The Event Studio – Birmingham, Michigan

Our wedding season is starting to wind down.  We have one more wedding left for 2009 and then we are done until April 2010.  But that doesn’t mean we are taking a sabbatical!  This is the time of the year that we work with our clients on their album designs, and plan and order our new studio samples for next year.  So in the next few weeks, I’ll be updating the blog periodically with some of the products our clients have ordered, as well as some samples we have at the studio.  If you are a current or prospective client and you’d like to stop in and see our new stuff, the best time would be after the holidays – we have several things on order right now that haven’t come in yet! We have some beautiful flush mount wedding albums that will be on the blog soon, but in the meantime, here’s a peak at another fun product.  :)

This has been one our favorite (and most popular) products this year – our custom sign-in books.  I’ve mentioned these before a few times on the blog.  Kelly’s guestbook can be found here and here.  We liked this one from Amanda & Dave’s Chicago engagement session so much that we decided to order a sample for our studio.   We offer a few different styles in guestbooks – this particular book is a beautifully press printed coffee table style book.  It’s a hardcover book with a laminated canvas cover.   This book is 8.5 x 11 but we also offer these in 8 x 8 and 11 x 14.

I am really partial to the 8.5 x 11 size because it opens to an 8.5 x 22 spread, which leaves plenty of room for big images with enough white space left over for your guest’s signatures.   It’s a very distinct size ratio and just looks modern to me.

See how this book goes on for miles?  That’s what I mean.  The pages are matte to make signing easy.  (This book is also available in glossy pages too which would be great for engagement session album or boudoir book, etc.)  The pages have a nice weight and feel.  And the best part is that the book is bound with hinged pages, meaning it opens flat, like a flush mount style album.  It allows you to see the whole page, and design a spread that crosses the gutter of the page.  See the photo below to see what I mean about the hinge.

As you can see the gutter (i.e., the middle of the book where the page is split) is pretty small – and you can see here how the book opens completely flat so you can really view each image as it was meant to be – without it disappearing into the binding.  I love this feature.  :)

These books always end up being a huge hit at weddings.  The guests tend to interact with them more than a regular sign-in book.  It gets passed around and admired.  People tend to draw little arrows and point out their favorite photos.  :)  It’s a great way to use your engagement images and share them with your friends and family.

If you are one of our clients and are interested in this product, you can use part of your album credit towards it, or purchase it as a stand-alone product.  We need a minimum of 3 weeks lead time to put one of these babies together, but if you have a wedding during prime season (June-Sept) the more notice you can give us, the better!  We also have some sign-in book options using silk and leather bound books and photographic prints – talk to us and we can explain all the options!  You can even coordinate your guestbook to match your wedding album.

Beth has got face.  She totally has the “fierce” look mastered.  We were not prepared for the awesomeness her and Chris brought to their session.  Peel back the layers from this pharmacist and you find supermodel.  And I’m not just saying that because I’ve watched too much America’s Next Top Model lately.  :) Just look….you’ll see it!

Do you see what I mean here, people?  THE LOOK.

And AGAIN!

Don’t they look like they should have some kind of TV series where they are crime-fighting benevolent vampires?  I can’t believe I just called our clients vampires, but you know what I mean, the really good-looking Twilight-esque kind.  :)  There’s just such intensity!  We could have photographed them all day.  I love this couple.  Their wedding is going to be rad, I can feel it.

Beth & Chris will be getting hitched next October 2010.  :)

A little over a year ago, I used to follow the blogs of some really fabulously successful “big time” wedding photographers.  (Those of you not as intimately acquainted with the bridal/photography world are probably thinking “Big time wedding photographer?  Are you kidding me?” and while I can certainly understand that sentiment, I promise you they do exist and are sort of celebrities in our field. )  But, I digress.  I would follow these blogs and these people would take FOREVER to post stuff and I just always thought that was a little snotty, as in I am too busy being fabulous to blog recent events.  And now, close to the end of our 2009 season, and having photographed twice as many weddings as last year, I sorta get it.  I don’t know about the fabulous part, because half the time I am so exhausted that I forget to brush my hair, let alone get it cut, but the busy part I get.

And let me just state for the record, that neither myself or Andy is complaining.  We feel so grateful to our couples for giving us the opportunity to do something we love, and it has been a privilege.  But unfortunately the blog often suffers the most from our crowded schedules.  It doesn’t help that I really need a few hours to do a post because deciding which images to use is a long process for me.  I guess the good part is that despite entering the slower part of the year, we still have lots of eye candy to share with our blog readers!

You may remember Amanda & Dave from their rather epic 2-part engagement session post (here and here) on our blog earlier this year.  We visited them in Chicago and had a nice long photo session, so we felt like friends by the time their wedding rolled around.  Amanda & Dave got married at the Pine Knob Mansion in Clarkston, MI this past August.  Gorgeous, gorgeous venue!    But I’m skipping ahead of myself.

How adorable is Amanda? 

Dave cleans up pretty well too. 

Amanda & Dave elected to do a First Look before their wedding.  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when couples do this.  It’s a beautiful, emotional moment for each couple and it’s also a wonderful photographic opportunity.  It also allows us to get the formal photographs done early in the day, when everyone is looking fresh, and then later on, it’s straight to the party!

The other great thing about Amanda & Dave seeing each other early?  We got photos outside before the rain started!  All day, the weather had been looking pretty iffy – it was uncertain if the ceremony would take place outdoors as planned.  At the last minute, the decision was made to risk it…..and…it rained!    Amanda & Dave weren’t going to let a little rainfall spoil their day though!  They, and their guests, carried on like troopers and proceeded through the ceremony.  It’s actually really hard to tell in the photos, but it was sprinkling lightly the whole time.  I bring it up only to reassure other brides that a little rain on your wedding day is NOT the end of the world.  We’ve now photographed several weddings under less than ideal weather conditions, and every time, things worked out.

She may or may not have been giggling at her guests who were covering their heads about this time in the ceremony. 

Everyone sprinted for cover as soon as the ceremony ended, all in good spirits, and ready to celebrate!

The Pine Knob Mansion was just completely beautiful.  Definitely one of the nicest venues we have photographed.  The achitectural details are amazing.  The style is considered “English Manor” but it looks more like “Tudor Castle” to me.  Absolutely lovely.  We also have booked a wedding at the nearby Carriage House for next year, and we are excited to go back. 

Finally, I’ll wrap this post up with two ring shots that I loved.  We saw this awesome suit of armor in the hallway, and it seemed like it was just sitting around waiting to play ringbearer.

Seriously, a new favorite.  I mean…it’s a knight!

And finally, we had to get a shot of these lovebirds,  which were on display at Amanda’s mom’s wedding.  I left Andy in charge of the rings while I went to grab a piece of equipment and came back to find that he had perfectly balanced them like this.  This took skills people!

Amanda & Dave, thank you for letting us be a part of your beautiful, rainy, laughter-filled day.  We had so much fun documenting your wedding and we wish you both the very best.   Please let us know if you are ever in town! 

If you want to see more, you can check out their vimeo slideshow here. 

Finally, don’t forget that you can help this couple win a free enlargement by leaving a comment below!   All commenters automatically are entered in a drawing for a $10 gift card as well.    (Read details here.)

This wedding was so lovely!  Amy and Dennis were married this past August (I told you all I was behind on blogging!) at The Inn at St. John’s with their reception at the Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, MI.  Amy and Dennis live in Georgia, so initially we met with Amy’s mom, who is just the most delightful lady you can ever meet. After our consultation, she pulled out her art books and told us about her favorite painter.  We love meeting with artsy, creative people.  :)  I knew from Amy’s mom that Amy was also a creative type, and that Dennis was a funny guy and always up for anything.  So we fully expected the details at Amy’s wedding to rock, and they did not disappoint us!

We arrived at Amy’s house and discovered lots of fun decorations and details.  Amy’s mom hosted a cocktail hour while we were out taking photos…so I’m glad we got a chance to take a peek, because she did such a great job.  The dress on the left was out on display and was Amy’s grandmother’s.  Isn’t that awesome?  There were old wedding photos on display from past generations as well, which was really neat.  The photos were awesome and it was such a COOL idea.

Pink Kate Spade shoes.   Awesome.

Amy wasn’t the only person there with cool shoes!

Do I even need to explain at this point how cool this couple was???

I’ll top this off with two of my favorite detail shots of the day.

Yes, it’s the shoes…again.  They deserved to be featured twice.  :)

Amy & Dennis – you both were such a blast and we had a great time working with you.  We wish you much happiness in Georgia and the best of luck to Dennis in his first year of medical school.  You guys rock!  :)

Help this couple win a free 8×12 or 11×14 print!  30 comments = 8×12, 50=11×14.  See the fine print here.  Everyone who comments is automatically entered in a drawing for a $10 gift card.  (Speaking of which, I think we need to announce some winners from our other weddings soon, so stay tuned!)

Happy Monday everyone.  Yes, I know, Mondays and happiness do not normally mix.  But I’m staring at a “Happy Monday” sticker/coupon from Caribou Coffee that’s stuck to my monitor, so we are all going to embrace it and  pretend we are happy about Monday.  Positive thinking, rah, rah rah!  Maybe I’m just more chipper than normal because my significant other brought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte this morning from Starbucks, and now I’ve officially mentioned two coffee chains in one paragraph.  Do you see where my priorities lay today?

Anyway, we shot a fabulous wedding this past Friday aboard the Ovation Yacht and the word A-MAZING doesn’t even begin to sum it up.  Excellent, attentive staff, unbelievable food, and magnificent views of the Detroit and Windsor riverfront.  It was absolutely glorious.  It didn’t hurt that our couple looked like they should be celebrities and our bride ROCKED a gown identical to the one worn by Caroline Kennedy, with red shoes that made you drool just looking at them.   Whew!  I just had to gush about it for a second.  But now I’m moving on to the point of this post…..I know, you were thinking I didn’t have one, did you?  (I honestly can’t blame you, this is turning into a caffeine-induced tangent-laden mess, but I am getting there, I promise.)

A-hem. Our Vimeo Channel.

If you’ve been a very loyal blog reader you may have noticed that we used to post slideshows on our blog, and lately, I’ve been very remiss in including them.  My wedding posts tend to be so full of images that by the time I finish posting and writing about them, I just plain forget that we have a slideshow too.  Starting this spring, we’ve done things a little differently.  We’ve upgraded our slideshow software to a new product that lets us create HD slideshows, and also gives us the ability to create DVDs.  The new software also lets us use multiple songs and that in turn makes it very easy to add lots of images.  LOTS of images.  Our slideshows are now ridiculously long.  In the best possible way. 

In case you are wondering, the slideshows are a highlight from the wedding day – meaning these are not ALL the proofs our couples receive (not even close) but it is a good approximation of a “full wedding” in case you are a prospective client and want to see what a full day wedding looks like.  (Which is something I strongly recommend anyone shopping for photography to ask about.)

Because it literally takes hours (and sometimes days) to upload all the proofs from an event onto our proofing site, the slideshow is the first thing our clients see.  And now, because we are putting HD versions on Vimeo, you can actually click on the full screen button and see BIG pictures.  So far our new slideshows have been a hit with our clients.  And if you want a DVD copy added to your package, we now have the ability to do that.

So be sure to check out our Vimeo Channel if you’d like to see more of our work from this year!