…soon you will have answers!

As a wedding photographer, I am keenly aware of how people look. Especially how brides and grooms look (and feel) on their wedding day. A long time ago it became apparent to me that the more put-together the couple looks (the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, the perfect hair, etc) the more confident and beautiful they will feel, and with that, they will have the perfect day! So with that in mind -

Sara Lovell, a Rochester MUA/hair stylist has agreed to an interview with me in an effort to educate and help brides prepare and look gorgeous on their wedding day. Sara has a huge list of tips already, but we are still interested in getting more questions so that the interview can be more productive and more informative for you! So, ask away – and in two weeks, your questions will be answered! Use the Facebook comments tab, or the native blog comments, and please please please also share this with your friends/girlfriends/family/coworkers – we want A LOT of questions, so we can have a GREAT interview, so it can ultimately help you have the wedding day you always dreamed of!

I am still wayyyy behind in blogging weddings (I just got through August’s) but I couldn’t resist showing you a few images from Sarah’s Trash The Dress session we did not too long ago. I had a few crazy ideas (where crazy = awesome, obviously ) and Sarah stepped right up and volunteered to help me carry them out. I wanted crazy hair and crazy makeup, and being the amazing make up artist she is (hey Sarah, will you do my makeup for my wedding?!) we got some stunning photos. These were all shot in the final hour before sunset, I loved how saturated the colors became when the light reflected off her big white wedding dress.

Sarah would make a stunning silent movie star, don’tcha think? (left image processed with a B&W film filter)

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Sarah’s hubby provided shade, courtesy of my winter jacket (so high tech!) and then I filled in the shadows with a tiny bit of flash.

Yay for cowboy boots!

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Will I find similarly fabulous leafy locations in Orlando next year? Methinks not.  Sigh.

For all of you Black Friday shoppers who already had their fill of shoving and elbowing to get that perfect TV or electronic thingamajig or toy thingamabob, it’s time to relax and spend some time shopping online (that’s what I’m doing today!) It is also the perfect time to remember that your family would LOVE a print from your engagement, or even better, wedding day, for Christmas. With that in mind, I offer you: 40% OFF ALL ORDERS OVER $100. Just enter code “SMOOCHES” when you check out and VOILA, you’ve saved mega bucks! Oh, and I should also mention that shipping is only $0.01 when you spend $100, so add a few more items to your cart, also at 40% off, and enjoy the savings! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

* offer valid 11/25-11/28
* minimum purchase $100
* one coupon per order
* can be combined with any credit you have in your account

Wendy and Matt’s wedding blog post contest has ended! With 71 LIKES and 15 comments no less – THANKS! They have won $25 account credit for receiving over 50 likes. Unfortunately there is no comment winner this time around – but maybe next time!

Attention – wedding package structure changing on July 1st!!! So if you’ve inquired, met with, or are otherwise considering PhotoKisses for your wedding photography, you may want to book now to lock in current rates.

Carrie and Sean had a horse and carriage take them to their reception at the Irondequoit Country Club – and they looked better than Will and Kate!

This is something that has been a concern of mine in the past, and of other photographers I know as well. The issue of image credit has come up almost every time right after  I posted a new blog or a new images to Facebook. We photographers put a lot of work into our images and when we post it online for everyone to see it is like displaying the best of the best in our portfolio – so why do clients still think it’s OK to strip the image of any identifying marks (logos) when they repost it on their own social media sites?

Drew is an awesome wedding photographer down in Orange County couldn’t have said it any better, so here it is verbatim:

“I get asked a lot by both photographers and clients what my policy is on letting my clients post their images to their blogs and facebook account. I personally love it when my clients post their family pictures on their blogs, facebook, etc. It shows me that they truly love their images! I encourage my clients to “steal” their pictures from my blog to use on the internet. Here are a few do’s and don’ts that you should think about when reposting your images:

1) DO ask your photographer what their specific policy is on taking pictures off of their blogs. Some photographers encourage it and some don’t allow it. If this is important to you this is something you should ask BEFORE you hire your photographer!

2) DO include your photographer’s name and website under the images (a link would be super nice!). That’s just the polite thing to do

3) DON’T crop out their logo. Unless you have paid for the digital negatives don’t alter the files in anyway. Most photographers use their blogs to advertise their work and do so as a courtesy to give their clients a sneak peek. If a client crops out the logo then how will other people know who took the picture?

4) DON’T edit the picture in any way. Taking the pictures is only half of a photographers job. The other half is editing. If you think you can do a better job or want to edit out some of your wrinkles or use selective coloring please don’t show and/or tell your photographer. That is super insulting. If you don’t like your photographers editing enough to want to edit it yourself than maybe you need to find another photographer next year.

5) DON’T try to print from the files on the blog. For me specifically I know that the files I upload to my blog are too small to be printed in a 4×6 size. It’s not cool to invest in a family session and then print the images off of the blog and not pay for prints. Make sure you know how much the prints cost before the session to avoid sticker shock. Same goes for scanning prints that you already bought. Not cool! Some of my family members are guilty of printing images off of my blog. It makes me cringe when I see them FRAMED in their homes with my logo still on there! To be fair, I’m also not great at emailing them the file when they ask for it ”

Thanks Drew, I couldn’t have said it any better!

Please respect your photographer.

*Photographers, you can re-post this information, just as long as you give Drew credit. (http://www.drewbphotography.com/)

* If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at kristina [at] photokisses [dot] com

Happy holidays everyone! Hope you had a nice time with your families and friends.

I was bored today, because I decided to be sane and not go shopping – but I didn’t want to do any actual photo work. So, for one more day, I’m ignoring album and announcement design, and instead poking around the internet for yummy recipes and playing Bejewelled   However, because I *am* a photographer, and I *do* feel guilty about not doing anything photography-related, I decided to show you a TTD (except I call it Time After Time) session I did last fall with Naomi and Kyle at Letchworth State Park. Just a few images for your enjoyment, and no hard work involved on my part

Love the fall colors at Letchworth, and the painterly feel of this shot

My favorite shot of the day, taken on the steps at Woolf Creek

I was extremely proud of Naomi for going into freezing cold water (hello autumn in upstate New York!)

Wow, has it really been this long since I’ve posted a Time After Time session? Bad blogger! I know, I know, I teased and I said they would be up soon – but that was quite a few moons ago. Anyway, moving on. I present Cara and Nate’s Trash The Dress – or Time After Time session, as I call it.  This photoshoot took place in Martin, Kentucky in the heat of summer of 2008, the morning after their wedding.

Nate was a crazy theater major. This is exactly how I remember him from college.

My fave

There was nowhere to hide from the sun – so we embraced it.

I guess I shouldn’t have worn a skirt. It was pretty funny.

Love it! This shot was taken by my lovely assistant Samantha, and edited by me.

I just fell in love with the mountains and all the greenery.

Later, all Cara needed to do was wash the dress on a gentle cycle in the washer, and voila, clean as a whistle.

Oh, and did I tell you about the time when I was shooting in the lake? I was in rapid fire mode, focusing on the two lovebirds wading around in the water, when I slipped on treacherous rocks and dunked myself AND MY CAMERA in the water! Luckily, my instincts took over, and I managed to yank on the camera strap with one hand while hitting the rocks with my other, so only the grip of my precious 5D got dunked. I banged up my wrist pretty bad, but who cares about that? We took the grip off, dismantled all the batteries, put the CF card on the car hood, and in 10 minutes the sun had dried everything off. Eventually, I got bandaged up, we put the camera back together, and it was working! The second shutter on the grip obviously got water in it, because it kept firing and firingandfiringandfiring until I turned it off – but the main shutter and everything else worked just fine. No images were lost, either. Yay for happy endings!

I’m working on a bunch of weddings, my goal is to have the whole season (all 33 weddings) edited and ordered by Christmas. I only have 3 left, so I think I’m right on track. I will be posting more weddings on this blog in the weeks to come, but in the mean time, here’s a teaser from one of the Time After Time (aka Trash The Dress) sessions I did this year. I have the AWESOMEST couples!