I’ve held off sharing these festive family photographs until after the holidays as not to ruin any Christmas surprises. And sadly, now that December 25th has passed, it’s time to post them. The purpose of this year’s quick Christmas minis was to give clients a Christmas card worthy photo that also represented Southern Maryland. And I couldn’t think of anything that did that better than a red rustic barn!
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It’s The Bride’s Choice today! When I asked Laura to share her favorite image from her Swan Point wedding, she chose this one from the ceremony.
Here’s what she had to say about the photograph: “I love this photo because it captures all of the true emotion of the day — I said “I do” too early, and then started laughing as soon as I realized what had just happened! This photo is a great memory of all of the happiness and excitement of our wedding day, and of course the laughter that we always share together.”
To see more photos from Laura and Dave’s wedding, view their full blog post here.
(Note: I’ve paired Laura’s favorite image with a pretty detail shot to make it a horizontal image for the blog.)
I wrote and shared the article below on how to choose a wedding photographer earlier this year. Now that we’ve officially entered engagement season, I thought it would be helpful to revisit this topic for all the newly engaged brides-to-be!
Choosing a wedding photographer
Choosing a wedding photographer can be a difficult task! There are no do overs when it comes to your big day and the pictures so how can you ensure you pick the right person? A lot of times we’ll rely on our gut instinct and we’ll know immediately whether we like someone on a personal level. This is a great start for choosing your photographer. They’re going to be by your side for an entire day that just so happens to be one of the biggest of your life. Add to that the consultations, engagement session, and album design process, and you’re now talking about a relationship that could span up to two years. So trust your gut and if you like someone, they’re definitely worth considering!
But liking the person isn’t enough. You’ve also got to love their work. If you view their images and find yourself oohing and ahhing over each one, that’s a good sign. It’s even better if you can envision yourself in the photos. On the other hand, if you find yourself saying something like, “I like this image, but I’d change this…” then that’s a sign that you might not be a good fit for one another. Trust me when I say that you want to find someone whose style matches your own. It doesn’t really work to hire someone and ask them to change the way they shoot. You’ll both end up disappointed in the end.
As you’re reviewing someone’s work, ask to view an entire wedding that they have photographed. Portfolios and web sites are going to include only the best images. But to get a true picture (no pun intended!) of what your wedding day photos will look like, you’ll want to look at a wedding day from start to finish. Ask to see a wedding at your venue if they have one, or one that is similar. If you’re having your ceremony in a dimly lit church, then looking at photos from an outdoor ceremony isn’t going to be helpful. Look for consistent, well exposed images throughout the day.
If you’ve found someone that meets these criteria, you can feel confident in your decision to work with them and know that together you’ll create beautiful images!
For my oldest son’s first Christmas, like any new mom, I wanted to use his picture for our card. I’d picked out green and red ornaments for him to play with for our family Christmas photos, but all he wanted to do was eat them. When I finally decided to scrap the props altogether, he wouldn’t stop crying. Eventually I gave up.
Later that evening during bath time, he couldn’t stop laughing. I quickly put his button up dress shirt back on him with the bottom half of the shirt sitting in the bath water. I added a Santa hat, cropped in close and snapped away. To the unknowing Christmas card recipient that year, there was no evidence of a bath tub in the end result!
Fast forward five years and I’d like to think we’ve made progress, but our photo sessions aren’t without their hiccups. And they’ve become slightly more challenging as both my sister and I have added new little ones to the mix. For awhile there, our family grew at the rate of a baby a year, and one year there were even twins! Here’s a look at some of the fun that comes with trying to photograph these sweet kiddos all at once.
I have no idea what was so funny in the two pictures above, but we finally got it. Though I love the first takes as well!
They sure do love their Gramma, even if it looks like they’re trying to tackle her here!
And a big thank you to my friend Susan who took the picture on the left of my family for me and also recommended this scenic spot for photos!
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THE DETAILS