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i know i say it often, but i'm going to say it again.....
i LOVE my job and i LOVE being a wedding photographer!!
i'm sorry if you are getting tired of hearing that statement, but it's true, and i am blessed.
yesterday, i met with a wonderful couple about the possibility of documenting their super awesome wedding next year. i sincerely hope that they book me because they were wonderfully sweet and i'd love to work with them, and get to know them even better!
ok, that's not the point here....
what i am trying to get to, is that something came up in our meeting, that was the catalyst to me writing this blog post this morning.
it's about ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS (if you didn't get that from the post title already).
inevitably, the topic of engagement sessions comes up during my initial meetings, because they are included in most of my wedding collections and i frequently get asked "do i need an engagement session and why?"
i do have to say that it's normally the guys that are puzzled about e-sessions, but most brides are pretty pumped about the thought of having one done.
what i want to do here, is explain my take on e-sessions, and give potential clients some insight into how my brain works and why i LOVE doing them.
first and foremost, e-sessions are a great way to get to know your wedding photographer, and for me to get to know my clients on a more personal level.
when a client books me to be their wedding photographer, i want to make sure that i get to know them on a more personal level, so that on their wedding day i am just like an old friend coming to document their wedding. i put all of myself into every job and every client that i book, and i want your wedding day to just be a continuation of the awesome client/photographer relationship that we will have already built.
during an engagement session, i ask my clients to think of a way that i can document them doing something that is uniquely THEM. when i say this, i mean something like, if you aren't a pretty-park person, then posing in front of a bunch of tulips or flower beds and saying 'cheese' for the camera, is NOT a brilliant plan. if as a couple, you LOVE to go bowling with friends, then lets take some photos at the bowling alley! if you love to stay in on weekends, cook cool meals, and watch old movies, then i can come to your home and take some e-session photos of you cooking up a storm!
i think you get my drift with this stuff.
by following you on a 'date' and documenting what makes you 'special' as a couple, then i get a glimpse into your love, and into your lives, which will in turn help me to be able to better understand what i can do on your wedding day to make sure that your images reflect YOU !
the second reason that i feel that engagement sessions are important, is because most couples don't have any professional photos of themselves, and i want to change the world (one couple at a time).
sure, most couples have about 1,000 self-portraits, taken at arm's reach, with their iPhones or compact cameras. the other photos that most couples have, are one's from the last party or holiday dinner they attended. you know the type of photos i'm talking about, all out of focus and full of standard red-eye, maybe with a bit of their heads chopped off.
ok, so maybe you don't NEED an engagement session, but i'm sure that now that you've read my blog post, you WANT an engagement session!!
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what the heck do i need an engagement session for?
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142
hi all :)
when i embarked on the roller coaster journey of being a wedding photographer, i sat down an evaluated a few core beliefs and plans for my business.
the first thing i decided, was that i wanted to be able to give my clients the best possible experience !
how does a photographer give their clients a great experience ?
well, there are two things that i came up with.
first off, i would need to provide photos that capture the emotion and feeling of each and every client and their wedding day.
recently, while reading entries on a photography forum, a wedding photographer named David Murray posted a response to a discussion about wedding photojournalism.
"It is not so much that I want to focus on just the good things during the course of the day as much as I want to find and touch upon the things that we can all recognize as being part of a sublime testament to our shared human experience. Some times these moments are happy, sometimes they are quite or somber, sometimes funny, and sometimes they are filled with joy. But the common thread is that in an aesthetic way, they dig right to the root of what is best in all of us. That is what I strive for when I pick up a camera "
everything David says in this post, is exactly how i feel about what i do.
the second thing that i wanted to do for my clients, is provide them with great customer service. i want to be able to present my work to each and every couple, within a few weeks of their wedding, not months and months afterwards. there is no reason why anyone should be getting their wedding album a year or two AFTER their wedding!
to be able to be the best photographer, wife and mother that i can possibly be, i am only taking on about 20 wedding commissions per year.
i have almost reached that number, and i will not be going over it.
it is because each and every client is so important to me, that i'm limiting my number of commissions to 20.
the wedding season in Windsor is pretty darn short, and my summer is pretty much booked full (except for 1 or 2 weekends), and my fall has a couple of more weekends that i'm currently available.
if you are planning a wedding in 2010, and you're still looking for a wedding photographer, please contact me for more details about my availability.
i am currently taking bookings for 2011 and i'd love to hear from you as well.
my wedding season starts in 2 weeks, with Rob & Leslie's wedding at Willistead Manor, and i'm really excited about it. my biggest fear for the day, would be that we get some freakishly weird blizzard or something. Rob & Leslie are from Arizona, so i don't think that they would be too excited about sharing their wedding day with slushy snow.
here's a photo of Rob & Leslie, from their snowy engagement session i did for them this past Christmas
Brandon- Portland Wedding Photographer:
Congrats on filling up your season! That's always a great feeling. Very nice shot too.
(03.24.10)
Newport Wedding Photographer | Mark Andrew:
Beautiful image. I like your take on commissions. David is an awesome photographer and probably one of the best wedding photojournalists out there.
(03.25.10)
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just a few spots left ! {windsor ontario wedding photographer}
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141
yesterday, my good friend and fellow wedding photographer, Jayme Morrison and I, took to the streets of Windsor to scout some cool new shooting locations for our upcoming wedding season.
ummmm......
it didn't go very well.
you see, we got off to a rocky start when we got sidetracked by talking too much, and then we realized that we were driving aimlessly around! we quickly got back on track, tried to focus, and then decided that we needed to eat.
we have our priorities ya know.
after a yummy lunch and some good conversation at Chanoso's , right in downtown Windsor, we set off on foot to discover some treasures. actually, we thought we might get lucky and come across some REALLY great shooting locations, but we soon realized that it wasn't going to be our lucky day.
well, what do you do when you can't find any awesome locations?
you photograph OTHER COOL STUFF!
some of our finds of the day include an alley with cool shadows, a fair trade store that smelled like incense and had a Matryoshka doll with the face of Vladmir Putin, a night club called the Boom Boom Room (i like the name), a Windsor Symphony schedule so that Jayme can take her son to the Peanut Butter n' Jam concerts, and some mud.
all in all, it wasn't a total loss.
you see, i had a great time getting to know Jayme better, it was beautiful and sunny outside and we got to walk around AND it was a day away from work at the computer, which doesn't happen very often.
here are a few photos from our adventures in Windsor...
since wedding photographers in WIndsor aren't very busy during the winter months, we resort to shooting murals! LOL!
ITDR:
Testing 123
(03.10.10)
Jayme:
You know, it's so funny how we were both at the same place and different images came about ;) Well, I guess we know this about photography though - there can never be a duplication in how one sees the world ;)
(03.27.10)
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scouting gone awry....
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139
March 4th, 1983
the beginning of the life as i know it.
you see, March 4th 1983 is the day that Darryl asked me to be his girlfriend.
it was 2 weeks after my 14th birthday, and it was a friday.
i wish that i still had the original note, but after all of our moving around and the age of the paper, i guess it got lost or thrown out. i still remember the gist though.
Darryl was too shy to ask me out in person, so on that fateful friday morning, before classes started, i was handed a little piece of paper. i was also told not to read it until after he left the room. talk about shy!
it went something like this
"Michele, I like you a lot, and I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend. I had to ask you today, because I couldn't live through the weekend. Love always, Darryl"
Yep.
Short and to the point.
Darryl and i met in Jr.High in Toronto. I was in grade 8 and he was in grade 9.
for me, it was love at first sight, but it took Darryl a little bit longer to realize that i was the girl for him. i was willing to wait.
Darryl played violin and i played viola, and it was actually the music that brought us together. he happened to be the best violinist in the school, and i was the best violist. it was a match made in heaven.
two music nerds, staring at each other from across the orchestra.
man, i had such a crush on that guy! it was crazy!!!
so, 27 years later, we are still together and we are celebrating our 21 anniversary this coming August.
we have 3 teenagers and a lifetime of memories.
through all the trials and all the journeys, i can still say that i'm crazy about this guy.
we still play in an orchestra, and we still stare across the room at each other and i still get that loving wink from the man of my dreams.
of course, we're older, we have a few gray hairs (well, him more than me of course) and we're far from those being those kids with a crush.
we are two 41 year olds with a crush!
even after all these years we adore each other, lust after each other, and can't get enough of each other.
not much has changed in the last 27 years.
when i talk to my clients about love and marriage, i know what i'm talking about!
here are a few embarrassing photos of us together, from ages 14 to 19.
this was taken on a school music trip, about 2 months after we started dating. it was a LONG bus ride to Washington DC, and we fell asleep. i'm so thankful that i have great friends to take embarrassing photos of me at my best!
yep, i had a puppet muppet! i still love Animal!
i think i am in grade 10 in this photo. as you can see, we had some issues with using Sun In during the summer, and we were still sporting the awesome YELLOW hair! LOL!
this was taken a few months after we got engaged. i was 19 yrs old here.
man, i LOVED that sweatshirt and wore it until it was in tatters!
this was the Christmas, after we were engaged. i was still 19 years old here. Darryl was 20.
it was the December before we got married.
these are our kids!
it's hard to believe that 27 years later, we would have these awesome kids!
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27 years ago....
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138
hi blog world.
i just wanted to share some awesome news that i received this morning.
you know, there's nothing better than waking up in the morning to an AWESOME email. well, i guess there are some things that are better, but awesome emails are definitely up there as wonderful.
anyways, some of you might have read (a few blog posts ago) that i was invited to be a member of the WPJA (wedding photojournalist association).
i was thrilled to pieces when i got that news, and i did a happy dance and had a perma-smile for a few days.
yep, i'm a happy-dance kinda gal.
this morning i woke up to an email from the AG|WPJA and i have been invited to become a member of their association as well!
this is what the AG|WPJA does :
"The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association AG|WPJA is comprised of outstanding wedding photographers, who are at the forefront of the wedding photography industry when it comes to enhancing images. The chief objective of the AG|WPJA is to provide members with a platform where the finest enhanced, manipulated and/or artistic wedding photojournalism in the world is spotlighted and promoted for the bride and groom.
The AG|WPJA is a separate division of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). Whereas the WPJA upholds strict guidelines that forbid excessive picture manipulation, the AG|WPJA encourages and fosters creative image enhancement, with the vision of promoting Fine Art Wedding Photojournalists.
The AG|WPJA establishes and upholds high standards that are taken into consideration during the judging process for our wedding photography contests. Using all artistic tools at their disposal, members skillfully enliven their work in post production processing."
there are only 13 (now 14 counting me) photographers in Ontario, that are members of the AG|WPJA, and i am very honoured to be associated and listed with some of the best wedding photojournalists in the WORLD!
now i am an honoured member of both associations, and i'm humbled but thrilled that my hard work and efforts have paid off.
now i need to get my butt in gear and enter some of their print competitions!
YIKES!
i also wanted to thank my clients, my family and my friends, for believing in me, supporting me as i grow my business, and just loving me everyday.
thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Arlington VA Wedding Photographer:
Wow! Congratulations Michelle! That's a great honor. I'll have to see how many Washington DC Wedding Photographers are members.
(03.22.10)
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some more great news...
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