Apr
20

Pros and Cons of Grand Exits

Long gone are the days of leaving your wedding reception and people throwing rice at you.  In 1985, a Connecticut state legislator introduced a bill to outlaw the long-standing tradition of throwing rice at a newlywed couple. The rice was originally meant to symbolize rain.  Rain on your wedding day is said to be a sign of prosperity, fertility and good fortune.

[Tweet “Pros and Cons of Grand Exits”]

After the bill was introduced, rumors began to spread that the rice harmed birds who would swoop down to eat it after the wedding guests had left. The rumors were even repeated by Ann Landers in her advice column. Even though many ornithologists argued against the rumor, it wasn’t until 2002 that the University of Kentucky actually put the matter to test. Professor Krupa conducted an experiment which found that birds who ate uncooked rice suffered no ill-effects or death.

However, churches still do not allow rice to be thrown at their newly-wedded couples—mostly due to the mess it creates. So couples have started traditions of using other materials for their grand exits.

Pros and Cons of Grand Exits

In this blog post, I will discuss the pros and cons of some of the more popular materials used during wedding grand exits.

pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits

Cons of a Rice Exit

  • Not allowed at many churches and venues
  • Hard to clean up
  • If after dark, flash must be used
  • May interfere with camera’s focusing system when thrown in front of the bride and groom
  • The rice may create a slippery surface to walk on

Pros of a Rice Exit

  • Very traditional and symbolic
  • Photographs well
  • Not harmful to wildlife
pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits

Cons of a Sparkler Exit

  • They are dangerous
  • They can burn your guests, especially children
  • They can start your dress and your venue property on fire
  • Some venues do not allow them because of the liability issue
  • They have been known to blind people (photographer, bride)
  • You have to have a way to dispose of them properly immediately after the exit
  • You have to have very long sparklers in order for them to burn long enough for the images
  • They leave a trail of smoke which can make your images look hazy

Pros of a Sparkler Exit

  • They do create beautiful images
  • The sparklers provide ambient light
  • If the photographer uses a slow enough shutter speed, be sparkles will be blurred and create a further photographic effect
  • The images can be captured without flash in the dark
pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits

Cons of a Bubble Exit

  • The bubbles do not provide any ambient light for the photographs
  • You are at the mercy of the quality of the bubble soap
  • Your guests are busy blowing bubbles and do not get to watch your exit
  • Your photographer has to be familiar with off-camera flash since the only way you will see them is by a reflection of light
  • They may blow in front of your face and disrupt your image or the camera’s focus
  • You need a lot of people to blow bubbles

Pros of a Bubble Exit

  • There is no real danger involved
  • They also provide beautiful images if there are enough
  • The guests have a small treat to take home, the children seem to like this
pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits-sparkler-exit

Cons of Glow Sticks

  • You are mostly limited to neon colors
  • Unless your wedding theme was something involving a nightclub or the 70s, the aesthetic really does not match
  • Your guests need a few minutes to activate the glow sticks, usually more time is needed than sparklers

Pros of Glow Sticks

  • They do provide ambient light
  • There is no mess to clean up
  • They can be waived around and moved into different shapes
pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits-sparkler-exit

Cons of Confetti

  • Someone has a huge mess to clean up
  • You have the same obstacle of the confetti blowing in front of your face and creating a focusing issue for the camera
  • Confetti does not provide ambient light
  • Not good for wildlife

Pros of Confetti

  • You can choose literally any color to match your wedding’s theme
pros-and-cons-of-grand-exits-sparkler-exit-4S2_5507

By far the most popular method of having a grand exit right now is by using sparklers, but here are some alternative ideas for your grand exit. Make yours unique!

Some Alternatives to Standard Exits

  • Paper airplanes
  • Leaf confetti (handcrafted, hole-punched from actual leaves and then dried)
  • Bird seed
  • Streamers
  • Ribbon wands
  • Dried lavender or any other herb
  • Cap guns
  • Oatmeal
  • Flower petals

Whatever medium you decide to use in your grand exit, be sure to discuss with both your venue owner and your photographer.  Neither wants to be surprised with something unexpected on your wedding night and your photographer needs to be prepared. This means moving lights ahead of time from inside the reception hall to outside where the exit will take place and placing them in the best place for light cast and fall off.

The post, Pros and Cons of Grand Exits, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Apr
19

Oaks at Heavenly Wedding

I had the pleasure of shooting this wedding as a second photographer with Sara Griffin Photography. I’ve actually done quite a bit of second shooting with her over the last several months. It’s a lot of fun to fill in the gaps of my schedule helping out other photographers.  Second shooting is a lot of fun because not only do I get to help out a colleague, there is a lot less pressure, I get to experiment quite a bit more during the wedding day and it helps to keep my skills keen and practiced. Plus I get to meet lots of great couples! Today, I’m going to specifically address this couple’s creative session on the wedding day.

If it seems like I haven’t blogged in forever, it’s because I haven’t blogged in forever! I shot this wedding late last year, but it seems like only yesterday that I witnessed this beautiful wedding at the Oaks at Heavenly between Kelli and Jay. And, there was a bonus. I ran into Emily–a model of mine from earlier in the summer that helped me capture some extremely epic images of her in her prom dress in a gorgeous backlit cotton field.

wedding day romantic images

Couple’s Creative Session

Today, I’m only going to post images from the couple’s creative session that happened immediately after their ceremony. I recently had a bride comment to me that she was so glad I had talked her into adding this into her timeline after their ceremony. She admitted that those images were her favorite, by far, from the entire day.  It is images like these, that you will end up hanging on the walls of your home.

b&g romantics

It’s very important that your wedding day photographer help you to create a timeline that will maximize your time with them to create spectacular images and capture all the great memories of the day. This is vitally important even when you have hired a very knowledgeable wedding planner. Often times when the photographer is left out of the timeline creation, we are forced into impossible situations, and more often than not, set up for failure.  We are left having to take only safe shots and not having any time to exercise our creativity–which is, most of the time, why you hired us in the very first place.

couples creative session on the wedding day

Giving me time in your wedding day to capture those safe shots and then experiment with my creativity allows me to do things like double exposures, play with reflections, search for frames within frames (and other compositional layers), and identify unique patterns of light. Allowing me this extra time sets your wedding day images apart from all other wedding day images which were captured during a limited and basic timeline.

couples creative session

Second shooting allows me a bit of flexibility in being creative. While the primary photographer is securing all the safe shots, I can get creative and look for clever and imaginative shots.

I’ll be sure to make a compilation blog post about these creative shots in the very near future.

Here are some more of my favorite images from the bride and groom’s wedding day creative session—not necessarily very creative, but beautiful nonetheless.

Let’s “hangout!” I wanna hear about your love story!

Schedule a virtual or in-person discovery meetup!
For more options, visit my “Let’s Connect” page.

About Ata-Girl

I am a San Antonio-based wedding photographer and I cater to outdoor-loving couples who prefer to have all the realness captured on their wedding days. I am the wedding photographer for the outdoor adventurers, the romantics, the laid back, the snugglers, and those who wish to capture all their realness.

I am absolutely in love with capturing the kinds of weddings where there are more hugs than handshakes, the dance floor rumbles all night long, and chairs are pretty much rendered useless after dinner. Whiskey bottles are passed around, most of the wedding party has been best-best friends since kindergarten, Grams is likely to lose her shoes and your partner is much more emotional than you are. These kinds of weddings are my jam!

You can always call or text, but if you really want to get to know me, schedule a meetup!

I started Ata-Girl Photography Co., LLC in 2010. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. I enjoy documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I love being a part of people’s journeys and consider myself privileged to document their legacies.

If you enjoyed this blog post and would like to get your hands on 20 FREE interactive wedding planning tools that every couple needs, please take a moment to access them here.

I am a published author (purchase my book here), a podcast host (listen here) (watch here) and a WPPI-C certified professional, full-time wedding photographer. I specialize in a 10-day image delivery, same-day prints, same-day slideshows, Italian handcrafted wedding albums and I have a mobile meeting space.

When I’m not behind my camera, you can find me hiking, cycling, backpacking, camping, enjoying water sports, listening to music (Elvis and Prince), hunting for arrowheads, reading audiobooks, occasionally eating a few glazed donuts (my only weakness to sweets) and then re-starting my keto diet about every 10 days. The most important things in life are for me to see my two daughters happy and to create a family history my grandparents and grandson would be proud of.

The post, The Oaks at Heavenly Wedding, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Sep
27

How to be a Bridechilla

I recently heard the term, “bridechilla.” It was new to me. I have heard the term “bridezilla” many times. Everyone knows exactly was a bridezilla is. Thankfully, I’ve never had to deal with a bridezilla. Nope, not once! And believe me, I am counting my lucky stars because I have heard some absolute horror stories from colleagues in the industry. Some bridezilla stories were so bad they caused the photographer to just quit the business. Yes, someone was so horrible to work with they actually caused another person to give up their career because they didn’t want to ever repeat that experience. So, I wanted to know more about this bridechilla. I was delighted to learn this new term. 

[Tweet “How to be a Bridechilla”]

A bridechilla is a bride that remains calm, cool, and collected during her entire wedding experience. Bridechillas never use phrases such as “my day, the most important day of my life, don’t ruin my day, etc.” A bridechilla is not defined by her wedding. This is the standard for the new bride.

It’s every bride’s dream to be remembered as a beautiful, graceful and courteous woman on their wedding day. Yes, this day is YOUR day and this day is all about YOU. However, that doesn’t give you free reign to be a Jezebel when something doesn’t go exactly as you have planned it. The day isn’t about getting your way, being a princess or being bossy. There are sensible ways to deal every shortcoming that “may” happen on your wedding day. If you feel you are just completely incapable of reacting to minor (or major) catastrophes in a mature and respectable way, then hire a wedding planner to deal with them and keep your head wrapped in your veil.

how-to-be-a-bridechilla-san-atonio-wedding-photographer-4S2_5575

How to be a Bridechilla

In light of that, I’d thought I’d put together a list of ways you can avoid being the bridezilla. 

  1. Be prepared to make decisions. Being a bridechilla doesn’t mean that you automatically get to shrug off all the wedding planning details to someone else because you’re afraid of being labeled as a bridezilla. Your wedding is a declaration of who you and your fiance are together, who you are independently and the relationship you share. You can own who you are and why it’s important without being a bridezilla. Having an idea or opinion doesn’t make you a monster. 
  2. Expect things to go wrong on your wedding day. I’ve never witnessed a 100% totally perfect wedding day. I’ve witnessed things like the bride’s cake leaning to the side in extreme heat, the groom using the officiant’s wedding ring during the ceremony because his own was left at home, the coordinator losing her phone with all the processional music on it and causing the ceremony to start 35 minutes late, and someone hijacking the DJ and singing a song while coaxing the couple to have a first dance BEFORE their actual first dance! Not one of these brides became a bridezilla. Not one. They all handled these wedding day bloopers with dignity and grace. Don’t panic over small details.
  3. Learn to delegate! You don’t have to carry the burden of planning the entire wedding fully on your own shoulders. Your bridal party is there to not only look beautiful at your side, they are also there to help you plan and prepare. Don’t be afraid to enlist their help or help from your family. 
  4. Listen to other people who are close to you. Your family and close friends have the same emotional investment in your wedding day, so they will likely see when you are in danger of going over the top. They will know if you are losing sense of perspective. If they tell you you are going overboard, they may have a point.
  5. Take a break when you need to. When it stops being fun and starts to become more like a job, take a small break. Scheduling time to do anything that is not related to your wedding planning is a great way to avoid becoming a bridezilla.
    how-to-be-a-bridechilla-san-atonio-wedding-photographer-4S2_5615
  6. Set limits for yourself. This includes financial limits, timing limits, and practical limits. For example, you can decide to only spend an hour a week browsing through wedding catalogs or wedding planning websites. You can give yourself a deadline to choose certain vendors. And with regard to financial limits, remember that you don’t have to exhaust your entire budget.
  7. Don’t compete with other brides. This day is NOT about competition. Plan the day for you, your fiance and your families. That’s it.
  8. Don’t talk down to any of your wedding day vendors or guests. Treat everyone with respect, no matter what has just happened!
  9. Always remember to include your fiance in the plans. This day is about him too. Give him a chance to speak and hear him out. This day is only the start to your marriage. You can’t have a great start if you’re obsessing over napkins.
  10. Remember WHY you’re having a wedding. If at the end of the day, you are married to the love of your life, the day was perfect.

The post, How to be a Bridechilla, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Aug
03

BTS Wedding Services (Part 3)

Over the last couple of weeks, I have detailed what happens behind-the-scenes before your wedding day, the day of your wedding day and today I will discuss what happens behind-the-scenes after your wedding day. A professional wedding photographer puts so much work into being successful on your special day. There’s literally one chance to get it right and it’s not just a matter of showing up and pressing a button. It’s not nearly that simple. I wish it were. I really wish it were. If I could tackle weddings with that frame of mind, I could shoot two or three of these every week. But I can’t. I try to shoot no more than two weddings per month, because the demands are so incredibly high. 

[Tweet “Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services”]

Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services

The Day After:

  1. Download all Images: Even though my camera bodies shoot to two memory cards simultaneously and that allows me to make an instant backup of all my images on site, I download the images to my external hard drives the day after the wedding—sometimes the night of, but it all depends what time I get home. Within hours, the first external hard drive is backed up to a second external hard drive. Until the camera’s memory cards are formatted (usually the next wedding or session), I have four copies of your images should anything go wrong or need to be recovered.
  2. Take a Peek: I am usually so excited to have completed someone’s big day, I take a big ol’ peek at all their images! I scroll through all the images from beginning to end to see how my team and I performed!
  3. Start Preparing a Sneak Peek: Within 48 hours of the wedding, I get a Facebook peek prepared. This will consist of anywhere from 40-80 post-processed images that strike me as share-worthy. I’ll tag the wedding couple and as many of the guests as I am friends with in the post. I usually save some of the best images for the big reveal and don’t include them in their Facebook peek.
behind-the-scenes-of-san-antonio-wedding-photography-4S2_5575

Over the Next Few Weeks:

  1. Cull the Images: Culling is the process of going through each and every image and determining if it’s a keeper or not. Are people’s eyes open? Is it in focus? What is a misfire from my camera? Is someone doing something really weird or awful in the background? It the image impactful and does it contain a lot of emotion? This can be a tedious task to perform, but it’s a necessary one. If I didn’t do my job and curate the images properly, you would be overwhelmed when you looked at them. Believe me, when I say you don’t want every image I take, you don’t!
  2. Post-Processing: This is where the images which were kept are then corrected for color, highlights and shadows are enhanced, they are straightened and cropped, and lens corrections will be applied. They will be complemented with vibrancy, contrast, tone and other color enhancements. Portrait images are also taken into Photoshop® to have skin corrections made, certain elements sharpened, cloned, and/or filters applied.  
  3. Image Delivery: I used to guarantee wedding images delivered within 21 days of the event, but have recently started writing a ten-day turnaround into my contracts. When I do deliver them, I deliver them through the cloud where the images will be stored for ten years!! That way, my clients will have access to them no matter what happens… if I go out of business, if their computer crashes, if they lose the thumb drive they store them on, if technology changes!! The best part is that if they choose, they can instantly share the images with any family or friends in any part of the world and they can instantly download and print the images. I convey a personal, infinite limited print release when clients purchase the digital negatives!!
  4. Slide Show & Blog Post: Each wedding I cover gets a blog post and a slideshow of images!! My couples enjoy sharing these with family and friends who weren’t able to attend the wedding in person.
  5. Share Images with Other Vendors: When I can, I try to share any images of the other vendors’ work with them. They like to have professional images to help promote themselves and I like to share!

A Year later:

  1. Anniversary Card: A lot of photographers choose to blast a “happy anniversary” post on Facebook. I don’t do that. I prefer to send my couples a private note through the mail. Who doesn’t love receiving mail? 

There are also lots of other things I do that I won’t detail in these blog posts! I am constantly trying to stand out among the 100’s of wedding photographers you have to choose from. I’m always looking for ways to be different and to provide a unique, boutique-style experience. I think I do a good job! But to find out what it is to work with me, you have to first have a consultation with me and then you have to hire me!

The post, Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services (Part 3), first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Jul
27

Tips for Choosing Vendors

How do you choose trustworthy wedding vendors? In the span of a week, two bridal shops abruptly closed their doors in the San Antonio area—one after filing for bankruptcy, the other for non-paid states sales tax for over a year. The two closures left a long string of brides in a panic and rightfully so. These brides were left scrambling trying to figure out what they were going to wear down the aisle on their wedding day.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of brides being left abandoned before the big day. I’ve heard of wedding planners doing the same thing… and photographers. So in an industry where you are paying for most of the big ticket items up front months in advance (or sometimes more than a year), how do you protect yourself against fraud or a flaky business owner?

[Tweet “Tips to Choosing Trustworthy Wedding Vendors”]

Tips to Choosing Trustworthy Wedding Vendors

Here are some helpful tips to help you choose vendors who aren’t going to fail you:

  • Use vendors that have been referred from family and/or friends
  • Always check reviews—the good and the bad
    • Be aware that some wedding planning websites showcase “featured” businesses; this is nothing more than a paid spot—they pay extra to have that spot, it doesn’t mean that they are more trustworthy, it just means that they are spending more money to try to get your attention
  • Use Google, Google knows everything
  • You can research the Better Business Bureau, though not many businesses seek accreditation these days
  • Meet the vendor in person before hiring; use your intuition
  • Before hiring, check the State Sales Tax Records to make sure the business is in good standing (Before switching to LLC)
    • No sales tax permit usually indicates that a “business” is not a legitimate business and just operating as a cash-under-the-table outfit; not a good sign
    • Every business that performs a service is obligated by the State of Texas to charge sales tax
      • [Edit: There is a small selection of vendor categories that may not be obligated to pay sales tax based on the actual services they provide, i.e., wedding planners. However, most wedding day vendors are indeed obligated to pay sales tax.]
  • What is the professional appearance?
    • Is this a part-time or full-time gig for them? (Part-timers generally have other full-time jobs and that means less time for you.)
    • Do they have business cards?
    • Do they  have an actual website or just a Facebook page?
    • Do they have a storefront or in-home studio, or do they meet you at Starbucks?
    • Are they operating as a sole proprietor? (Not a huge red flag, but a possible concern.)
    • Again, do they pay state sales tax? (Failure to pay sales tax is a huge red flag; clear indication of not operating their business properly.)
    • Is their business listed on the county business tax records? (Another indication of how serious the business owner treats his/her business. This is also another tax they should be paying annually.) (Bexar County CAD Search)
    • Are they insured? (Another huge red flag if they are not.)
    • Are they members of professional organizations?
    • Do they seek continuing education or are they accredited in some way?
    • How long have they been in business?
  • Ask to see verification of liability insurance
    • A legitimate business owner should be insured by a private insurance carrier—not a mere benefit from a professional organization
    • You want to have recourse of action should something go wrong
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for references—both professional and personal
  • When you do decide to hire, get it in writing… every last detail, with every last vendor!!

In regard to specific products:

  • Buy what you can that is already on the rack/in inventory instead of ordering and waiting months for delivery
  • No one will know your wearing last year’s dress
  • Keep in contact with your vendors—I’d suggest a monthly call/email after ordering or booking to ensure everything is going smoothly; keep a log and document all conversations

Ultimately, you could be left high and dry no matter how long someone has been in business… no matter how pristine someone’s reputation is… and no matter how on top of things your planning is. In the end, the whole day is really a just huge gamble. You’re gambling on the weather, whether everyone will show up on time, whether your hair will turn out right, if you’ve practiced your vows enough, if none of the flowers will be wilted before the ceremony begins, if the officiant will remember your name and if you know all the steps to your synchronized dance.

You just have to make the best of whatever happens and this includes choosing the right wedding day creatives and vendors to help you put this whole day together. Do your due diligence to pick the ones that are most likely to do the best job for you. Good luck! 

The post, Tips to Choosing Trustworthy Wedding Vendors, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Jul
20

BTS Wedding Day (Part 2)

Last week, I wrote the first part of the Behind-The-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services and shared it with you. I explained everything I had to do before your big day. In this second part, I’ll explain everything I do the day before and the day of your wedding. There is so much more work that goes into shooting your special day than just what you and your guests get to witness. Hopefully, this series will shed some light into the real amount of work that a wedding photographer has to do to deliver the images from your wedding day.

[Tweet “Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services”]

Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services

The Night Before:

  1. Gear Cleaning: Prior to each wedding, I will give each lens a good cleaning and make sure there is no visible debris in my viewing mirror on my cameras. Periodically, I’ll send my camera bodies in to get professionally cleaned.
  2. Battery Charging: The night before a wedding, I ensure ALL my batteries are fresh. When I say “ALL,” I’m referring to about 44 rechargeable batteries that I must recharge. I have two main and two backup batteries for my camera bodies, I have 36 AA batteries for my speedlights and four external battery packs for the speedlights to help them recycle even faster. I also have a few other items that use rechargeable batteries, but I don’t need to recharge them for each and every event.
  3. Packing: I first ensure I have each piece of gear that I will need to shoot your special day and a few more that I don’t. Haha. I think I somehow inherited this trait from my dad. I call it the “what if syndrome.” What if this happens, and what if that happens? I want to be prepared and not get caught with my pants down. So, I go though several mental scenarios imaging what equipment I will and may/might/would/could/should need if something unexpected happens and then pack all of that plus a backup! I will pack anything that has no real value in the car the night before the wedding to save time the day of… light stands, step ladders, sand bags, etc. Everything else that has substantial value gets packed into its designated bag but remains in my house ready to go.

The Day of:

  1. Lunch with my Team: Usually, my team doesn’t have the advantage of getting to know my couples or the ins-and-outs of their wedding plans prior to the big day. So, if time permits, I always treat them to a big lunch on the way to work so we can go over everything. I introduce my couple to my team and tell them everything I know about them. We go over the timeline and review our logistics throughout the day. This is our main strategic session to ensure a successful photographic mission.
  2. Arrive Early: I always try to arrive anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes early. I like to do one last quick walk-through, make sure there haven’t big any big changes to the day and let everyone know I have arrived and am ready to work!
  3. Unpack:  When I arrive early, it allows me to get all my gear unloaded and prepped to begin shooting early. Like they say, if you’re not early, you’re late! This also allows a few bonus minutes for my clients… usually for detail shots! My clients always appreciate this!  There is never enough time in the timeline! No joke.
  4. Hunting: In addition to everything included in the timeline, I am constantly on the lookout for unexpected things to happen. I call this hunting. I liken it to being in a blind, quiet as a mouse and waiting for prey to happen in front of my lens. I may catch a grandchild happily bouncing on a grandmother’s lap (maybe for the last time), the flower girl trip on the way down the aisle, or a father secretly wiping a tear from his face as he watches his daughter recite her vows. I think I’ve photographed all three.
  5. Constant Time Line Management: I constantly refer to the timeline we have created and check it against the clock. I do everything within my power to ensure we remain as close to our plan for the day as possible. Again, the timeline is crucial for properly planning to get the best photos.
  6. Social Media Peeks: During the event, I can FTP images from my DSLR to my phone. This allows me to choose a few (usually 3-5) and post to Instagram. This is a fun way to immediately share images with my clients and their guests. The working day/night is usually so fast-paced and it’s sometimes a bit glitchy, I don’t have time for any more than that.
  7. Unload: As soon as I get home, I unload all my gear. I never leave my gear in my vehicle overnight. No matter how late I get home and no matter how tired I am, I always unload. I have too much money (and time) invested in my gear and don’t want to risk losing it because I am too tired to bring it inside. AND, if I do happen to stop on the way home for a midnight snack, the memory cards from your wedding are not in my camera. They are on my person. I don’t want to risk getting my gear stolen at the IHOP and losing your precious images as well.

By now, I have worked more than double what you’ve hired me for. And I’m still not finished. In fact, the hard work hasn’t even begun.

The post, Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Day Services (Part II), first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Jul
13

BTS Wedding Day (Part 1)

I want to share my behind-the-scenes wedding day services with you. There is a huge misconception that when you hire a wedding photographer for six, eight or 12 hours to shoot your wedding day, that is ALL you are paying for—those hours of work. That is just a small piece of the pie. In addition to skill, experience, knowledge, equipment, insurance, staff, overhead, and administrative duties, wedding costs cover many, many more hours that are (or should be) put into your special day. 

[Tweet “Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Photography”]

Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Photography

Many clients don’t stop to consider all the actual hours of work that come before and continue to happen after the big day! I am going to break this topic down into several blog posts that I’ll release over the coming weeks. We will first discuss what happens before your wedding day even gets here.

Prior to the Big Day:

  1. Client Consultation: This is the first investment I will make to your wedding day—and I haven’t even been paid yet. I will take my time finding out about your big plans, how you two met and fell in love and what is important to you on the day of your wedding. I will try and find out what you want your wedding day images to capture and what plans you have for them after the fact. Then, I will spend some time explaining how my services can help you achieve these goals and how I am different than most other wedding photographers. If I have a clear understanding of what you are expecting from the beginning, I will be better equipped to be make you a satisfied client. 
  2. Client Education: All through the weeks and months leading up to the big wedding day, I periodically send my brides and grooms emails educating them about certain aspects of their planning and wedding day photography. Over the years and still with each wedding, I learn something that could have happened differently to help the day be less stressful and go more smoothly. I love sharing these learning experiencing with my brides. Most likely, this is your first wedding and I’ve done this dozens of times! I am a wealth of information and I can share this information with you—like asking your DJ for lapel mics to use during the ceremony, like to be sure trash cans are kept out of view during the reception, the pros and cons of doing a first look and recommending other vendors at your request. 
  3. Timeline Preparation: This is a huge part of my service. Many of my couples don’t hire a wedding planner and don’t realize how important a detailed timeline (like extremely detailed) is on their wedding day. I prefer for each and every minute to be accounted for on the big day. Even though the timeline rarely gets pulled off without a hitch, it is a very effective tool to not only set up the photographer for success. It also ensures the newlywed couple has the least amount of stresses on their wedding day as possible and enjoys the ceremony and reception as much as possible! Without a plan, everything is just willy nilly and basically, you’re just left wandering aimlessly with no real plan. I usually start timeline preparation with my brides no less than 60 days out.
  4. Family Formals Preparation: This, by far, is the most stressful part of the day for me. If I didn’t have a game plan going into this part of the wedding day, I may just run away crying. What makes family formal portrait time so stressful is (1) I don’t know Aunt Mildred from Cousin JoAnn, (2) Inevitably, someone will run off to grab a drink or visit the ladies’ room and then they are not present when they are needed, (3) Someone else will always have a camera behind me—even though I specifically ask there not to be—and someone in my group photo will always look at their camera, and finally (4) Either someone will try to disrupt my order of family groups (leaving early, bathroom break) or a new group will suddenly need to photographed because it was overlooked during the planning stage. A few weeks prior to the wedding day, I send my brides a worksheet that has just about every possible family grouping imaginable listed. I advise that, on average, each grouping will take about three minutes to photograph and explain best I can how this part of the day will work. I ask her to select each and every grouping she will want photographed on her big day. I then receive the worksheet back, compile a tidy PDF and prepare a wedding day document to work form. 
    behind-the-scenes-of-san-antonio-wedding-photography-4S2_4948
  5. Location Scouting: Even when I have shot at a venue before, I like to visit before the big day to see if anything has changed. I like to visualize the light in the ceremony site, how the ceremony site and reception area will be set up, discover where all the nooks and crannies are for the creative portraits, where and how I can set up my off-camera lighting and meet the venue coordinator so that we’re on a first-name basis by the wedding day. Recon. Military 101.
  6. Mental Preparation: Google® and Pinterest® help me with this. I don’t like to trail every other photographer shooting venues exactly like they have. I use the images from the internet to try to find new ways to shoot a venue. I’m a very visual person and love to have a short list of ideas in my head of what I’m going to do before the big day gets here. Other photographers’ images allow me to visualize what I want and what I don’t want to do. 

So, your wedding day hasn’t even happened and chances are the work I’ve listed above has already taken me about 12 hours to complete! But wait!! You’ve only hired me for eight hours?!! My job here is done? Not hardly; I am just getting started. Stay tuned for next week to see what happens the night before and the day of.

The post, Behind-the-Scenes of my Wedding Photography, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

May
24

Why Prints Are Important

Imagery has evolved greatly over the last few decades—both in terms of what we capture and how we capture it. Today’s images are some of the most beautiful, detail-oriented, thought-provoking, history-preserving images we have. Yet, they are literally disappearing right before our eyes.

[Tweet “Why It’s More Important Now Than Ever to Print”]

Why It’s More Important Now Than Ever to Print

In 1900, if a camera captured one exposure, that single image was developed. In 1980, if a camera captured 24 exposures, all 24 images were developed. Heck, even if someone opted for the super-sized roll of film that had room for 36 exposures, all 36 images were developed.

We have been in a consumer digital age roughly since the mid-1990’s. And that folks, is about when we stopped printing. People take hundreds and thousands of images, but they never give those images enough respect to print them. These images, which should be cherished and respected and protected, live out their days on a phone, hard drive or thumb drive never to see the light of day… or in this case… the light of a dark room or digital press. Many are forgotten, lost and eventually become corrupt because they are never given the glory of being printed.

Many scholars are deeply concerned that even though we are living in the most photographed time period in history, we will have the fewest actual printed photographs per capita to document our history. Think about that. That’s scary. My family has a few good-sized boxes of photographs that we occasionally rummage through to reminisce. My daughters’ generation may not know what it’s like siting around a table, sorting through memories talking about the good ol’ days. 

MySpace®  was founded in 2003 and Facebook® quickly followed in 2004 and so began the digital cataloging of our lives. Everything we did was posted for the world to see… who we were with, what we were doing, what we were eating even! Instagram® joined the printing massacre in 2010. Deepening the wounds of the printed relic, we’ve succumbed to the “story.” In 2011, SnapChat® was the first to float the idea of the “temporary photo.” Now almost every social media platform has a way to post a story that will only be available for 24 hours. Think of all your personal history that is only available for 24 hours. We are now living in a disappearing digital age—which brings me back to my original point.

It’s more important now than ever to print!! Be the one that does document your legacy! Don’t fall victim to the photographer who only offers digital files. Hire a full-service photographer. You may think you’re getting a fantastic deal and saving money by hiring a photographer who is going to hand you a disk of images. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you are not.  YOU ARE NOT. This is a huge disservice to you. This is hiring someone to ONLY do half of their job. It’s like going to a top, five-star restaurant and asking the chef for all the ingredients to their Paupiette of Sea Bass in a Barolo Sauce and then promptly marching home to your own kitchen. Not smart, people. 

This is a wedding image of my mother and both grandmothers. Everyone in this image is deceased. Everyone in this image was deceased by the time I turned 26. They passed away, from left to right, when I was 26, 21 and 3. Even though this image is badly damaged (and maybe a tad out of focus), I treasure it. Immensely. You could not offer me any amount of money to make me give up this photograph… any amount. I have the physical print because someone had the forethought to hire a professional, full-service photographer at my parents’ wedding and PRINT this image. I am thankful. I am very thankful that is wasn’t stowed away in some digital format that eventually became obsolete or corrupt and lost forever. I am eternally grateful that my great-grandchildren will know the face of my dear mother and grandmothers because I have printed pictures.

prints are important your lifes legacy

This is a picture of my mom, two of her sisters—my aunts and, I believe, one of my great-aunts. Again, I wouldn’t have this picture if someone would not have printed it and actually preserved the moment. Placing 700 wedding day images on a DVD is not image preservation. 

the importance of printing wedding images

All your wedding day creatives are important—they truly are. But think about what is really important to you. Are the personalized embroidered hankies you’re gifting to each guest really important? Do the tablescapes really matter all that much? While a lot of fun, are the photo booth props going to document your family legacy? In the end, the only thing you are keeping and passing down from generation to generation to tell your life’s story and your love story are your images. Choose your photographer wisely and make a smart investment in your printed images!

The post, Why It’s More Important Now Than Ever to Print, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

May
15

Tips for the Best Man

I’ve written my 17 tips for the maid of honor, 16 tips for the bridesmaids and 16 tips for the groomsmen, now I give you my best tips for the best man!

Compared to the maid of honor, your job is simple really. Your two basic functions are to plan the bachelor party and make sure the groom has whatever he needs. In a nutshell, that’s it.

[Tweet “Tips for the Best Man”]

Tips for the Best Man

  1. Keep a clear line of communications open with all of the groomsmen and let them know all dates, times and locations for events that they are expected to be present at. This will include showers, fittings, rehearsals, etc.
  2. Rally the guys together and organize a great wedding gift for the groom—something functional that he can use as a married man. You can gift this at any of the showers, the bachelor party, or wait until the actual wedding reception.
  3. Help to arrange accommodations for all of the out-of-town groomsmen.
  4. If your wedding day attire includes pocket squares or actual ties (not the clip-on variety), make sure you know how to complete this task prior to the wedding day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen groomsmen scrambling for someone in the know on the wedding day. This is your chance to be a hero!tips-for-best-man-san-antonio-wedding-photographer-4S1_3443
  5. While we’re at it, learn how to put on your boutonniere too!
  6. Be a great escort for the maid of honor and keep in mind that this doesn’t automatically qualify her as your date for the night.
  7. Write a killer speech for the groom. Make it personal with real stories funny enough to make him laugh out loud yet not send his mom to the ladies’ room in embarrassment.
  8. Dance with the groom’s mom!
  9. Above all, remember to behave and do your best to keep the other groomsmen in line as well. Alcohol has a tendency to make people do crazy things.
tips-for-best-man-san-antonio-wedding-photographer-4S1_3381

The post, Tips for the Best Man, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

May
02

Tips for the Maid of Honor

I’ve written my 16 tips for the bridesmaids and 16 tips for the groomsmen, now I give you my 17 best tips for the maid of honor! 

Metaphorically speaking, if the bride is the quarterback, you are the center. You too must memorize all the plays and make sure they are carried out to perfection. And as the bride is planning to make that 99-yard touchdown pass, you are guarding her on your hand and knees from a three-point stance. You are the buffer zone, the shock absorber, the safety line and the free fall net. Your sole objective is to become her second right arm, supply a constant stream of positive support and shield her from as much stress, drama and circus-like behavior as possible. Planning a wedding is a HUGE endeavor and you are a crutch… a very important crutch. You are about to become her on-call counselor, her party-planning assistant, her shopping companion, her sounding board. Very likely, this will become your second full-time job.

[Tweet “Tips for the Maid of Honor”]

Tips for the Maid of Honor

  1. Gather and absorb as much wedding information as you can. You should be able to field questions from guests right up to the wedding day. In fact, early on, word should be put out to come to you first. This will not only save the bride a lot of time (she’s busy doing other things), but relieve her of a lot of stress as well. Be available by phone, text, email, and in-person. If you do receive questions that you can’t answer, keep a running list and take them to the bride in batches—assuming they are not time sensitive. 
  2. You will be the central intelligence line to all the other bridesmaids and the best man/groomsmen.
  3. Be available 24/7—especially to the bride. You will need to be open to listening to everyone’s concerns about the wedding. Be judgment-free.
  4. Offer to go on any wedding appointments the bride may have such as dress shopping, cake tasting… especially cake tasting, venue scouting, flower selection, etc.
  5. Attend all of the wedding events and encourage all of the bridesmaids to do the same. You were handpicked for this job for a reason. Don’t disappoint.
  6. If you don’t know all of the bridesmaids, plan a fun activity where you can start to build a relationship. This will make the showers, bachelorette party and wedding day more relaxing if you have already have a friendly foundation.
  7. Plan to do the same with the groomsmen. The better all the bridesmaids know the groomsmen, the better.
  8. Stress to the other bridesmaids that you are second-in-command to the bride. This isn’t to be snippity, but rather to alleviate stress on the bride by having a chain of command.
  9. If at any time you see drama brewing among the other bridesmaids, put a damper on it asap. Don’t participate in the drama and don’t take the drama to the bride. Just do your best to resolve the issue and bury it.
  10. Set a budget for each event and expect a few incidentals. Things will get expensive… especially without a plan. Unless you plan to go broke, stick to your budget.
  11. Plan the bachelorette party and take responsibility for this bash. Give all of the bridesmaids options about when, where and how much it will cost. Don’t assume everyone has the same budget to spend. If necessary, be prepared to cover some unexpected costs. Make sure to honor the bride’s wishes about what she wants/doesn’t want (ie. male dancers, alcohol, etc.).
  12. Don’t be afraid to delegate. If you feel that your plate is becoming too full, enlist the help of the other bridesmaids. Ask for help when you need it.
  13. Record the gifts at all the showers. As the bride (and groom) opens the gifts, write down who got her what to make ease of the thank you cards later.
  14. Write an awesome speech for the toast. The earlier you start on this, the better. Include lots of history and personal antidotes. And practice, practice, practice. The last thing you want to do is choke on the wedding night.
  15. Even in the darkest days of wedding planning, keep the bride laughing. When things are super stressful and undoubtedly overwhelming, find a way to make light of the situation and make the wedding planning as enjoyable as possible for the bride. Always remain enthusiastic and optimistic.
  16. Assist with any post-wedding duties. Just because the wedding has come and gone doesn’t mean your job is over. Offer to clean up the reception decorations, sort through wedding gifts, babysit the dog during the honeymoon or write thank you notes.
  17. Above all, remember the day is HER day!! Do whatever is necessary to keep the peace, avoid catastrophe and prevent anything with the even tiniest resemblance of a meltdown from happening. You can achieve this by smiling, being kind and giving, and adoring HER.
tips-for-maid-of-honor-san-antonio-wedding-photographer-4S2_1570

The post, Tips for the Maid of Honor, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from - Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from - Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from - Google
Save