Chicago Wedding Photography

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Questions are GOOD! The more questions you ask, the more involved you become, the more informed both you and your photographer are, the smoother the process will be.I love it when I get 'fussy' brides. It means that I know exactly what they want, they feel assured I know what they want - the more demanding the bride before the day, the better I like it!So here's my top ten questions to ask:1 - Will you adjust your style to suit what I want?Answer - within reason. Any professional photographer would rather pass a non-fitting client on to a more-suited colleague than try and be something they are not, just to keep a job. But flexibility is of course essential, too! Be sure before you meet that the photographer's style is what you are looking for - and if you change your mind whilst viewing more of their work, do not be afraid to say so. It saves everyone time!2 - What is your method of working on the day?Answer - there is no right answer to this, but your photographer should have a very clear and experienced idea of the layout of a wedding day, how they will cover each part, which parts they will control and which parts they will allow to flow around them. As long as they're not hesitating and fudging over what actually will happen, it is down to your judgement to decide whether their answer matches your wishes.3 - What is your back up plan?Ask for details - its easy to say 'oh, don't worry, I have it covered', but really, what will they do if they break their leg the day before your wedding? You need to believe they have genuine back up available. Working with other good local photographers also means they are respected professionally, which is a great testimonial in itself.

Whilst there's no denying the fact that the average wedding photographer will be a seasoned professional, and will therefore turn out a collection of highly polished, very well taken photographs, it's also true that the photographs taken at weddings tend to be somewhat predictable. In some ways it's a side effect of the traditionalism inherent in a big wedding. Almost every element of the day, from the service, through the decorations and onto the speeches given at the reception, will be arranged along lines which have been replicated a thousand times before in countless other weddings. The same is true of the photographs taken. Convention dictates that every wedding album should feature a familiar roster of shots - the bride and groom signing the register, the first dance, the bouquet being tossed, the cake being cut and so on. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, and if you're having a traditional wedding then the chances are that you have rather traditional tastes in general, but digital technology means that it is possible to create your wedding albums on your own terms, perhaps putting together a companion piece to the 'official' album which captures a quicker and more individual view of the day.It's almost certain that more or less every person who attends your wedding will spend the entire day taking photographs. The fact that you can now use a smart phone or tablet to capture images means that your guests won't even necessarily have to bring a camera with them. The upshot of this is that, at the end of the day, a huge selection of images will have been amassed. The advanced nature of the technology not only makes it easy to take these photographs, but it also means that the vast majority of the images captured will be of an extremely high standard. In the past, you might have merely glanced at these images when visiting friends and family, but now you can collect the best of them together between the covers of a bespoke hardback book, one which will be produced to the same glossy high standard as any wedding photo books ordered from a photographer's studio.Once you've gathered all of the images together you just have to select your favorites and then upload them to the website which you're using. Actually making the selection and choosing which images to leave out may prove tricky. The process might be simplified by imposing a theme upon your images. For example, you might wish to have them laid out in chronological order, progressing from the bride getting ready in the morning to the newlyweds driving away to their honeymoon. Alternatively, you might order it by subject matter, with a section for the bride and her bridesmaids, another for the groom, best men and page boys, a chapter dedicated to the action on the dance floor at the reception and so on. Once you've decided upon your format, actually designing the album is extremely simple. The software has been designed to be used by beginners, with the process broken down to a series of small, simple, logical steps. You're able to choose the size and shape of your book and the color, design and make-up of the front and back cover. Actually laying out the images on each page is a simple click and drag process, and the fact that you can add text, frames and backgrounds means that you can make your album utterly personal. Even if you're not a part of the happy couple, albums of this kind make wonderful wedding gifts or wonderfully touching items to create for a special anniversary. When you've finished having fun designing your book, it will be printed using the finest materials and state of the art techniques, meaning that it will be more than a match for the efforts of the professionals.

Lighting is often overlooked when discussing wedding decor. This is unfortunate because lighting can have a significant impact on the look and feel of your wedding for a relatively small investment. The proper lighting can transform an ordinary room into a stunning work of art. In addition to transforming the room, different types and colors of lighting can create different atmospheres and moods throughout the course of the evening.The first step in lighting for a wedding is to turn off any fluorescent lighting in the room; you are at a wedding, not in an office building! After the fluorescents are gone it is time to create your elegant lighting design using gobos, uplights, pin spots and intelligent lighting.GobosWhen using lighting as part of your wedding decor the first element you should consider is having your name in lights. Having your wedding monogram or names projected onto the dance floor or a backdrop has the biggest "wow" effect for the least expense. It is a very chic and glamorous decoration that will amaze your guests as they first walk into the room and it makes for great pictures.This is done through the use of a specialized lighting fixture and a gobo. A gobo is a special metal or glass disc that goes into the light fixture to produce the desired pattern wherever the light is projected. Gobos come in pre-made patterns or you can have one custom made for you with whatever artwork you would like. In addition to having your names projected gobos can be used to project patterns corresponding to your wedding theme onto the dance floor or the walls. Read more about gobos for your wedding here.UplightingThe second element in wedding lighting is usually uplighting. Uplighting consists of placing lighting fixtures around the perimeter of the room pointing up onto the walls or other architectural fixtures. The uplights create columns of light going up the wall and bathe the room in a beautiful glow. The uplights are color coordinated with your wedding color scheme to tie everything together. The amount of uplights required depends on the size of the room and the desired effect.There are two major categories of uplighting fixtures; Conventional par cans and LED. LED uplights are the newest technology and offer several advantages over traditional conventional fixtures.LED fixtures consume far less power than the old-fashioned par cans. Many times all of the uplights can be run off of a single electrical outlet which is very important in venues with limited power supply. Traditional uplighting fixtures can become hot and pose a risk to small children who like to touch the lights. LED lights remain cool to the touch throughout the entire event. LED lighting is often "intelligent" which means it can be programmed to produce millions of colors from a single unit and can be controlled to vary color, intensity, speed of color fade, etc throughout the course of the night to create different moods. This can create some truly dramatic effects as the walls of your venue change from one color to another as cocktails end and dinner begins and then again when the dancing starts. The downside to LED lighting is that it is often more expensive to rent as the lighting fixtures cost substantially more than traditional ones. Another drawback is that LED fixtures have trouble producing some colors well.

Wedding photography has gained popularity over the years due to the increased pressure on bride and grooms to host the perfect wedding. Wedding photography depends on perfect timing and having equipment that matches the needs of the couple.However, once you have gained enough experience in the field, you should start thinking about getting the best and latest equipment for wedding photography. If you start to carry out research and speak to different wedding photographers, you will realize that different individual prefer different brands and consequently, different lenses- depending on their style and mode of working.It goes without saying that if you want to excel in the field of wedding photography, it is essential that you purchase a good portrait lens. Portrait photography depends on the distance between the camera and the subject as well as the lens' focal length. It is of common knowledge that if you take a close up of the subject with the help of a lens with a wide angle, the subject will practically protrude out of the photograph and its surroundings will look miniature. Therefore, if you want to achieve this kind of an effect, it is recommended that you use a wide angle lens and shoot from a short distance. This concept is called foreshortening and is very popular among wedding photographers.However, in case the bride or the groom do not like close up and therefore, do not wish to see minute details of their faces- you cannot use these lenses. Therefore, it becomes necessary to involve the couple into your plans so that both the parties are happy in the end. You should explain how positioning the camera in a certain manner will add different angles to the photograph and make it look completely different.A study was carried out recently which compared photographs taken from different focal lengths. The verdict was that portraits with wide angle lenses added a softer character to the photographs whereas photographs that were taken from a distance gave the subject a harder look.While selecting the lens for wedding photography, you must first figure out whether you are on a budget or if you are willing to splurge on the best, that is, more than $1000 on a Canon lens. Even though these lenses are extremely popular, if you are on a budget, other lenses are made by Canon which are not as expensive. While choosing a lens for wedding photography, it is also important to figure out whether you will be using more than a single camera on the main day. Instead of wasting time changing lenses, a majority of wedding photographers carry two cameras.A number of wedding photographers also rely on fixed lens solutions. These have gained popularity over the years because the quality of the photographs is enhanced and there is no need for the photographer to add color to them with the help of editing systems like Photoshop. However, fixed lens solutions lead to other limitations and therefore, hamper the photographer's personal style. For those interested in these lenses, the 24mm F1.4 L, 85mm F1.2 L, and the 135 mm F2.0 L and the 50mm F1.2 L are recommended. However, one can also combine these for best results. Fixed lens solutions are generally popular amongst wedding photographers who have gained enough experience to develop a unique style.

John Wood Photography started in 2008 and quickly set up a website to advertise Wedding and Portrait Photographic services.  The only problem was that no one could find the site because it takes both time and money to rise in the Google Search Rankings.  This is a typical problem for all new websites and Google Ads is one quick solution to this problemSetting up a Google Ad account was easy and within a matter of hours people were clicking on the Google adverts and visiting the site.  Success, or so it appeared until the cost of the clicks was added up.  All sorts of people were clicking on the adverts and most of them had no intention of buying a service.  The advert had simply appeared at the top of the Google Search page and people had clicked on it.The solution was to refine the search criteria for the adverts.  So when a local town or county was entered in the search words then and only then would the advert appear.  This meant that only people who specifically wanted to find a photographer in the local area would see the advert. The other change was to stop the 'Content Network' adverts.  This option allows your adverts to appear in other sites such as eBay.  If someone searches for photographic equipment then the advert may appear on that page.  As the person was not looking for a photographer, it is very unlikely that they would pay for a photographic service and therefore paying for their click does not make sense.These two steps made a huge reduction in the number of impressions (ie the number of times the advert was shown) and also the number of clicks fell significantly, which reduced the costs.The number of clicks per day was then low and the cost of actually getting those clicks was as high as £2 each because of the high demand for those clicks - it seemed like every wedding photographer in the area was using the same key search words and we were simply trying to out-bidding each other to get the clicks.The competition for the County in the search phrase is much higher than the competition for the local towns.  So separating the county searches into their own campaign meant that they could have a higher maximum cost per click and all the town searches could have a lower maximum cost per click in their own campaign.  This reduced the average cost per click, which mean that there were more clicks per day for the same budget.The next step was to make the adverts more relevant to the searches.  By creating different adverts for each county or town, this gave the adverts a higher quality score and made them more likely to appear.  It also increased the likelihood of a potential customer clicking on them.  By using different ad variations it became obvious that if someone search for a specific town then they  were more likely to click on the adverts which mentioned that town.The subsequent step was to generate a lot of different key words.  There will not be many people using each of these phrases and so the competition for them and the cost per click is relatively low.  But the chances of your advert appearing are high.  These relatively unlikely key word phrases generate the cheapest clicks - you just need to have a lot of them.

Summer is a popular season for weddings. The ambiance of a hot afternoon followed by a balmy night is unmatched by any other season. If you are planning to become a summer bride, then make the most important day of your life one that not only you and your partner, but also everyone attending, will remember.To ensure that your wedding stands out from the rest, it's essential that is should be inspired by romantic tropical flowers and bold colours. All of your choices, right down to your wedding cufflinks, should tie in with a central theme that is determined before you start planning your nuptials.Frangipanis, hibiscus and a huge range of roses are all in bloom over the summer months. A theme focused on a flower can set a fun, simple yet beautiful tone for your wedding day. Alternatively, select a colour that is bright and energetic, evoking that vivacious vibe that only exists in the hot summer months. Be bold in your choice of colours and be inspired by cocktail colours like fuchsia, yellow, red and orange.With these tips in mind, let us take a look at the top cufflink choices for your Summer 2012/2013 wedding:Red and Yellow Silk KnotsThese will make a bold statement. Perfect for a couple that want to focus on tropical colours and create a carnival-like atmosphere with their theming and styling.Silver Square CufflinksThese design of cufflinks may look simple at first glance but don't be deceived! The high shine finish will reflect colour and light beautifully making these a perfect and versatile choice.Curved Barrel Cufflinks

There are still many traditional photography techniques that allow you to create special effects without the aid of computer software. In a previous article, I talked about panning, here's a tip for creating great photos with a zooming effect.Zooming is an old school technique that's easy to use and gives you interesting results in the right situations. For starters, you'll need an SLR and zoom lens of any focal length. You'll then need to sync your aperture with a very slow shutter speed, let's say one full second. If you're using a digital camera, make sure your exposure is on the money since over exposed digital files are very unforgiving.If you are indoors, choose a location or composition that has some ambient light or ceiling lights. Center your subject so the lights are off to the sides or top and bottom of the subject, otherwise, the light will bleed into the subject. When you press the shutter release, spin your lens zooming ring so that the frame zooms in or out. This will create an interesting lighting effect where the background lights create streaks shooting in or out of the frame. If the subject is centered properly, the light should not block or bleed into them. If the light is too low, use a strobe and rear curtain sync, if your camera has this function. The rear curtain, or shutter sync, allows the strobe to fire at the end of the shutter's exposure. This will ensure that the light and subject appear to move in their true direction.This technique helped me become a popular wedding photographer Chicago brides count on for great photos. You can apply the same technique if you're working as a corporate photographer who's trying to give a company's web page a fresh look. Regardless of your passion or field of photography, creative images will keep people interested in your work.

So, you are getting married? Congratulations, by the way. Have you called the wedding photographer yet? A photographer is one of the most important components of your wedding. It is a fact that wedding photography does not mean random pictures of the bride and groom. An excellent photographer will do his best to capture those shared looks, the warm laughter, the pulsating excitement and the unlimited fun. It is a popular belief that an able photographer is always prepared for unpredictable mishaps and can make just about any situation work. But the truth is that both the bride and groom, the wedding planner (if any) and the photographer need to co-operate with each other for making the photographs look stunningly beautiful.No one knows better than you how you want your wedding snaps to look. In this aspect the importance of posing may be discussed. Does it sound funny to you? Believe it or not, posing happens to be one of the most important aspects of wedding photography. A photographer may have the best lighting, camera, and post-production knowledge in the world but still get stuck with dissatisfied clients if he fails to make them look gorgeous, comfortable, and contented. For a few ideas you may take a look at the following list of poses. You can always improvise to suit your own style.Strike the basic pose in which the spouses are standing close to each other with no gaps between their bodies. Both of you can hold hands in the middle. Or the groom may place his hands in his pocket and the bride can place her hands on her hip.Another pose has the bride hugging onto the bicep of the groom with one hand. She places her other hand on his shoulder.Forehead to forehead without the kissing is considered to be an intimate pose too. Make sure to close your eyes so that it doesn't look like you two are staring each other down.Meeting in the middle is the ultimate cute and happy pose. The bride and groom should stand a few feet apart, bend at the hip with backs straight and meet in the middle for a kiss. The background plays a big role in the case of this pose.How can we forget the dip? This pose not only adds action to a scene but is the ultimate reflection of the 'sweeping off one's feet'. The groom should use his legs to dip to have a strong base. The bride should either grab around his neck or hold hands with him as they dip and kiss.Then there is, of course, the kiss. When you decide to strike this pose make sure you have closeness, proper hand placement and genuineness.The kiss on the cheek is also a classic pose. You can change your expressions to make the picture look either simple or funny or intimate. The groom holding the bride from behind is also a lovely pose.

Does the thought of your bridal dance make you a little queasy? Many couples are a bit uneasy about being in the spotlight alone with all their guests watching them at their wedding. Don't worry! There are things you can do to make yourselves more comfortable.First, pick a song that means something to you and your fiance. Usually, this is a slow song, though it doesn't have to be. If you really feel like you have two left feet, take some dance lessons. Ask your teacher to work out the simplest moves possible for your song, and then practice - a lot! It's essential that your moves become second nature, so you can keep it together when all eyes are upon you. Make sure your DJ or band will be playing the same arrangement of the song that you're practicing to, so there will be no unpleasant surprises that could spoil your carefully worked out choreography. If you have hired a band, and you're really concerned about how they will play your song, you might consider asking the band leader about the possibility of having it played on CD if it would make you feel more at ease.Most bridal dances last between three and four minutes, but you don't have to be alone for the whole song if you feel uncomfortable. You can dance by yourselves for a minute, and then your MC can bring your guests onto the floor to join you for the rest of the song. You can add all the guests at once, or add the parents, bridal party, and the rest of the guests in groups. This is often preferred by wedding planners, and it's a great way to get the party started!

"Viva Las Vegas!" sang Elvis Presley in 1964, as Lucky Jackson in his 1964 movie Viva Las Vegas. While the legendary singer/movie star may have moved on, there's no shortage of ordained Vegas ministers that look remarkably like him! Couples wanting to be married by the King himself have a variety of wedding options to choose from, including 12 complete packages all for under $299.1. $177 - "Love Me Tender Elvis Package" available from the Wee Kirk O' the Heather Wedding ChapelFor over 70 years, the Week Kirk O'the Heather Wedding Chapel has been marrying lovebirds in Las Vegas. Up to eight guests of your choice can watch as Elvis walks the bride down the aisle and performs two songs. The package also includes a CD with five candid photos (including the copyright), the use of a bouquet, music, witness and a souvenir wedding scroll.2. $185 - "Elvis Memories" Special available from The Elvis Wedding ChapelBoasting the "friendliest service, the best value, and the best "Elvis" in Vegas", the Elvis Wedding Chapel has been featured on "The Girls Next Door", "Wild Weddings", CNN, PBS, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other television shows. This wedding package includes limo transportation to and from your hotel, a fresh rose presentation for the Bride, two songs performed by Elvis and a DVD of the ceremony to capture the memory of your special "Elvis Vows".3. $199 - "Love Me Tender Elvis Wedding" available from Mon Bel Ami ChapelAlthough not available on Saturdays, this wedding package does offer great value to couples wanting to tie the knot in front of Elvis. Included in the price is your favorite Elvis Hit sung by the King himself, a long stem rose for the bride, a boutonniere for the groom and a complementary ceremony photograph with Elvis on a CD. In addition to Sunday through Friday availability, a maximum of ten guests are permitted.4. $199 - "Viva Las Vegas Elvis Wedding" available from Graceland ChapelBe serenaded by Elvis as he sings the famous "Love Me Tender" melody, and then dance away to the classic "Viva Las Vegas" theme song after exchanging your vows at the Graceland Chapel. A long stem rose and boutonniere are included in the package, as is professional photography (prints sold separately). In addition, not only will you leave with your own wedding license, but you'll get a copy of Elvis and Pricilla's too! English, Spanish and French ceremonies are available at Graceland Chapel.