MIA

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long! The last two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March are busy, busy, busy...but I have a long list of things to blog about! One of which has to do with the following two photos:


Above photo by the amazing Eric Johnson of Paradise Photos



But you'll just have to wait to find out why. We have two more weddings to finish off the week!

Canvas Prints! Go big, or go home...

Or go small and do a grouping of four, that would be cool too!

I think there has been a trend in recent years for people to order framed canvas prints of their professional photography, as opposed to traditional framing. Pretty much every professional photographer out there can or will offer this product and it is one that I encourage everyone to consider. While canvas prints are not cheap, they are so unique and a different way to display your memories.

Last fall, my family had the pleasure of being photographed by Elisha Orin. Elisha gave me the CD of our images which gave me the freedom to order my own prints. But I wanted to order some canvas and I knew the best way to do this was with the photographer and going through their lab. Online canvas print shops are popping up everywhere online, cashing in on the canvas craze, but there are a few products that I believe should be ordered directly from the pro that took the image and a third party online (I'll discuss the other products in another post). A few months ago I received a coupon in the mail for one of the online canvas shops and couldn't pass up a good deal. I ordered a canvas print of a photo I had taken of my daughters. The 4x6 print looked very nice to me...and when I got the 16x20 canvas in the mail, I realized the baby had some serious gunk in her eye. A professional photographer is going to look over the image and do any touch ups that may be needed before going to print. As one local photographer told me..."a leaf in the sand in a 4x6 image may just look like a leaf in the sand, but when blown up to a large image - it may look like a large dog just visited the area right before the photo was taken, if you know what I mean...". It's true - a small glob of mascara on your eyelash in a small photo may not be noticeable but in a large print, may look like a horsefly!

Now that you've suffered through my lecture to order from your photographer, I'll reward you with the images now proudly displayed in my home!

Simply Photography

Not simple photography...don't get me wrong there. But my first wedding of October was on the 5th for Stacey & George and there are two words that describe their wedding: Simple & Photography. As part of my promise to blog something about every wedding I have this month, it didn't take long to review this wedding and figure out my favorite aspect...the photography. First, Stacey and George had a very simple wedding set up on Hawksnest Beach, St. John. It was them, his parents, her parents and their love...that sounded cheesy, right? Sorry. =) We had some conch shells and palm leaves to add some color to the beautiful white sand and with nothing but the beautiful sound of waves lapping at their feet, they said I Do. It was really just lovely.

But here's the best part. Yes, it was simple, yes it only took about 20 minutes...but Stacey LOVES good photography and knew that the images of her wedding day will last forever and she wanted them to be GOOD and varied. Not just beach pictures, not just the traditional parents with their newly inherited son or daughter-in-law...but fun stuff. She hired Paradise Pictures for THREE HOURS! This is not very common for such small and simple ceremonies but I LOVE IT and think it's a great idea!

They got great shots of the ceremony...



But then headed to Annaberg Ruins for some really fun stuff,



stuff that shows their personalities...



and then headed back to the beach to cool off!




If it can work in your budget, I highly suggest having the photographer for multiple hours and working in multiple locations. Your wedding album will be AMAZING.

Now don't forgot to go read the guests blog posts and leave a comment - contest ends tomorrow at midnight!