Mid-Century Circus Party

Hello blog readers!  I have a special treat for you this morning: photos from a mid-century circus-themed birthday party.  Adm's sister-in-law, Jennye, and her friend Karen are creating a book on how to throw mid-century themed parties.  It's going to be filled with lots of ideas on how to entertain with a vintage flair, but with modern conveniences.  Each chapter will have a different themed party.  To pitch the book, we're creating a few chapters, and the first one out is the Circus Birthday Party.  About a month ago, they threw an amazing party that I photographed.  There were so many fun details - everything from the food to the attire and games to the decorations were completely in line with the theme.  The best part too was that all of the kids had a super time and everything about the party was easy to re-create and affordable.  Based on this party alone, I can guarantee this book is going to be AMAZING!

Introducing: The High Five Factory

My friend April lives across the street, and she is by far one of the most creative people I know.  I've solicited her help on quite a number of wedding related projects - most recently, she helped me make the backdrop and animal faces for Liz and Darren's photo booth (see below):

While we were crafting, we started thinking that we should make custom backdrops, props and themed photo booth kits and sell them as creative, one-of-a-kind options for couples.  There seems to be a lack of unique photo booth accessories out there so we decided to start with a few trial ideas.  We're currently selling items and accepting custom orders as The High Five Factory on our Etsy site.  We're still just getting started, and we have LOTS more fun ideas in the works so check back often for new items and ideas.

Here are our first set of backdrops, and we are happy to create backdrops with custom colors/fabric:  from upper left, going clockwise, I give you:  Into the Jungle, Rainbow Brite, The Nautical, and (our personal fave) The Carlton

We recommend using a backdrop stand (this is the one I have), but you could always hang the backdrops on a sturdy clothesline.

So, check us out!  You know you want to.  : )

Including Pets in Your Wedding

One of my favorite parts about Katie and James' wedding was that they included both their dog, Ember, and James' parents' dog, Cabo, in all of their wedding festivities.  As a dog lover and all around animal person, I loved having those two at the wedding, and I completely understand how most pets quickly attain family member status.  Personally, we love our little Kiki so much that we try to take her with us wherever we go, but as dog owners, we also understand the importance of planning ahead when taking our pup on excursions.  It is no different when you want to include them in your wedding, and so I thought I'd write out some of the things you'll want to think about if you plan to include your dog(s) at your wedding.  I'm gearing this specifically for dogs, but most of the advice can apply to other animals.

First things first:  Cover the basics.

1.  Have you cleared your dog's presence with your venue?  Not all of the beautiful places that have weddings want to risk their furniture, floors and gardens.

2.  Are all of your vendors on board with having your pets around?  Just think, what if your officiant had an allergy-attack in the middle of your vows?

3.  Who will clean up after your pet?  No guest wants to step in dog poop at a wedding.  Also, who will be in charge of feeding your pet and giving them water?

4.  Will chewing be a problem?  You know if your dog is likely to nibble on your beautiful wedding touches.

Next (and most importantly), think about the impact your wedding will have on your pup.  Is having your pet at the wedding something that your pet will enjoy or is it really just to make you and your fiance happy?

5.  Will the music be too loud for your dog?  Dogs' ears are far more sensitive than ours and a bass-heavy dance party could damage their ears.

6.  Will your summer wedding be too hot for your pet?  Some dogs cannot be out in the heat for long periods of time.

7.  Will your wedding overstimulate your dog?  Our Kiki is a high-strung dog who gets easily excited.  Too many new people might scare your pet and make them defensive and reactive.

Once you've made sure that having your pet at the wedding is both doable and the best decision for everyone involved, then you can start thinking about how to incorporate your dog into the wedding.  Here are some ideas:

1.  Portraits!  We love including dogs in the portraits.  Unless your pup is super well-trained, you may want to add a little more time for the portrait portion since photographing animals can be a little more finicky.

2.  Well-trained dogs can make great ring bearers.

3.  Your dog might make a great addition to the receiving line.  Who doesn't love a good puppy handshake?

4.  If your dog is small enough, you might be able to carry them in lieu of a bouquet.

5.  Maybe your dog is extra friendly with children and so he'll/she'll be lots of fun for the wee ones to play with.

However you choose to include your pets in your wedding, remember to make it as easy for them as possible.  One last tip: we recommend that you give your dog a long walk or a run before the wedding so that they'll be calm and ready to be compliant during the ceremony.

Dressing for Engagement Sessions

I'm also a big fan of including props that are either fun and playful or meaningful for you as a couple.  One of the first engagement sessions that Adm and I did was with Judith and Tom, and it was an absolute blast because they asked us to photograph their session as the story of country mouse meeting city mouse, which is how they felt their relationship came about.  We brought all kinds of fun props including a loaf of bread and a big straw hat for Tom to wear as the country mouse.  Even if you don't want to go that far, including something simple like a bouquet of flowers or balloons can add a sweet element to your photos.

We're also big animal lovers and so anytime our couples ask to include their pets in a few photos, we're always on board!

So, there you have it.  Remember, there's no such thing as getting too dressed up or in poor Tom's case, dressing down too much.

Family Portraits at Weddings

One of the best things about weddings is that they're events that bring people from all different spheres of your life together.  Your immediate family, aunts, uncles and cousins, friends from your childhood, college friends, co-workers...  The only other event that draws people out of the woodworks like this are funerals, and c'mon, weddings are way more fun than funerals.  Because this is a rare occasion where everyone comes together, we understand that the group family and friend photos are a really important part of your wedding photography.  Many potential clients ask if we do this, and the answer is a big resounding "YES!"  Yes, we are documentary photographers and so we don't pose anything other than the portrait portion, but of course we know you have to have these group photos and so we are happy to take them.  We just don't showcase them in our portfolio because we want to emphasize the documentary side of our style.  On that note, I wanted to breakdown how we go about doing the group photos.

One month before each wedding, I always check in with my couples to tie up loose ends, and this includes asking them to send me a portrait shot list with all of the different group combinations of people.  Depending on how we've scheduled their day, I give them limits on the number of different combinations.  For example, if they have 15 minutes before the ceremony for small individual family photos (the bride with her mom, bride with her sister), I know I can do about 8-10 different combinations so I let them know that.  On the other hand, if they have 30 minutes after the ceremony for larger group photos, I'll let them know that I can do about 15 different combinations.  When possible, I try to have my clients restrict their group photo session to about 30 minutes because I've discovered that after that, guests get antsy and want to start partying.

By asking for a portrait shot list ahead of time, my couples have time to figure out their exact combinations, let significant family members review their choices and add their input, and the best part is, they don't have to think about it on their wedding day.  They don't have to wonder if they're missing someone, if they are getting all of the right combinations....  They can just leave all of the coordinating and positioning to Adm and me.  Working off of a list helps to organize my job which makes things go smoothly and efficiently.  Once I've received the portrait list (about a week before the wedding), I look it over and reorganize it so that I start with the older and disabled people (if there are any), and then I start with the largest group combinations.  This way, I can eliminate people as I go along which is much easier than tracking people down.  With my trusty list and trusting clients who can sip on champagne and snack on appetizers in between coordinating moments of their group photos, we manage to make the group portrait session flow quickly and painlessly.

As for the actual taking of the group pictures, I always try to keep them simple and natural.  Whenever possible, I use solid backdrops such as lots of greenery or a clean wall.  Other times, if there's a cool tree around I might use that to frame my groups.  The farther I bring my subjects away from the backdrop, the more the backdrop just blurs to a neutral color.  My thinking behind this is that with group photos, you want the people and their faces to be the center of the frame and so you don't need a busy backdrop competing with all of the faces in the photos.  I often suggest doing the photos outside, and when it's sunny out, I always put the sun behind my subjects.  This not only provides nice backlight, but it also ensure that my subjects are not squinting into the sun and making strange faces.

Of course, there are times (oh, let's say, high noon) when I can't get that perfect backlight, and so in that situation, I try to look for areas with open shade.  When that's not available either or if my clients have a particular backdrop they want to use but that makes them look all shadowy, then I have to pop in a little bit of flash to even out the shadows on their faces.

Often, when my couples get married in a church, they want to do photos up by the altar.  Nine times out of 10 when this is the case, we have to light the photos, which again is really easy to do.  Adm usually sets up the lights while I'm coordinating the first few shots.

While I'm taking the group photos, Adm is there to help in all different ways.  He's another set of eyes that watches for things like sunglasses, drinks in hand, purses, kleenexes...  He's there to take these things away which help clean up the photos a bit.  He also sets up my next combination so that people can easily move in and move out so we're not losing a lot of time in between taking pictures.  With all of this on his plate, Adm still manages to look around him and take some candid photos of people who are waiting in the wings.  Here are some of my favorites that Adm has made behind my back while I'm taking the more formal photos:

So, there you have it.  That's our breakdown of how we do the family photos.  The only other thing I might add is that for large group pictures, we often go in Photoshop during the post-processing and will replace faces if we have to.  Someone with their eyes closed or their mouth mid-speech in a group photo will kill the rest of the picture.  Thanks to the motor drive in digital cameras these days we can fire off a lot of frames very quickly so that we are sure to have at least one good face for everyone in the photo.  I hope this post is helpful for current brides and grooms and maybe some photographers out there as well.