Portrait Sessions
As most of you know, we tend to book a TON of portrait sessions in the Fall and it gets so booked up very quickly! We have a few spots open in July & August though if anyone out there wants to beat the rush?! 🙂 We have a 4 p.m. opening for this Sunday, and a 3 p.m. & 5 p.m. opening for 8/3. We also have one Saturday open between now and November which is 8/30 so if you’d like to do your session on a Saturday, we’re taking bookings for that date! (A very rare opportunity for you!) 😉 We also have a few openings during the weekday evenings here and there. As it gets closer to Fall, those opportunities start to dwindle since the sun sets much earlier than in the Summer so if you’ve been thinking about doing an engagement, boudoir, maternity, baby, family, pet, senior or trash the dress session, NOW is the time to book it! 🙂
(Pulled this shot from last Fall’s archives) 🙂 Melissa got this shot during an engagement session…that would be me on the left, my hubby in the middle & Jennifer Moon filming on the right. Jennifer & John from Northernlight Filmworks filmed this couple’s love story/engagement session. Isn’t that cool?! 🙂
Jennifer & TJ…trashed the dress!
Last weekend, we photographed Jennifer’s trash the dress session at her friend’s farm house and barn in Selma, Indiana. Jennifer and her husband TJ were married a few months ago but she decided to spend one more day in her gorgeous dress before preserving it. 🙂 She even brought their furbaby along to the photo shoot…so of course, we had to get some adorable photos of her too!!
There was a cherry tree nearby so we took some pics with that…
Then we took some cute shots of the two of them together…so in love…:)
Then it was time to get a little more dirty…
She wanted some shots with her horse, Redford. (Yes, as in Robert Redford…how cool is that?!) 🙂
I had the fisheye lens on me and wanted to get some quirky/fun candids with that…the fisheye always looks so funny when you use it on animals. They’re so unpredictable and it really exagerates their features which makes for some HILARIOUS photos…check THESE OUT!!! 🙂
Mr. Ed has a twin! LOL
LOL!!! I kept tempting fate and hoping he wasn’t hungry for my camera…I got as close as I could to his mouth and this turned out to be my favorite shot from that sequence. 🙂 I think this shot belongs in a horse magazine, don’t you?!
Cowgirl at heart 🙂
Jennifer was hoping this Mustang would be ready to use for their wedding day transportation and it didn’t quite get refinished in time…but it worked out perfectly for her trash the dress shoot!! LOL
John’s angle…loved it 🙂
LOL ….yes, TJ is standing IN the car here! 🙂
CUTE!
Jennifer saw this shot on our site and wanted to replicate it…we aim to please! 🙂
Then it was time to get super dirty…and WET!! We drove down to a local bridge & lake for some awesome water shots. It was SOOOOO hot that day, I’m sure it felt good for them to get in the water!
FAVORITE!!!!!!!!
Yep, successfully trashed! 🙂
Thanks for a fun time at your photo shoot, we have SO many awesome pics!! More coming soon! 🙂
Jessica’s Trash The Dress!
Many of you will recognize Jessica, she's been famous on this blog MANY times before! 🙂 We shot her wedding 2 1/2 years ago but when she found out we were offering Trash The Dress sessions, she said the dress deserved more pictures! LOL This TTD session was more of a fun, urban, grunge style TTD (no water involved) and we all had a blast!! We started off at Fountain Square downtown and shot inside their diner. (Above – check out her fun shoes!!) 🙂 We had her play pool….
LOL (LOVED IT!!!)
Doesn't she look GORGEOUS!? Karen Hall & Co. did her hair & make-up for the photo shoot! 🙂
Another favorite….the cross processed action was perfect for a few of these shots…very "grungy" looking 🙂
GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jess likes hand-coloring so I thought I'd throw this one in there for her! 🙂
One side of Fountain Square has this cool wall mural that is old and the paint is chipping away. As soon as we saw this, I had this shot in my head…
After we finished at Fountain Square, we went to Union Station for some pics….
And here we are playing in traffic….lol
But it was worth it, a limo passed her right as I took this shot. 🙂 Sometimes timing is everything!
Then we hit the streets of downtown for some urban-style shots. We had her laying in an alley for this shot. You should have seen some of the looks we were getting from people who were passing by! LOL
LOVED IT!
Then we stopped for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe together and continued on with our shoot after dinner. This was next door to Hard Rock – loved it!
Then we headed to the monument for some shots on the steps at the circle and around the area. It started to sprinkle outside (even though it was sunny!!? What's up with Indiana weather lately!!?) so we ran to the Chocolate Cafe while we waited for the rain to pass…doesn't she look STUNNING here?! 🙂
And on our way back to the parking garage at night, we saw this window display – which is sooo Jessica! 🙂 (Note to photogs: I metered for the background exposure and had Melissa pop me some side light with another flash – works great every time!) 🙂
Thanks for a great time at your photo shoot Jess!!! More pics coming soon! 🙂
Photographers – please take our survey!!
I know a LOT of you "blog stalkers" out there are other photographers and I love that! 🙂 Many of you have e-mailed me directly asking if we offer any kind of training programs, seminars or consulting sessions for up and coming photographers so we've created a survey to find out how much interest there would be in creating something like that and what topics we should cover. Please take a few minutes of your time to fill out the survey by CLICKING HERE!
Convention Center Bridal Show – THIS WEEKEND!
Just a quick reminder to all of you out there that the Convention Center Bridal Show is THIS weekend! 🙂 This year they are having a cake dive for a few lucky grooms-to-be which should be absolutely hilarious!! You can bet we'll be there with cameras in hand for that one. LOL CLICK HERE to view all of the info, show times, entrance fees and fashion show times!
I wanted to post some helpful hints for attending bridal shows today since this may be the first time many of you have ever attended a large bridal show like this…
1. Wear comfy shoes! 🙂 Comfort outweighs the cute factor when choosing shoes ladies! 😉 Even though the Sagamore Ballroom is carpeted, you'll probably be doing a lot of walking and standing so no uncomfy shoes that day! Also, leave your coat in the car if possible. It will be one less thing to carry in and out that day since you'll be coming out with lots of bags of samples, brochures and information!
2. The Convention Center is located just south of the Westin and the Sagamore Ballrooms are closest to the Westin's skywalk. The easiest way to get there is to park at the Westin (or in one of the government center garages that are less expensive) then take the Westin skywalk on the 2nd floor across to the Convention Center. Make a left once you're inside the convention center and the ballrooms will be up on your right. Plan to be there for at least a few hours, the fashion show is usually about 45-60 minutes in length and always worth watching! (Tip: Get there early, seating is first come, first served!)
3. Unless you enjoy filling out your name, address, phone number, wedding date, etc. a million times, save yourself some time and make pre-printed labels before you go!! Vendors will appreciate it because your info will probably be more legible and you'll save yourself a lot of time filling out the same info over and over again. LOL Here's what needs to be on your label: Bride's name, Groom's name, address, city, state, zip, phone number (if you want to be called), a valid e-mail address (a MUST!) and your wedding date. A few vendors may ask for more specific information which you can write in as needed but that will save you a lot of time.
4. Just remember, if you do NOT want to be called after the show, do NOT give out your phone number. This seems logical but I can't tell you how many of my vendor friends have told me that brides have requested to be called after the show or they've given out their phone number and then treated wedding professionals like they are random telemarketers! LOL
5. Bring cash with you the day of the show. The entrance to the Convention Center show is $5 per person at the door and you'll need cash again when paying for anything at the concession stand and again for parking. If you forget and are in a bind, the Westin has an ATM across from Starbucks in their lobby, just FYI. 😉
6. Bring a notebook, pen and a small digital camera with you so that you can take pictures of unique ideas and write down who you want to contact for appointments after the show. Sometimes after you've seen the 10th photographer, they all start to look alike and afterwards, you may forget who was who!
7. Bring your calendar with you if you'd like to book appointments at the show and bring your check book or credit card if you plan on securing services at the show. We typically do not book weddings on the spot at the shows because we like to make sure we're a good fit (style and personality!) for each client, rather than booking dates in a frenzy. 😉 Once the show is over though, we usually have many brides e-mailing and calling for appointments, many of the brides have the same wedding date, so the sooner you book an appointment afterwards, the more likely you'll be able to reserve your date with us!
8. Talk to vendors & have fun! Stop by our booth, we're scheduled to be between Sound Spectrum Entertainment and Allisonville Nursery this weekend (our booth is #48 & 49 I believe) so come see us! We will have a special goody bag for brides whose dates we still have available for 2008 & 2009 and we'll have a great giveaway that all brides can register for but it's a secret so you have to come see us this weekend! 🙂