Last weekend I was a “guest” at a wedding. In the last few years, I have not gone to many weddings that I wasn’t the photographer. My daughter takes gymnastics at Horizon Complex, and her coach was married last weekend. They had a friend who was a photographer do the wedding. So, my daughter’s team sang in the wedding, and we were invited as guests.

It is hard to be a guest at a wedding when you are used to being the photographer. I thought about it all week, and was trying to decide what to bring as far as camera equipment. I wanted to get some nice pictures, but I did not want to look like the photographer. That was a hard combination to do! So, I decided on one camera (professional of course… I couldn’t bring myself to resort to my point and shoot) and a smaller size lens, and one accessory flash. I decided I wouldn’t take out the flash until the reception.

I couldn’t help myself… I kept taking pictures! It is in my blood! My daughters friend was sitting next to me at the wedding, and I told her, “If I stand up, pull me back down.” Do you know how hard it is to get good pictures with a small lens from the pew? Let me tell ya… it is hard! Luckily I sat close to the front, and on the end. I still didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t center to the isle, but that is beside the point. So, here are some pictures that I captured as a “guest“! The first two were before the ceremony when the girls were practicing their song.

I sat right behind the ring bearer during the ceremony. He was so cute!

Here the girls are singing. They sang “God Bless the Broken Road”.Here is Miss Amy crying while the girls are singing! It was sooo cute!Each table had their own cheese cakes. They were so good!It was fun to see Miss Amy dance with the girls. She spent a lot of time dancing with them on the dance floor. It was fun for them. This was a time to be like a grown up!It wouldn’t be a complete wedding with out a sleeping ring bearer! The little kids always fall asleep at the wedding!

I am a member of PPWM – Professional Photographers of West Michigan. We had a Senior Print Competition last night. It was really fun! We were allowed to enter up to 4 – 16X20 prints of seniors. I entered 4.

Typically when we have a print competition, the judges are certified photography judges. They are trained to look at photography elements such as exposure, composition, sharpness, printing, subject matter, and all the elements that go into a great image. To read about my last print competition, click here.

Well, our judges last night were not photography judges, they were seniors and their parents. They had to vote on how well they liked the image. Then they made comments on each image to let us know why they liked or didn’t like the image. It was great to hear from actual customers! It was funny to hear what they said, as it was all based on their opinion and preference. What one person loved about a picture, another hated. One could give it a very high score, while someone right next to them gave it a low score.

It was fun to hear their comments. Things that we STRIVE for as a professional photographer, they didn’t like. Things such as shadow and dimension, lighting patterns, expressions.

I was surprised at something… The prints that were more traditional scored higher. As photographers today, we are told in classes and seminars that the seniors are looking at magazines. That is what they want to look like. They want the over saturated colors, or washed out colors. They don’t want the sit and smile at the camera traditional pictures. Well, from the 8 judges we had last night, that is not the case here. They didn’t like the colors that weren’t “natural”, or the expressions that weren’t smiling. They said the subject looked “confused, or mad, or funny”. They didn’t like images with different angles. So, the images that scored the highest were the more traditional, look at the camera and smile type images. The top 4 images were all closer up images, not full body shots.

I am proud to say I did very well at the competition. I was definitely in the top half of the scoring on my prints, which means I was above average from the other photographers! I had 3 of my 4 prints score blue ribbons, with one scoring 18 out of 20 possible points. There were only a few prints that scored that high.

So here are my 3 blue ribbon prints, in order from the highest score I received.

Today I got to play with Lauren. Lauren was a pretty typical 1 year old… she wasn’t really into getting her picture taken. It is funny how kids pick up on things really quick. When I am doing portraits, there is an area on my backdrop where they sit that I can photograph. If they move too far forward, they are too close to my front lights. If they move too far backward, they are too close to my back lights. If they move too far to the side, the edges of the background show. So, there is about a 3 foot square section that they can be in for me to get an image that is acceptable.

Well, today Lauren figured out where that section was, and she didn’t want to go into that section. We got out some beads for her to play with, and she wanted them… but she didn’t want to go into that area! She stood on the edge, and reached in as far as her arms would streeeeeeetch, but she didn’t want to go into that area!

But, despite being a typical 1 year old who really didn’t want her picture taken, I captured some great images! I love images that show expression… I tend to like these better than the sit and smile type images. Here are a few of my favorites that showed some expression…. (Don’t worry Mom, we got some of her smiling too…)I love pictures of little girls looking down. I love to see their eyelashes, and Lauren had beautiful eyes!

Lauren barely held on long enough for me to try this tutu on her. I just got 5 new tutus to use in my sessions, and I was dying to try one of them out. I was planning on trying them out on Lauren today. She let me get a couple pictures, before she decided she was done with getting her picture taken! (When 1 year olds get their picture taken, they are the boss…)

Well, this time of year is slow season. It is going by FAST! I had so much I wanted to do while I wasn’t busy. I have my first wedding of the spring on May 5… that is fast approaching. I know it will start a whirlwind from there. So, there is a lot of things I am trying to do in the mean time.

I am working right now on cleaning off my computer. I try to leave most images on my computer until I think people are done ordering. Even when they place their first order, a lot of people come back later and want one more print. Seniors usually call and get more wallets for their announcements. I have been going through my computer trying to decide if I think customers are done ordering. Don’t get me wrong, if I take it off my computer, I still have it backed up to DVD. So, I can still get an image if someone calls after I take it off my computer. It just takes more work. I have to go to my archive of DVDs and look for the right one, then load it into my computer and edit the image again.

You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to clean off my computer. I have 3 hard drives. So, I keep my main computer hard drive with current stuff only that I working on. Then, I move it to an external drive. After I feel that I am done with the job I delete it off my external drive. I have been moving around and deleting files for hours!

I also am working on finishing my studio area in the basement. The framing is done. Our drywaller was on vacation, so hopefully it won’t be long that he can come and do the drywall. I am anxious to get this done.

I am also working on getting a sample wedding album and designing business cards. I keep plucking away at it!

I had a customer pick up an order today. As she was leaving she said, “I feel like I should give you a hug or something.” That statement just made my day. I got warm fuzzies all over. That is why I love photography. I love giving someone a beautiful portrait, a lasting memory, a cherished print. Her saying that she felt she needed to give me a hug was her way of saying how much she loved her pictures. That is why I love this job. Thank you…

Well, my first Blog sale is over… almost. Technically there is about 2 hours and 15 minutes left, but I don’t know if anyone will still order. I could still receive some mail next week that is postmarked on the right dates. So, congratulations to all of you who cashed in on my sale! This was actually kind of fun! I think I am going to run a few more sales in the future. Here are some that I am thinking of….

50% off a large print
Free 11X14 with a booked session
A second proof book with a booked session (maybe a grandparents gift)
No sitting fee
Wallet sales for seniors

If you have any other ideas, let me know! Make sure you keep watching my blog for more sales!

OK, I have been meaning to do this for a while, and I am finally doing it. The purpose is two fold.
1. To see if people read my blog, and
2. To see if people want a sale to order a few more prints.

So, here is the sale. I am offering 50% off my new prices to all my 2006 sessions on reprint orders. (Please check my website or call for my new prices.) So, if you had a session in 2006, and you want more reprints, They will be 50% off for two days only, April 6 and 7. (Sorry, not available from weddings.)

So, here is how you get your sale price. You need to get your order to me IN WRITING (No phone orders please) and PAY on April 6 or 7. Make sure you mention this blog post to get your sale! Here is how you can get your orders to me… you can drop them off with payment (Please call first to make sure I am home), you can email me your order and pay with paypal, or you can snail mail me your order and payment and make sure it is postmarked on April 6 or 7. If you need help figuring your total, please call me.

So, if you were waiting to get those few extra prints, or if you need more senior wallets for those announcements, NOW is the time to get them! Enjoy!