Wedding Day Photography-12 Photography Tips To Make Your Pictures Turn Out Great!

Once you decide to get married you have many decisions to make.  After the church and reception locations, decision #3 is choosing a photographer.  After all, when the guests are gone and the food has been eaten, all you have are the images from that day.  So its important to know how to make your wedding day pictures perfect. 

Tip #1 – Talk To Your Photographer Before Finalizing Your Wedding Day Schedule – Good Photography is dependent on good lighting. There are certain times of the day that are more photogenic than others. For instance, high noon casts a harsh light and makes unflattering shadows on the face. Late day sun is better for a warm inviting picture.

Tip #2  Stick to a Finalized Schedule – If you planned the day, pay attention and respect the schedule that you have arranged. Being late can make or break your images. Good photography takes time.

Tip #3  Don’t Let Relatives Get In The Way- There is nothing worse than discovering that photographs of your special day are ruined because of someone else’s flash appearing in the picture. In the photographers best interest and yours, ask well intentioned relatives and guests not to use their camera while the professional photographer you hired is shooting.

Tip #4 Tell The Photographer How You Want To Look In Pictures. – If you do not like a particular way you have seen yourself in photographs, share that with the photographer.

Tip #5 Focus On Your Guests – The photographer you hired will keep you on track for your photographs. “Enjoy Your Day” and stay stress free.

Tip #6 Looking Just Right -  Everyone wants to look good in their photographs. For formal pictures…..Take the time to make sure ties are straight and hair is in place.

Tip #7 Designated Organizer - Your day will move along if you designate someone to help the photographer gather family members and guests for your requested special photographs. It should be someone who knows the majority of the people at your wedding. (Maybe a close cousin or a really best friend …not someone in the wedding party)

Tip #8 Don’t Try an Make Things Perfect – Not everything may go smoothly so just relax and have fun. When the bride and groom smile so will everyone else.

Tip #9 The First Look – If you are not superstitious, taking your couple shots before the wedding ceremony is helpful and makes the day less rushed.

Tip #10  Don’t Look For the Camera – Your photographer will be trying to catch those  candid moments. The best thing to do is relax and act natural. Be In Love and In The Moment and your pictures will turn out GREAT!

Tip #11 Don’t Forget The Details - Remember to tell us if there is something special you want us to photograph. Did someone make the favors? Did Aunt Sally do the table decorations? Are you wearing an heirloom? Please also remember to bring a wedding invitation to be photographed.

Tip #12 Head Held High Walking Down The Aisle – Tell everyone in the wedding party that will be walking down the aisle to look up and smile. If they are too nervous to smile, they should at least keep their head up and look down the aisle. This will help the photographer to get good shots and help those involved stop the “evil double chin look”.

Halloween Fun For The Little Ones!

Milk Carton Haunted Houses

Use any size of carton, from an individual sized lunch carton to a half gallon. Cut out a door and some windows and cover entirely with black construction paper. Add some cute halloween stickers and glitter, maybe some candy corn and pumpkins, and you have an adorable decoration that your kids can help create. For an extra spooky touch, add an LED tealight. Create one house, or an entire village!

Boa Bats

These would make great porch decorations! Add glitter and use different colors of construction paper for a more playful effect.
http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/ha…a-bats-669215/

Printable Pumpkin Carving Stencils

Our favorite ones are the goofy faces!
http://www.paperpumpkins.com/

Tie Dye Halloween

Create a fun tee shirt, onesie, pajamas or a trick or treat bag with this adorable craft.
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/pumpkin-shirt-674600/

The Perfect Wedding? Well Almost!

When you have a big event to photograph, like a wedding, sometimes there can and will be things that go wrong. For instance, you might have the wrong address for the church or there are two streets with the same name in the town or city where the wedding will take place. Maybe the bride will arrive to the church late or the priest, reverend, pastor, officiate gets in the way of your ring exchange shot. There are so many things that can go wrong. Then there are, however, those rare occasions where nothing goes wrong and everything goes right.

 This was the case of Elizabeth and David who married at St Bridget’s Catholic Church in Framingham, MA on Sept 25^th, 2011. As always, I began to prepare the night before and made sure I had all the equipment cleaned, placed in the bags and the batteries charged. I checked my short list and double checked the church and venue addresses. On the day of the wedding I checked everything one more time, I was all set.  With my shoes shined, I was good to go.

I met my assistant, Matt, at my studio at 1PM, as planned. With the GPS plugged in, we were on our way to the perfect wedding. Matt and I arrived at St. Bridget’s one hour before the wedding, which was at 3PM. We gathered our gear and went into the church to take some test shots. Everything was going smoothly, much to my surprise, I might add. We went outside and the groom, his best man and groomsmen had arrived early. I’m thinking this is fantastic, I can get the before wedding shots without having to rush. Life was good. Then, much to my delight, the bride arrived twenty minutes early. Holy cow, this almost never happens!  I was able to take photographs of the bride, maid of honor, bridesmaids while they were in the limo. Then I got a picture of Dad helping Elizabeth out of the limo, as well.

As the ceremony began to start, with Matt placed on the balcony, I took my spot in the doorway to the right of the altar. After several shots, of Elizabeth and David, I moved to the center aisle, as quietly and quickly as I could. I took a few long view shots of the bride and groom kneeling together, as the priest conducted the mass. Up to the balcony I went, to take some overall shots of the church’s interior. Life was still good. As the ceremony approached its conclusion, the ring exchange was about to take place and suddenly something went wrong. Without notice, the priest stepped into my line of sight. I nearly panicked but kept my cool and took the shot with him in the way. I was hoping Matt was getting the ring exchange from center aisle. I thought to myself, it was all good up to that point and reminded myself that some things go wrong no matter how much you prepare. The key here is how you handle the glitches that do happen. Fortunately for me, Matt was able to get the ring exchange. The rest of the evening went without a hitch and this wedding almost turned out to be the perfect wedding.

High School Senior Portraits – The Right To Choose Your Photographer!

As August turns into September , high school seniors are nervous and excited about the upcoming school year. One of the first items on their list is their yearbook senior portrait: Who to go to, what to wear, indoor or outdoor, how much will it cost?

In the past few years,  school districts have combined senior high school pictures and grades Pre-K thru 11 pictures into a contract. Photography companies present to the school districts, a list of photography prices and incentives that will be included in the contract. These “incentives” given by the photography companies help defray the cost of  publishing yearbooks, etc. and  earns them the title of “Official School Photographer”.  Incentives may be photo id cards for the students and staff, a new TV for the teachers lounge, a 20% commission off the sale of school portraits to the underclassman or any number of things that a school would be in need of.  The contracted photography company, may not even been located near the school district and it is inconvenient for parents and high school seniors to get their portrait taken . irregardless, this is big business and in some cases, these contracts are worth in excess of $100,000 to the photography company.

It also effectively prohibits any local town photographers from competing as these incentives are often too expensive for a small photography business to pay out.  The companies that win these contracts often have 10-20-30 other schools districts in the area.  In addition, these are not bids, there is no rhyme or reason as to how the contracts are awarded. Photography contracts for some reason do not come under the same bidding process as other large contracts are required to do. 

School Districts, in their exuberance to get the most that they can for these contracts, violate the most basic of rights for their seniors and unknowingly may be violating  anti-trust laws. When they use wording like, “You may only have your senior portrait taken by the official school photographer if you it to be in the yearbook” or We will not accept senior portraits from anyone other than the official school photographer”  it is against the law. Students have a right to choose whoever they want to have their high school senior portrait taken. That image must be accepted by the year book administration and published in the yearbook.

Here in Massachusetts, I wanted to share with you the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Opinion on this matter:

 ”While the Department is sympathetic to the difficulties inherent in financing high school yearbooks, it is in violation of the law to bar nonofficial photographers from having their images used in the yearbook. The agreement made between the official photographer and the high school is not a contract between the student and the official photographer. We do not object to the practice of designating an official yearbook photographer and offering them access to school property in exchange for assistance in the production of yearbooks. We also do not object to the high school requiring students who employ nonofficial photographers to meet deadlines and publish specifications in order to use their images in the yearbook. We do believe, however, that a total ban or the assessment of a fee for that privilege places an onerous and illegal burden upon the ability of nonofficial photographers to compete in the senior portrait market.”

Essentially, the Department of the Attorney General has declared that public schools prohibiting students from using a nonofficial photographer to produce their senior portraits is in violation of the Massachusetts Antitrust Act, General Law Chapter 93, Section 4.

So with that said, parents and seniors, you do have a choice and this is the law that backs it up.

Respectfully,

Paul S. Robinson

Paul S. Robinson Photography

Time Travel

We are told that we cannot re-live life gone by.

That once a moment passes, it cannot be revisited.
I disagree with that school of thought.

Reverse time travel, in a way ,is possible by way of photography. With all
of the new gadgets and advances in technology we have lost sight of what photography truly does for people.
It lends a visual vehicle for us to go back into the annals of our minds and revisit moments past. When we look at a photograph we travel back to a time or experience in our lives. Some of those memories and experiences may have been sad or troubling and some are pleasing and lift our spirits. Photography is an art we enjoy but it is much more than art. It is a record of times past, which we revisit in our minds, by way of photography.

Senior Pictures – Class of 2012

The end of the school year draws to an end and for those graduating seniors it’s an exciting time of life.  For some, its off to college and for others, its finding a job and beginning a new career.

Next comes the Class of 2012 with new expectations and fun-filled times ahead. Having senior pictures taken is one of the milestones of being a senior. Your image, your expectations and your bright future captured for all to see.

The class of 2012 has many choices when it comes to having their senior picture taken.  It’s not the same for men as it is for women.  This years female seniors are looking for upscale pictures where they can have their make-up and hair done, as well as, almost model – like sessions.  Gone are the days of sitting down and staring at the camera. Today female’s want high fashion walk-way pictures that express their personality, their different moods and wide variety of clothing ideas.  They want their sessions both indoor and outdoor with evening gowns, knee-high boots, leggings with mini’s and jeans with high heels.

Todays senior men, are looking for adventure or action portrait sessions.  Football, basketball, hockey action shots or maybe the cherished motorcycle, supped up car or favorite hang-out spot is what’s showing up across the country for today’s senior men.

At Paul S. Robinson Photography, we have geared up for these types of senior portrait sessions.  We recently moved upstairs to a large 1400 sq ft studio with multiple backdrops, props and lighting effects.  We’ve team up with Diva Hair Salon for hair and make-up and we have scouted out some great outdoor locations sure to please any senior, male or female.

We are offering a 10% discount off any senior portrait session booked during June and July.  This is in honor of our 1 year anniversary of Paul S. Robinson Photography being at 2 South Main Street Floor 2 – Unit 202.  Call us today to make your appointment.

At least 7 Reasons why you shouldn’t hire Uncle Joe!

I had a bride come to my studio almost in tears. She got married 3 months ago and had a “friend” who had a DSLR Camera shoot her wedding.  The wedding was in an old church with high ceilings and amazing woodwork.   The reception was in a beautiful restaurant.  This friend captured all of this but guess what….  he didn’t know anything about lighting.  He had a Flash on his camera but that was it.  The result …all the pictures came out very dark.

Now I have this bride that wants me to “fix” the pictures.  Her friend doesn’t know what to do. Her beautiful wedding day memories are ruined and now she comes to a professional photographer.

I can only shake my head. What are engaged couples thinking?  If someone has a DSLR Camera, IT DOES NOT MAKE THEM A PHOTOGRAPHER. It only makes them a person with a DSLR Camera.

Capturing memories is not as easy as most people think.  Professional photographers, those that went to a photography school and actually graduated, have spent hours and money perfecting their skill.  A professional photographer does not shoot in auto for an entire event.  They shoot in manual; they bring a professional grade camera, a back-up professional grade camera, lights, reflectors, meters, transmitters, receivers, and much more.   They have been trained in lighting techniques, ISO, F-Stop, exposure, shutter speed, and posing.

There are some basic questions that you should ask your photographer when you have a consultation with them. Here are just a few…

Where did you go to school to be a professional photographer? (Online-courses do not count.)

Do you do this full-time?

What type of equipment do you own? Do you have a back up camera?

Does your camera have an external flash?

What type of lighting are you bringing with you?

How many weddings have you done? Do you have pictures I can see from those weddings?

How many weeks after my reception will it take to get the proofs?

How many proofs will I get?

If the person you are thinking of hiring can’t answer these questions then you should go to someone else. Another red flag should be the price …  Anyone that says they can photograph your 8 hour wedding and give you an album for under $1000 should send you running.  No professional, educated photographer can do a wedding for anything less than $1000. An average wedding photographer gets $2500 or more.  Why….??? because after the wedding is over, a professional photographer spends the next 40 hours editing and retouching your photographs so you get a quality product. Their job does not end when the reception is over.  In total a professional photographer probably spends about 80 hours in consultation, preparation, traveling, photographing, editing, designing and presenting for one wedding.

So when someone asks me…why do professional photographers get so much for weddings ? I tell them because your friend and relatives are not experienced, do not have the equipment, do not have the knowledge and don’t know how to “fix” your pictures when they don’t come out right.  I do. In addition, I paid over $30,000 for my equipment so that I can shoot your wedding and produce a quality product.

So to the brides who come to my studio to make their dark pictures look good, I can only say you got what you paid for. You didn’t pay for a professional, experienced, educated photographer. I am sorry that all the memories of your special day are gone. I am sorry that I cannot fix them. I am not a miracle worker. Please ….engaged couples, check the credentials of your photographer the next time you want your special memories preserved.