New specs

I just picked up my new specs yesterday and I'm loving them! For a few years now, I'd been wearing my vibrant purple glasses and I decided to tone it down a bit. I mean, I can only be so cool for so long! haha So, here's what to expect of me now - totally fresh new glasses and super sharp vision, just in time for wedding season! Yay!

BTW, if you're wondering at the sub-par quality of the image, it's because I took it with my phone! (This is my first camera phone, so I'm feeling a little geeky!) I have to say, though, it does a halfway decent job! Not that I'd shoot a wedding with it . . . !!

Columbus Bride Magazine

The Spring 2007 issue of Columbus Bride magazine has hit the newsstands with my fabulous bride, Mia, gracing the cover. (Yes, that's last Fall's issue open in the background with one of my favorite shots from Becky and Keith's wedding as lead-in to the floral section!)

Just so you know, all my couples who marry in Columbus have the opportunity to have me submit their wedding images to Columbus Bride for possible inclusion in the magazine. It's very exciting, not only for my couples and their families, but for me!! Also check out the photography articles as I was asked to provide my thoughts on a few things, and Jen and Dave Hill's story in the "Sitting Pretty" article (p.155) about their engagement session!

Congratulations to my couples who made this issue!! Here are the images of mine that you'll see in the new mag:

Mia and Ben, July 22, 2006
Ceremony: St. Joseph Cathedral
Reception: Franklin Park Conservatory

Rita and Brian, September 16, 2006
Ceremony: First Congregational
Reception: Hilton Easton

Cynthia and Kyle, September 3, 2006
Ceremony and Reception: Columbus Museum of Art

Ellie and Brian, May 20, 2006
Ceremony: St. Christopher
Reception: Columbus Athenaeum

Christina and Christopher, October 14, 2006
Ceremony: Mirror Lake
Reception: The Blackwell

Shiraz Ohio Open House

At the Bride Show in January, I was fortunate to meet a new wedding planner in Columbus. Anthony Sobotik offers his expertise and vast experience through Shiraz Ohio, located at 30 Eden Alley, Suite 103, in the Short North. (map) Parking is on-street or around the corner in the lot between Union Station and Utrecht Art Supplies.

On Saturday, March 24, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Anthony will be hosting an Open House at Shiraz Ohio where he will be showcasing various wedding vendors (me included!!) and talking about how he can put together the perfect wedding just for you!

I highly recommend checking it out. Not only does Anthony have fantastic taste in photography (!) but he's down-to-earth and loves planning THE perfect party. Check out his website then head over to the Open House!

What's Up

Aside from wishing Jen and Dave a happy anniversary, it's been slow going on the blog front, and I apologize you've had nothing new to look at! But, I've been busy with album designs and meetings and print orders and totally redoing my office and, of course, taxes - yuck! - so it's not like I'm a total slacker!

In the coming days/weeks, though, I hope to post some random images that I like, some from weddings, some personal. It's been slow season for weddings since it's WINTER still, but coming up soon will be lots of engagement sessions and my first spring wedding, and I'll be sure to post lots of pictures from those - so stay tuned!

Happy Anniversary, Jen and Dave!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to Jen and Dave, who are celebrating their one-year anniversary today. Their wedding day was much like today - sunny and crisp - and their ceremony was beautiful and touching. We had a fantastic time shooting some portraits at Mirror Lake, then it was on to the reception at The Vault downtown. What a great time! So, Happy Anniversary, Jen and Dave!!

Honest Answers to FAQs

For grins, I sometimes peruse the wedding resource websites to see what kind of myths they're publishing in their FAQs about wedding photography. Really, though, it's no laughing matter as most sites completely miss the mark in providing useful and honest information regarding one of the most important decisions of your big day. I'd even be willing to bet that these FAQs are written by people who have absolutely no connection to anything photographic.

That has all changed today, boys and girls, with the introduction of a website the sole purpose of which is to provide Honest Answers About Wedding Photography.

Honest Answers About Wedding Photography was created by photographers the world over based on real questions we've received from real brides. This is the honest scoop. The real answers. Not answers about wedding photography by people who are not wedding photographers.

So, check it out. It is totally cool and totally right-on, and I even had a hand in answering a question myself (#5 on "Before The Wedding") as part of the Professional Wedding Photographers Collective.

Finally, truthful, helpful answers you can trust when making this most important choice!

You're Invited!

One of my favorite brides from 2005 has started her own invitation business, and she's such a wonderful person and a natural for this business, that I had to share! Her name is Sarah McNamer and, with her husband, Michael, she started You're Invited. Check out her website if you're in the market for invitations, whether for a wedding, a shower or any kind of party. Here's a shot of Sarah from her wedding. This image also appeared as a full page kicking off the Fashion section of the Fall 2005 Columbus Bride magazine! Isn't she gorgeous?!!

Save-the-Date Magnets

What a great idea. Postcards are great, but what do you stick them to the fridge with? A MAGNET! Why not just make the whole save-the-date from a magnet and then you don't have to cover up the picture or the text with . . . a magnet! Brilliant!

Get your brilliant magnets at the awesome price of $2.25 each. For more details, shoot me an e-mail!

Introducing . . . Gift Certificates!

Looking for a great gift idea? Or already have everything you need but that killer album?? Gift certificates are a fantastic way for friends and family to give the gift that keeps on giving! Available in any denomination, gift certificates can be used to provide the bride and groom with an engagement session, a guestbook, a gazillion prints, or all those extra album images they can't live without! Woohoo! Super excited about this one!! What a great idea!! Spread the word!

February Specials

The specials I had for the Bride Show were such a huge hit I thought I'd continue them through February! It's your chance to get valuable print credits (great for gift prints!), a free engagement session or a free parent album! So don't wait!

Karri and Mark

Congratulations to Karri and Mark on their wedding January 27, 2007!! Karri and Mark were simply fabulous and Melissa and I had a wonderful time sharing their day and capturing some lovely images for them. Their wedding took place at the Athletic Club of Columbus, downtown. It was an evening wedding and Karri wanted to capture the warm glow of the candlelit ceremony. Being that the ceremony was not held in a church, I was able to snag a primo spot for shooting the ceremony, right behind the bridesmaids (while staying out of sight of the guests!!). It was a beautiful ceremony and you can just feel the warmth!

I love the candle glow on Mark's face!

And the kiss . . . (have I said how much I love doing this??!!) . . .

Lucky for me, the Maid of Honor bent down to tend to the flower girl just in time for me to catch Karri's parents applauding their daughter and new son-in-law:

Karri and Mark had a great jazz ensemble, Fermata Music, and, I have to say, Mitch is quite the crooner! Complete with old-fashioned microphone and velvety Sinatra voice, it was lovely music indeed. I loved this detail of the drumset:

We captured some great moments while Karri and Mark were dancing, both with each other and with their parents, but I especially love this detail:

Who doesn't love cake??

And flatware? I am totally on a flatware kick lately.

Again - congrats, Karri and Mark and I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon in St. Lucia!!

Mia!

Great news! I heard from one of my brides, Mia, last night that she's been asked to be the cover model for the Spring issue of Columbus Bride magazine! Mia was a fabulous bride and will make an even more fabulous cover model! Yay Mia! Here's a shot of Mia taken at her very fun wedding last July. Congratulations, Mia!!

Hildy

I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of my dog, Hildy, who I rescued from the shelter almost two years ago. Most of you who come over never get to see her because she's overly friendly (which is putting it mildly!!), so here you'll get to see her and not end up covered in dog hair and slobber! Hildy has enough energy for two or three dogs, so photographing her is about impossible since she almost never sits still. Here, in a rare, quiet moment, is my "puppy":

Engagement Sessions

It's time to think about scheduling your engagement session, especially if you're having a spring or early summer wedding. Engagement sessions are a fantastic way for us to get to work together in a relaxed setting prior to the wedding. I think that grooms especially find this session to be a big help in easing any jitters they may have in being in front of the camera. These sessions last anywhere up to 1.5-2 hours, and, if you let me choose the location, you can guarantee we'll go somewhere unique! And be sure to ask about my fabulous guestbooks using your engagement images!

Here are a few of my favorite engagement images (the first was shot in their home - always an option!!):

Meet Melissa!

I thought I'd take a minute and introduce you to one of my second shooters. Melissa Keeley came to me last summer and I've been absolutely thrilled with her and her work! She has an awesome eye with a fun, quirky edge. Last December I shot Melissa and her husband Cory for their Christmas cards and we had a ton of fun making some very creative portraits. Thanks to the North Market for opening their otherwise closed community room for our own private shoot! Here are a couple shots from that session. (Those of you who stopped by my booth at the Bride Show might recognize the second image!!)

New Ad

I know it's early, but after much agonizing I've chosen the new ad that will appear in the upcoming Spring issue of Columbus Bride magazine. I had so many fantastic weddings to choose from, but finally decided to use an image from Jackie and Jay's wedding in Avon Lake, Ohio last October. I shot a lot of out-of-town weddings last year and always love the opportunity to shoot in new places.

Also be on the lookout for Columbus Bride's interview with me in this issue as well! I'm sure they'll publish a lot of my images throughout the entire magazine too since I know their art director really likes my work! Yay! I'll post more as it gets closer to newsstand time!!

December Part Deux

My other December wedding was in Deshler, Ohio, up near Toledo. Kim and KC actually live in Colorado, where they're having a much more wintry winter than we are! Their wedding on December 16 was actually balmy! Enough so that we were able to spend a considerable amount of time shooting outside and nobody got cold! Amazing! Kim and KC were great fun and really good sports! Their families were warm and welcoming and super friendly. It was just a great day all around!

Here are some shots from their day. Check out the kids plotting their next "go fish" move!

December

I was privileged to photograph two weddings in December, one of which was the cousin of one of my second shooters. I actually got to play second shooter at this wedding, which was quite a switch for me since I'm usually lead photographer. It was nice to hang back and relax a bit, although I found it hard not to do my regular deal!

I LOVE detail shots! And one of the details I loved most about this wedding were all the snowflakes that Mary's students cut out for her! What a nice gesture, and wow did they look super hanging around the cake! Not only that, but they made for some really cool shadows on the wall behind.

So, here are a few images I took at Cousin Mary's wedding with my dear friend and second shooter, Karen:

Welcome to me!

I know I posted about the Bride Show first, before this "welcome" post, but I guess I got ahead of myself I was just so excited to get blogging.

So, this is it! The BLOG!! Woohoo! I hope to use this blog to keep everyone informed of new things I'm doing photography-wise, to share images and stories from weddings I've been privileged to photograph, and give a more personal glimpse of myself that's not usually seen until we meet. I hope you enjoy your visits here - I promise to try to make them entertaining!

And I promise to post lots and lots of pictures!!

Columbus Bride: The Show

I know there were quite a few THOUSAND of you who attended Columbus Bride: The Show over the first weekend in January. I think I probably talked to almost everyone there! My booth was mobbed all day both days and it was awesome! My trusty second photog, Melissa, helped me man the booth and we were both exhausted and exhilarated at the end of each day. I loved meeting everyone, showing off my work, and making connections with some cool local photographers and other great vendors. What a great fun time The Show was! I hope everyone was able to come away with some useful information!

In case you missed it, I had some fantastic Show specials which are good for bookings that come to me through January 31, so don't miss out! The specials include valuable print credits, a free engagement session and a free parent album!

Pictures to come, so stay tuned!