Here it is – the very last winner of the Bloggie Giveaways. This one is for Colin Cowie Wedding Chic: 1,001 Ideas for Every Moment of Your Celebration
The winner of this fabulous book is #27 Kim F. Kim – I’ve sent you an email. You just need to let me know your shipping address and I’ll get the book out to you today!
We had a bunch of stuff going on here – including our great giveaways and got away from our scheduled detail posts. So let’s get back to it!
Technically the ceremony isn’t a “detail” … it’s the point of the entire wedding day and therefore the most crucial element. Ceremonies are tricky, though, from a photographer’s point of view. Many venues, churches, and officiants put serious restrictions on photographers; limiting where they can stand, how much they can shoot, some even forbidding the photographer from being in the sanctuary or chapel during the ceremony. When photographers are allowed in the ceremony, often we’re restricted to the very back of the room, so finding ways to be creative is important. When I am allowed to photograph from different angles, I can get wonderful closeup shots of rings and facial expressions. When I can’t, I still try to be creative by shooting from different angles, from balconies, through doors or archways, and even by using a remote controlled camera hidden in the back of the altar (when it’s allowed).
It’s time to announce the winners of the first two Bloggie Giveaways. 
For Giveaway #1 – Portrait session and digital media package, the winner is #17. Jessie, I’ve sent you an email and we’ll get in touch to schedule your portrait session!
For Giveaway #2 – An 8×10 Fine Art Print, the winner is #55. Anam, I’ve sent you an email as well. It’ll take about 2 weeks to get your print to you!
It was so difficult to limit myself to one winner per contest. I really wanted to give something to everyone. So as a bonus I’m offering 25% off anything on my website except wedding coverage to anyone who commented on the posts – for the month of February only. Portrait sessions, fine art prints, albums, cards … whatever you’d like to purchase. If you want to take advantage of the discount, just let me know which giveaway you commented on and what you’d like to purchase or schedule.
And thanks so much everyone for participating!
“If you fly in only one vendor, make it the photographer. ”
-the Knot Guide to Destination Weddings (p. 70)
Have I mentioned that I love to travel? Have I mentioned that I’m willing to travel anywhere in the US, Mexico, Canada, the World, the Known Universe … to photograph a wedding? I’m sure I have!
The Knot guide quoted above mentions some great reasons to bring your photographer with you when you have a destination wedding. But there are also some equally great reasons to hire an out of town photographer to photograph your local wedding, or to fly to your destination wedding from somewhere other than your home town.
I think there are two primary reasons to bring in a photographer from out of town, no matter where you’re getting married. Those reasons are STYLE and PERSONALITY. Photography is an artistic pursuit. When you choose your photographer, you should choose someone whose images speak to you; whose style and personality come through on their website; someone who you can see spending the entire day with you and your family. If that person should happen to live in another state, it’s not really that big a deal.
A photographer who is willing and used to traveling for weddings will be able to easily accommodate things like print orders (online galleries and ordering), delivery schedules (USPS Priority Mail with signature confirmation, easily upgradeable to FedEx when necessary), album design (online and email), and any and all communication (phone, email, text, IM, Facebook – whatever works). None of those things should prevent you from hiring a photographer whose work you really love and bringing her (or him) to you.
Something else to keep in mind is that it’s often not that much more expensive to hire an out of town photographer than it is to hire one locally. Many photographers offer flat rate travel to certain major cities or within a region. Some photographers are willing to negotiate on price to photograph at a location or venue that will benefit their portfolio (although keep in mind that negotiating on price does not mean taking a loss – and time away from the business must be accounted for).
So where do I stand on these matters? As I think I mentioned above, I love to travel. I’ve photographed weddings in 24 different states (Portland, Washington, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Connecticut, and DC) and 3 countries (US, Mexico, and Canada). In my personal life, I’ve traveled to and lived in over 14 countries – in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
I offer flat rates for travel, based on region. And yes, I’m willing to negotiate if there is a venue or location I’m particularly interested in working with or adding to my portfolio.
(Oh, and the locations above? New Orleans, Charleston, Puerto Vallarta, Captiva Island, Coconut Grove, Mismaloya)
Ok, I can’t help myself. I’m having so much fun with the other two portrait related giveaways, that I’m going to throw in a third one – a wedding related one for the Bloggie Giveaway Carnival. Yes, I’m a crazy woman.
I’m going to give away a copy of Colin Cowie’s book Colin Cowie Wedding Chic: 1,001 Ideas for Every Moment of Your Celebration
I’ll ship the book directly to you from amazon.com via standard shipping – anywhere in the US or Canada.
As with the other two giveaways, just comment on this post. Tell me why you want the book, or a little bit about your wedding, or just say “hi”. Be sure to leave your email address so I can notify you if you win. I’ll pick the winner by a random number drawing. And we’ll let this one go until Thursday, February 5th.
Headshots are always so much fun. We always take the standard, straight-up headshots and then we take a few extra minutes to do some more dramatic, personality driven images as well. It’s always nice to have some choice!
Just for fun this year, I’ve decided that every month I’ll post a handful of my favorite things for that month. They might be personal things, work related things, computer or photography related things … whatever I bought, read about, or just lusted after. January’s favorite things are in honor of my birthday today.
There you go. January’s favorite things. Maybe you’ll enjoy a few of them too!
Here’s my 2nd giveaway for the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival:
I’ll ship your choice of image from my Art Gallery (click to see the selection of images) as a bordered 8×10 print fine art velvet paper. I’ll ship to anywhere in the US or Canada. (The print is a $250 value!)
To enter this giveaway, just comment on this post and let me know which image you want if you’re the winner. Be sure to leave your email address so I can notify you if you win. I’ll pick the winner by a random number drawing on Monday, February 2nd.
This is my first time participating in the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival and I’m going to be completely over the top and offer 2 different giveaways (hence the #1 above, and #2 to follow tomorrow). Without further blather from me … the first Bloggy Giveaway is:
Obviously this giveaway is for people in the Atlanta metro area only (unless you want to pay for travel). You get a full standard portrait session (about an hour of time) for yourself, your family, or your children. The images from the session will be posted in a private, password protected gallery for you to view. You’ll then choose up to 8 of the images to receive as high resolution files, retouched and ready to print, along with a gorgeous 5×7 guide print of each of the images you chose (Basic Digital Media Package). The total value of this giveaway is $750.
To enter this giveaway, just comment on this post. Be sure to leave your email address so I can notify you if you win. I’ll pick the winner by a random number drawing on Monday, February 2nd.
There is as much scope for variety in cakes as there are in bouquets; colors, styles, flavors, decorations, displays. There are brides cakes which can be elegant or whimsical, decorated with flowers or fruit or sugar, and include different layers of flavors and fillings (my favorite to date was the almond cake with amaretto filling). There are event cupcake wedding cakes. Then there’s the Southern tradition of the groom’s cake, which are often chocolate and usually represent some element of the groom’s interests or hobbies (in the South that often means football or a college – or college football to combine the best of both worlds). And each cake represents the incredible talent and skill of the baker who made it. Even better than that, cakes of today aren’t just pretty showpieces. Today’s bakers and chefs are committed to making cakes that taste as good as they look. I wish there was some way to share the flavors of these cakes with you, but you’ll just have to imagine them for yourself!
