Brides Tips | Los Angeles Wedding Photography | Orange County Wedding Photographer

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Bride’s Tip | Provide a List of Your VIP’s

May 1st, 2011

The following is an entry with some tips for our brides (and grooms of course). For more tips, check out “Tips for Your Wedding Day” on our main site. These blog entries are in addition to the tips you’ll find on our website that we update every once in a while. To see all of them, please click here.

A list of “VIP’s” helps us in a couple of ways:

1) Establishes Familiarity and Rapport – First off, it helps us gain familiarity with the names and faces of the people we’ll be interacting with during the day. This not only helps us communicate well during the day; but it also helps establish a good rapport with your important family and friends.

2) Guides Our Focus – Secondly, it helps us make sure that we’re focusing on the right people during the wedding day. This is especially important when you have a larger wedding. Family and friends travel from all over the world to be at your wedding; and it’s important that we get some good images of them on your big day. As the camera naturally gravitates toward the bride and groom, the wedding party, the immediate family, the children at the wedding, and the (louder) guests smiling and laughing, it can take a conscious effort to focus on that quite, yet still very important, relative or guest who flew half way around the world to be there.

If you already have pictures and names of these guests somewhere online (Facebook, your wedding website, Flickr, Picasa etc.) just let us know how to access them and give us some guidance as to who’s who. If not, please compile their images and their names in a word document or email and send that over.

Bride’s Tip | Communicate Your Style Preferences

April 28th, 2011

Communicating your style preferences for photography as well as post production helps us deliver work that’s in line with your style and expectations. It’s our job, as photographers, to apply our vision and creativity to your engagement session and wedding day. However, we also always want to make sure we’re delivering the types of shots that you like and avoiding the ones you may not appreciate as much.

An easy way to do this is to just grab some photo’s online from our blog or other sites and email them directly to us. You can send us the links, copy them into a word doc, drag them directly into an email, or find another means to communicate your preferences. We’ve even had clients send over images ripped out directly from magazines.

While doing this, try to be as specific and descriptive as possible. For example, if you send over an image, it’s great to explain what it is that you like about the picture. “I like this image because of the natural candid expressions on their faces.” Or, “I love this image because of the colors in the sky.” Just as important as the shots you like are the shots that you want to avoid. For example, if you don’t like “jumping” shots, it’s best to communicate this before than during (although during is still better than after).

As you can see, the process is less-than-scientific; and there are myriad ways to communicate the information. However, if you make an effort to let us know what you like and don’t like, you should be happier with the overall experience and with the images.

Bride’s Tip – When to Have the Engagement Session

April 21st, 2011

A common question we receive from our clients is “when should we have our engagement session?” While there is not clear cut answer, there are a few things to keep in mind.

I. The Wedding Date – The most important factor to keep in mind is your actual wedding date. On our end, it takes us around 3-4 weeks (depending on the season and our workload) to get the engagement session images to you on an image DVD. From there, you should add on the time it takes to receive any products that you would like for your wedding.

* Sign-in Book - If you’re ordering a sign-in book, add 3-5 weeks (3-4 weeks for the production and 1 week for the design correspondence and shipping).
* Printing Through the Studio – If you’re ordering prints through our studio, add 2-3 weeks. While the actual printing only takes around a week or less, we do additional touch up, sharpening, and enlarging to the images. We also reorder the image if there are any problems or unforeseen blemishes.
* Self Printing Through Consumer Printers - Most of these printers can get your prints done within 1 week. However, keep in mind that you will not receive the same quality control or consistency as ordering through our studio so you may have to do a few trial runs.

II. Your Schedules – The second thing to keep in mind is your work schedules. In the summer months, we start our sessions later, around 5, 6 or even 7pm if you’re looking for more night shots. In the winter, we’re starting at around 3-4pm. In the spring and fall, it’s somewhere in between. If you know you’re going to have a tough time taking time off of work for your session, you may opt for a summer engagement session that starts later in the day.

III. The Seasons – For beach shoots and city shoots, the seasons won’t affect the look and feel of the images too much in California. However, in vineyards, gardens, forests, etc, you will want to choose the season that corresponds best with the look and feel you desire in your images.

We hope this helps!

Bride’s Tip | Bride and Groom’s Prep

April 5th, 2011

Preparation is one of our favorite parts of the day. These days, a ton of hype is placed around the “first look” between the bride and the groom; but just as emotional (actually, most of the time even more so), is the “first look” between a parent, grandma or close family member and the bride or groom. These are great moments that we love capturing. Also, there’s the distinct atmosphere of anticipation that’s unmatched during the wedding day. The guys usually drown it with a little liquor and jokes; while the girls giggle, cry, and experience a full range of emotions of everything in between.

Unfortunately, preparation is also one of the parts of the day that many choose to cut short to make room for more reception coverage. The ideal amount of time is around 1.5 hours for preparation coverage, but we rarely get this much time. [For more wedding day time line advise, check out this bride's tip on the wedding day time line]. To make sure that we get everything we need as far as photography, regardless of the alotted time, there are a few things that you can do help make things more efficient.

Have a Clean Room – Ensure that rooms are clean and not cluttered. “If it’s in the room it’s in the photo,” so if you want pictures free of breakfast wrappers, clothes, and other distracting items, it’s best to stash it all in a closet or behind a bed. It’s best to assign someone, like a bridesmaid, to be in charge of keeping the room clean because you’ll have enough on your mind.
Have the Details Ready – Have the dress and tux, shoes, jewelry, rings, garter, and anything else of significance that you would like photographed organized and accessible. “Faster detail shooting equals more bridal pictures”
Schedule More Time – Leaving 15-30 minutes of down time is always a smart thing to do. There’s a huge chance that this time will get eaten up by something, whether it be a make-up artist taking a bit longer than expected or a groomsman running late. Plus, as mentioned in the bride’s tip on the wedding day time line, the more time we have right after hair and makeup with the bride and bridal party, the more gorgeous portraits we can get with everything fresh and in place.

Bride’s Tip | Engagement Session Props

March 17th, 2011

Whether you’re expressing your contrasting (or similar) personalities, adding complementing colors to your outfits, or introducing a nostalgic or meaningful element or activity, engagement session props are a great way to add interest to your photos. Here are a few ideas to get your creativity flowing. As you look through these images, think of ways to make these props your own; and think of activities and interests you share.