Trystan Photography: An Intimate Portrait.

Please click the photo or follow the link to view Jessica and Lee’s stunning wedding samples at Shove Chapel and Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

It’s dark. It’s very Gothic in it’s architecture. It’s one of the most feared places to shoot in Colorado Springs. Why? I have no idea.

All I know, is whenever I have a meeting about a wedding at Shove Chapel, the number one thing I hear is, “Other photographers say it’s really hard to shoot in there… and they’re photos look really dark. Why do yours look so bright?” Well, the short answer is we know how to push our cameras and capture the shot. The longer answer is: 1) we always make sure the altar lights are at full (they normally keep them at 1/2 power), 2) we have very steady hands so we’re not afraid to push the shutter way past the normal “lower threshold” (why hand-held? Because that place is HUGE and we are running all over to get the shot), and 3) we always shoot with our array of wireless remote Nikon speed-lights.

The most important factor of all  is the remote speed-lights. We’ve been shooting with remote lighting for 6 years now, and I would say they are the most important equipment I use. Having flexible, fast remote lighting allows us to shoot in otherwise impossible scenarios. Obviously, when it’s dark it allows us to create shots where there are none, but even when it’s light enough, they allow us to form the light, and add a sense of drama to an already attractive scene. I use remote lighting on 80% of my shots, and I personally think that I’ve gotten to the point where the extra lighting is very subtle on most of them. The lighting either mimics what’s already there, or at most seems like a complimentary element of the scene.

We love Shove Chapel, I can’t think of a cooler place to capture a ceremony. It has a sense of drama, and gives every wedding an epic scale, which I think lend themselves perfectly for the purposes of wedding photography. We use a 3 flash system, 2 on each side, either above in the side-balconies when we have assistants, or on the ground floor on 15′ light stands when I have to adjust them myself, and one master flash on the camera. I like to shoot across the aisle from the right side (facing the altar) during the processional. As soon as the bride walks up the altar stairs I flip the lights around towards the altar and use very subtle lighting to add detail to the subjects which are lit mostly from the stage lights. Those little Nikon Speed-lights are incredibly powerful for their size, and the fact I can whip them around ultra-fast and tuck them back into little hiding places to add stunning splashes of light is the winning aspect over more powerful strobes.

And then there was Lee and Jessica’s wedding. Not only are they a stunning couple, but Jess (and Lee) did an amazing job planning every detail of this wedding. Her dress was stunning, her flowers were elegant, the reception decor was impeccable, and the food? They didn’t choose. They simply had Cheyenne Mountain set up multiple stations with an amazing array of everything. Want pasta cooked with custom ingredients as you wait? Check. Oh, but you also need some prime rib? Why not? And a seafood & salad station? Sure. And they best part? They let us eat! THEY LET US EAT ANY OF IT! And boy, did I…

I know, you’re confused. But it’s a little known, and very dark fact that not every couple let’s us eat or offers us food. But it’s okay, we’ve only been running around on our feet for 8 hours… we’re fine. Don’t worry about us. My face is always this ashen and drawn…

But I digress (as usual). In closing, if you’re thinking about a wedding at Shove, but you’re worried about the different horror stories you’re hearing around town about how dark it is, book it with confidence. It is an amazing place for a wedding, and it really is worth the extra hard work to pull of the photography. But I’ll shut up about it now: the photos speak for themselves.

She’s back: Christian from Bella Dia Events was kind enough to contribute yet another phenomenal blog post. In this post she offers up her top ideas to trim a little “fat” from your wedding budget…

… notice she doesn’t say you should cut back on the photography.

The Wedding Bailout: Money Saving Ideas for 2009

By: Christian Wilkins, Bella Dia Events, LLC 719.331.2499

We cannot ignore that times are tough right now and if you are planning a wedding you may be daunted by the task. Many families have been financially affected and now is a good time to “shop smart” and be considerate of your guests. Here are some helpful hints at how to do just that:

~ Limit your guest list to save your family money on venue fees

~ Choose a venue that only charges a site fee and allows you to bring in your own caterer and liquor. You can often provide your own appetizers for the cocktail hour and can also control your food/beverage costs immensely by hiring caterers. The liquor mark up at venues is high, so being able to provide the liquor for your bar can be a huge money saver. Also work with liquor stores that will buy back unopened bottles.

~Have the pastry chef make a small wedding cake for you and your groom to cut and serve sheet cakes (to be cut in the kitchen) to your guests. Or the chef can make a “faux” cake that looks real and has an area of cake for you to cut but the rest is Styrofoam! You can then serve sheet cakes.

~Choose a color for your bridesmaid’s dresses and allow your attendants to find any style of dress in that color. Bridal fashion is expensive and this is a very considerate gesture to your bridesmaids.

~If you have been asked to be a part of anyone’s wedding then you know how the expenses can add up. Consider a “white elephant” bridal shower- your friends and family can give you gifts that are perhaps an “inside joke”. It’s fun and economical.

~Choose to print “no gifts please” as an insert for your invitations. Wouldn’t you rather have your close friends with you than have a gift from them? This helps offset the pressure that guest’s feel by attending a wedding.

~Just a reminder- if you have many out of town guests it is a good idea to get room blocks at a few different price ranges of hotels. This will give your guests a better deal on the room. FYI, there are many hotels that do not make you “guarantee the rooms” (translation: obligate you to pay for any rooms not booked by your guests), so if at first you don’t find hotels with flexible policies then keep calling around. Often they will waive this rule also if you ask them to do so.

~Instead of a dinner reception choose a lunch or brunch reception. Often less expensive. Also consider a day other than Saturday- Sundays and Fridays are becoming more popular wedding days and venues may charge less for those days. Likewise, dates outside of the “season” are often less expensive as venues are not as booked and more willing to negotiate.

~It is so lovely to have live music for the ceremony but an added expense.  Most churches/venues have a sound system that you can use to play recorded music. Your DJ can usually take care of ceremony music as well.

~Consider having your ceremony in a park or open space area rather than in a church. A permit will often be necessary (but inexpensive) and you will need to rent chairs but you will still save money in the long run.

~There are so many vacation condos and homes available for short term rental- do your research and you can find some great deals for your honeymoon instead of a pricey resort. Many of these alternatives are truly luxurious and a little leg work on your part could really pay off. Check out “Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO)”.

Hang in there! Remember that this process is supposed to be FUN!
There is a solution to every problem with a little creativity and “thinking outside the box”!

It’s a very rare thing that I get really excited about another wedding vendor. It’s a risky thing to completely, fully, and enthusiastically endorse another vendor which you have no say or stake in. They could fall through, and then your reputation is sullied through your association. So needless to say, I’ve been pretty stingy with my support of local vendors.

But then I worked with Christian, a wedding planner who owns Bella Dia Events, LLC. I have never encountered a more fun, professional, organized, and quick witted event planner in my entire career. She was very impressive.

Then I realized that I wanted us to work as much as we could with Christian, so I didn’t hesitate one second to throw my support behind Bella Dia Events.

I recently approached Christian and asked if she would like to give some insight to my brides and blog readers into the particular specialty that is wedding planning, an absolutely indispensable aspect of any wedding. She agreed to write a few entries, which I’ll be featuring over the next month.

The Top 10 Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Wedding Planner

By: Christian Wilkins, Bella Dia Events, LLC 719.331.2499

1.    Multi-tasking:
You cannot be in 10 different places at once! Having a wedding coordinator is one of the best stress relieving things your can do for yourself and for your family.

2.    ENJOY THE DAY:
Your mother, friends, bridesmaids, cousins and most of all YOU should ENJOY your wedding day! “Someone has to work on your wedding day and it shouldn’t be you!”

3.    Vendor recommendations:
You will have access to your coordinators’ professional vendor recommendations. He or she will also help you interview and make the right choices for you, your family and your budget.

4.    Contracts:
Your wedding planner will assist you with contract negotiations and ensure that all contracts are binding and legal.

5.    Budget, Budget, Budget!
The dreaded word- but one of the most important of the wedding. A coordinator will help you develop a budget and stick to it!

6.    Itinerary:
Where is everyone supposed to be and when?? A wedding coordinator develops a detailed itinerary for you and for your guests so everyone is clear on his or her responsibilities.

7.    Creativity:
How to bring all the details together? A planner will lend invaluable creative and organizational expertise. Example: You have a vision of your décor but how do you mesh the various aspects together in seamless harmony? Your coordinator will be your guide.

8.    Etiquette:
Should I invite my third cousin on my father’s side who I haven’t seen since I was three years old? How do we formulate a seating chart for divorced parents who do not get along and also have new spouses? All of your etiquette questions can be answered by your planner. “You can do anything you want at your wedding; it’s all about how you frame it!”

9.    Event Management:
Someone needs to coordinate all aspects of the day- set up, take down and any little “emergencies” that may arise. Oh, there will be at least one! Your coordinators’ job is make everything about the day appear seamless and planned whether it was or not!

10.    The details:
Who is going to lay out the favors and place cards? Who takes everything down, makes sure your gifts are taken to your room, ensures that all of your memorabilia (cake cutting utensils, cake top, champagne toasting flutes etc etc) are returned to you in pristine condition? These and a thousand other details not handled by your other vendors will be the responsibility of your coordinator.

It’s more difficult than it seems but that shouldn’t stop you from having the time of your life and the day of your dreams!

I couldn’t agree more with her points, or add anything! I especially think wedding planners are a HUGE help when it comes to the event management and the details.

If you’re considering a wedding planner, you’d to well by yourself to check out Bella Dia Events.

If you’re not considering a wedding planner, you’d be much happier with this whole process if you had one…

You can check out the first wedding we did with Christian, here.

If anyone can think of any more reasons to use a wedding planner, please comment below.

I’m a very conservative equipment buyer. I usually don’t move on the next best thing, and I wait until the price is midrange and the technology is proven until I pounce. But…

The D300 (which we currently use 4 bodies for our studio) is phenomenal and has been the best camera we’ve ever had, but I’m sure the low light/low noise capabilities of the D700 (which I have not used) blow the D300 away. in fact, I’m chomping at the bit for the new FX sensor of the D3 and D700.

However, Nikon just released the press about the D3x and it’s so off base: ISO only to 1600, slower frame rate… probably higher noise, too. And did I mention the price: $7999?!?!  The only thing better about the body is the huge 24 megapixel sensor, which Canon has been paying around with for years, and for much less (Canon 5d mkII = $2699)!

Like I said above, I’m a very careful buyer of equipment. It’s usually the next proven model into a technology that I buy (D100 = skip, D200 = proven, D300 = Buy!). I can’t help but fear that Nikon will somehow have a brain-fart about my new dream camera, the unreleased D400 FX, and ignore the top priorities of most wedding professionals for the stupid “wow” factor of a big megapixel sensor… so, I’ve decided to issue my open letter to Nikon with a list of features, to help them out a bit:

Dear Nikon,

Please don’t screw up the D400 like you screwed up the D3x. I love the low noise/high ISO capabilites of the D3 and D700. Is it too much to ask that you keep the same sensor, if not the next generation?

Also could you include HD video at 1080i? I know that you know Canon’s already done this, so could you at least try to play catch up. It’s really hard to be a die hard Nikon fan when you’re constantly surging ahead of Canon (kudos on the D3 and D700 FX sensors), then shooting yourself in the foot (D3x). I mean, you basically ignored everything the world loved about the D3 and D700 and then issued a big fat $8000 turkey (What’s that? It has a big sensor?… who cares?!?).

Finally, could you make it $2500?

If you could do this, I would love it, and I would buy 4 right now. Even better, send me 2 and I’ll sing your praises forever… or until the D500 comes out.

Sincerely,

Trig Bundgaard

Nikon Devotee since 1998

There you are, Nikon. Now that you have your marching orders, go run with it and make my dream camera.

So you’re engaged!

He’s the man of your dreams and you can’t believe the BIG day is finally going to happen. All of those daydreams of the perfect fairytale wedding are going to pay off in the most fabulous wedding ever…

But where to start? Let’s see… there’s setting the date, the save the date cards, invitations, dresses, tuxes, flowers, rings, wedding party, ceremony spot, reception spot, wedding planner, officiant, favors, table settings, event rentals, music, food, drink… photography?

Wow. I know what you’re thinking: “Where do I start?”

I’d recommend starting with the locales (the “where”), because sometimes you might get some great recommendations from the staff for your other vendors, or you may realize that you want vendors with experience working at your reception or ceremony sites. Personally, I think experience at a venue is a good attribute in a photographer, but not required. You should never base your decisions solely off of whether or not a vendor has worked at a location before. Because, yes, they may have experience there, but they may also be a huge a**!

Which brings me to the absolutely, positively, no-question-about-it, most important aspect of choosing the perfect photographer for your wedding:

Personality!

That’s right. It’s not style or price! Both are valid, but in my humble opinion they’re not as important, and here’s why:

You may absolutely love a photographer’s work, style, and price point, but if your photographer does not make you feel comfortable on your wedding day, then the photographs will reflect that. Make sure your photographer’s personality reflects your own preferred vibe for your wedding day (i.e. fun and sexy, or serious and reverent, etc…)

For example: Charlotte and I are goofy, fun photographers. We love to goof around and play with the couple and the wedding party. I often will speak with a vague artsy European accent as I ask my photo subjects to “give me sexy”, or “work it”… It’s always fun and I’m a clown because we’ve found that laughing fun couples take the best fun/sexy shots. I mean, what’s more sexy and romantic than a shot of a bride completely in love with her new husband and laughing gorgeously as he holds her in his loving arms? Nothing.

And how do you get a bride/couple to do that; to look great on cue? Do you shout out, “Laugh and look good doing it!”? Nope. That only works for professional models, and usually not that well.

To get real people to do what we want, we have to get them to really do it! So if we need a confident and sexy bride, we need to help her feel confident and sexy. If we want a playful shot of the couple, then we need to help them feel comfortable letting their guard down and flirting on camera. And the easiest way that we’ve found to get past most of our clients guards is to simply be honest, friendly, and playful. And it’s almost never a hard thing to do because it’s a wedding! It’s a big party anyway, and we treat it as such and simply make friends.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because it helps to illustrate my point that personality matters most. You may love our work, and you might love the idea of having photographs from your wedding that look like ours, but if my description of how we work sends a chill up your spine or curls your toes, then no matter how much you like our work, in reality we would be a horrible choice for your wedding photographers.

Brides who want a reverent, very serious day with an almost fashion photography atmosphere (where the photographers basically say all that I say, but the difference is they are completely serious about it!), would be making a huge mistake by booking us. I don’t have a serious bone in my body. I’ve been verified by the FDA as 100% pure fun-guy. So, if you’re a couple who wants to basically have a day long party and wants the photography to be fun and artistic, then we’d be perfect for your wedding.

So what’s the key to choosing the perfect wedding photographer?

Start with style and price, but always base your final decision on personality. It’s the formula for perfect wedding photography.

The majority of our wedding clients have never been married before (although the current divorce rates are making the concept of a “return” wedding client not so far fetched), and I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings, which makes me kind of an “expert by-proxy”.

I’ve seen it all, and it occurred to me today that there really are 10 major wedding mistakes that should be easily avoidable and seem pretty obvious in hindsight… but if this is your first wedding, then, what hindsight?

That’s where this little gem comes into play. Trust in this sage advice and I just might save you some stress on your big day.

Do a “Dress Rehearsal”: I mean it. Rehearse putting on your dress. Nothing throws off a carefully planned wedding like a complicated corset taking a virtual army of mothers and bridesmaids half hour to cinch, hook, or thread when you thought it would take 5 minutes.

And with that in mind…

Practice Bustling the Dress: Bustling is usually pretty straight forward, but sometimes those little ties and/or hooks can be pretty good at hide-n-seek. Whoever you select for your crack team of “bustlers” needs to have a detailed knowledge of where to find your “bustling hardware” because the last thing you want to deal with before you finally get to relax and party is a long, drawn out bustling of the dress (and your DJ constantly poking in and saying, “So, any idea how much longer before we do the introductions?”).

No Fake Tanner / Over Tanning: Let’s do the math here: Most likely your dress is made of the most delicate light cream and white materials, pure and clean (just like you). Fake tanner is orange/brown. You will probably sweat on your wedding day. Sweat makes fake tanner run… on to your wedding dress. Under the armpits and top of the bodice are common victims, but believe it or not the front of the dress gets a little copper rub-off most often from your forearms! Let’s review: Don’t use fake tanner, ever.

Now for over-tanning: Authentically tan skin does look stunning in many warm sunny environments in that gorgeous white dress. However, certain details often escape the attention of our average well browned bride. Firstly, don’t ever tan anywhere in the weeks before your wedding day where you can’t go in the buff because you will not be liking the white and ever-so-obvious tan lines from you bikini top (i.e. only use tanning beds). Secondly, don’t over do it. You will not like the leathery look of overly tanned skin in your bridal portraits, or (God forbid) you get sun burned! (Do I really need to explain why being burnt is bad for photographs?)

Eat something: Many of our clients have the completely natural tendency to avoid eating much or any food the morning of their wedding due to nerves, or over drinking the night before…

This may sound and feel like a good idea at the time, but please bear in mind that by the time we really get going that day, you might be a little low on the blood sugar and:

a) pass out during your ceremony.

b) become a little cranky

c) become really, really cranky. (And this is supposed to be a party, remember?)

So save your your fiance, your wedding party, and your poor wedding photographers the grief and nibble a little throughout the day.

The Immaculate Dress: Do not assume that your dress cannot get a little dirty. Especially the underside of the train and hem. It touches the ground, so it will get dirty, and the best part is, no one can see it! I get such a kick out of brides who want the shot in the grass or field or off a trail in trees or something and then look down and see bits of stuff stuck to the tulle and freak out! It’s OK, as long as there is not a stain, you’ll be fine. That’s why you have bridesmaids, to pick tiny pieces of stuff out of your tulle and veil before the ceremony. Hello! And in the worst case scenario where you do get visible stains or dirt on the visible parts of the dress, you’d be amazed how little if any is noticeable on the photographs, and if they are just have them removed!

(the post continues on page 2…)

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