Vignetting Photography is family- and religion- centered and works to preserve God's Love through photographs of your special occasion.
Photography focusing on love, family and God's Grace.
Summer if officially
upon us all. This summer my family decided to take a quiet vacation down to
Daufuskie Island in South Carolina. It is about a 45 minute ferry ride off of
the main land. The island is in the Hilton Head South Carolina area. The peacefulness
of the island was much greater than the entire family expected. Even with a
full day of rain during our vacation there were no worries. While my family and
I enjoyed the freedom and calm of the island the outside world was on pause. We
experience nothing but peace.
Enclosed are a
couple of photos from our vacation.
The following photos are from a our final night on the island. While walking on the beach, we had witnessed two volunteers from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Marine Turtle Conservation Program rescue and release the following Loggerhead Turtles into the ocean. It was certainly a sight to witness.
I would like to say thank you for visiting. We still have wedding dates and also family portraits dates available. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need our help.
Today we received a
beautiful review (visit our WeddingWire
account to see more) from a wedding couple that we supported last month. Within
their review, they highlighted a couple of things that helped their wedding
ceremony become a success. We would like to expand on their comments and
provide some additional information to help future wedding couples understand
our process. The main purpose of our process is to define all parties
assumptions and expectations. Then determine how we can work together in making
the entire wedding ceremony run smoothly.
The Interview
The Interview can be
conducted over the phone and/or in person. Here is where we discuss details
about your wedding ceremony and how we can support. We ask specific questions
like time, place and color schemes. We also talk about your thoughts on the venue.
We want to know what you remember about the venue. This way we know things
that you found interesting and possibly us as part of the photographs.
But the one part I
love to discuss is the "Dating Game" portion. We really want to know
how the couple met and proposed. The key is why? How did you know he/she were
the one? We want to know your story. This also helps know what your likes and dislikes.
The questions are to help us get to know you as a couple. Also if the interview
is in person, we show samples of our work and what we offer for both products
and services.
One month prior to
your wedding ceremony
We sit down together
and talk about things that have changed and/or adjusted since our previous
meeting. We talk and refine our expectations and assumptions of your wedding
day. Furthermore, we discuss and establish timelines of the wedding day and
portrait shot list. Additionally, we discuss the point of contacts for all
involved for your wedding day.
Timeline
When creating a
timeline with Vignetting Photography it helps to plan the steps needed to
prepare for your important wedding day shoot.
No two wedding plans are the same.
The purpose of the timeline is to help establish when and where things
would be taking place. The timeline is only a plan and would possibly change
due to unforeseen events. But it helps establish a form of communication for
all.
The shot lists
We request that we
are allocated 60 minutes for wedding portraits. To be able to meet our wedding
couple needs we establish who and where the wedding portraits would be taken
place. Additionally, we talk about any special relationships that we should be aware
of. To make sure we include them in our shot plan. On the day of the wedding,
we provide a list to a designated person, to gather the appropriate people to
the wedding portrait location.
The contact list
This is a list of
vendors and phone numbers. This is to help everyone be able to contact someone
in case of emergency. Plus by combining the contact information to one
centralized location, it helps establish that everyone has the same
information.
Rehearsal
Communication
between both couple and Vignetting Photography continues as needed until
rehearsal. One of the things we love to support is the rehearsal. Vignetting
Photography goal in attending the rehearsal is establishing and finalizing
several key items:
2. Begin to establish a relationship with
everyone
a. Many people don't like taking
photos, this allows them to get familiar with us.
3. Evaluate the venue, portrait location
and first look location (if applicable)
4. Finalize timeline
a. Evaluate any potential changes
5. Evaluate if getting ready time and/or
locations have changed
6. Establish/finalize contact information
These are just some
of the things we attempt to do during the rehearsal.
The wedding day can
feel like you are on hyper speed throughout the day. You have spent many months
if not years trying to plan for your beautiful day. Our goal is to help
minimize any stress and help provide clarity. Use our experience in making your
day successful. It is OK to rely on your vendors for information. If we don't
know, we will try to find a source that can help. You certainly don't have to
go into your wedding ceremony alone. That is why we are here.
The photos and video
presented are from Alyssa and Peter's wedding held at Grand Pequot Tower in
CT. Wedding dates are still available.
Contact us for your wedding, family, senior and/or event needs. Until next time.
Feel like a star for a day! You've never looked better than you do right now. Glowing in Love! Shouldn't this be captured? Engagement sessions are a very special time dedicated to creating some very unique, theme-oriented, romantic images of the two of you without the time restraints of your wedding day. It is your moment to shine and have fun.
For most couples, the engagement photo is their first professional photography shoot, together. It provides an opportunity to work with us prior to the big day. Your engagement photograph is important because it tells the story of your love and commitment to each other. Your engagement photo session is usually taken at a place that has a special significance.
Place you where you have met
Where you become engaged
Doing your favorite activity
Your favorite restaurant
A romantic beach sunset.
Engagement photographs are traditionally published in the local newspapers of the couple's hometown and the hometown of their parents if it is different. The use of the engagement photos as part of the "Save the Date" or "Thank You Card" is increasing in popularity, and some couples send wallet-sized engagement images to family and close friends.
Helpful tips -
When you make the decision to get married, your engagement portrait will announce your love to the world.
Bring an alternative outfit with you
Wear dressy casual clothes that you feel comfortable with
The main rule that you want to keep in mind as you begin to plan your outfits is this. It is OK to complement and coordinate. You can choose to do natural color with a few pops of colors or a softer palette that has different ranges in tones of the same shade. But you can also have fun, by wearing similar and/or rival sports team jerseys.
Bring along some props for a few fun or sentimental shots
Don’t be afraid to layer your clothing as this can add dimension to your clothing. This can be a belt, scarf, cardigan, etc.
Accessories can pull together an outfit and make it look complete. Plus, by switching up accessories and layer, you can get multiple looks without having told complete outfit changes. They can also be something fun for the person to interact with in the photos.
Add dimension and interest by mixing up the texture of the clothing materials and accents. This is especially important for the black and white images to give interest to the eye.
Hair and makeup -
Ladies – use this as an opportunity to pamper yourself by getting your hair styled and makeup done before the session. Makeup should be natural but slightly heavier than normal. Any waxing should be done 3-5 days before your session.
Men – Don’t get your hair cut the day before a session. Instead, plan to have it done a week before. Don’t have a hot shave done the day of your session (or wedding day) if you have not done it before. It can cause skin redness and irritation.
Be yourself, relax and let your personalities shine!
We still have engagement sessions and wedding dates available, please contact us so that we can support your engagement or wedding ceremony needs.
Every year, Vignetting Photography revisits our wedding packages. We try to give the best value for our clients. From time to time, we get feedback from many of you about our packages. One of the feedback we recently received was that a client felt stuck having to only purchase a specific set of prints, based on the package being offered. Even though we continue to offer a la cart options, it was difficult for our clients to see how they can switch and change a package to their liking. It had become a little difficult for them to understand the price difference.
Over the last couple of days, we have been in the back shed trying to figure out how to truly help our clients. We offer so many different products that we could not easily add them to one specific package. Thus we decided to change our package structure.
We are extremely happy to introduce our new package structure in the form of Store Credit. Each package will now have a cash value store credit associated with it. This will allow our clients to mix and match until you reach the maximum value store credit.
For example, our New Grace Package - 8 hours of service, a second photographer (full time), 4 locations, will now have a credit of $500 Print/HI-RES JPEG print. Store Credit
As the client, you can do whatever you wish with the $500 credit.
You can mix and match such as:
Option 1
One Photo Album ($275) and about 159 - 4x6 prints (Tax, Shipping &Handling included)
Option 2
250 - 4x6 prints, 50- 5x7 prints, and 4-8x10 prints (Tax, shipping & handling included)
Option 3
153 - Hi -RES JPEG Files (each file at $3.25) NOW OFFERING FREE HI-RESOLUTION JPEG DOWNLOAD OF ALL OF PHOTOS (1 TIME DOWNLOAD ONLY) AS PART OF ALL WEDDING PACKAGES
The combination could be endless. We want our clients to have fun and enjoy their moments in time. But we certainly don't want them to feel trapped. We are so excited with the new approach. Below is the summary of the new approach.
Family Package - 6 hrs - $330 Store Credit Print/HI-RES JPEG Credit
Love Package - 4 hrs - $200 Store Credit Print/HI-RES JPEG Credit
Small Love Package - 2.5 hr - $75 Store Credit Print/HI-RES JPEG Credit
The new packages and prices have been updated on our website, and we have officially gone live today. We service Massachusetts and Connecticut. We also offer Destination weddings upon request, additionally, charges may apply.
Vignetting Photography is really excited for this summer. In the coming months, we will be introducing Alyssa & Peter in June and then in August Jacqueline & Jereme into the Vignetting Photography family. We also still have Wedding dates available, so don't hesitate to contact us.
One of the hardest
things for a photographer, at least from my point of view, is getting a
beautiful image for the clients to love. I can become my worst enemy when
evaluating photos. I want an image to tell a story. Why are we looking at this
image, what am I feeling from looking at this image? What memories does it
possibly bring back? But most importantly, I want an image to be remembered for
its beauty and/or moment.
Memories… One of the
things I strive for is to give my clients as many wonderful shots as possible
so that they can remember their day. Growing up my father was the family
photographer and had shoe boxes filled with photos. There were hundreds if not
thousands of photos of our family and friends. Sadly, lacking the modern
technology such as the cloud, most, if not all of those photos are lost
forever. Thus, allowing my clients to remember as much as possible from their
day.
Looking back on my
younger days, it was widely accepted for photos to be blurry, over exposed,
under exposed, incorrect white balance, grainy and/or with mom's head cut out
of the photo. Interesting enough, those photos were widely accepted and framed,
at least in our house. The one-hour
photos labs would just print what was within the film. Some would attempt to
lighten and/or darken where needed, but it wasn't as easy as today. Times have
certainly changed.
Same as yesterday,
today we, continue to find that the most difficult thing photographers have to
encounter is equipment failure. The client is expecting beautiful images that
can be shared within social media. Personally, I love the feel and quality of the
photo paper between my fingers. It reminds me of the time when I was a kid
looking through the boxes of family photos. But, equipment failure can truly
ruin your day. I remember being a guest at a wedding and the photographer
forgot to install film during the ceremony. It was not realized until after the
bride and groom kissed. They had to redo the entire ceremony so that they can
get the shot. Luckily, today's camera's having warning indicators if the memory
stick is not installed. However, data corruption is our biggest concern. Knock
on wood, I have not experienced this, but it can happen.
With modern
technology, saving photos from being over exposed, under exposed, white balance
off, noise, grain, and/or pimple removal has become much easier with software
like Photoshop and Lightroom. Photoshop has certainly made the photography
industry easier. But there are still techniques that need more than just
Photoshop to save a photo. Such as positioning of camera, flash or composition
of your photo. Sometimes I would look at
a photo and think, "I wish I moved to this angle, this would have looked a
lot better."
Yes, you can take a
photo that is possibly too dark and lighten it up in Photoshop. But then the
photo can become too grainy and not as sharp as you may want. Blurry photos can
make or break how people view your work. Yes, blurring a photo is a technique
that many like to use, but usually, it's an attempt to vignette or focus onto
the subject that is usually sharp within the image.
So, what do you do
when you walk into a facility that is dark. Where the walls and ceiling would
absorb the light instead of reflecting it. You pray for a miracle. But, you
create a plan to address this type of scenario.
Recently, I was
shooting at a beautiful venue, The Red Barn in Hampshire College in Amherst,
Ma. The wood was beautiful, with a wonderful texture (you are seeing some of
those shots here). The venue had streamed small lights overhead to provide a
nice warm feel. But the walls and ceiling were light eaters. I was forced to
install a secondary off camera flash that would help fill light onto the
subjects properly. I also had a flash on my camera. It was an extremely
difficult task of getting the shot to initially focus. The room was extremely
dark. From time to time, the camera having a difficult time picking up on an
object to focus.
The added difficulty
of the night was also attributed to some equipment failure. During family
portraits, one of the flashes had stopped transmitting and was causing a delay.
The flash had become faulty and needed to be replaced. Luckily, I had a backup flash
and was able to get back on track without the clients realizing the issue.
Additionally, the
battery pack cable was destroyed. Let's just say, "my dog ate my
homework." I also had one camera
have issues with the connection between the lens. Thus, I was not getting clean
photos from that camera. I was able to grab my backup camera.
With all of the
issues that I was experiencing, the key was keeping the cool during the day. I
look at it like this, if I am stressed, then the bridal party is stressed, and
the day becomes a long unpleasant day for everyone. Plus, if bridal party is
stress, it will come through in the photos. I certainly don't want to be
remembered as the photographer that mess up their wedding. So I really try to
avoid those type of situations. Basically, I have created a "What
if?" scenario backup plan for most situations. By doing this, it helps
with keeping things in order.
The point to all of
this - create a Plan B for everything. For example, if it rains or is too cold
outside, where will the ceremony and/or portraits conducted at? Such as you
should having a backup plan for your wedding, a photographer should have a backup
plan for equipment failure. Remember, anything could happen.
I hope you enjoyed
this month's entry. You have been viewing Nicky and Ryan's wedding ceremony
that was captured on March 4, 2017. The enclosed link will take you to their
wedding slideshow that was created within YouTube.
What is next for
Vignetting Photography - On March 30, 2017 - we will be sponsoring the
Margarita Madness 2017 event that the Amherst Chamber of Commerce is putting
together. It will be hosted at The Hadley Farm Meeting House in Hadley Ma. We
will be having a booth and also take photos of the event. Below is a link for
you to get more information. Hope to see you there…
This month is
considered to be the month that we celebrate Love. Technically it's actually
one day within this month, known as Valentine's Day. The "day" to
celebrate Love? One day of the year? As you can see, I am having a little
difficulty accepting the phrase "day". The issue that I have, is that
Love should be expressed more than one day of the year. I mean, our journey
together has started many moons ago, which is certainly more than one day.
Actually, my love for you has spanned greater than 8 years and still counting.
Yes, throughout our
journey we have experienced our share of ups and downs, but who has not. I just
know that at the end of each day, regardless of our struggle and/or
celebration, the following words are always expressed, "I Love You."
It never fails, after uttering the words, we always embrace. Unless we are over
the phone, but when I say the words, "I Love You," it is my way of
expressing my affection and personal attachment to you. It is my way of saying,
"I am here with you, by your side, no matter the situation."
Just like the words
of Matthew Henry -
“The woman was made
of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him,
nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal
with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."
I feel that the Lord
has given us a pair of hands, pair of legs, a pair of eyes, and even a pair of
ears, but he/she provided one heart… I feel that we go through life searching
for our matching heart so that we can complete the match heart set. When we first met, I instantly knew that we
were a match. I had felt an extra
heartbeat that felt like an instantaneous heart attack. It was a pound that hit
so hard that my toe and fingertips had felt the sensation of the pulse. It was
as if my heart knew that we were a matching set. Thank god that I was able to
recover. I have to admit, I was extremely nervous and I was lost for
words.
As I write this, I
ponder if you know how Valentine's Day even began. There are many different
stories of how it started, but the one that I find most interesting is of Saint
Valentine of Terni story. Like any other holiday, of course, Valentine's Day started with a
tragedy.
In the year 269 AD,
Saint Valentine of Terni was sentenced to be beaten, stoned and finally
decapitated because he was conducting marriages for soldiers secretly. The
Emperor Claudius II or also known as Claudius Gothicus was a Roman emperor of
268 - 270 AD that had mandated that soldiers were not allowed to marry.
Claudius believed that an unmarried man made for a better soldier. His basic
thinking was that a married soldier would be afraid of his and/or families life
if tragedy struck, thus weaken his/her drive to win a battle.
Polygamy was allowed
and permitted during that time. But soldiers continued to be attracted to
Christian faith of being with one person. The church had continued to believe
that marriage was sacred between a single couple rather than multiple. Saint
Valentine, had secretly performed the marriage ceremonies to willing soldiers
despite the emperor's edict. Valentine
was eventually captured and tortured for performing the marriage ceremonies
against the command of Emperor Claudius II. Valentine's final letter to
Asterius daughter was signed "from your Valentine." Because of
Valentine's sacrifice, he has become known as patron saint of lovers.
St. Valentine's
devotion and dedication had sparked into a trillion dollar industry. But in
truth, the day allows many to remember the true meaning of those within our
lives. With you by my side, I am the strongest man alive. I don't need Valentine's day to remind me of
my love towards you. But what I do cherish most of all, is that I can express
my love to only you with no concern of any retribution from an Emperor.
