Excited

A never-ending process for us is figuring out how to portray who I am as a person and photographer. This is the preview for a sample album we're going to print, and I'm totally excited about it!

Planning Part 1

I asked all my former brides what was helpful to them as they planned for their weddings. Here is one response:

Resources:

Honestly, I really enjoyed looking at theknot.com (cheesy, I know) for ideas and I especially liked looking through their "real wedding" pictures. It gave me some GREAT ideas.

Etsy.com is a GREAT website to find hostess/bridesmaids/etc gifts on. They're all handmade and reasonably priced.

Advice:

I wrote down all the elements that are in a traditional wedding and ranked them on a scale of importance to me. I budgeted and made plans for my top items first (eg- for me it was pictures, music, and venue) and then adjusted for the things that were lower on the list (eg- reused flowers from rehearsal dinner for reception, put together home made welcome bags for guests, etc). That way, my top picks were sure to be incorporated :)

Also, do your research and be creative! There are lots of good deals out there if you're willing to look.

Incorporate elements that are unique to your relationship into the details. I can't tell you how many people complimented us on doing that and it makes your love for each other shine!

Don't register at Target....they have a ridiculous return policy....even for registry holders. I was given this advice and it was one of the best pieces I received!

Real Simple Weddings

I've never researched this, but my impression is that the first thing a bride-to-be does after being engaged is pick up a wedding magazine. . .or two. . .or three! And then they're twenty times more confused than they were before they started reading the magazine. The point of the big national magazines isn't to help brides plan a wedding, it's to present as many advertisements as possible!

This is the HUGE exception - the Real Simple wedding issue. I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like last year's, it will be the only magazine you ever should read! Here's a link where you can order it online or it should be in stores in February. Simple is good:)

**Update** I picked up a copy at Target the other day. I'm sure it's available at bookstores as well.

Pages

The coolest part of the new site, and the real reason we decided to change is the ability to make as many pages as we want, and make them look however we want. I'm totally stoked about the potential for these mini-sites, and what we can do for our couples using them! Below are a couple of screen grabs from the new pages.

New Site

Wahoo! The new site is finally "done." Done is in quotation marks because part of the reason we started the new site is the ability to change layout and design at any time. I'm sure we'll be tinkering around with it forever!

One neat possibility is to make save-the-date sites for our couples. So after the engagement shoot, we'll put up a slideshow of the pictures along with wedding details and information. I hope to design them to fit the couple's style and story. Super-cool!!

Another thing that I love is the "about" page. We made a slideshow with a bunch of our favorite travel pictures from the past years, and I love having all my favorite pictures in one place where I can look at them anytime I want:)

A final detail that is so cool it almost makes my head explode - in the top right corner of the main wedding page is a button with arrows on it that enlarges the site full-screen. Visually Yummy!

So check it out - www.davidshirkphotography.com - hopefully in the next couple of days the old url - www.unpluggedweddings.com will redirect to the new site.

Just Thinking

If I do my job, a total stranger will think your wedding pictures are amazing.

Cakes

Yum, yum! It's very rare that I'm not too busy to stop and eat cake at a wedding - but they look delicious:)

I've been shot!

I got together with my friend Kevin to do some headshots yesterday. It's good for me to be in front of the camera every now and then to remind me how it feels - the sensation of awkwardness, trying to smile without looking like you're trying to smile, the waiting between pictures and instructions, and especially yesterday - trying not to look cold!!

Flowers

I've been going through old pictures as we been putting things together for the website, and this is one of several collages I put together from pictures taken over the past few years. Double click the picture to pull up a larger version.

Amanda & Matt

Here's the first of what will hopefully be many "favorites" posts. The picture above is Amanda's favorite from the shoot, and I'm glad it is, because we took about 50 pictures trying to get the reflection right!!


I don't know if I have a favorite, but I really, really like this image because of the simplicity and stillness of it. Also, I love that the angle of their arms makes their silhouettes match the trees - wish I could claim that was intentional:)

Retouch Me!

after

before

Right now I'm doing what I do most. . .retouching. And I am thinking, if I charged for this, like a standard rate of $15 per $15 minutes, I'd be rich. But I also think it would be unethical. My job is to provide beautiful memories, and my personal goal is that my brides and grooms would never see an unflattering picture of themselves. So right now I'm darkening carpets and blurring out lego boxes. . .hooray for the glamourous life of a photographer!!

btw, I handed off the camera and made a guest appearance in this picture:)  Look at that nice, dark carpet. . .it was quite a few shades lighter before and was a bit distracting from the family picture!

Time

Here's my thought process behind having a two-week turnaround time for images. If I shoot a wedding on Saturday, I'll download the pictures when I get home. Then that night or Sunday afternoon I'll look through them to make sure everything is there, and back up all the RAW files to DVD's (usually this takes several hours and is done amidst watching football and playing with the family).

Then I don't look at the pictures again for at least 3 days or ideally until the following weekend. It helps me tremendously to see the images with fresh eyes, to look at the pictures as they actually appear, not how I wanted them to look while I'm taking them.

Next I make global adjustments to all the pictures - choosing the initial keepers, color-correcting, changing light levels, and doing basic changes, which takes a day or two.

Then we photoshop everything - making the B&W highlight reel, fixing everything that needs fixing, this takes a day or two also.

Last, and the most painful is the organizing stage - putting the pictures in order & weeding out the not-quite-great, redundant, or unflattering pictures. I always think it will take 2 or 3 hours, but I start in the morning up working on it until 2 a.m. Then I back up the renumbered pictures to another hard drive and to DVD again. . .and send the bride the happy news that the pictures are finished!

So all told, I spend about 40 hours of computer work on a typical wedding. . .all the while to bouncing Annabelle on my knees and watching Madeline make a creative mess of our living room:)