what to wear for my session?? | arkansas portrait photographer
August 3, 2010 | Filed Under photography, tips | Leave a Comment
Just some handy ideas if you need some inspiration for our upcoming session!
dear brides… | little rock wedding photographer.
December 12, 2009 | Filed Under tips, weddings | Leave a Comment
This is why I LOVE first looks. J* explains it better than I ever could so go take a look at her blog and see what I mean. And if you don’t know what a first look is take at look at this.
hmmm, what do I wear?
November 28, 2009 | Filed Under children, couples, engagements, family, photography, portraits, seniors, tips | 1 Comment
I get this question a lot when clients are preparing for their photo session. I offer some suggestions on the faq section of my website but I thought it would be way more helpful to show you some pictures of what I mean.
Take a look:
this is awesome!
September 5, 2009 | Filed Under tips, weddings | 1 Comment
cake tips | arkansas wedding photographer.
July 5, 2009 | Filed Under tips, weddings | Leave a Comment
Found these tips here on Corey Ann Photography’s blog.
These tips are seriously helpful because as a wedding photographer I get asked this question a lot! How do we cut the cake?!
The one thing I see a lot of bride and grooms stumble with is the cake cutting. It’s definately not something you do every day and it’s not something you get to rehearse!!! So here are some tips on how to cut the cake and some cake ideas in general.
1. Cut immediately! One new trend I am seeing more this summer is couples are starting to cut the cake right after they make their grand entrance into the ballroom. I think this is a spectacular idea!!! The attention is already on you and everyone should be seated at this point so no one should miss the moment. Sometimes after dinner people leave or tend to get into the groove of visiting (and so does the bride and groom) and hate to be taken away from whatever they are involved in to do the cake. It also gives the caters time to cut the cake so that when its time for cake no one has to wait for it! Finally, if you have a fragile cake, it lessens the chance of a tumble from the cake getting too warm.
2. Remove all non-edibles! The current trends have cakes almost as dressed up as the brides! Make sure that all ribbons, jewels and any other pieces that are for decoration only are removed from the section of cake you intend to cut. I’ve had a few couples not remember this and it could have been scary!
3. Cut from the bottom layer! This makes the cake remain stable if it is a tiered cake and easier for you to get your slice of goodness out and ready to eat.
4. Cut in a V and remove with a server! Make cuts into the bottom layer in a small V and remove with the cake server. Grooms put your hand over your bride’s hand as she slices and dices.
5. Have a Plate AND fork(s) at the cake table! I don’t know about you but I hate having sticky fingers and oftentimes you won’t get the chance to wash your hands right after. Having a plate and a fork makes the moment sweeter and cleaner for you both (and lessens the chance for stains on your formal wear). If you can’t have a fork make sure that there is a damp napkin at the table.
6. Play nice! Even though I can’t say much since I didn’t play nice on my wedding day, it really does make for nicer pictures when you play nice. No matter what you do groomies, don’t take tips from that video on You Tube and make your bride do a header into the cake. You will pay for that for a lifetime!! 
7. Include the kids! If you have children and want to include them in some of the wedding day festivities this is a great family event!! Have the kids ‘help’ cut (help meaning placing their hands ABOVE an adult whom is cutting) and give them a bite as well.
8. Enjoy the cake! Don’t feel like you have to take one bite and run away. As a lover of cake, I fully condone you actually FINISHING your slice of heaven. This could very well be your only slice of cake and after all these months of researching the cake and taste testing, you better be able to remember how good it was. So savor the moment and feed each other more than one bite – it’s OK!
9. KISS! Finally, kiss after you eat the cake! Nothing is sweeter than a kiss from your sweetie with sugary goo on their lips! YUM! Oh…. it also makes a great photo op!
wedding photos|why do they take so long?!
December 13, 2008 | Filed Under photography, tips | Leave a Comment
Ever wonder why wedding photos take so long? Well Anne Ruthmann explains it all over her on her blog. Take a look here! She explains it all so well!
As for me, after a wedding I can come home with 1000-2000 images depending on the size and length of the wedding. I will then go thru all of the images and narrow it down to a few hundred to edit. I edit my faves first then I will usually post a sneak peek to my blog a couple of weeks after the wedding. All of the rest of the images are processed to make them look their absolute best. I prefer not to show clients any of my unedited work. That’s just my preference, not all photographers process this way. After all of the images have been edited I will resize them to post to my online viewing gallery a.k.a. my print shop. The turn around time for me is usually 4-6 weeks but can vary depending on other sessions or weddings that need to be finished.
Hope this helps!
just wanted to share.
October 30, 2008 | Filed Under photography, tips | Leave a Comment
When I was just starting out in photography I would spend hours and hours on the internet trying to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I still do that… But one of the few websites that has stuck with me and that I continue to visit is DPS. It has such a wealth of knowledge for both the beginner and professional. I get lots of emails asking me for advice and I often refer people to this blog. It’s great! So go check it out!
more wedding day tips.
September 26, 2008 | Filed Under photography, tips | Leave a Comment
More wedding day tips just for you!
Formals, Tips to Make Them Quick!
By: Corey Ann
One problem I seem to run into again and again is that formals are taking a lot longer than the bride and groom budgeted time for and it is leaving less FUN time to play with me outside of the church. Most of you have booked me for my photojournalistic approach to your day and not for the posed shots that your Mom and Dad had when they got married. So, when your time gets cut short and we can’t play as much, I feel that you haven’t got what you paid for from me and you are sad at the end of the day because you didn’t get as many pics as you had hoped. Keep in mind that I do everything I can to get through the formals and to our play time – but without help from the bride and groom I can’t always guarantee that we can do it without arriving later at your reception than planned. So below are some tips from me to make sure we get our time together!
1. Add 30 minutes at least to the time you THINK it will take for pictures! Most brides and grooms think an hour after the ceremony ends is sufficient time to take pictures. However, most fail to realize that even with a grand exit, people never leave as quickly from the ceremony venue as you think they will. People get to chatting with friends and families and time goes by and you are still waiting for them to leave. Also, if you are doing a recieving line, that takes a LOT longer than you expect it will. I don’t think I’ve had a bride yet turn to me and say “gosh that went quick!.” Same thing with the formals before the ceremony, someone is always running late, someone didn’t get the right tux etc. You will be thankful for that half hour buffer!
2. Know your bustle! Another huge time consumer is the bustle. Practice it in the store at least twice and practice it again the day before or the day of so things run smoothly. Have at least two people that know how to do it incase one person is too busy when you want bustled. You may think it isn’t such a big deal now but that is probably one of the biggest time munchers!
3. Let Family Know Who is in the Pictures! Make sure that everyone knows before the big day if they are wanted or expected for formal pictures and when they are needed. This includes the bridesmaids and groomsman. Make sure if it is before, that everyone knows what time they have to show up READY by and if after, that they need to stay and not leave with the crowds. Most often grandparents leave because they didn’t count themselves as “immediate family” and then you have a shot at the reception with them but it’s not quite the same. So make sure EVERYONE knows that they are wanted.
4. End Pre Ceremony Formals 30 Minutes Before Arrival Time! Another huge time sucker is when guests start to arrive as we are taking our formals before the ceremony starts. It’s a temptation to talk to you, congratulate you and then start wanting pictures with you, their family and their friends. I am more than willing to take them – but each one of those shots you hadn’t planned on because Aunt Betsy wasn’t supposed to be there until an hour later will eat into your time you had set aside for pictures with your friends. If you say yes to their request for a picture, I cannot say no.
5. Have a Plan of Action! Going along with number 3 – have a plan of action of the set up of pictures that you want. I do not accept shot lists (the ring, the ring in my hand, the ring in his hand, him picking up the ring type lists) but what I do like are the lists that let me know the groupings that you want. Me and the bridesmaids, me and my parents type list. This then lets me know ahead of time where we need to start and how things need to roll. I will come up with how to pose you, but if I am already able to know that I need your family and the family dog, I will be that much ahead of the game making things run that much smoother.
6. Just Me… I really hate to say this, but I’m going to have to say it. To ensure that not only your formal pictures go fast but that also they are quality shots I do need to ask that you ask your friends and family to hold back their urge to take pictures alongside of me. Not only does this take extra time from your formals by having to wait on up to 20 people to take their shot of the pose (no kidding, it’s happened many times to me and other photographer friends) but the other problem is that almost 100% of the time when there are other people taking pictures I do not have all eyes looking at me for the pose. I can tell everyone to look at me but naturally you are going to most likely look at your camera, your best friend etc. than me – a virtual stranger. If this request makes your friends and family upset, I do at least ask that they wait until I am finished taking my shot. When they are shooting at the same time I am, their flashes can ruin my shot when my flash goes off at the same time making everyone ghost people.
7. Start Big, Go Small. My main goal is to whittle down the people staying afterwards for formals by taking the largest group shots first and allowing those people to leave as I work through the group. This way your guests can head on to the reception and it is less people to slow down the process. So make sure everyone knows that they’ll be staying for shots but they will be free to leave as soon as they are over so to plan carpooling accordingly. My goal is to end with just the group going out and taking the fun shots afterwards so if the bridal party is going with, let them know that they will be last for the formals in the church.
8. Ask the Expert! When you are drawing up your timeline for the day, feel free to call me, shoot me an email or whatnot to ask me how long you think you will need for formals. It all depends on your bridal party and family size for what I would suggest. Typically I say 1 hour for formals, 30-45 minutes for the fun shots (again depending on what you want).
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope that maybe this helps your day run a bit smoother and enables you to have time to enjoy your husband and have some fun times with me!!
print tips.
September 17, 2008 | Filed Under photography, tips | Leave a Comment
It’s been awhile since I posted any photography tips on my blog. I came across this article and had to share.
By: Corey Ann
Oftentimes I will read on bridal forums and blogs that “I can get that printed off the disc at Wal Mart for 57 cents. I am not paying my photographer $20 for the same thing! That is a rip off!” What many people do not understand is that Wal Mart and a true photo lab are two entire different animals. You will get what you paid for when you bargain hunt with photo labs. Today I hope to help you understand WHY your photographer charges more for prints from a lab and why Wal Mart can’t compare.
Wal Mart, Snapfish and all those other ‘bargain’ type photo labs have their place in the world. For the prints from your Mom’s birthday, snapshots of your kids making silly faces and the like. Sometimes the image is just something that you don’t mind if it isn’t perfect – you just want a hard copy of a moment or a memory that is special to you. That is all perfectly fine. I’m not here to tell you that Wal Mart and the other photo sites are evil and you should never use them.
One problem with the bargain photo sites is that the colors are often not true to what your photographer intended them to be seen. I had a good friend of mine recently use Snapfish for some prints of a picture for her daughter’s 2nd birthday and they all came back orange. Snapfish did reprint them and the same thing occured. They told her that it was an error in her image file and refused to comp her for the costs. I had the images reprinted with my lab and the colors were true to what was seen on the monitor. This happens more often than I can tell you. It can be due to various reasons, most often that the printers have not been calibrated recently and/or correctly.
Another issue with the bargain photo sites is that the actual ink and paper used is not the same quality of ink and paper that you will find being used at the professional labs. It may sound like a lot of mumbo jumbo geek photo talk but basically the higher quality of ink and paper you have, the longer your colors will remain true and the longer the image will last. Pictures aren’t forever. I have some images that I had printed off at Kodak online that are already fading and it hasn’t been much more than a year. When it’s just a simple snapshot it’s not that big of a deal if the color fades but you want your wedding images to remain true a lot longer than a year – especially when they are going to be displayed where sunlight will hit them. Most photography labs also can add a UV coating that will help prevent fading even more and oftentimes that cost is built into the price of your print.
Another problem with most bargain labs is that they do not offer anything beyond the standard color print in either matte or glossy. Professional labs will not only offer color, but true black and white prints (there is a difference!), metallic prints, pearl prints and so forth but offer just as many finishes as well including luster which is hard to find at most bargain stores. Choosing the right type of paper for your image is almost as important as choosing the right frame for the image. Sometimes, your image can come to life with the perfect finish and paper.
Finally there is the attention to detail. A bargain lab is pretty much computer run and then put into an envelope and let go to the customer. With professional labs, there is someone checking everything every step of the way to ensure that your print is exactly how you ordered it and that it is perfect when it finally touches your hands.
I hope that this helps clear up why photographers do charge more than Wal Mart when it comes to printing. I promise you, you aren’t getting a Wal Mart print with the end cost jacked up – there is a higher cost involved when using professional labs but the end result is so worth it. Most labs do not print to the public, but I do highly reccomend http://www.mpix.com which is a professional lab that does allow the public to print. It is the only lab I reccomend to my brides whom are planning to self-print.
hey brides!
June 19, 2008 | Filed Under tips, weddings | Leave a Comment
I found a great blog post on wedding timelines by Anne Ruthman. Check it out here. Seriously, when planning your wedding the timeline is so important! You need to make sure you plan enough time for hair and makeup, portraits, etc. Take a few minutes to read it, great post!