WILL YOU MARRY ME? SAY CHEESE! (#3)

Here's #3 - (as told by photographer Mike Allebach)

I'm rarely ever nervous as a photographer. I can't remember the last time I felt nervous before a shoot but this past Friday I was nervous. Dan and I stood outside the Phoenix in Center City by Love Park waiting for Jackie to make her appearance. She had no clue what was about to take place.

Jackie came out of the Phoenix from a spa visit that Dan had secretly scheduled for her and she walked across 16th street towards Love Park. At the corner stood Dan smiling, knowing full well what the next 10 minutes would hold. I stood in the bushes, more nervous than Dan, snapping photos at machine gun speed playing paparazzi.

For more pictures of this surprise proposal check out Allebach

WILL YOU MARRY ME? SAY CHEESE! (#2)

Here's #2 - (as told by photographer Laurel McConnell)

Lets set the scene: Nick is an illustrator for a hot gaming company. Danni has a huge following on her design blog, Oh Hello Friend (it’s yummy, check it out!). They met at art school 4 years ago. His plan: surprise Danni with a flight from their sunny and “everyday-is-70-degree” Orange County home to the rainy “every-day-is-a-crap-shoot” Seattle getaway.

The other day, some pictures of a very special nature arrived in my inbox: I was to magically get these to appear on the back of my camera (you’ll see, just wait for it!).

Now, cue the actress, Seattle’s own Darrah Parker (wild applause emanates from the audience). At 1pm today, Darrah and I boarded a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and found ourselves snapping pictures of each other on the windy deck while crossing Puget Sound. Okay, Fib #1…. I was REALLY snapping pics of Danni and Nick, acting all cute-like in the background. Nick not only woke up his sleepy girlfriend from her short snooze on the relaxing ferry, but dragged her out to the violently blustery (um, understatement of the year) deck to watch the silly girls shooting pictures and take in the sea air. He gets an A+ for his mad setup skills- he kept pulling her into ideal spots for us to snag some shots no matter what her agenda was!

Nearly an hour later, we found ourselves in the gorgeous Bloedel Reserve, a historic, well kept, private park on the island. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I kept saying to Darrah, “What if he changed his mind and he’s not coming? What if they got lost in the 150 acres? What if we are at the WRONG “Waterfall Lookout By The Historic House?” Sure enough, here they come, meandering down the path. Seriously, Danni, could you walk any slower? Didn’t you know there were three people screaming silently in their minds with excitement with what was about to happen? Of course not. She was sightseeing and leading their self-guided tour, map in hand, having a grand ol’ time, mostly oblivious to Nick’s scheming.

Enter Darrah, stage left. Laurel wanders off to check her cell phone and “look busy with something else,” while actually getting into position. Mini-fib #2.

“Oh my gosh! Hey! Weren’t you the guys on the ferry?” chimes Darrah. Luckily, Danni totally remembered us as being the silly tourist girls on the deck getting blown over by the wind, and being all smiles, greeted us like old friends as Nick gave “The Look” to mean it’s “Go Time.”

“I saw you guys, and I took some really cute pictures of you. Wanna see?” Fib #3. Danni and Nick agree in unison. Nick reaches into his pocket. Here it comes. Darrah flips through some of the cute (stalker-like!) images we snuck of them on the ferry. Then she gets to the REAL images.

She turns around, and Nick is on his knee, holding the sweetest ring I ever saw, barely able to hold those four words in his mouth before they gushed out in the most beautiful sentence a girl ever wants to hear.

For more pictures of this surprise proposal check out Laurel McConnell

WILL YOU MARRY ME? SAY CHEESE! (#1)

We hire a photographer to take pictures of our wedding day, sometimes to take pre wedding pictures shortly after we're engaged. If we're a little more daring we secretly have boudoir pictures taken as a special surprise for our husband-to-be, and even trash the dresh when it's all said and done. But what about the proposal? The proposal is what started it all, so why let this moment slip by when you can capture it too on film and have it forever?

This is a trend growing in popularity that Viva la wedding can't get enough of which is why the next few posts will be dedicated to just that. Stories of surprise proposals with pictures taken by the photographers who were hired to shoot them.

Here's #1 - (as told by photographer Cheyenne Schultz)

Since Amy and Andrew, I've decided that shooting actual engagements is totally my favorite thing ever to shoot. I've been dying to post these. So, here's how it went down.

Back in August, web/graphic designer and aspiring photographer Andrew contacted me to let me know he was in the beginning stages of planning his proposal to his then girlfriend - Amy - and wanted to book a session to have it photographed. Over the course of the next couple months, we schemed up a great plan for this to happen.

Amy and Andrew are from Raleigh, so the first thing was getting them to Charlotte. Andrew worked it out to be in for a weekend to visit friends, which would be followed by an opportunity for Andrew to come shadow me photographing an engagement session on Monday morning (at least, that's what he told Amy). Once Monday morning rolled around, I picked up the phone to call Andrew and unfold the plan......Andrew relayed the message to Amy - the engaged couple for the session had cancelled on me because of the weather (lies......all LIES!!! :), but if they wanted, I could go ahead and just photograph the two of them, as Andrew would still be able to learn a lot being in front of the camera. Amy took the bait and the pair headed to meet me.

I started out the shoot like I would any shoot...but talked out loud at what/how I was shooting and why - just to keep Amy on the trail that this was a learning experience for Andrew. I had told Andrew beforehand what I was going to say that would be the cue for him to drop to his knee...... "One thing I'll do sometimes to encourage interaction is to have the couple face the opposite ways from each other and when I say "go", I'll have them turn around and run toward each other into a hug. So, let's go ahead and do that. Amy, go ahead and face that way, and Andrew, you face the other way."

Amy turned around, Andrew dropped to his knee, and my heart about stopped I was so dang excited! "Okay, GO! Turn around!" And this is what she saw. BEST. MOMENT. EVER.

For more pictures of this surprise proposal check out love the schultzes

A lighting toolbox "must have"...

In yesterdays video Scott Kelby he showed how to use a "Flag" to control the amount of light (negative fill) that came out of a softbox and lit his subject. If you didn't watch the video yet, you might want to view it here before moving on.

What I want to share with you today is an alternative that is less expensive, more versatile, and significantly more portable.

It's Cinefoil from Rosco.

Cinefoil is a heavy duty aluminum foil that is painted flat black on both sides that can used as a flag, barn doors, and more (come back tomorrow and we'll show you more).

It's not very expensive, a roll of 12" x 50' is $32 and a roll of 24" x 25' is $29, but because it is heavy duty a piece can last you a long time. The two pieces you see me use in the video below have been used over and over again. They are the only two pieces we have pulled of the roll since we bought it a couple months ago and they are standing up just fine to all the work we've put them through.

See you tomorrow with another use for Cinefoil, the "Duct Tape" of lighting.

If you are a subscriber then you know the drill, videos are not pushed through with your subscription so either return to the blog to see it or watch the video on our YouTube channel.

Please watch this Scott Kelby video...

There are a couple reasons I want you to watch this video.

First, because Scott always adds something to the "photography" conversation.

Second, because Scott's video will add to what we are going to post tomorrow.

Here's a link where you can learn about (and hopefully buy) Scott's DVD.

Projecting your photography sales...

When we reviewed our "product of the year" we committed to writing about how/what we incorporated into our practice to improved our studio for us and our clients.

The first thing we added/changed was projection viewing, bringing each of our clients back into the studio to see their images.

Before I get too into it let me say a couple things:

First, if you don't have a studio, or your client is not local, projection viewing obviously would not work. For our long distant clients we use the sales guidelines from "How to Sell" by Joyce Smith.

Second, projection sales is not high pressure, it is not hard sell. It is showing your work in the best, "real world" setting. You are walking your clients through the images you took at their session, answering questions, offering suggestions, helping them to make an informed decision.

This blog has provided me the opportunity to talk with some very successful photographers and they will freely admit that one of the keys to their success is in studio projection viewing and the software they use is ProSelect from Time Exposure.

If you were buying some new flooring would you make a purchase from picture on the internet or would you go to their sales room and see what the different options were, look at it life size right in front of you, ask some questions, and make the most informed decision possible.

Too many photographers throw their clients images into an online gallery and then forward them the link. Chances are you uploaded a boat load of images to give your client a good selection, and you sat back and waited for the sales to roll in, and you waited... and you kept waiting. Then wondered why no sales are made. I know because that is exactly what I used to do.

The client has so many image options but they don't have anyone to guide them through the decision making process, no one is there when they view them to answer questions. So the client is confused, frustrated, and often will order an 8 x 10 and call it good.

But if you are sitting with them as the images go by, you talk (and laugh) about the images, about the session, about them. You start to get a feel for what images they like (and why), and how they want to use them (cards, wall hanging, etc.).

The first time I used ProSelect (the 30 day free trial) we were showing an image as a 16 x 20 framed print hanging on a wall behind a couch and I asked what size they had originally thought of purchasing and they responded "8x10" so I reduced the image to an 8x10 and they looked at each other with furrowed brows and the wife said "well, that's too small!".

They bought the 16x20 and it also ended up being the single largest print order I have ever made.

One of the (many cool) features is the ability to import a picture of the clients room so they can see their image hanging on their wall.

When I shot the session it was at their home so I grabbed some room/wall images without letting them know what I was up to, it was pretty darn impressive when they saw their family portrait hanging over their own fireplace.

You can read what other photographers have to say about ProSelect here and please check out the feature list here because it is so much more than just presentation software and has so many more features (like how seamlessly it integrates with Photoshop and Lightroom).

Better yet, download a fully functional copy of ProSelect and use it for 30 days.

To make it even easier they have posted about 40 instructional/tutorial videos that will not only show you how to use the software, but also show you how do others are using it in their presentations.

I promise you, using ProSelect is going to make your clients happier and your studio more profitable.

A true win/win.

TIS' THE SEASON... TO GET ENGAGED!!

While many lucky girls found themselves spending the Christmas season (also known in the wedding industry as engagement season), eyes glued to the new rock on their finger and celebrating their newly acclaimed title of bride-to-be, engagement season is not over yet.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have both always been popular times for marriage proposals. Family and friends are usually gathered together providing the perfect opportunity to share the moment with them. New Years Eve of course is also a favourite. You're already in the celebratory mood and really, can you think of a better way to start off the New Year? But there's still one day left. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and completes the list of most popular days to get engaged!

Guys, are you ready to propose to that special little lady in your life but missed the boat over the holidays and are now hoping to redeem yourself on the 14th? Here are three reasons why Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to pop the question.

♥ Unlike Christmas and New Year’s, Valentine’s Day is an intimate holiday allowing couples the privacy to enjoy the moment alone together.
♥ It’s the most romantic day of the year.
♥ Most restaurants, hotels, spas, etc plan something special for Valentine’s Day so it’s guaranteed to be a great day/night.

Viva la wedding would like to send out an early Congratulations! to all the couples who will be celebrating their engagement this Valentine's Day.