be able to customize to meet your needs.

How many rolls do you shoot?

Obviously more rolls of film means more wedding photos to choose from, but remember that more rolls usually cost more money. Make sure you review this with your photographer so that he or she has an idea of your expectations.

Are you familiar with the location?

Your photographer should be familiar with the ceremony and reception site so that he or she can quickly and efficiently capture the best shots.

What are your references?

Call each reference and ask whether or not the person was satisfied with the overall experience and received the desired photos.

Selling Event Photography Online

There are two main methods of selling photography online; you can sell event photos online, or sell stock photography. The two types of photography sales are vastly different in both subject matter and market. While stock photography is usually of generic content, and there are services that market stock photography generally to businesses, selling personal event photography is a much more intricate process.

To sell event photos, you are generally commissioned to take photos of such an event. Examples are a wedding, school portraits, sports photos, a party, or even a portrait session can be considered an "event". The subject matter in these types of photos is usually a person or group of people, and the subjects are generally your clients and customers. If you shoot a wedding, the bride, groom, and family members are the ones who will be purchasing your photos. If you do a portrait session, the same is true, or for a larger event, any of the attendees may be potential customers. Depending on the number of potential customers (is it just the parents of the child you took photographs of, or every attendee at a huge party?), as well as the level of service you wish to provide, there are multiple ways of presenting photos for order.

Some photographers like to meet with a client after a photo shoot and present a limited number of the best photos in person, and take orders there. This can be time consuming, but depending on personalities of the photographer and client, can be a very special sales tool and result in great sales. Generally, the photographer will bring either printed proofs, or some way of viewing the photos via technology; a laptop computer, projector, or iPad all work. Clients can respond positively to seeing photos enlarged, in their own home, and to have the exclusive feeling of a private proofing session.

Some photographers would rather give clients access to proofs online, so they can browse at their leisure, take time to come back to a decision, and also, potentially view a larger number of photos. For a wedding, a photographer might take 700 photos; it would be quite time consuming to sit with a bride and look through all of these photos with her, rather than letting her go through them on her own time. However, for a child's portrait session, perhaps narrowing down the choices to the best 15 photos will result in an easier decision than looking through the hundred photos that were snapped during the session. Some clients also may wish to view their photos in private, either due to self-consciousness or perhaps if the event was of a personal nature, as in boudoir portraits, or even an intimate moment with one's child.

Another positive to online proofing is that clients can pass their gallery access along to friends or family members for extra input or for more potential orders. The downside in online proofing is that clients can tend to put off making a decision, so adding a deadline is a must. Also, photographers need to make sure to follow up with clients in person or over the phone, to ensure they are getting proper feedback from the client.

Selling event photography online can be a great tool for a photography business, there are just many factors to consider to ensure that your clients have a good proofing experience and this leads to sales. The photography business can be difficult, but don't be overwhelmed, with a little persistence, any great photographer can also be a good businessperson.

12 Wedding Photography Questions With Answers to Help Couples Choose the Right Wedding Photographer

Designed to offer you easy steps to making the right booking decision for your wedding photographer and indeed videographer, this article covers all of the pros and cons of wedding photography services and offers you helpful simple advice on choosing the right wedding photographer for you.

1. Q. How much should I pay for my wedding photography? A. This often depends on what sort of album you want and how many pages are included. A storybook album can range from 15 pages to 40 pages. THe cost price of these albums range from 瞿150 to 瞿400. That is the cost to the photographer, everything else you pay on top of that is for their services on the day.


2. Q. I have been quoted 瞿3000 for my Wedding Photography, am I being ripped off? A. In a word, most likely. I suppose it depends on what you see to be fair value. A wedding album that costs 瞿400 which is then being sold for 600% profit isn't great value. I would suggest that you look around and see what is in the 瞿1000 to 瞿1500 market. Very often it is the same album that is being used and the same company that is printing it. Be wary, it is not always sensible to assume that you get what you pay for.


3. Q. My photographer only stays until the cutting of the cake, is this normal? A. In many cases this is the case. Your wedding day is exactly what it says, "Wedding Day" not half a wedding day. Aim to choose a photographer who will stay until after your first 5 dances. This way you are covering your speeches which can offer some great emotions and photo opportunities for your photographer and it also allows for your first dances to be included in your album. If you are paying over 瞿1250 for your wedding album and photography package this should be included as standard. In these hard times of economic recession it is essential that you get value for money. Make the photographer work for it, they are offering you a service. Make sure you get your value.


4. Q. How many pictures should be in my album? A. Again the answer to the question could be how long is a piece of string? However in today's modern storybook album it is a fact there is more room for photographs than there was in the older more traditional style of album. Previously the photographer would have taken approx 50 photos on your wedding day and you would have been asked to choose 30 for your album. Now the photographer should be taking between 250 and 500 photos on the day with you being able to choose between 100 and 130 for your album.


5. Q. Can I get all the pictures in my album? A. The answer is yes, but the sensible answer is be careful not to make the album look too crowded. Otherwise it will look like a scrapbook rather than your wedding album. Have a mixture of large one page images with pages containing 6 to 10 photographs. Any more than 12 photographs can look very cluttered.


6. Q. Where should I go to find my photographer? A. Check out the latest bridal magazines in your area. Then loot at the photographers website from the advert in the magazine. If the website is well structured and looks good, and shows you some work, including a FULL ALBUM from one wedding, then give the photographer a call and arrange to go and see their work. When you are there make sure you see a full album and ask him/her to show you one that was taken in very poor weather conditions. This will help to sort out the pretenders from the professionals. It is much more straightforward to taking photographs in fine conditions than it is in humid, rainy dull weather conditions.


7. Q. I'm worried I might make the wrong decision, what should I do? A. Well, look for testimonials. But be aware many photographers can make their own testimonials up. Check out a review websites which offer independently verified reviews. It is a much safer and more reliable way to review your photographer from other brides and grooms who have already used them.


8. Q. The photographers work is excellent but I don't really gel with him / her what should I do? A. Simple answer, forget about them. There are plenty of photographers who offer excellent work and have a friendly and helping attitude. Remember you will be spending most of your day with them, so you want to enjoy yourself and not be under pressure or displeased with the photographers personality. You can find out a lot about their personality by meeting them. Never book your photography over the telephone without meeting the photographer first.


9. Q. I have booked an "Award Winning Studio" to do my photographs, but the photographer is sending out his assistant which is slightly cheaper, should I book them and will the quality be as good? A. Well that question should answer itself. If you book an "Award Winning Studio" that is fine. If you went to a restaurant to "fine dine" would you prefer the head chef to send his assistant down to McDonald's to bring back your gourmet burger and fries? I didn't think so. Make sure the photographer or studio you booked sends out the photographer who took the pictures you like. If he is not available dont book them, if you have already booked them, cancel. It is better to lose a small deposit than have an album that wasn't what you thought you were going to be getting.


10. Q. I want an "Award Winning Photographer" to take my photographs, is this sensible? A. Firstly, let me introduce you to the world of wedding awards. Wedding awards are given by photographers to photographers! Professional bodies who critique individual pieces of work which are taken out of context when compared to an "entire" piece of work. I have never seen a Wedding Album full of "Award Winning Pictures", I have only seen albums with one or two "Award Winning Photographs" in them. Be very careful of this. Also be very careful of readers awards. Readers awards in magazines are voted by wedding couples who have been asked to vote by their photographers! A wedding photographer who had charged 瞿300 to 90 couples will have a much better chance of being "Wedding Photographer of the Year", than someone who charges 瞿1250, does excellent work, but has only done 30 quality weddings that year and hasn't asked his wedding couples to vote for them. In my opinion stay away from awards. Awards should come from word of mouth. Ask your friends, look at their albums and when in a studio looking at albums, stay away from albums that show 20 different brides in them. Remember anyone can get a lucky shot at a wedding. Only a seasoned professional can get a wedding album full of professional images.


11. Q. I want all the photographs the photographer takes on the day of the wedding but he has asked me for an additional 瞿500, should I pay him for these? A. The answer is no. Look for a wedding photographer who will give you the photographs in High Resolution on a disc as included in the package. You pay them enough for their days work. Get the value out of it. Believe me, if it comes down to giving you the pictures in Hi Res on disc or not getting the booking, they will give you them, but you must agree this with them at the start and get it built into the contract.


12. Q. I am looking for reprints from my photographer, but they are looking 瞿25 per 10" x 8" reprint. I need 50 reprints but don't want to spend an extra 瞿1250 what should I do? A. Make sure you have done the deal in question 11 above. This is why it is important to get your Hi Res images included on disc. If you have them, you can take them to your local photo processing lab, who will print them for between 瞿1 and 瞿1.99 each. Now why would you spend 瞿1250 when you could spend 瞿100 at the most and get exactly the same thing! Be aware. Be sensible. Don't get ripped off.

You can see from above there are a number of pitfalls when choosing the right photographer for your wedding day. There is also an abundance of photographers keen to grab your business. Take the steps above and you will be on the right track to making the right decision for your wedding media package.

Of course if you are a millionaire with unlimited funds then don't worry about any of the questions and answers above, call the most expensive photographer with the biggest window in the high street and he will happily take your money and laugh rubbing his hands as you walk out the door just having spent a fortune.

Digital Wedding Albums - Trend Or Here to Stay?

If you have been reading online, you may have seen a lot of information about flush mount wedding albums and how couples prefer them. It is true that many couples who are looking to create a wedding album turn to the flush mount style for many reasons. The main question is; is this a fad or are these album styles here to stay?

In order to answer this question, we will have to look at the specifications of both and draw any benefits from either the traditional wedding album or the flush mount.

Availability in Style and Customization

When a couple is planning a wedding, most everything about their special day is customized to their exact needs. Why would a wedding album be any different? Just as you have been able to customize the cover in the past, you are able to do that with the more modern flush mount album. In fact, there is a lot more you can do with the flush mount cover versus the traditional cover.

Photo Placement

Photo placement is the biggest difference you will see between the two. The best way to describe the difference is as if you were looking at a group of painting and them looking at a scenery. Each one displays the same pictures but it is the difference in placement that makes the most impact. Digital design allows graphic design artists, also known as album designers in the wedding industry, to blend colors, meld pictures together and produce a seamless viewing experience. Your wedding album will tell a story when you choose to have it digitally created. Traditional albums often times come across as too mechanical, ordinary and lack luster in appearance.

Quality of the Picture and Enhancements

Both a traditional and digital album can offer high quality photographs. The difference between a digitally produced wedding album and a traditional album is that the pictures can be enhanced in many more ways. The colors can pop more, the lighting can be placed at different angles, shadows can be made and more. You can add elements to create a level of drama, sophistication, edge and whimsy to your albums unlike those you will find in traditional setups. With digital rendering, the sky is the limit!

Image Size

High resolution images can be created in both the traditional and the digital but with a flush mount wedding album, you are able to fill both sides of an open album with one image or image collection. No interference would be visible - simply a beautiful display of a past memory flowing from one edge of your wedding album to the other. The images then, are large, bold, clear and to the forefront.

Overall, people love flush mount wedding albums for a collaborating number of reasons. As we look to the future, this will become the norm, as it already has started to be.

Choosing the Right Wedding Photographer Can Be Easy, If You Choose to Use a Photo Retouching Company

Your big day is approaching. You've spent months and thousands of dollars on planning the perfect wedding day. You've got the best spot in town for the ceremony, the best caterer and even the best cake designer in the area. There's one crucial thing that a lot of people leave until the last minute that can make or break the wedding. Yes, it's the wedding photographer.

How important is the photographer to your wedding?

You might think you can get the cheapest photographer with a decent photographer out there, but be warned. In 30 years, you will not be able to wear your dress or your tuxedo. No one will remember the food or what color the chair covers were. The only thing you will have to really pass on from your wedding are the photos taken by your photographer. That's why it's important to get the best wedding photographer you can afford for your wedding photos.

However, there is a way you can save a considerable amount on your wedding photography and still have great photos.

How?

Simply choose a photo retouching company that can edit all of your photos as soon as you get them. You see, wedding photographers usually provide you with a disc of all your photos in digital form. If they don't, then just ask them, as most will if you build it into your agreement up front.

After you've received your photos, just go to a wedding photo retouching company. You can simply go to your yellow pages or the web and locate one of thousands. No doubt, even the best photographers take photos that can use some help. You may have a photo that is perfect except for one person standing in the background. Or the best photo of the bride may capture the groom squinting his eyes. This photo would be ruined if it weren't for wedding photo retouching. A photo retoucher can fix all of these issues, as well as generally enhance the color and beauty of each of your photos. Most will even give you a package price if you have multiple photos. You will find that the price of fixing your wedding photos is often far cheaper than hiring the best wedding photographer, and you know with retouching you will get the results you want.

Warning - People in Wedding Photo Booth May Be Crazier Than They Appear

What has undeniably become one of the hottest wedding trends as of lately, photo booth backdrops are the reception go-to in a wedding world where brides have gone do-it-yourself crazy. And besides the fact that they are an affordable alternative to the standard wedding photographer, these photo shoots also elicit the best wedding guest moments that they may or may not remember (wink, wink). Basically, having a photo booth complete with a beautiful backdrop and DIY photography is one of the greatest wedding inventions ever. And here's why.

It's fun! Have you ever been bored looking through a wedding photo booth album? I didn't think so. So just imagine how fun it is to actually be a part of one! No photo booth is complete without a vast array of props, ranging from random to the ridiculous. The mustache craze was cute and all, but I'm thinking bigger and better (AND badder). I'm talking the nastiest wig you can find or a complete Star Wars costume collection. But the one thing you absolutely cannot forget is the chalkboard bubbles. They'll let your guests share what they're really thinking.

It's frugal. Photographers are expensive. Everyone knows that. And maybe you're one of the lucky ones whose BFF just happens to be the most genius wedding photographer ever, offering to capture your special day free of charge as a gift, of course. But for those of us that aren't so lucky, cutting a cool $1,000 from the wedding budget would be nice to say the least. Plus, as one notable wedding photographer said about her own special day, "We didn't hire a photographer so to speak, we had all our photographer friends just shoot as they wish... why would we want some annoying person follow us around all night?" I feel you there, sister.

It's priceless. This is my favorite part about photo booths. When the image of your sweaty Uncle Norman wearing a sparkly pink boa while pretending to choke your old sorority sister Ashley who's donning a Darth Vader mask is forever captured on film, you know you've made the right decision. Even a $10,000-a-night wedding photographer can't get you that. A certain chemistry happens when you have an open bar and an open camera, and you wouldn't want to get in the middle of that relationship now would you?

It's purdy. Or at least it can be. Don't kid yourself by digging up an old bed sheet and calling it a day. The hottest photo booths right now feature an aesthetically-pleasing backdrop of some kind, preferably personalized for the new couple (I think one with the pair's initials would be pretty adorbs myself). Simply hang up, add some cute embellishments, grab the tripod and camera and you're good to go.

So go cancel your wedding photographer (but gently, break-ups are always hard) and check out these fabulous photo booth backdrops on the Marilyn's Keepsakes website. For Uncle Norman's sake.

Photo Wedding Invitation - A Unique Wedding Card

Many couples will just overlook their wedding invitations because the cost of it is just a fraction of other wedding items. Yes it is true that you may only need to spend a few hundred dollars on your wedding invitations. However, it does not mean that your wedding invitation is not important.

In fact, as all other experts will put, the invitation cards are very important in a way that it will give the first impression of your wedding to your guests. And as a result it will probably set the tone of your event. At the point you will certainly know that if you do not choose the cards with extra care, you may give a bad impression of your wedding to your guest.

From the above, you should understand that you need to search for a really good wedding invitation. As a matter of fact, there are lots of choices out there. You have virtually unlimited number of styles and designs for you to choose from. Nowadays there are a lot of invitations that are printed in full color. In this case you can print your photos onto your wedding invitation. One such wedding invitation is usually called a photo invitation.

One of the advantages of such an invitation card is that it will be a unique one. This is of course because you have put your photos onto the card. Your photos are making the card unique. Others will not be able to copy the design of your card since they will not use a card with photos of other people.

It is also a great way to tell your guest what kind of wedding you are going to host. For example, if you are going to have a beach wedding, you can pick a photo which depicts a beach. Of course it will be perfect if you and your spouse are in the photo. This will make the design of the card perfect. On the other hand, if you are going to host a Las Vegas wedding, you can put a photo of Las Vegas onto the card. Again, it will be perfect if both of you and your spouse are in the photo.

Since a photo wedding invitation is printed in full color in most cases, you can virtually print anything you want onto the card. To this end you can have control on the style of the card. You can draw some cartoons and printed them onto the card. You may even put a photo of your cat on the card! If both of you and your spouse love Formula 1 racing, you may even print the vehicle and your photos together so that the invitation can reflect what you love or like.

If you can master some graphic software, you can consider creating the card yourself. On the other hand, you may also try to hire a graphic designer to work with you in order to create the most perfect wedding invitation. Of course you may need to pay for some fees in this case.

Framed Pictures - Let Your Memories Be Vivid Forever

Just like the fence outside your house, a picture frame protects some of the greatest treasures of your family - your family pictures. A little care will help you keep these treasures well protected and they will keep looking brilliant for several years to come. Here are two excellent steps to help you care for your photos.

Clean the Frames Regularly

Cleaning the photo frame regularly is one simple way to make them last long. The picture frame just like any other object in your house collects dust. If the frame is not cleaned regularly, more dust will get accumulated and will work all the way to the inside of the picture frame and will leave both the frame and the picture looking dirty.

To reduce the dust build up, you should simply dust the frame regularly with a damp cloth. In case your picture frame has been neglected a little, you will have to do more meticulous job. You have to remove the glass and also the picture to clean the frame completely. In order to clean the photo frame, completely, you should begin by laying it face down on a soft, thick towel. However, remember never to keep your precious frame, like a sterling silver picture frame on the front side, always keep something to protect it. The last thing you would want is a scratched frame when you sit to clean it.

Once the frame is opened remove the picture with care and then clean the glass and the picture meticulously. Try using a cloth to clean the glass since the paper towels might leave acid residue behind which is potentially dangerous for the pictures.

After you are done cleaning put the picture back in the frame only after it dries completely. Any little bit of moisture might damage the frame as well as the picture.

Reproduce the One-of-a-Kind Pieces

Even though the modern technology has increased a lot these days there is still no substitute for caring of your priceless memories is by making duplicating them. Let us consider your wedding photo; probably clicked by your photographer. It now proudly sits in a perfect sterling silver picture frame on your gallery wall, however if you have only one copy of the picture, then you should have another copy of it without delay.

Some extremely delicate old photographs need to be professionally duplicated. For pictures present in your discs make a backup in case the disc gets damage or corrupted. Never keep the copies in the same place. Keep them at a safe and secure place.

In case of accidents, like fires, floods and other catastrophes, although insurance will cover the physical cost of every single item, but you will lose them forever. Ensure that you store a copy of the duplicate photos in a safe and dry location away from your home as well.

If you follow the simple tips stated above you will be able to keep your picture frame looking beautiful for several years to come.

Photo Restoration Professional for Enhancing Your Photos' Effects

Most of the professionals that offer services of photo restoration will also offer photo editing for different types of pictures. Nevertheless, photo restoration is another type of photo editing; only that it might involve more work and intricate details. If you have a wedding ceremony in your family, we recommend you to take help from a professional. It is a truth that these moments do not return, at least in most cases. If your wedding photos are not produced properly and are blurry, you are going to regret the moment when you decided to do the photography yourself.

Having said that, who will not want to take pictures himself on the wedding ceremony of his friend or family member? In case your pictures are not perfect and reflect your lack of professionalism in every angle, give the job to a professional. With the latest technology that we have available today, anything can be done to your photos. Even the minor details in the background of the picture can be highlighted by using the right tools and taking help from the right person. Whether you want wedding photo effects or background change in your wedding photos, photo restoration professionals can do the job for you within hours.

We all know that lighting is the biggest concern when taking photos. Sometimes, you do not get the proper lighting in the pictures, which results in dark photos. Sometimes, the light is hitting the camera right from the front, which results in an extremely blurry image. On most occasions, even if the lighting is perfect, you are not able to capture the details of a site as you have planned to. If you are facing any such scenarios, taking help from a photo restoration professional is the most advisable thing to do. They use top of the line softwares to add wedding photo effects to your wedding photos with right lighting and well-contrasted colors.

With background change, you can have any of your pictures personalized only for you and your other half. If the view in the background is not good or too bright for eyes to see, background change can do the trick for you. Sometimes, photo restoration specialists can do some funny things with your wedding photos through wedding photo effects and background change. You can change the background to your favorite destination and pretend that you have been around the world for your honeymoon.

Starting a Wedding Photography Business - The Details

So You've Got Talent

So you are a photographer and not just any type of photographer you are a wedding photographer. You've chosen a profession that will require many different skill sets, not the least of which is your ability to take a great picture. But there is a lot more to running a successful business than just having a service to offer. Many people have had a great idea or a special talent but have not been able to capitalize on that talent. This series of articles is intended to help you achieve your dream of working on your own, providing a unique service to deserving clients, and doing it all successfully.

The Real Cost of Wedding Photography Business

First and foremost let's get the necessities out of the way. If you're going into business as a wedding photographer there are certain things you are going to have to have at a minimum. Some photographers have done without some of the following items but to be honest I wouldn't suggest it. These are just the basics to get you started. You can build up your equipment later on. Each of the following items is listed within its own article:

• website (with a secure gallery for customers) and email

• marketing plan

• photography equipment and home office

• a second photographer

• insurance, taxes, business license and bank accounts

What's Not Listed

You'll notice that I didn't list photographic skill. When it comes to your skill as a wedding photographer I'm assuming you've already looked at your ability from an objective standpoint and determined that you do have something unique that others will want to pay for. If you have done this you'll also want to make sure you can handle the responsibility associated with wedding photography. This is an extremely special day in a couple's life so you have to be sure you are able to take on the immense responsibility of capturing every moment of that day. If you have both of those items then it's on to looking at the other aspects that make up a business owner's skill set, such as attention to detail, customer centric thinking, and patience.

The Devil's in the Details

Details can make or break a wedding photography business. This is important to realize up front. If you don't pay attention to those details you can easily falter. As a photographer you'll need to pay attention to the details of the wedding. Equally important you'll need to focus on the details of the business. These details include the wording on your wedding contract, the promises you make to your clients, your ability to keep track of the different weddings you might have at any given time. This leads us to the next important part, being customer centric.

The Customer's Always Right

There is a reason that corporations spend so much money on figuring out ways to make customers happy, because it's easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. The same goes with the wedding photography biz. If you learn how to make your customers happy you'll get repeat business, referrals, and a better reputation within your community. There is no secret to making your customers happy. Here are some simple things to remember:

• Always deliver what you promise - if you say it will take 2 months to edit their photos it shouldn't take 2 and a half months

• Be quick about your replies - Wedding Photographers are notorious about not replying to emails and calls, set yourself apart by replying to all inquiries within 24 hours at the max

• Be courteous, friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful before, during, and after the wedding.

• Always keep in your thoughts that this is someone's special day - When you have edited your 30th wedding and you are looking at your 600th picture in that wedding remember that while this is a job to you, its someone's wedding day

• Don't be on time, be early - Being early to meetings, weddings, and events will allow you to prepare yourself for those events. It also has the added benefit of making you look more professional

• Dress appropriately - Black or natural colors are always a good choice for photographers. Dressing business casual for most weddings will be sufficient but always check with the couple if in doubt. ***Remember, while you should look professional, you should also be comfortable***

Patience is a Virtue

Remember that your photographic skill didn't happen spontaneously so don't expect that your business will boom over night. It takes work to make a business successful and even given all of the right ingredients it still might fail. Even if it fails, learn from your mistakes, try again, and try and try and try. Never give up on something as important to you as pursuing your dream. If you have to work a day job during the week while getting your business of the ground then so be it. If you have to learn how to design websites just to put up your own website, so be it. If you have to shoot weddings for free to build up a portfolio then so be it. Just don't give up.

How do I know all of this?

I'm the owner of a Pensacola wedding photography business. I have built my business from the ground up with no help from anyone else. I started by shooting weddings for free for friends and family members. My first cameras were consumer grade digital Rebels. I've upgraded everything along the way as I could afford it. I trained with a local wedding photographer and have always been into photography, web design and marketing. With these talents I created a solid business that exceeds my customers' expectations, stays profitable, and allows me to live comfortably based only my own skills. I've had failures along the way but have learned from them and have become one of the top Pensacola wedding photographers.

Read On

Please make sure to read the other articles in this series. They cover everything from websites to insurance but by no means are they the end all be all. Take what you can from what I have to offer and learn what you can from other sources. Be a sponge, soak it all in. It is my hopes that it will help you in your effort to run a successful wedding photography business.

Including Sentimental Photos in Your Wedding Decor

There is a charming new trend popping up at weddings these days. More and more couples are choosing to make their wedding not only a celebration of a new future, but also a chance to honor the past. A wonderful way to do this is to include sentimental photos in your wedding décor.

The people whom you choose to showcase in your pictures usually include parents, grandparents, as well as the bridal couple. There are some really great ways to use the photos; it is even better if you can keep at least some of your intentions a secret from those you are honoring so they will encounter a happy surprise when they arrive at your wedding. This can also be a special way to pay tribute to a loved one who has passed on.

A very fun thing to do is to hang pictures of the bride and groom as children somewhere in the ceremony or reception site. Your guests will have such a great time looking at all the pictures of the newlyweds when they were little. Start with baby pictures and work through time, including photos showing the early days of the bride and groom's relationship, up until the present day.

Of course you will want every part of your wedding to be stylish, so be sure to arrange the photographs artistically. They tend to look best when presented in a large group, and some sort of visual continuity is also important. You might decide to have all the pictures printed in black and white or display them in coordinating frames of different sizes. At one wedding in a rustic barn, the couple used clothespins to suspend black and white photos along a clothesline in chronological order in the walkway to the barn. It had great visual style, and their guests all had fun taking a trip down memory lane.

Your wedding is also a great time to honor close family members. One lovely trend is to display the wedding photos of the bride and groom's parents and grandparents at the ceremony. People love seeing old wedding pictures, especially the vintage gowns and custom bridal jewelry on the brides. Of course, it is important to be sensitive to individual situations; you would not display pictures of a divorced couple's wedding, for instance. In that circumstance, it would be more appropriate to hang a group of individual portraits of each parent, perhaps showing them at around the same age as the bride and groom are now.

This concept can be taken even further. If you can get your hands on the wedding gowns of the mothers of the bride and groom, it is fabulous to display them at your weddings on mannequins. This can be a fairly large project, so be sure to start early. The antique gowns are likely to need some restoration and pressing to look nice enough to display. Complete the effect with photos of the original brides accompanying the gowns. It would be really special if the bride had a set of custom bridal jewelry created that echoed some of the features of her mother's wedding jewelry, especially since the guests will be able to see the inspiration for it.

One final idea for using sentimental old family photos is to set them up on the tables at the reception. Instead of table 1, you can have table Uncle Fred and Aunt Miriam. Your guests are bound to get a kick out of it, and it is a wonderful way to personalize your wedding.

Photographing Large Groups of People - 5 Tips For Taking Group Photos

1. Sharpness

These can be very different though, if I am shooting a group or family of 5 or more I always make sure that I am at F8 at the very least, F9 or F10 would be even better. Why is this? Well, because you want all of their faces to be "sharp" of course. If you are at a lower f-stop, some faces will likely be out of focus or not quite as sharp as the other ones. Going up on your f-stop number is not hard when I am shooting in my studio, but when I am shooting outdoor using natural lighting it can be very difficult because you may not have a enough light, and at that point it is a trade off and you just have to use your best judgment. When I am shooting large groups at a wedding outside, I will often bring a flash as it is hard to get their faces lit up and sharp at the same time.

2. Faces in a Line

This step is very important, and I usually explain this to the group I am shooting before we start taking photos in the first place. If some of the group is in a line, for instance maybe there are 3 in a line in the back and then 2 in the front, you want to make sure that the 3 that are in a line are using their peripheral vision to make sure their noses are in line. What I tell my clients is to pretend that I am holding a piece of paper and that their nose is touching it, anybody else in that "line" should also be able to touch my "pretend piece of paper" with their nose as well. Have you ever seen a photo where 1 head looks really big? That's because of this problem.

3. Light

When shooting larger groups of people it also very important to have more light availability to use as it will require much more light to make sure their faces are lit up in compared to taking photos of a couple of people or a single subject.

4. Posing

It is hard to pose a large group of people because by the time you have posed some of them and are posing others the first group of people have fallen out of their pose anyway, so candid is usually best. Unless you are taking photos of a high school team or something, which in that case I carefully pose the shot in most cases.

5. Clothing

With even photography this is obviously not something you have control over. But with photographing families, for instance it can be very important to make sure that the colors are coordinated but different. "Matchy, matchy is out". Make it bold, fun and modern.

Hiring a Photo Booth for Your Wedding

Party Photo Booths in the UK

What about a Party Photo Booth for your wedding?

As you go through your planning list, there are some essentials that appear on almost all; rings, dress, venue, flowers, photographer etc., more and more though, budgets include some form of activities or entertainment for your guests, over and above the traditional DJ.

Trying to provide appropriate entertainment, often when the diversity of the guest list has several generations, can prove a daunting task! Fortunately, this is something that the internet has helped change and at the click of a page, thousands of ideas and service providers spring onto the screen, with many willing and able to travel throughout the country especially for you!

One of the most recent additions to this list is are Party Photo Booths, which is usually hired for a fixed period of time. Having gained a degree of popularity in the south they are now proliferating throughout England, Scotland & Wales and indeed one or two now available in Ireland available for hire in Northern Ireland. There isn't a single national operator, currently most vendors are in the event management or wedding photography business, and this is an additional service.

"So why would you hire a Photo Booth"? Distinctly a Photo Booth is neither a photographer nor a substitute for one, indeed the two couldn't be further apart. True, when booking one, you should always ensure they are both using high-resolution, quality digital cameras but the key difference is one provides a service and the other fun entertainment!

Photo Booths themselves come in a variety of guises and sizes, the traditional or retro, which resemble the passport booths found in supermarket foyers, or alternatively a softer booth enclosed by curtains. Some may have a more contemporary appearance; others still a theme or design element. Unlike in the high street these aren't coin operated, instead it's free for your guests with the push of a button. Ultimately they all do the same thing, take a series of images behind an enclosed curtain and produce them as an instant print!

Additionally the vendors will also supply a myriad of accessories and extras either as part of the booth hire package or as additional options.

"Does the type of booth change what it does"? No, is the short answer, but it may have an impact on the images! You can't, for example, get many people in some of the smaller traditional solid booths.

As a standard with any hire, you should expect unlimited photos throughout the duration of the hire period and an optional prop box full of silly hats, glasses, wigs etc intended to add to the entertainment.

To help you and your guests get the most from the hire, generally the Party Photo Booths will come with an attendant or two. In most instances though the booth operation will be controlled by the guests themselves, who when ready, simply press a button to start the sequence. There may even be print options such as colour, black & white or sepia?

The next thing to consider is the prints themselves, modern software allows for these to be changed relatively simply. Most providers will have a range of designs likely to include standard, double strip passport-sized images together with a range of other options. In addition, almost without exception, they will offer some kind of personalisation of the final print such as your names, date etc. These are likely to be displayed on the vendors website, and will need to be ordered well in advance of the event. If you want something specific, it's worth asking and if your not sure ask for some samples electronically or by post!

Many companies provide an array of options perhaps the most popular being a 'guest book'! A brilliant keepsake.

Another popular option are online galleries. If you want privacy, check that the vendor can offer this password-protected, you may prefer however, to have your images available via a social networking site such as Facebook and or on CD or DVD.

Key rings, USB memory wristbands, duplicate prints, enlargements, projected images, montages and mosaics feature as standard options with many providers, several others strive to find more unique options.

Prices across the country vary from vendor to vendor and depending on your venue, in relation to them, some travel costs may form part of the equation. As for the cost of hire, expect to pay at least 500 to 800 for a package from a reputable company, dependent on location. Remembering that like the photographer, this uniquely offers a permanent keepsake to you and your guests long after the event.

Photoshop Brushes Download: Wedding Photoshop Brushes Tutorial

Creativity and inspiration are the most important elements when creating Photoshop brushes. If done well, they can easily be used in unlimited number of times and in unlimited ways.

A highly successful photographer and a graphic designer who worked for years as a professional web and graphic designer and won a great deal of graphic design competitions, has created her own brushes because the ones that were available on the market has several weakness in terms of size, appeal and usability, and commercial use.

Size: Big brushes to pertain quality.

Appeal and Usability: Perfect looking brushes which can be used in different projects.

Commercial Use: Commercial license is needed to sell brushes. It is vital for projects which are done for clients.

In the beginning she was creating only for her own designs and photo decorations. But after the huge demand from the designers for the quality of her designs, she has started to create commercial designs for the market of professionals. At the end her designs were widely accepted among photographers and scrapbookers and even her cool Photoshop brushes were features in Advanced Photoshop Magazine and Digital Arts Magazine.

During her career full of years of dedicated work in the industry, she has prepared a tutorial product which will help people to finish their wedding related projects around 30% faster than before with great outcome and satisfaction. Her method can be applied to the preparations of:

• wedding photo album


• wedding invitation


• wedding thank you card


• wedding photo decoration


• any other wedding art projects

The name of product is 167 Photoshop Brushes: Wedding Set which includes more than 150 high quality Photoshop brushes plus tutorial. This tutorial resource will help you speed up your work, especially when you are in doubt, or simply lack the inspiration to go on. With only a click of a button, the shapes will put you back on the road of creativity again in no time. With the step by step instructions given in tutorial, these shapes will make what you create look brilliant with little effort from your side.

The downloadable sets are compatible with Photoshop 7.0, CS, CS2, CS3, CS4 and newer versions and PC/MAC compatible. And comes together with commercial licence so that you can use them in your own commercial projects and contains:

• Swirls (Floral) Set: 42 Swirl and Floral Photoshop brushes


• Hearts (Grungy) Set: 32 Heart Photoshop brushes


• Swirled Corners Set: 20 Photoshop brushes Swirls Corners


• Swirled Frames Set: 18 swirled frames brushes


• Tattoo Designs Set: 30 tattoo brushes


• Wedding Swirls Set: 16 wedding Photoshop brushes.

Moreover you will get a series of video tutorials on how to do the following with step by step instructions:

• design a unique wedding invitation


• create a nice looking background


• create a wedding invitation


• design a wedding photo album cover


• create a invitation for wedding


• design a wedding Thank you card


• design a unique wedding invitation

This downloadable tutorial comes together with two important free gifts and bonuses.

• Photo Frames set


• For beginner Photoshop users, you will receive tutorial guides such as: How to install and use brushes in Photoshop, how to color a brush fast, Keyboard shortcuts.

This tutorial product is delivered in the form of zipped file which are delivered to your email address within the first 24 hours of the purchase.

Wedding Anniversary Ideas For Couples

So what makes a great wedding anniversary gift?

When you need wedding anniversary ideas for a couple who have been together for thirty or even fifty years, the challenge is finding a gift idea that is unique and special to the couple and that really showcases their life together.

It's probably not the first thing you think about, but more and more people today are buying a personalized Photo Collage Jigsaw Puzzles as wedding anniversary gift for their spouse, grandparents or close friends. When looking for wedding anniversary ideas, you will want to choose something that will offer enjoyment, bring back memories, and can be shared by two people. After all, an anniversary is as much about memories as it is about celebration.

Creating a personalized photo collage picture puzzle as a wedding anniversary gift is as simple as going on-line, placing your order and uploading your photos. You can use whatever photos you like that reflect the defining moments in the couple's time together - or focus on a memorable event or activity. The photo collage layout is professionally designed to showcase the people and images in the best possible way. You can request the designers to highlight certain images, frame or fade images into one another; add words to incorporate a special message and have it all placed on top of a chosen background image or theme.

Your first choice will probably be to include your wedding photos but don't worry - no matter how old these are, they will be restored and enhanced for best possible effect. Other favorite photos such as pictures of the kids, vacation snaps, family get together and special events all can be included in the photo collage picture puzzle to create the a unique gift that will be treasured as much as the memories themselves.

Popular also with recently married couples is to create a Photo Collage Jigsaw Puzzle of their special day as a unique keepsake. Combining a few of your favorite wedding day shots into a Photo Collage is a lovely way to capture the memories of that special day. After solving the Jigsaw Puzzle, they can have it framed and hung on the wall so that the memories remain fresh and vibrant.

Whether you are looking for wedding anniversary ideas for a couple who still fall into the category of newlyweds or you are looking for wedding anniversary gifts for a couple that have build a lifetime together, it's important to think about what is special to the couple. By selecting photographs that capture key moments in their lives together, and creating a photo collage picture puzzle, you can be sure to surprise and delight them with an anniversary gift that will be treasured. Ultimately, this sort of unique customized gift is at the heart of what you are looking for when considering wedding anniversary ideas.

Wedding Pictures - What Every Bride Should Know Before Posing for Her Pictures

Well, your big day is approaching and you don't know how the pictures will turn out because your not a professional model. Will they be good, great, terrible? There are some ideas you can think about and even practice so they begin to feel more natural to you.

To begin pay attention to your stance. Are your feet, hips and shoulders all facing the camera dead on like a firing squad? This is a no-no. Unless the photographer specifically asks, try to stand a slight angle to the camera. And your front foot will extend toward the camera, not away into left field. These points may sound strange, but try them and see how models in magazines look natural doing this. Along with your feet, your weight will be usually on the back foot. Try to avoid standing with weight even on both feet.

Your head can add so much to the camera and picture with a slight tilt. The best way to make this your own is to think soft, flowing feeling in your body and limbs.

For full length shots be conscience of the bouquet and where it is. If it's a fig leaf level (your hip area), then that's great. And if you have beautiful wide hips using the bouquet to rest on the hip bone when at an angle is greatly beneficial. Tyra Banks is a pro at this but she uses her hands and wrists. I saw her in person and the sister does have nice round hips, but she covers them up nicely for the camera.

By keeping your arms bent the flow of your body and waistline is accented and you'll look great.

When the photographer takes a hand or ring shot, have you and your groom raise your hands over your head for a few seconds to let the book rush out and avoid veiny hands.

A big trend today is photojournalism, meaning the photographer will capture the day naturally. However, everyone need some direction for posing to make them look natural. Like, when it's time to photograph bride and groom together and your free to move try to have your groom stand in front of you or at a slight angle to your. Always avoid you, the bride standing square shoulder to the camera.

For brides that are full figured woman, you should avoid sitting positions. And remember at an angle to the camera.

Another trick is to use your hand on your hip or letting a soft curve in the arm and have it slope across your hip. This will slim your hips and waistline.

I can assure you, practicing this in front of a mirror feels funny, but the idea is to have some techniques that you can do and still fee comfortable with. Start to look at magazines with a modeling eye to see how the cover their hips and how they curve their body in a long dress.

What Is Reportage Photography?

Reportage means "news" and it is reporting things as they are in an unbiased manner. In photography this translates to taking photos of things as they are, with no fixed poses or direction from the photographer. A reportage photographer must think on his feet and use his ability to take great images to tell a story in pictures.

Reportage photography is becoming increasingly popular for weddings because of it's informality, creating a set of more relaxed, fun and contemporary images. A wedding reportage photographer aims to capture the action and intimate moments, being unobtrusive to the subject. A reportage photographer usually attends the ceremony and the reception, but is is also common for him/her to come to the preparations and take photos beforehand. This is most popular for the bridal preparations, as there are generally more special occasions to capture. For the ceremony, provided there is permission, the images will cover the arrival of the groom's party, guests, the arrival of the bride, the ceremony and the signing of the register. At the reception, the normal photo opportunities will generally be covered, such as the cutting of the cake, speeches and the first dance.

You might feel that a complete reportage wedding album is not for you, so many reportage photographers will line up some particular group shots at your request.

Reportage wedding photography aims to be innovative and challenging, whilst capturing your special day in all it's fantastic glory. It is important to all photographers that they capture the emotion and the feelings of your wedding day, and reportage photographers aim to do this with an extra contemporary twist and an eye for the smaller details of the event.

The service usually involves an initial consultation and loading of your photographs onto an online site for viewing. You then get options with different services, such as wedding albums, DVD presentation, reprints etc. Some photographers have an assistant who will assist them with aspects of the shoot, such as spotting opportunities. So do compare your additional services when choosing a wedding reportage photographer.

Adding the Personal Touch to Your Wedding Photo Album

Whether you're looking for a stunning and personal anniversary gift idea or are trying to find the perfect photo album to use on your big day, personalised wedding photo albums are a superb option. Not only is the album itself filled with your best and favourite wedding day photographs and even honeymoon shots, but you can personalise the front and rear covers too including a picture and text on the front and the option to add a second, different picture on the rear cover.

Updated Wedding Albums

As anniversary gifts, updated wedding photo albums can prove a real success. It is an unfortunate fact that older photo albums can become damaged or look aged but by giving a new and personalised photo album to the happy couple you can let them relive the photographic memories from years ago. Smaller albums are perfect for adding standard 6 x 4 prints while larger A4 photo albums are also available offering even greater freedom over the type and size of picture that is included inside.

Quality Materials Means Quality Products

The satin cover of the photo album not only offers you the chance to include a favourite wedding day photograph but it can also be customised to include a text caption or message of your choice. While it's traditional to use this to include the names of the bride and groom as well as the date of the wedding it could also be a good space to include a personal greeting or message.

A Photo Book

As an alternative to the wedding photo album you might also consider using a personalised photo book. The cover of the photo book can be customised in much the same way as with a photo album, but instead of having to crop and mount your own pictures, they can be scanned and printed directly onto the pages of the book. Pictures can be printed right up to the edge of the leaf of paper so there is no visible white space or border around the picture, although this will obviously depend on the size and orientation of pictures to be added.

Photo Books As Anniversary Gifts

One of the great advantages of giving photo books as personalised anniversary gifts is that they can be customised even more. A good design team can work with pictures to combine more than one onto a single page using various different methods. You can also opt to have a personalised photo book storage box to match, further enhancing the use of the photo book as the perfect anniversary gift.

Update Your Memories

Wedding photo albums can become damaged or aged, and it's highly unlikely that every picture from the big day will have been used and added to the album. Having a photo book created means that you can also add pictures from other big events; for example, anniversaries or the birth of your children to create an incredibly romantic and especially good looking anniversary gift. The possibilities are really only tempered by your imagination.

Wedding Albums - Traditional Album Or Wedding Photo Book?

The wedding album until recently has been the last bastion of the traditional photo album. Glossy prints carefully preserved on acid free mounts, interleaved with tissue paper pages, again acid-free, are designed to make those precious photos last a lifetime. But there is a new wave of wedding album and wedding photography challenging the traditional old-style look. The wedding photo book, or storybook album, is becoming more and more popular with brides, providing a creative alternative that can be easily personalised to reflect your individual wedding style.

Traditional wedding albums tend to have very simple layouts with not much variety. They are designed to hold a small number of large prints. This format suited the old-style of wedding photography, where there were a set number of formal poses and group shots to include in the album.

Today's style of more informal wedding photography results in so many more shots, both posed bride and groom shots and spontaneous moments captured throughout the day. To fit all of these shots in a traditional wedding album would cost a fortune in printing, but with a printed photo book all your favourite moments can be part of the album. Full page shots can alternate with pages full of fun shots collaged together giving more scope to the creativity of the photographer and allowing the bride and groom's individual style to shine through.

Digital photography makes wedding photo books very versatile. Because you no longer need to have individual prints made of your favourite photos for your wedding album, you can gather all your wedding photos together digitally. If you want you can combine the professional photographs taken by your wedding photographer with the best of those taken by family and friends. If you are planning a wedding on a tight budget, compiling your own wedding album as a photo book can save you money, as long as you are prepared to spend the time required to sort through all the photos and design a layout for it.

Wedding photo books shouldn't be seen as a cheap alternative to the traditional weeding album however. They can be just as elegant as a traditional album, with board covers and tooled gold writing if desired, but have the advantage of a more personalized style. Your wedding album can become a gorgeous glossy coffee table photo book, where you are the stars of the show, a reportage photo story that tells the events of the day in glorious Technicolor, recalling precious moments that you hardly had time to appreciate on the day, but which you can look back upon year after year and enjoy in retrospect.

If you still feel the need for a traditional wedding album, there's no reason you shouldn't have a photo book as well. The wedding album can contain all the more formal shots and the photo book becomes a more informal record of the day.

Tips For Organizing a Green Wedding

Are you as concerned with having environmentally friendly nuptials as you are about filling the wedding photo albums with beautiful memories? Here are some tips for planning a simple and lovely event:

Reduce
 
A green wedding should ideally aim to simplify your big day, cutting down on waste and unnecessary extravagance. That said, you don't have to trim everything down to bare bones - aim to find eco-friendly alternatives for the aspects of the celebration that mean the most to you.
 
For example, the most gung-ho couples may choose to conduct all of their wedding correspondence electronically rather than using paper. Others may choose to send invitations, but use email for save-the-date messages.
 
Choosing locally grown flowers can cut down on transport-related carbon emissions - plus, they'll still look beautiful in the wedding albums. The same goes for food: if it fits your budget, aim to supply a reception feast full of organic and local produce.
 
Reuse
 
Want to go green and look gorgeous in the wedding photo albums as well? Take a look online, where a number of websites specialize in selling previously worn wedding dresses, many of which are exquisite designer gowns.
 
Or, if you are into vintage style, look in boutiques for an antique dress or inquire among family members for a gown that may have been worn by a distant relative.
 
A number of brides have cut waste - and costs - by reusing the same flowers for their ceremony and their reception. Make sure they feature prominently in the wedding album by using the flowers as centerpieces or on the cake table. Or, instead, place potted houseplants on each table, which guests can take home.
 
Recycle
 
Stationary is an area where environmentally friendly options abound. Look for recycled paper wedding invitations and ask local printers about using environmentally friendly inks.
Some jewelry shops specialize in recycled gold rings, while others will use donated gold from family and friends to create meaningful new wedding new bands for you and your fiance.
 
Finally, choose a caterer who uses silverware and cloth napkins, instead of disposable options. Make sure recycling bins are set up by the bar for disposing of empty beer and wine bottles.