When I designed Liz and Austin’s wedding album, I originally left out a photo of Austin & his brother playing a board game. This is the scene I arrived to on their wedding day. I just wasn’t sure if it belonged in the album, though I had a feeling. Sure enough Liz came back and asked me to include it in, because it really showed who they are. I just thought it was so sweet.

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I photographed Liz & Austin’s wedding in Maryland last fall.  A few weeks later, Liz told me they were interested in having me design a wedding album.  We went over all the different types, and Liz choose my fine art book.  It’s a hard cover book with a full photo wrap.  The pages are thick but still paper, not mounted board, and the printing is top of the line inkjet, creating beautiful rich colors.  These books are great when you want lots of photos.  Liz & Austin’s book (I use album & book interchangeably) was almost 50 pages and truly tells the story of their wedding day.

Some photos of the book are below.  I will followup with a post of several of the photo spreads inside.

The cover is custom designed for each of these albums, using your wedding photos. Below, you can see how flat the pages lay, giving you a very large spread. This book is 9×12, so one spread can be filled with an 18×12 photo (or several smaller ones).

In the next photo is an example of seam in the middle binding.  If you look at the middle of the photo, you see a tiny line where the book folds.

You can see how substantial this book is. There is something special to me about a heavy wedding album. I just want it to have that certain feel.

I want to take a moment to give a few credits to everyone involved in putting together Rachel & Bill’s wedding.

Venue: Mclean Gardens

Cake: Fancy Cakes by Leslie

Band: The Mark Novak Band

Caterer: Washington Parties

Florist: Edge Flowers

Wedding Coordinator: Glow Weddings

Thanks to my friend and second photographer, Douglas Pettway, for all your help too!

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Shoes are pretty popular topic with wedding photographers, at least among the female photographers. What shoes do you wear? We have to have a pair that looks good with dressy pants or a skirt but that is comfortable enough to wear for 8-12 hours while lugging around heavy cameras, and sometimes traveling on diverse terrain. Yes, I’ve gone on hikes as part of the wedding day!

This photo is from a wedding in Oregon a few summers ago, with the bride & groom leading their entire bridal party down a trail.

Back when I did this wedding, I always had a few pair with me. I just couldn’t find the perfect one pair to get me through the entire day.

I have to say, I think I have found the shoes.

Merrell Wonder Glove

They look so much cuter on than in the photo! These shoes are from the new barefoot line, so not for everyone, but if you prefer a minimalist shoe these will get you through the day while looking nice with dresses and pants. My main shoes before these were Danskos, so you can imagine it’s quite the transition.

About a month ago, I was shopping at REI for new workout shoes and saw these. “Wedding shoes!” I exclaimed, getting a few odd looks. I tried them on and was in love. I had been researching the whole barefoot movement for running and fitness, so the idea of having a work shoe that fit into this really sounded great.

I started wearing them a little at a time, to get my feet used to being free. I’ve now worn them for two weddings, a military promotion ceremony, and a portrait. The first wedding was eight hours. I came home, started backing up my memory cards and ten minutes later realized that I forgot to take my shoes off! I used to kick my shoes off as soon as I got in my car, and slip on flip flops.

Yesterday’s wedding was a little longer, and more walking around while carrying my stuff, including some outdoors on brick pavement (which feels a bit odd at first). I woke up with sore muscles in my feet and calves but no blisters or pain. I always think of sore muscles as a good thing since it means I’m getting stronger!

During the portrait session, the shoes got really dirty from being on trails and trudging through overgrown fields. They were brown instead of black. I was a bit nervous. I took a damp washcloth and wiped them off all over. Good as new!

My hubby makes fun of me because I love shoes, but yet I prefer to be barefoot most of the time. These shoes I actually want to put on. I absolutely recommend them!

Should I do a First Look?

If you are traditional and have dreamed since you were a little girl of the moment your future husband sees you while entering the church, then stick with your dream, and don’t be pressured by anyone into doing a first look.

If you are still reading, I’m guessing you at least humoring the notion of doing a first look.  So I’ll just go right into the benefits.

1.  You will have more time for portraits.  When brides choose to do a first look, I start by spending 10 minutes just capturing your first moments together, on your wedding day.  Then we move on to couples portraits.  Next I’ll take portraits of each of you.  Then we can add in your wedding party.  It gives a lot more time for creativity and getting photographs in different settings.

2.  You will have more time with your family and friends.  After your ceremony, the only posed photos we will need to take are of your family groupings.  Depending on the size of your family and how many different groups you choose, we should be able to do this in 15-30 minutes.  This means you get go to cocktail hour!

3.  You will have more photos of his reaction to seeing you in your wedding dress for the first time.  I can discreetly be right next to you two during a first look, and capture all of his expressions.

4.  We can still make it special.  We can choose a location, and have him turn around just at the moment you approach.  Other times, I’ve had the bridal party stay in front of the bride and then clear for the groom to see her.  Most brides choose to have it be just you and him, for a special moment together.

5.  It can lead to a more relaxing day.  From less schedule stress, to having your nerves calmed by being together alone first, it seems doing a first look always puts couples in a more relaxed state of mind.

As I said though, if you don’t want to do a first look, then don’t.  For some brides, they want the traditional moment in the aisle, and I completely get that!

Here is a favorite of the bride approaching her soon to be husband.

We moved with 3 weeks notice, so I had no time to build relationships or my business here.  I arrived in January with nothing on my books and only knowing a handful of names of other photographers.  When I started to reach out, everyone volunteered information about what the business was like in the DC area, and really accepted me in, with any hesitation of new competition.

Thanks to shared referrals from other photographers, and lots of networking, I wrapped up my season this year, having shot 20 weddings in the DC area!  I’ve also made some great new friends, met wonderful couples, and gotten to see lots of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC wedding venues.

Below are some highlights from 2011.  A special thanks to the wedding photographers that invited me to photograph with them, Leo Druker, Heather Bee, Ayesha Ahmed, Stephen Gosling, Hadar Goren, Sam Hurd, Astrid, and Jen Smith!

Thanks to all my awesome clients as well!