Chicago Wedding Photography

The wedding date is set! Already, the excitement is building for your big day. You want awesome wedding pictures. But the challenge feels daunting. You know your family shutterbug Uncle Ned is not who you had in mind. Chances are you have never hired a photographer before. So where do you start? You know you want to interview the candidates, but what do you ask them? Here are 17 great questions to ask photographers before booking.1. Are you full-time? When did you start shooting full-time?The truth is most wedding photography operations are very fly by night. The photographers are doing their photography on a part-time basis with negligible photography experience. Do you believe your once-in-a-lifetime event should be on-the-job training for your photographer? I didn't think so. A full-time photographer has already made the considerable life-long investment of their energy, time and money to create a valued and trusted service. Your wedding memories deserve your photographer's 100 percent commitment not a 20 percent commitment.2. Why do you like to photograph weddings?This question helps you to gauge who your photographer is as a person and artist. Take stock of the person's passion and energy. Does he/she seem enthusiastic or kind of flat? People who love what they do have a tendency to be very good at what they do and working with them is always more enjoyable and fun.Also, knowing a little about what makes the person tick is a good way to feel out what kind of a personality "fit" you may share with the photographer. After all, you will be spending an entire day with your photographer, so do what you can to be sure the person you pick will be genuinely excited to be there and pleasant throughout that day.3. Will you be the actual photographer to shoot our wedding? If not, who?It's not uncommon for photographers and larger studios to have a network of shooters. If you learn the person you are talking to will not be the shooter then insist you talk to the person who will and also insist you see their personal portfolio.4. What kind of input can we have on the shots? i.e. subject matter, shotlists and ideas from other wedding shots we liked?

By capturing the memories of your wedding ceremony and the reception that follows, you will be able to relive them time and again through the years through pictures. Wedding photographers have traditionally played an important role in capturing the joy and emotions of this special day. Today, there is a new tradition in wedding photography, recording the event on video. Whether in Blue Ray, HD, or regular DVD format, videographers can keep these memories alive by memorializing your big day on video.This article explores some things to keep in mind when hiring a videographic expert, including why using a friend or family member isn't a good choice and how your video expert can work as a team with your wedding photographers.Choosing A Friend Or Family MemberWhile choosing a friend or family member to video your ceremony might be the only option if you're on a budget, a professional will usually provide you with a better video. A videographer uses high quality equipment and has the experience to understand vital components like multiple camera placements, getting the best sound quality, and editing a video into a treasured piece of memorabilia.A professional will also know how to stay out of the way of your wedding photographers so they don't end up in your final album. Additionally, if you choose a friend or family member, they cannot enjoy this special day with you because they will be working diligently to video the event.Make Sure You Can FilmMany venues have strict rules that do not allow for filming. Make sure you are allowed to film before you hire a videographic expert. In addition to getting permission from your ceremony location, get written permission from your rehearsal dinner and reception hall venues as well.Book Your Videographer EarlyThere are fewer professionals that specialize in videos than there are photography services. Most talented videographers stay booked for months in advance, so contract your professional early. This allows enough time for exploring a venue and planning the best location for cameras and equipment.

Choosing a venue for a fall wedding is an exercise in vision. A successful choice of locations for an autumn nuptial will reward the bride with memories and wedding photography that should make any bride proud.The standard, over-used, modern wedding venues such as hotel ballrooms and golf courses are fine for brides who want a wedding just like every other wedding they have attended in their life. But for the bride bold enough to plan a wedding that sits outside the traditional wedding season, same ol' same ol' is not enough. Rather, choose a location for your wedding which will pay dividends for you, your wedding photography, and your guests by rewarding you with a sweeping view of the beauty of the fall season.Fortunately, there are many ways to achieve such a lofty goal. If you live in or near the countryside some of my favorite fall wedding venue options are as follows:Orchard: An orchard brings built in leaf color opportunities. Create your own outdoor chapel with colorful trees providing the decor.Barn: One of the most memorable wedding venues I have ever seen was created with an old weathered barn as the starting point. The bridal party took long swaths of off white fabric and hung it from the rafters to transform the rustic structure into a tasteful cathedral. Of course you can dress it up or down from there.Add hay bales, gourds, pumpkins, and bushels of the fall harvest or dress it up with white chairs and silver accents. Either way, whether you leave the doors open so your guests can admire the changing colors of the season or wait to throw the doors open after the celebration a barn could make a great venue for your fall wedding.Countryside Lodge: Imagine your fall wedding in a lodge nestled in the hills (or better yet, mountains) with a glass wall revealing the grandeur of the season's colors. Enough said.Old Country Church: Long eschewed by modern society, these old structures offer character that you just can not find anywhere else - and by definition the location of many of them makes them an ideal backdrop for an autumn wedding.Vineyard: In many ways this offers the same opportunities as an orchard, except vineyards are often already equipped with venues designed to accommodate the general public.

If you're not proactive, the choice of wedding venues at the time when you need it most, may be limited. You may not realize it, but many places are reserved years in advance.If you're having difficulty finding the perfect indoor place, why not think about an outdoor location? Your special day can stand out as different and unique with the right outdoor choice.Benefit 1 - NatureThe first benefit of an outdoor location has to be the beauty of nature. There are so many terrific spots and themes you can choose from. How about a romantic and intimate beach setting to thrill and inspire your guests?Benefit 2 - SceneryOutdoor wedding venues have one great thing in common - superb scenery. What about getting married in a beautiful garden? Your photo shots will be the envy of all your friends.Benefit 3 - MoodAnother word for mood is ambiance and outdoor wedding venues have it. Make sure you plan for an evening wedding to commence just as the sun is setting. The use of lanterns, candles and a fantastic sunset will be sure to create an atmosphere of mood and magic. It's best to check ahead of time to know in which direction the sun will be setting in order to avoid blinding you or your guests.Benefit 4 - Cost

A professional wedding photographer sees many couples who feel their pets are more than just companions -- they are an integral part of a new family. They become just as important as any other family member. Unfortunately, our beloved fur and feathered friends are animals that don't always behave appropriately and can be downright unpredictable at times. This doesn't mean you have to leave your pet out of the day and out of the wedding photography. With a little preparation, the day can go smoothly and stress free for you and your pet.Get To Know Your PetJust like human beings, pets have different personalities and react differently in stressful situations. One of the most important things is to get to know your pet well before the ceremony to discover how he or she behaves in similar situations. One of the biggest things you will want to find out is how your pet acts in a large crowd. A common thing a wedding photographer sees is a pet that becomes so excited and distracted with all the people around that they don't listen well. This doesn't mean your friend can't attend the event. It just might be best to include him or her in the wedding photography rather than the ceremony itself.Most wedding photographer professionals say you need to be certain your friend is obedient and controllable. The animal should be able to follow basic commands, even in big crowds. Otherwise, he or she becomes excited, anxious, and pure chaos ensues. Find out how the pet behaves in front of the camera if you would like to include him or her in the wedding photography. While the wedding photographer tries to be as unobtrusive as possible, some pets get quite upset when the camera is lifted.Tips For Getting The Animal Through The EventLooking after a furry or feathered friend can add strain on the new couple who already have a long list of responsibilities and people they want to see at the wedding. A wedding photographer often recommends couples find a friend or family member that the animal is familiar with to care for it during the event. There is no need to worry about the pet and it gets the attention it needs. If your animal requires too much care, however, the pet is better off away from the event. You can include it during the preparations or at a small celebration afterwards.Remember that if the ceremony will take a long time, your pet may not be willing to sit or stay that long. In this case, a short appearance would be far better than requiring the animal to sit through the entire event. If you are worried about their behavior, have something they are familiar and comfortable with. Their little bed, a blanket, or a toy may be just what they need. Often times, they can be easily trained to go directly to this item and stay there while others may even do this on their own. As an added benefit, these make great props for wedding photography.If something unexpected does happen and you have a disaster, it is important to remember that things to happen. Sometimes, they aren't always that bad. Many times, a wedding photographer captures these moments and they become one of the best images in the album and one that is most cherished by the newlyweds. Whether you have a cat included in an east coast event or a dog for the wedding photography in Chicago, you can only prepare for the big day and hope that all goes well.

The wedding is generally one of the best important days in the lives of a couple. Photography is a greatest preparation and expenditure, which normally captures the memories of the day. The pictures are a great tactic to capture and record many features of the wedding.Most people and even professional wedding photographer use digital cameras. The resolution of the digital cameras is an essential part of the quality and results, which can be easily attained. The camera range should be from 1 to 20 mega pixel resolution. Moreover, a higher resolution mainly use for applications where huge pictures gives best results. A lower resolution camera always gives coarse look, which does not look good if you enlarge those pictures too much. If we talk about best wedding photographer then they normally takes short amount of time by clicking beautiful couple portraits on the wedding day. There are also some methods and techniques, which definitely improves your wedding photography. Best photography tips can surely give the professional edge in the wedding photographs. The simple and natural wedding photography tips are as follows:-Firstly, the wedding photographer should click pictures with the accessible light and without flash. It reaches a few goals like skin tone will look less shiny without flash and you can also capture a more real background color and light in your image without flash. After this, you should close speed to keep your photos sharp and severe. While capturing the picture, you should try using main and primary lenses, which really gives professional look in your every photograph. Afterwards, the wedding couple should be very comfortable and they should have natural smiling face and you can also tell them that they look good when they smile in front of each other.If we talk about more natural and beautiful photographs then photographer should look at frames, screens and reflections as well. Whatever from doorways like flowers, trees and mirrors creates great reflections and considerations for your subject and also gives more professional and natural feeling. The photographer should be creative with illumination and he should also look the outlines and shadows in front of windows or the sunset. The photographer should also look for sudden sides and perspectives while capturing wedding photography.Another significant wedding photography advice is the planning and arrangement of shots or poses. The photographer should use high quality camera through which they can easily set up the special shots in all poses. A natural and beautiful wedding photography can be easily done by professional photographer because they have great deal of experience in this area and they can also attain best results in wedding photography.

A pretty difficult subject for people to get their head around being a wedding photographer is the simple question of being paid. You see many wedding photographers do it for the love of the art not for the money. This means that they probably don't have an airtight contract or terms and conditions to start with which means they have no way to ensuring they get paid other than withholding photographs from a wedding.This post is more for photographers than couples; but if you're a couple reading this then read on. It may just answer some questions as to why I or any other wedding photographer does what they do!ReceiptsFirst off make sure that you give a receipt to everyone that gives you money whether that be cash or cheque. If you're using PayPal you can sort of get around this, but I have started just e-mailing couples to say the payment has gone through anywayYou need receipts to check what has been paid and when and also I presume your accountant will want to look at these come tax time!I use a cheap and cheerful receipt book from Staples. It even has that really old-fashioned blue 'carbon' paper in it!!ContractsNext up and the most important item is the contract. Go seek some legal advice and get one drawn up that covers you top to bottom, head to foot. I'm not saying people will deliberately try to shaft you (well, OK I am - some people are just like that.) but a contract tells the world and you clients that you are a professional and you mean business. It's telling them that whilst you love you work you also want to be treated like a professional not some part-timer doing weddings for pocket-money. (And don't get me started on that just yet.)Include in your contract areas for the couple to complete names, address, telephone numbers, wedding date, wedding venue etc. Make them fill it in. It is their wedding so it is their responsibility to get it right.

Photographing The BrideYour wedding photography technique will improve dramatically if you pay particular attention throughout the day to the Brides appearance. She is the most important person in your photographs. Before firing the shutter always check that she is looking her best. Pay specific attention to the stance of the Bride. She should be posed by asking her to stand at a slight angle to the camera. The foot nearest to the camera should be extended forward three or four inches towards the camera with the knee slightly bent. Now ask her to transfer her weight to the foot farthest away from the camera.Her head should be turned towards the camera and tilted slightly. Avoid straight limbs, for example arms and wrists should always suggest a gentle curving, almost flowing movement.Flowing LinesWhen you are composing a full-length portrait of the bride, make sure that you position the bouquet where you would a fig leaf! When you place the bouquet in this position the arms will look more graceful.Ensure a gentle curvature of the elbows. If you allow the bride to hold the bouquet higher than this, you cover the detail in the waistline and body of the dress, and you put harsh angles into the arms. Not graceful or pleasing to the eye. The most important single thing to remember when photographing women at any event is that they must look graceful.Also remember to keep the bride at a slight angle to the camera, never directly face on. Approximately 30 degrees is flattering. You can get away with less of an angle with thinner brides.Elevate her index finger slightly above the others for a graceful hand and be sure to show the side or edge of the hand and not the palm or back of the hand. When photographing the bride and groom together, or the bride with any male, angle the shoulders so that the male is wider to the camera than the bride. The last thing you want to do is make the bride look bigger than the groom.Tilting the HeadHead tilts are another important subject when photographing the bride. Your goal is always flatter the subject to the best of your ability. There are two basic head tilts, masculine and feminine. Masculine head tilts place the head leaning down toward the front of the body while feminine head tilts have the head tilting down over the shoulder toward the back of the person. Feminine head tilts look best on thinner brides.The Heavier BrideIf you are photographing a heavier bride try to avoid any shots in sitting positions, they always look better standing.

There are so many ways to say thank you to your guests and it can be difficult to choose which one is best for your guests. With that in mind we have come up with a list of favorite sayings and ideas for your wedding Koozies!1. 'Thanks for Coming!' Some wedding Koozies can be personalized with the name of the recipient what better way to say 'Thanks for Coming' than to add their name on the Koozie too! It makes the Koozie just a little extra special and can serve as a neat place name.2. 'To have and to hold... and to keep your beer cold.' The classic saying and deservedly so! Other variations include 'keep your drink cold' or 'keep your bourbon cold'. Some Koozie manufacturers may let you split orders for no extra cost if you know exactly who is drinking which drink, just let them know how many you'd like of each across your wedding Koozie order total.3. 'I drank all the beer at... ' is another favourite light-hearted saying. Other variations include: 'I propped up the bar at... ', 'I maxed the tab at... ', 'I drank for America at... '4. 'I stole this Koozie from... ' Variations of this popular phrase include 'pinched this Koozie' and 'borrowed this Koozie'.5. 'Eat, drink and be married!' is a classic saying that works really well in lots of circumstances.6. 'I found please return this person to... ' A great way to make sure your guests do not get lost on your special day!7. 'I helped demolish the cake at... ' Other variations include ate, polished off and scoffed the cake!8. 'I went to [Bride and Groom's Wedding] and all I got was this damn Koozie!' If this phrase works on countless T-shirts and hats from tourist hotspots all over the world it must be sure to work on your wedding Koozies too.

Your wedding is one of those events in your life that may only happen once. You would want to remember that day until you are old. The best way to do this is to capture the moments in photographs. While videography is becoming more common, nothing beats the power of still photographs. You can compile the best images into one album with the help of a professional photographer.Putting together an album is not as simple as tossing and shuffling photographs. You have to look into some qualities so it will become the perfect remembrance.StyleYour photo album should be in line with the motif of your special day. Consistency is key when designing wedding paraphernalia. Just like you and your partner, everything should match so they will work well together. A well suited photo album is good on the eyes. It sets up the same atmosphere as your happiest day captured by your wedding photographer during the ceremony and reception. How you design your album reflects the emotions you felt during those moments.Story TellingWhen you are older and your grand kids ask you to tell them about your love story, the best way to narrate it is through pictures. The photos should tell a story instead of just presenting beautiful images. It may tell them how you first met until you reached the altar and had your first child. You can reminisce your most special day with your grand kids with all the memories still fresh through the photos. You can tell them about something funny that happened during the cutting of the cake. Make them laugh about how you and your spouse could not even dance well to the most romantic tune of the time.The arrangement of photographs should be easy to follow. Not all photos may have the best quality when they were taken, but it is the story inside them that matters. You never know, the photographer may have snapped a trivial detail on a rather candid photo. Do not simply throw away some photos you think were half-blurred or out of focus. Put sections in the album and treat it like a book with progressing chapters. All these will be easy and possible by the help of your wedding photographer.DurabilitySay, 200 years down the line, people from the future found your album. While some pictures may no longer be clear, the album should be enough to summarise your love story. Use materials that are resistant to easy wear and tear. There are different methods on how you can preserve printed photos. Do your own research and place your photos carefully in an album that can let it age gracefully. Storage is also a factor so keep your album away from moisture or heat that can cause the photos to melt.