Another Reason I Love Digital Cameras

Congrats to Jason and Maureen who just got married Saturday. I was fortunate to photograph both their wedding ceremonies. They had a traditional Christian wedding which was followed by a handfastening ceremony in the park. It was nice to see something new.

As is my practice, I let the wedding party see some of the photos on my camera's monitor after I take the picture. This week was no different and yet it was. One of the bridesmaids is planning her own wedding for April 2007. She was travelling back home to Kentucky on Monday. So we planned a meeting for Sunday evening. After seeing me work and the images I showed her, she decided she wanted me as her wedding photographer, even though the wedding is in Indianapolis. She booked me on the spot at our meeting! So welcome Kristen and Brad.

Today we celebrated Mathew's 3rd birthday, with his Nana and Poppa. They drove in from Milwaukee to give Mathew his gifts(mostly clothes with Thomas on them). Charles and Harriet gave Mathew his first bike when we visited them last week. They couldn't wait to give it to him.

We even had something for him from Grandpa Allen... A train table. Did I mention that Mathew loves trains? Especially Thomas! Meghan helped me put the table together as well as a 5 year old can. Anyway, for some strange reason, she thinks that her grandpa, Allen, invented the Allen wrench because it is named after him!

We had a great day. I'll post the photo, including the Thomas cake, in a day or so.

First Job Offer Tendered

Everytime I attend a bridal show, it is the same old problem. Will Sheryl work the booth with me? Who else can I get to share the responsibilities of watching the booth and talking to prospective clients? Over the years, we've had some people who have helped out who were really good and other times they were not so good.

I kept thinking that it would be nice to find somebody who almost instinctively knew how to talk to prospective clients. Somebody who knows about open ended questions, proper body posture and the like. Basically somebody who knows the Disney Experience and share that excitement about wedding photography with a bride.

Over the years, I've lost touch with most of the castmembers I used to work with at the Oakbrook Disney Store. Furthermore, working with me at bridal shows is not a steady income but rather a way to provide a little extra cash around show season. A couple of weeks ago, I found this person but didn't realize it. She is a former castmember. As I was driving to her house tonight to drop off a photo, I realized she was the answer to my problem.

When I arrived, my mind was made up, as part of the conversation, I tendered her a job offer. It should work out great with her other job. I'm not going to say any more until she decides if she accepts my offer. Either way, I'm excited to be expanding Magical Moments Photography by taking steps to add employees.

My New Business Card

For weeks, no make that months, I've known I needed new business cards. However, I had been struggling and pondering the design. Nothing I tried seemed to work. I looked at many other business cards. I kept putting the project off. This morning I was visiting Indian Lakes where I photographed Jenna and Chris' wedding a couple of weeks ago.

Once again I was asked for business cards but didn't have many to give. I knew I needed to get new business cards but was dreading the design task. Then this afternoon BAM! An idea hit me out a clear blue sky. After about an hours worth of work, here's what inspired me.

May flowers bring June Brides

The last 6 months of 2006 look to keep me really busy. As you know on the personal front, Sheryl and I are expecting our third child, a boy, August 7. If he follows in his siblings footsteps he will be born on-time (Meghan) or a couple of weeks early (Mathew). If that is not enough to keep me busy, I have 15 weddings booked in 5 months with a few weeks off in early August for my son's birth.

Now some of you may wonder what a photographer does when faced with the possibility of a personal life event when a wedding is scheduled. First, once I knew Sheyrl and I were expecting, I stopped booking weddings around her due date. Unfortunately, some weddings were booked almost a year in advanced, before we discovered Sheryl was pregnant. So, I have arranged for another fully qualified professional wedding photographer to assist me at my previously booked late July weddings. Should Sheryl go into labor while I'm at a wedding, I will turn the primary responsibilities over to the other photographer and goto the hospital. Otherwise, my clients will luck out and receive an extra professional photographer at no charge to them. See, I've got it all covered!

In the meantime, 2007 looks like a busier year than 2006. My bookings are already ahead of any previous years' booking pace. So far this June, I've booked 3 weddings, been informed 2 more signed agreements are being sent to me and I will be meeting with several more potential clients in the next 2 weeks. So with that I would like to welcome as new Magical Moments Photography clients:

Cheryl and Mark
Laura and Brian
Sarah and Jeremy

Jenna and Chris' First Draft is done!

I just finished the first draft of Jenna and Chris' wedding album. There were so many great images, that I had a hard time decided what shouldn't be included in the album. I guess that Jenna and Chris will have to tell me what to do next.

You can view the album at www.mmpix.com/shows/Jenna.htm

If you have not already done so, you will be prompted to install the Photodex Presenter in order to view the album. I hope you enjoy it.

Jenna and Chris' Album

I finally sorted through over 1100 pictures from Jenna and Chris' and selected the 900 best photos for them. Now, I have the difficult task of further reducing these photos to select the absolute best ones and design the first draft of their wedding album. Here are 3 of the 9 spreads (2 facing pages) which I have completed so far.

A Wonderful Day

I'm sitting here waiting for the files from Jenna and Chris's wedding to be complete their backup and thinking back on today. It was wonderful! We could not have had a better day for a wedding. Everything was perfect. While I had mentioned that I wanted to try using mylar with the flowers, I couldn't find any. I used aluminum foil instead. Totally cool Take a look at the results! Just wait until you see the other photos with the aluminum foil. As you can see from a very small sample of the over 1000 photos we shot, it was a great day, from start to finish!