Where are our Pictures?

So tonight I am blogging from My old stomping ground in Whistler British Columbia. I came here to enjoy the amazing setting, shoot pictures with my friends and work on some much needed workflow tweaking.

I am always the photographer that is organized, not just in business but in family as well. When shooting 1500 pictures in a wedding it's easy to organize, catalog and back up. On the everyday ~ Grab my camera and photograph the kids or the dog or the sun setting. It could be many days before I get the images loaded into the computer~

From there the file system is a very carefully thought out process that every picture has a place and every event has a title. I am always eager to be sure that the events that I document in eveyday are not lost in computer limbo and just forgotten about.

I wonder how other people document and keep track of the history in pictures they have taken.

Do regular people take digital pictures and still put them in the photo albums for the next generation to turn the pages of.

Where are our pictures? Are they lost?

What I do for my family pictures and family stuff is a simple on line album. Every month is documented and recorded under that month, at the end of each year I pick my favorite from each month and produce a photobook from "my Publisher".

http://www.mypublisher.com/

The books are perfect for family trips as well if you have a big event. They are great prices and cost about the same as if you were to print out the years favorites and put them into an album. The great thing is....you can work on your photobook all year round, at the end of the year, it's good to go.

I think so many people are losing the best part of document with pictures....we want these memories and if we don't take care of our pictures then we can't pass on the memories to the next generation. I love looking at old family pictures.

Haley and Patrick Wedding

Haley and Patrick Wedding

Senior Portraits...(not senior citizens)

Senior portraits...When did they begin?

For all my followers that are Canadian I am going to explain about the Senior Portraits. In Canada, (where I am from) my friends often thought I was shooting senior citizens when I would mention I have a senior shoot.

When I first moved to the US, I also had no idea what a senior shoot was...LOL

I really thought old people ~ sure I can shoot em!

In Canada we do not reference "Senior", "Freshman"etc. We just show up and get the picture with our gown and cap to prove we really did graduate high school.

Rarely I will do a senior photoshoot. My passion and love is to make beautiful wedding memories.

I will share a senior shoot I did last fall. Nicole is my daughters piano teacher and also a senior this year. When she asked me to shoot her senior pictures it was something I would do in a heartbeat. She is young and popular and like all the seniors I have photographed in the past this Senior photoshoot is the biggest deal ever!!

I am not knocking the importance of the senior portraits for students....but coming from Canada and never understanding the all out importance of the photoshoot, clothes change, and props and instruments and letter jackets....and I even had a senior bring her horse to my home/studio. Those were fantastic pictures BTW!! With Senior photos it is important to stay current. Seniors want great photos to print into wallet size for all their friends to have when everyone goes off to collage.

I am persuaded to do the odd senior photoshoot depending on my wedding scheduale. It really is a big deal to have fantastic pictures at this time in someones journey.

I have always wondered about the garter toss....I have seen many weddings where the toss is a great laugh. I think now at weddings it is a great way to poke fun at the history of what the garter toss was and to just enjoy the laughter and moments that are created.



I am going to write about a story from my friends wedding. I am laughing while writing because the garter toss went all wrong...



Groom is all ready to take off the garter when someone suggests that he be blindfolded. Should still be a no brainer...but then it was suggested that they replace the bride with Grandma!! Why I have no idea!! Lets just say it went all wrong!!



I remember the groom stroking her leg as his hands were looking for the garter. Then the groom thought it would be cute to glide his hands over her hips and give her breasts a squeeze~did I say this went all wrong!!



This is a true story and I think that the blindfold should be done with caution and caution be taking if your wearing a blindfold!!



The history of the garter toss and the garter toss today is little different. Throwing the garter is derived from an old English custom called "flinging the stocking." Guests would invade the bridal chamber and steal the bride's stockings, then take turns flinging them. Whoever threw the one that landed on the groom's nose, would be the next to marry.



In France, throwing the garter became popular in the 14th century because it was considered lucky to get a piece of the brides attire. The stories go that the bride literally would get charged in hopes of a piece of her clothing for good luck. Brides then began to throw their garter and whoever caught it could expect good luck.



These days, the groom removes the garter -- generally worn at the mid-thigh level -- from her leg and tosses it to his bachelor pals. American tradition is to also place the garter on the leg of the single lady who caught the bouquet

Also the theory goes...both will be next to get hitched~not necessarily to each other.

Music and Photography...

This is part of the job that really isn't a job. I love to take pictures I love to listen to music. My friend and musician Lori Burke is going to be releasing her very own CD. She currently plays venues around Erie and Northwestern Pennsylvania. She also plays with a great band Tiger Maple String Band.

You can visit some of her music on Reverb Nation...link is attached below

http://www.reverbnation.com/#/main/global_search?q=Lori%20Burke&commit=GO

Please enjoy some of the pictures that we will be featuring on her CD cover. We were looking to have a country, earthy and natural look to the cover. We would love your feedback on the images you like best.

Again, visit Lori @ Reverb Nation and check out her up coming show scheduale.

Erie Wedding Experience

This blog is about what we can do in the down time on a long wedding day. Sometimes weddings are planned when the ceremony is about noon and the reception may not start until 5 or maybe 6pm into the evening. The planning may be determined based on what is avaliable for vendors or limited times to have the ceremony in a certain church. But either way as a photographer we love to have time to shoot and more is sometimes better...but when you have over 3 hours, and have been to three great shooting locations....it's time to just chill out and relax. Take a breath and enjoy the moment. Sometimes we will head to a picnic style spot, beach, park, or starbucks. One wedding party picked up Little Ceasers Pizza "Hot n' Ready"

The pictures in this blog are from Matt and Brianna's wedding. The ceremony was early, and the reception was not until 6pm.

After the church we headed to the park, then to the beach, then on a covered bridge location...everyone including myself were ready for a break.

Steak N Shake~ Everyone had a shake and a snack and had a chance to chat and it was memorable and we used these pictures in a spread of their wedding ablum and since, I have also got a lot of complements on the idea.

One thing to keep in mind: Most brides and groom do not carry a wallet...so photographers be prepared to pick up the tab. And it's a nice bonus to the service we provide as well.

As a guest to a wedding....do we like the short wedding ceremony/dinner/dancing all in a short span....or the entire day? Ceremony in the morning and Come back after a little siesta for dinner and a party?? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Location, Location....Africa, France, Moutain views

What does location have to do with it....

As a photographer with a lot of location experience I find that it has prepared me for any situation that can occur. But also sometimes the location is so fantastic that it is impossible to take a bad photo.

I am not just talking about weddings. I am talking about my photography workshops that I took in the South of France~impossible to take a bad photo. Or a blue sunny day on the top of Whistler mountain. Or travelling the back roads of Africa. Amazing views and culture and architecture surround me everywhere. So now as I am settled and shooting in Erie PA, sometimes you need to be able to see the views that others may not see.

In the future I will post a few other favorite images. I am currently working on a album from my 6 months in Africa. I have pulled a few to share that I had handy.