April descibes she and David as “Media Driven”. And they are. April is a artist, poetry fan and photography buff, and David is a film maker. They certainly knew exactly what they wanted in way of photography, and they expected the highest standards. That is why I was so honored when they chose us to do their wedding photography.

They were married at the Armstong Browning Library in Waco. This held special meaning not only because it’s a beautiful place, but because it was named after the poet Elizabeth Barret Browning. The ceremony was gorgeous, and April’s father made such a lovely and touching speech to the couple.

After the ceremony, we all went to the Palladium in downtown Waco. The place is pretty darn cool. It’s all exposed bricks and beams. April had decorated in all things “Love Birds” in hues of Tiffany blue. The table settings echoed the poetry theme using table cards named after famous poets. April also included a signature margarita with the guests greatly enjoyed.

Ceremony Venue: Armstrong Browning Library
Reception Venue: Palladium
Band: After Midnight
Catering: Palladium

Special thanks again to JD Cooper of JD Cooper Photography for helping us with yet another massive wedding. Thanks JD!

Jessica and her mother booked us on line, so although coordinating things on the phone with her mother, I had never had an opportunity to meet any of them prior to the wedding.
Boy, what a pleasant surprise! Jessica was gorgeous, Hayden was dashing, and the venue, food and decor were insane.

For instance, just check out the amazing florals and cakes below. There was no “fake” in those cakes…..it was all real, and they were huge. But I guess when you are feeding 500 guests you gotta go big. I’m suprised anyone could fit anything more after the hor dourves, and plated 3 course meal. However I don’t think there was any left. The flowers were EVERYWHERE, and they were simply amazing. Fete des Fleurs made everything so floral and aromatic.

Jessica and Hayden got married on a pink stage draped with orchids and crystal surrounded by huge boquets. One of our favorite officiants, Rev. Diane Robertson performed the beautiful ceremony.

After that, the guests retired to a cocktail hour, followed by an amazing reception. I have to say that the service at the Ritz was Bar None. I’ve never seen anything so elegant.

After dinner, Jessica’s father made a moving toast in where he removed a special, unremovable (without a special tool) diamond braclet from Jessica’s delicate wrist, indicating that she was now free. I thought that was so lovely.

The fabulous Rodney Booth Band performed. We love working with them because they get the crowd so into dancing. Everyone had a fantastic time. Including us.
We’d like to thank Jessica and Hayden and their lovely families. You guys were all so wonderful to work with.

Ceremony and Reception: Ritz Carlton Dallas
Flowers: Fete des Fleurs
Catering: Ritz Carlton Dallas
Band: Rodney Booth
Honeymoon: Bimini

And we wanted to a special thanks to JD Cooper for helping us photograph this massive wedding. Check him out at www.jdcooper.net. We think he’s pretty fab!

(I never found out who made the cakes, so if you know, let me know!)

We are often asked for help with a botched wedding or portrait shoot. Unfortunately, we are normally so busy with our own work, that we don’t have the time to try to “save” photos.

The problem we see the most, is in the areas of incorrect lighting, major color noise issues, and white balance issues. For some the fix has been, just turn everything black and white, and hopefully those issues go away. Unfortunately they don’t. If shot incorrectly in the first place, you can’t correct overexposure problems. Noise is a devil to take out of a photo. And white balances can be tricky if you don’t know what your target is.

For others the answer is to shoot everything outdoors because it’s easy peasy. Unfortunately not all weddings happen outdoors, and the outdoor reception is even more rare.

The reality is, most times we have to stand in the back of a very dimly lit church, a football field from the bride and groom. The receptions are most times even darker. The bride and groom work hard to produce perfect romantic lighting, so dragging in a bunch of annoying stobes is not the answer. At least it’s not for us.
So what happens if it is a rainy day and you can’t shoot outdoors….at all? What happens if you are having problems getting super noisey, super over/underexposed wedding/ceremony images. If your ISO is too low, you get a bunch of out of focus images. They need to be TACK sharp. If your ISO is too high, you get really noisy images which are equally sucky if the bride and groom need them for an enlargement or album. So what to do? What to do?

Well…you can contact people with hundreds of weddings, in all conditions, in all lighting, for help. In short: Us

You will learn to properly expose in the first place. You will learn how to shoot in low light and full blazing sun. You will learn to white balance correctly so you don’t have to show everything in black and white. You will learn how to stop action so you don’t end up with slightly, or fully out of focus shots. You will learn to “sense” what is about to happen next and look for that emotion.

In short, you will learn how to properly shoot, and process a wedding or portrait session.

In the last few years we have seen so many people come and go. We want to help the new photographer, but we don’t have the time to “fix” bad wedding photography. Or even make it passable. We want to give back, and help newer photographers though. So the best answer for us, is not to “fix” botched things, but to make them right in the first place. And to help those struggling with unexpected issues in post processing. Pimping colors, hitting photos with contrast, and turning all the rest to black and white is not the answer.

It’s hard for us sometimes to hear about people we know and care about losing everything because of disgrunted clients, or a “bad day” or an experiment gone wrong…whatever. The simple fact is that we DON’T work in perfect conditions, with perfect lighting, in a stressless, timeless environment. We work in super dark places, with people who are crunched for time, who are under a lot of stress to make things perfect. These are someone’s memories for a lifetime, and “passable” doesn’t cut it. It’s important. Not just to them, but to your future as a photographer.

Soooooo…..long story short, we have decided we will help photographers get it right in the first place instead of trying to help people “fix” things. You will need to bring along a FULL wedding sample disc. Not the highlights. Everything. We will review the images and tell you where it all went drastically wrong, or help you fix the images we can help you save. We will also tell you when it was fantastic. We will show you how to process things correctly without having to resort to the blown out black and white, slightly out of focus version. But most of all, we want to help you figure out how to get it right, staight out of camera.

This service for a one on one session is $500. They must be done during weekdays or on Sundays. It is a full day session, from Raw images to final images.

So the best answer is to get it right in the first place.

Below are some before and afters. They are really good out of camera, but what happens next really matters too:

Before and afters. We get it right, straight out of camera, but there is a lot more work to be done:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

And that is what it takes, basically, to stay in business year after year….with huge client referrals….100 percent happy clients, and living your dream. It’s hard work and lots of learning.

We don’t do “half measures” here, and if you are an up and coming photographer, I hope you agree. It’s just way too important. Being cheap isn’t always the best alternative to great wedding photography.

If you have already booked, don’t worry. Your pricing is locked in. For those that haven’t, prices are about to increase. My vendor costs have gone up, and I have to pass those charges along, unfortunately. I’ll have the new pricing online in April.

The only available dates still left are for the month of August.
April of 2011 is also now closed for weddings. Weddings for much of 2011 are starting to book.

Thanks to all our brides and grooms for making this such a wonderful and busy year for us.

April lives in Waco, and so getting to Dallas isn’t always convenient. She scheduled far ahead for her bridal shoot. Unfortunately, the day we had planned so long for was the very weekend we got over one foot of snow…..
But that didn’t bother April at all. She was raring to go! We had originally scheduled to shoot at the Dallas Arboretum, but that was closed due to weather so we had to make a quick plan B. April was staying with a friend in McKinney, so Mike and I piled the gear into our car, and made our journey out there. We didn’t want April to drive far in such dicey weather.
We all underestimated just how coooooooold it was! Mike and I wore heavy coats over multiple layers of clothing. Mittens, hats, scarves, the whole shebang. But it was still freezing. But we didn’t complain because there was the beautiful April, standing in the freezing wind in nothing but her beautiful bridal gown. She shivered and shivered, but never once complained. We would quickly take the shots, and bundle her right up again.
I’ve got to give total props to April. She is a trooper like no other I’ve ever seen. She braved freezing wind in a foot of snow, was content to shoot at the only place we could find that was close to her friends house (a little wooded area just off a highway), and never once complained of the uncomfort even though it was obvious that she was frozen.
When it was time to shoot, she would take off all the coats and blankets, and pose away like a supermodel. She was one determined lady:

A composite shot I did inspired by the beautiful Biggers shot. This was taken in the daytime, and we added the lantern and the night effects digitally. It was fun to work on.

The following photos are as shot, with a little color tweaks here and there:

Megan is a WONDERFUL wedding, portrait, and lifestyle photographer. Pete is a Philosophy major, who has an intensense love for motorcycles, and deals with them as his business. But he’s still a philosopher at heart. He is a total romantic guy as Megan will tell you. He’s sweet, loving, nurturing, and doesn’t have a problem showing his emotions. But he’s an adventure junkie.
Megan is his perfect soulmate. She’s an artist with very deep thoughts of her own. But she never hesitates to jump on the back of Pete’s super fast motorcycles.
It’s not just the motorcycles….I think that is how they approach life. They are “all in”. They are in tuned to everything. They love being on the constant high called life.
This is a very special couple.
So here is the scoop as I understand it: They had been hanging out for a while, when there was a big fire in downtown Knoxville. So being photographers and adventure junkies, they went to check it out. And they kissed. And that is why their motto is: “The fire is still burning”.
Exactly three years, at the exact time of that first kiss…they were married. Ok, how romantic is that? The exact time…..

Megan and Pete had such a beautiful, emotional wedding. Let me share the story with you:

Here is a photo collection of Megan opening Pete’s gift to her. It was a roll of film of the first shots she ever took of him. He wrote on the back of the film all the reason’s he loved her. He also saved every post it note she ever left him on his pillow. One of those notes was about them being married. He inscribed it on a watch he gave her. So sweet!

Megan getting ready:

Megan and her ladies:

A few details:

The guys all on the cells. So funny!

The guys

Megan on her way to the ceremony site

The ringbearer thinks the flower girl should get out of his way

The beautiful Megan with her father

So Megan and Pete brought water from the areas they grew up in from places very special to them

Mrs. Pete!

lots of beautiful details!

during toasting

that’s a big honking peice of cake!

So therefore, you must be smashed with it

The candy bar raiders

reception fun

Yes, you WILL look funny!

Ok, so this little plastic toy used to sneak in booze to venues where booze was not allowed. He is still a big hit.

Pete decides to use tools to get the garter.

And handstand contest goes drastically wrong

If jumping on the bed doesn’t work out due to low ceilings, just make out.

A little nap is in order before eating strawberries

Eating stawberries

So what is the very best way to end the day? Bowling of course!!!!

What a wonderful day!

Megan and I