Seniors 2008

I'm back ... sort of ... haven't posted in a while ... been busy with work, family, and unexpected travel ...

This is my first year actually advertising for Seniors ... I photographed nine seniors this year - doubling what I've collectively shot over the past 7 years ... it was really fun ... see below:

Dr. J!

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Mr. Patterson's senior session went really well. We shot a few in the studio for mom and finished up outside. I really enjoyed this session because he was really into it ... not passive at all.

Ms. McLauren & Mr. Bennett

Aviance and Torey couldn't have picked a more beautiful day in Baton Rouge. We took a few in the studio first, but eventually went out and braved the mid-day sun to what turned out to be simply a gorgeous day. Out of coincidence my choice of locations was the same place that this couple met - Louisiana State University.

Down time ... not exactly

Albums, albums, albums ... I received a 'rush' of album orders right before and after the Christmas holidays. The albums are finally starting to come back from the vendors.

A lot of time and energy goes into album design. I normally ask the bride and groom to submit about 75 images for inclusion in their album ... that's the easy part. Putting those choices into a collection that flows, that's creative and unique, and one that faithfully illustrates their wedding day is the hard part. The better I've gotten, the slower I've gotten - it takes me anywhere from 15-20 hours to layout and finish an album. That equates to 2-3 weeks of scratching my head -- starting, stopping, re-doing, scrapping ideas, etc. Since this is such a large investment on my end, I have to make sure that I get it right the first time. Several of the demo albums that I have in the studio are ones with typos, flow issues ... things that I would not dare pass to my customers. Total design, print, and bind time varies. Depending on the type of album, vendor, and the season, expect up to 6 months. Also, if you order your album after your allotted time, you have to get in the 'album queue' ... your 6 months starts then.

For those of you who are interested in custom albums, here are my suggestions for a successful album:

• spread your images across the day - don't clump them all from one part of the day
• let those images be mostly about you and the your spouse - don't forget that it is your day
• keep the images as dynamic as possible - there's nothing wrong with the formal portraits in the album, but you want to keep things moving
• no yearbooks, scrapbooks, or memory books ... keep the number of images down - plan for 1-3 images per page average (30-page book = 90 images max)
• let your ideas for the album be known upfront, but at the same time let your photographer/designer be creative ... after all, it is his/her interpretation of the day
• the sooner your order your album after then wedding, the fresher it is on my mind ... that's a plus for me

A lot of photographers don't allow the couple to choose the images -- the photographer chooses. That would really make my life a lot easier, but allowing the couple to choose the images adds insurance that I won't choose the wrong images or miss the most important ones. What I like and what the couples likes can be two different things and I can respect that.

I will publish a link to a few of my demos shortly ...

Revisiting a bridal session - 2 years ago

While doing a little spring cleaning of files and folders, I ran across this bridal session ... thought it turned out pretty nice ...