Sleepless

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I’m sorry I have not had the chance to update the blog as much as I previously did. There is just so much to do and so little time to do it. Michah is keeping us awake all night long. Yesterday, I was working on some photos and had to close my eyes for a moment. Next thing I knew….. it was 30 minutes later!!!! I know this exhaustion will pass in a year or so. I hope I can keep going until then.

I have also fallen a little behind with the work from MMP. I just finished color correcting Arianna and Tony’s wedding from July 29. I still need to design the album. I also photographed Courtney and Jim’s wedding last weekend and I have another wedding coming up. So please understand if you do not see any photos posted.

Finally, if there was not enough to keep me busy, I am attending a four day wedding photographer’s workshop. Of all the places in the US to hold the conference, it is being held 10 minutes from my home. With the caliber of speakers, I could not resist attending. If this had been anywhere else in the US, I would not have gone. During my conference, my niece, Samantha, is staying with us to help with the kids. It turns out she likes photography. Maybe in a year or two, she will work for me. Anyway, that’s all for now.

Crazy Week

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As you can imagine the last week has been quite crazy. We brought Michah home from the hospital on Sunday. Sheryl’s folks have been staying with us since the baby was born. On Thursday, my dad and his friend Trudy arrived to visit the new arrival. On Friday, we had a full house as we had a little party to welcome Michah. We had some friends over and the Milwaukee cousins arrived. Samantha and Zach stayed overnight and will go back to Milwaukee with Sheryl’s folks. Later today, my dad goes back home. We’ll finally have the house for just our little (ok not so little) family.

Even though I have not been real busy with Magical Moments, there is also some exciting news there too. I have been invited to join a project to help write a comprehensive wedding photography question and answer article to assist couples understand the complex task known as “Finding the Right Wedding Photographer” So far over 100 questions have been submitted to the editor for inclusion in the project and more are coming in each day. Most engaged couples have never hired a professional photographer in their life. These questions and answers will provide them with the information to make a good choice when selecting a wedding photographer. When the article is published, I will let you know which section(s), I wrote and where to find the complete article.

Gotta run, Michah is crying….

What do you mean I can’t make copies of my wedding photos?

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What is a copyright or What do you mean I can’t make copies of my wedding photos?

Writers, Movie Producers, Musicians, Photographers and anybody else who creates something is entitled to ownership rights over their creation. For an invention or a hard product, these rights are called a patent and for ideas, it is called a copyright. The founding fathers of the United States granted these rights to inventors and authors to foster the creative process.

When you hire a wedding photographer, you are hiring them to create photographs which allow you to remember your special day. You may also purchase a wedding album or other photos from your wedding day to show your friends and family. Just like you can play a CD or DVD for your friends and family but not make copies, the same goes for photographs. The confusion lies because, this is MY wedding. Unfortunately, the law does not discriminate. The photographer owns the image copyright from the moment they press the button on the camera. It does not matter if they are an amateur or professional photographer.

In today’s digital age, you may purchase or be given a set of digital files or digital negatives. Believe it or not, this still does not give you the right to make copies. If you were to take that disc to any photo store for printing, they would rightfully ask you for the copyright release or usage license. This is the piece of paper the photographer gives you which tells everybody else, you have the photographer’s permission to make your own copies. So if you obtain a set of your digital images, make sure you also obtain from your photographer a letter or form, permitting you to use the digital negatives to make your own copies.

Baby’s Status

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He’s almost here! We are in final count down mode. Sheryl’s visit to the Dr. went well. During the appointment, Sheryl and the Dr. decided that if the baby is not born by Friday 7/28, they will induce labor that day. So by 7/29, unless they can’t get Sheryl a bed at the hospital, in which case they will induce on Monday 7/31, we will have a new addition to the family. Keep checking back for the latest baby update.

Right Place, Right Time

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Last Saturday I was privileged to photograph Michelle and Ryan’s wedding. Other than it being the hottest Saturday of the year, everything was great. Just in case, Sheryl decided to have our baby, I hired an associate photographer, Mario, to step in should I be called away. Lucky Michelle, she got two photographers for the price of one!

Mario normally works for another studio. They allowed me to use him for the day. It was interesting to see how another studio works and was a reminder of why I have my own studio. Mario was constantly asking to include specific images to fit his employer’s normal requirements.

Since, Mario was with me, Sheryl decided to hold off on going into labor. If I was by myself, you know the baby would decide this was the time to arrive. The important thing is that no matter what happened, Michelle had a wedding photographer. Here are some of the photos I took at the wedding:

Photograph of Michelle's engagement ring
Photo of Michelle and Ryan at the church right after their wedding.
Wedding day photo of Michelle and Ryan taken at the Signature Room

Finally, I had just walked back from my car after putting the first load of equipment away when I overheard somebody say, “Oooh, Fireworks!” Not knowing how long before the fireworks show ended, I ran inside and asked my bride and groom if they wanted fireworks photos. “YES!” We all ran outside. Here is the result:

Photograph of Michelle and Ryan in front of the fireworks at the end of their wedding day.

Outpouring of Support

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By now you all know Sheryl and I are expecting our third child any day now. At our last Dr.’s appointment, the Dr. said our son was measuring about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. It is very likely he will be born before his due date of August 7. Mathew followed the same growth pattern and was also born early. This news was not a big surprise to me. The Dr. wants Sheryl to complete 37 weeks of pregnancy before the baby is born. That would be Monday July 17. It basically means the baby could arrive at any moment now.

Meanwhile, I am scheduled to photograph Michelle and Ryan’s wedding on Saturday. The photographer who had previously told me he would be my backup, decided to take another booking. I was panicked. If I have a backup photographer, the baby will wait. With my luck, without a backup available, it is 100% certain my new son will decide to arrive at the worst possible time, on Saturday during the wedding!

I put the word out via several of my wedding photography networks. I received many replies from photographers. Some were available and others were not but they were calling their photographer friends on my behalf to find somebody to assist me. What an outpouring of support! This is one of the benefits I receive as a member of my professional associations. While you hope to never need the help of your fellow photographers, it is nice to know they are there when you are in a bind.

During the week, I have been busy working on several projects. I completed the first draft of Maureen and Jason’s wedding album. They are going to have a great heirloom to show their kids and grand kids about the day they got married.

Collage of wedding photos as seen in the album
Wedding Photo collage for Maureen and Jason's Wedding Album
Collage of wedding photgraphs as seen in the wedding album

On Sunday, I photographed the engagement session for Cheryl and Mark. They are getting married on September 9. We had a lot of fun at Twin Lakes in Palatine during their engagement session. It was a chance to get to know these folks a little better. Mark has a great sense of humor and I can’t wait to join them on their wedding day.

Cheryl and Mark's Engagement Photo taken at Twin Lakes

Next, as a special gift for Meghan’s Kindergarten teacher, I created a 22 page book chronicling Meghan’s first year of school in photos. I started at the first day of school and followed her through the year. We concluded on report card day. Here are some of spreads from Miss Sullivan’s remembrance book.

Event photo collage for an album
Album collage with event photographs
Album photo collage with photos taken at Brookfield Zoo

Pirates

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Thursday night I decided to surprise Sheryl with a babysitter so we could have a date, dinner and a movie. I arranged for Julie, our sitter, to arrive around 5:30 Friday evening, while I was at the bank. She had instructions to tell Sheryl to get ready to go out for the evening.

Everything worked as planned. Sheryl was surprised to see Julie and wanted to know why she was there. Sheryl got ready and we went to T.G.I. Friday’s for dinner. It was nice to be able to spend some time together without the kids interupting us. We actually were able to hold a conversation longer than 30 seconds.

After dinner, we went to the movies to see “Pirates of the Carribean, Dead Man’s Chest.” The movie was good. It started a little slow but it soon picked up the pace. There first movie had a little more humor and excitement but Dead Man’s Chest had a more rivetting storyline. The ending was a shock and gets you ready for the third movie in the series. We both enjoyed the movie but all too soon it was time to go home and become parents again. Our romantic evening together was fun and we’ll have to do it again.