How Photographers Capture the Unplanned Special Moments

It’s important for a betrothed couple to make a list of all the photos they want to be taken on their wedding day. Photographers need an idea of what and especially who should be photographed. Sometimes the dressing of the bride surrounded by her friends is a big deal; sometimes the groom wants photos with his buddies and prized car. Both want one of the most important days of their lives to be properly documented! Any good wedding photographer will do that. However, for photographers who are more romantic at heart and creative in mind, the unplanned photos will turn out to be the favorites.

It’s the glances, the tears, the tenseness, and the unexpected outpouring of joy that capture the life of a wedding. The creative photographer is always looking for them. One of the most important reasons to have a professional photographer is because he or she is constantly scanning the environment for shots; he’s not focused on the chain of events. When the audience is only looking forward at the ceremony, the photographer is looking everywhere for candid, emotional shots. Emotion is the currency of a wedding. A photographer who loves his work will zoom in on emotion in a hundred ways the marrying couple didn’t even consider. The result is often a triumph for both newlyweds and the photographer.

How to Approach Wedding Planning the Second Time Around

“Life is what happens when we’re busy making other plans,” John Lennon famously said. Occasionally those first marriages don’t last for one reason or another. People and life change. It can take some courage to be willing to try again after the challenges and sometimes heartbreak of divorce, but it’s important to summon that courage!

Having photographed many couples marrying again, we share this wisdom: create the wedding of your dreams. The dream, however, may have changed since you’re now older and wiser. Some introspection is needed to see the new dream clearly. Many people who have had a first wedding are more open to what they want the next time around, rather than what they think they should create to impress family and friends. We often see a deeper expression of romance in second weddings; couples understand more clearly what they are getting into, and know the absolute importance of a deep and lasting love.

The same elements that make up a first wedding apply of course, to subsequent weddings: the right venue, meaningful ceremony, music, flowers, ambiance, celebration, and comfort for guests. For a second wedding, it’s good to incorporate what’s special or romantic in your relationship, or what’s unique. If you both love horses, get married in a field! If you love the water, get married at the beach. The second time around has to be about and for you and your beloved. Don’t compare it to your first wedding or anyone else’s wedding. Make it uniquely yours as a couple courageously choosing to love again.

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How to Choose Your Perfect Wedding Ceremony

Weddings have many elements, and most couples want them all to be perfect. That can sometimes be challenging and expensive. However, since it is a wedding, the ceremony should be the one element that is just right for both bride and groom. The ceremony is the heart of a wedding.  

If the couple shares a religion and wants a church wedding, the choice is easy, although it can be difficult to decide how many to invite and how elaborate to make it. If the couple does not share a religion, it is important to work out what a meaningful ceremony will be for both of you. Of course, not all wedding ceremonies have a religious component; some couples want to take their vows surrounded by nature, or simply family. The primary idea is that the ceremony is the pivotal moment where you make a commitment for a lifetime to another person. It should be carefully considered so that the memory and imprint it makes on your minds, will sustain you as life unfolds. 

How to Capture Emotion in Your Wedding Photos

Weddings are typically carefully planned and curated events. Brides want photos that capture the beautiful and often expensive dresses, flowers, decorations, and ambiance of the day. However, in years to come when couples look through their photos, they will look for emotion, those meaningful glances, tears, laughter, and joy of the day. Weddings are and should be emotional times for the participants and guests. A wedding is the sacred fusing of two families and the springboard for new generations of the family. They should be emotional. It’s difficult for a couple to understand this before the wedding, especially when they’re talking with their photographer. They get it afterward, almost immediately, having experienced the wide range of emotions a wedding creates within them. If a couple wants photos they will love, they need to not only allow, but encourage their photographer to focus on the emotional moments. These photos express emotion – the unspoken words of a father and son, the exhilaration of having finally gotten married, the softness of love between a bride and groom. May your wedding day be filled with emotion!

How to Include Your Family in Wedding Planning and Keep the Peace!

Many brides have firm ideas and long-time dreams about how they want their wedding day to be. Most welcome ideas from their friends and others in their generation. However, mothers and future mothers-in-law are often as excited about wedding planning as the bride. It brings back good memories and they want the bride to be as happy as they were. Remember this very important point: the wedding lasts one day; the relationships with your extended family, and particularly your mother-in-law will last a lifetime.

Be generous with your time in allowing other family members to suggest options and possibilities. Listen carefully and thank them for caring so much. Tell them every idea will be considered. Try to choose at least one idea from your mother and one from your mother-in-law to incorporate into the wedding day. How you handle your wedding planning, especially with your new in-laws will set the tone for the future. It’s one of the most overlooked aspects of planning. Everyone gets caught up in the excitement of that one magical day and forgets the thousands of days to come. For generations, people have married in order to create a new family to integrate into the joined families of the bride and groom. Wise brides and grooms consider family through the whole process, while still staying true to themselves. It’s a tricky process, but no less important than the rest of wedding planning.

How to Use the Color Green to Create a Wedding Filled with Life 

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! As green abounds everywhere on this great traditional holiday, it’s a reminder that Spring is also coming. Hurrah! At long last, after a long winter, and two long years of a worldwide pandemic, the beauty of Spring is appearing. With Spring and Summer come engagements, weddings, and other family gatherings, all of which create Joy, especially for children. It’s been said that if you want to go somewhere fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with friends and family.

The many hues of green are huge in home decorating and wedding planning these days. The isolation required by the pandemic led to a boom in using plants to bring the solace of nature indoors. Many people have created “urban jungles” in their homes with hanging, trailing and giant potted plants filling the spaces. The jungle vibe has also taken hold of wedding planners and decorators as many turn to plants rather than florist’s flowers to create indoor gardens for a wedding. Because Mother Nature can be fickle in Spring, many brides plan outdoor weddings but also prepare indoor spaces decorated with plants as a backup. Plants can be rented of course, but if you purchase them for your wedding décor, they can move with you and your beloved to your new home. Think Green! 

How to Choose a Photographer to Tell Your Love Story 

From the engagement to the wedding to the christening of children, to graduations, family gatherings, and milestone anniversaries, photos over time tell the story of a family. When the special occasions are photographed by the same photographer, the story in pictures has a dimension of quality and continuity that doesn’t happen in a mishmash of photos.  Over time, the photographer gets to know how to set up the photos so that the best attributes of each person appear. The best light, angles, and mood of the occasion can be more easily set up by a photographer who knows the subjects. That’s why famous painters, paint the same subject over and over. Da Vinci worked on the Mona Lisa for seven years!

If you’re engaged, looking forward to a long life, creating a family and your unique story, consider your initial photographer carefully. Does he or she have children? (Photographers take countless photos of their own children and become very good at capturing the spirit of kids). Are they able to create great photography indoors as well as outdoors? Will you look forward to working with the photographer over the years to create your story? Your engagement and wedding are the springboard for a wonderful life. Take good pictures!

What is the New Normal for Weddings in a Post Pandemic World?

As pandemic fears and cases subside, life is changing, but it will never be the same as before. People, especially the older generation, are more aware of their vulnerability. Weddings are traditionally a gathering of friends, family, and associates where physical proximity is a huge part of the experience. Hugs and kisses, dancing, and close conversations have always been normal at a wedding. As a bride or couple planning a wedding you may wonder “what is the new normal?” How do you plan the wedding of your dreams that accommodates the concerns and feelings of those you love?

First of all, accept the reality that there is a new normal and no one is quite sure what it is, because it’s evolving. Also accept the reality that even more than before, the generations see things differently, as do people with health challenges. If you want your family and friends to lavish love on you by being part of your wedding, think of them with empathy. What will make your grandparents, parents, and older attendees comfortable in regard to physical proximity? Ask them! Before you plan the seating for the ceremony or the reception, ask them how they feel about it, so there’s no uncomfortableness that day. A happy bride is an organized and informed bride – you don’t want to be scrambling on the day of the event to make people comfortable. When planning food and beverage, keep in mind that almost everyone is more conscious of the downside of shared food. No hands in the chips anymore.

Open-air events are more comfortable for everyone these days, and fortunately warmer days are coming. Sometimes a combination of church and outdoor reception works well if marrying inside a church is important. Don’t stress over planning your wedding, just think of others and plan, plan, plan!

How to Make the Best of Your Wedding Day Weather

Rain is a funny thing. It can be wonderfully romantic if you’re walking arm in arm with your lover under an umbrella. The same rain can be a great annoyance for someone rushing to work without one. Rain is one of a bride’s worst fears, especially if she has a sunny summer’s day wedding in her dreams. Inclement weather happens even with the best of planning and technology. Simply plan for it and make a conscious choice not to let it spoil your wedding day. Decide to find the romance in the rain!

To plan for rain make a step-by-step written plan for your dream wedding in two columns – one for perfect weather and one for imperfect. For example, if you’re taking wedding pictures outdoors on a bridge, visit the bridge in light rain and in heavy rain. Make sure that if the rain has stopped but the bridge is wet, it won’t be too slippery. You might want to have colorful umbrellas available if your heart is set on the bridge and you have no other worthy backup location. Whatever the setting, just plan for contingencies. If it rains on your wedding, don’t let it rain on your parade! Remember that the love of a couple getting married surrounded by the family and friends who love them will shine brightly regardless of the weather. The married life you have ahead of you is full of bright days and rainy ones, and together with the love of your life, you’ll make the best of them all.

How To Do Wedding Family Pictures Well! They're Important!

There is a rhythm to weddings. As the day begins with the wedding party gathering to dress and get ready for the big moment, the momentum builds. The event builds to a crescendo as guests arrive, the bride walks down the aisle, the ceremony unfolds, and the magic moment occurs when the couple is announced husband and wife! Then the march out and all the well wishes, tears and joy of the moment occurs. And then…the couple has to rally the family for the photos. This is the time when things can go awry. However, family photos grow in importance over the years as cherished loved ones move on. Here’s what to do:

After all the drama, it’s sometimes a big letdown to have to get the family organized so that everyone gets photographed and there are no hurt feelings or missed photo opportunities. It’s one of the most important things to plan before the wedding so that it goes smoothly! Someone in the family can be appointed to organize the people for the photos so that the bride and groom can relax. A written plan made in advance can be given to the photographer and the appointed family organizer. Family photos can be great fun if done well which means well planned. Your family that has assembled to love and support a new married couple is important. Take the time to take all the photographs needed so that everyone ends up happy. Taking the time to organize it well before wedding day is time well spent!

How to Understand the Photo-editing and Selection Process for a Wedding

It’s daunting that an engaged couple planning a wedding has to make some of the most important decisions of their lives about things in which they have no experience! There are no classes in high school or college about planning a wedding or being married for a lifetime. Choosing a photographer is near the top of the list of challenging decisions.  A professional photographer knows the important moments of the wedding, so you’re sure to get photos of those, however, there are other important aspects to understand.

The post-wedding editing and the actual number of photos and format you’ll receive them in is an overlooked aspect of the process. Most brides book the photographer and check it off their list with relief. That’s just the beginning. Booking the photographer should be followed by an agreement of what the deliverables will be.

Professional photographers often take hundreds or even thousands of shots at a wedding. The process of going through them and selecting the best is long and tedious. It’s also a photo editing skill that is learned only through experience. Don’t make the mistake of thinking more is better! Talk with your photographer before the wedding about what you think you want in terms of the photos taken and the editing of specific photos. If you receive 400 great photos but know that 2000 were taken, understand that the 400 are the best. Photography involves skill, talent, and experience. Successful, professional photographers will release only their best work. After all, social media allows it to be used forever so it’s important to honor the standards of professional photographers. Take the time to work with your photographer so that you know what you’ll receive before the wedding. Then on the Great Day, focus on the joy of getting married, knowing that all is well with the memories your photographer is creating.

Why are Flowers a Bride’s Best Friend?

Flowers and plants are a bride’s best friend when it comes to decorating. They can transform an altar or an entire wedding reception space if chosen wisely with an overall plan in mind. How do flowers and plants do that? They mask the plain or dull background around them because color and interesting shapes draw the human eye toward them, so that people see and feel beauty. Flowers and plants arranged in groupings from tall to small also draw the eye and give a sense of pleasure. That’s why you can put a big green plant in a plain space and transform the room. It’s easier to turn the floral decorating over to a florist but much more expensive than doing at least part of it yourself. Plus, florists promote the flowers that are easily obtainable and that have higher profit margins. By using her own plants and those of friends, and supplementing them with fresh flowers purchased locally, a bride can create plant and flower groupings that provide just the look and feel that she wants. From a photographer’s point of view, flowers and plants are ideal for enhancing a setting. There’s usually a lot of waiting that goes on with weddings and receptions. Give your guests beautiful, colorful things to look at while they’re waiting for what everyone comes to see - the bride!

Why Schedule Your Engagement Photo Around Valentine’s Day?

If there was ever a year that humanity needed to focus on love, this is it! What the world needs now is love, love, love! Are you engaged?  If so, preserve this time of new love in your life with engagement photos that will keep the experience alive in your memories forever. Becoming engaged is truly an important life experience. It declares that regardless of world conditions, you and your fiancé believe in the transcendent power of love. Life is better together. Marriage is good. Family is wonderful.

If you would like photos celebrating your engagement with a Valentine’s Day theme, reach out to Daniel Photo Pro as soon as possible. If you plan to become engaged on or around Valentine’s Day, call today to schedule your free engagement photo. We offer free engagement sessions because it’s a time for you to experience working with us and to see the results. Plus, it’s fun to do photography at a time when everyone is more relaxed. Wedding day can be stressful for all, engagement photo sessions are joyful. Happy New Year, Happy Valentine’s Day, and Congratulations!

Iza&George 2015