When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you’ll want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

• Second photographer: Andrew Welsh Rochester NY wedding photographer
• Makeup by Valerie M Demino
• Wedding reception and preparation at the Esperanza Mansion, Penn Yan NY with coordination by Kristy
• Rochester Wedding entertainment by the Up2Somethin’ band

Blair was excited to meet me on the wedding day after all the phonecalls:

Excited to be a bride:

Her Dad has obviously been proud for years:

Beach weddings are romantic:

But I always have to remind people how extreme the wind and sea-spray is! Levi hold’s down the sand with his studly pose while Blair floats over it like the pixie she is:

The eyes have it:

And so does the kiss:

This small family focused destination wedding at a beach house on Sandbridge Beach, Virginia Beach VA was shot in a total of 4 short hrs

Cheers with a shot of 1800 Reposado to my playah Trey! and hugs to my sweetheart Danielle!! Thanks guys for such a great day.

The wedding day team was:

• Second photographer: Stacey Doyle – Providence RI wedding photographer
• Wedding Planning by Meridith - tricia huddas & co events
• Gown by White on Daniel Island
• Ceremony at the Blufton United Methodist Church
• Bridal Hairstyles and makeup by Tara’s at Fountain Center
• Tequilla table by: Patron, Don Eduardo, Hornitos, Herradura, 1800 Reposado, and Centenario
• Ceremony Violin by Diamond Violin - Na You Yang – 843.304.6680
• Tent Dinnerware Lighting Rentals by Amazing Event Rentals – Jake Morton
• Tables, Chairs, Linens & Floral – Ooh! Events
• The Heritage Steel Band – Willie Cohen
• Party DJ - Andy Pinckney – Hilton Head Entertainment
• Event Catering by Lori Craven Catering

A question I often hear from brides is ” Have you ever been to the ________ before” and while I’ve photographed over 250 weddings in a 10+ year career as of this writing; my career has evolved to a wildly decentralized clientele.  And I like that, I appreciate that, and I rise to the challenge of exploring new locations every time I go out to shoot.  I explain how my internal psyche and temperament make it good for me, but let me expound on a few of the tricks where the video left off with this image:

The venue is unimportant, the place isn’t either – the feeling is everything

I’ve shot 6 or 8 weddings at this venue, but it’s the trust I’ve built with my clients that shows through in the creation of their images

Why? do you want a picture of what it feels like to fall into the arms of your beloved at the end of the night…then choose me to shoot your wedding and we’ll find these places, places of comfort and stillness in your relationship that we can make pictures to document

Logistically, it’s nice if you’re staying at the same place where your reception is happening.  And logistically, I’ll help you find side alleys and funky spots…if you have a more mischievous side, we can express it:

I look forward to adventure of exploring your personality, and making a space for you to express it!

Here are are few questions I answer a lot:

Q: Why do you travel SO MUCH?

Mostly because the cost of advertising is one of the highest costs of doing business in an industry that has 100% turnover in clientelle for each job.  So, since I have been photographing weddings for 10+ years, my satisfied clients are living all over the country – so satisfied that they recommend their amazing experience to their friends – and it’s more cost effective for me to travel to them – than to try and aquire a new customer through other means.  Also – I love it!  I love being in new places and working with new people – so it is not stressful to me like it is to some people. So if you are looking for a photographer willing to go to your New Zealand mountain top wedding-I may be one of the few willing and able.  One other related reason, is that I am very active in my professional network so photographers who wish to give potential clients a list of references, may send my name – and as I know photographers from Maine to California – I get a few more weddings out of my neighborhood.

Q: What will you do if you’re sick or can’t make it?

I will call someone in my professional network to fill my place.  So far in well over 200 weddings I have never missed a single one.  I invest in my health and fitness as the best insurance for my job.  In one wedding in the last 10 years my second photographer was sick, and I was able to find two well qualified photographers to help me fill the spot of second photographer.  In two other weddings where I had the equivalent of a head cold, and still photographed the entire event, I hired a second photographer at my own personal expense to cover the wedding with me just incase I got tired or wasn’t as sharp.

Q: Was this in January 2011?

Yes, to all my NY clients watching this – I spend my winters in the South because a week gone by without running 20-30miles and my body gets itchy and scratchy and while today Feb 1, 2012 there is a historically massive snowstorm covering from Oklahoma to Maine – I’ll be headed to the gym in a single long sleeve shirt.  And if cramps hadn’t ended my interview so quickly – I would have teased you all about it! :p

Thanks for watching and reading! I look forward to being your photographer soon!!!

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do” – Rumi

Thank you guys for an amazingly fun and golden western NY fall day!

• Bridal Hairstyling by Shear Style in Mayville NY
• Wedding Ceremony at the Hall of Philosphy Chautauqua Institution
• Wedding Reception at the Athenaeum Hotel
• Wedding cushions, necklaces, and details by Amy & Her mom, DIY queens!
• Reception musical entertainment by the live band Hometown Sweethearts
• Slideshow track A ‘The Light’ by The Album Leaf
• Slideshow track B ‘Indiana Sky’ by Josh Garrels

Thanks so much for choosing me and trusting me with your photos, memories and event.

Look at how they shine for you.

Thanks Tony and Laura!
Great job again Denise and Molly, good to see you after a while away!

Carla Garrison talks about her gallery’s wedding services, primarily the ‘Borrow an Artist’ program where an artist paints live at your wedding or event.

The Green Rice gallery is also open to hosting your special event in their 2400 square feet of meeting space amongst artist studios and fine art exhibits. (click for full info)

I’m sure you’ll see what fun and energy Carla brings to the gallery, I’m sure you’ll be pleased working with her whether you host your wedding at the gallery or she helps coordinate your artist borrowing!  Thanks for the great chat Carla!  If you know of an interesting, artistic or notable vendor or wedding professional who would like to sit down with Neil and tell some stories…please nominate them in the comments!

View more posts from our theme: “Where Art Lives” or see the multimedia presentation on how to make your art intersect with your life.

My favorite quotes from Amy:

• “There’s perfection in imperfection”
• “Paper is sexy”
• TOAST (listen till you get it)
• “I didn’t care if I got married”
• “I wasn’t the Bridey Kind of bride”

Subscribe to our podcast to receive automatic notification of new episodes.

For more inspiration about Making Your Love real in art, view our themed posts about ‘Where Art Lives’.

Lauren & Tyler had a wonderfully mild January night for their intimate wedding evening in uptown Charlotte.  Congratulations and thanks so much for having me.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking in the flash slideshow above.

Wedding Team members:

• Kymm Stylist – Who’s the Fairest
• Wedding ceremony Saint Mary’s Chapel – Uptown Charlotte
• Wedding Reception VanLandingham Estate

Check your wedding date for Charlotte North Carolina wedding photographer services and you will receive an instant response from our calendar!

Gretchen was excited to host her wedding day in her childhood neighborhood in Rochester.  She has taken all her Sacraments at Blessed Sacrament as well as attending school there.  Gretchen’s excitement and energy beamed the whole day.  Thanks so much for having me there guys – enjoy your slideshows!

Gretchen and Dan’s helpers are listed here:

• Church of the Blessed Sacrament
• American Association of University Women – Perkins Mansion wedding reception
• Reception Catering by All Occasions Catering
• Flowers by the (always fun) Jimmy Catalano, Edgerton Floral Company
• Ronda  Wedding gown by Pronovias

The above slideshow is in flash, you may download the podcast show below; here are a couple favs if you can’t do either!

Heather had a lot of great help putting together her wedding:

• Samantha did Heather’s makeup – www.PotionBeauty.com
• Wedding Ceremony music by the Carolina Chamber Players
• Lake Norman waterfront wedding site at Jetton Park
• Wedding reception in the wine cellar room of Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse Charlotte
• bridal bouquet and decorations by Huntersville Floral Design
• Desert from Cake Expressions by Lisa
• Wedding hairstyling by Bella Lago Salon & Spa, Mooresville, NC
• Wedding dress shopping and fitting by The Lily Rose, Cornelius, NC
• Wedding Planning and ceremony by Patrick and Dottie Maloy – Calm Blue Water

Leave your comments below!

I spent the day shooting for the E Agency models on the Black + White theme.

Here’s the wedding details for all you planners out there:

• Flowers by Fioravanti Florist
• Ceremony location, reception location and catering, wedding cake design all by the Burgundy Basin Inn
• DJ entertainment by Go Sound Systems
• Wedding dress was the Chiffon Empire Dress BR1007 by David’s Bridal

Thanks guys for having me document your day!

I’m more than glad to fill you in on the details:

• Nikka ceremony at the Islamic Society of New Jersey
• Wedding Preparation at the Satler Hotel
• Wedding hair and faces done by Makeup On Demand
• Wedding Ceremony at Sage Hall Cornell University
• Wedding Reception at the Williard Straight Hall Memorial Room
• The suburb and memorable menu was prepared and presented by James from The Heights Cafe & Grill
• Wedding cake and desserts by Sincredible Pastries
• The floral arrangements and wedding table decorations made by Michaleen’s Florist
• The mastermind helper and planner Tara Reimer from Terra Rosa
• Order prints and see the complete set of photos at www.MakeLoveReal.com

Thanks guys!

• Wedding Ceremony downtown Lake Placid NY at the Adirondack Community Church
• Wedding Reception at the Lake Placid Club Boathouse by Crowne Plaza
• Flowers and decoration by Trillium Florist, Tupper Lake, NY
• Wedding cake by the Lake Flour Bakery, Saranac Lake, NY
• Slideshow music free courtesy of Amazon.com
• View slideshow without music
• Login to Make Love Real.com to view all the photos and order prints

Penny and Will held their wedding near their first and favorite vacation spot – Lake Placid NY.  Penny and Will are silly and full of love for life and each other while they brought their friends and family together to celebrate this shared love.  Will was excitedly explaining to me how he wanted to drive to the top of Whiteface mountain to take pictures between the ceremony and reception and I was hesitant to make any promises knowing that the weather on top of a 5000ft mountain in the last days of May in Northern NY is as likely to be snow as sun.  Again this day the universe smiled on me and gave us good weather while on the summit of Whiteface Mountain.  Here are a few of my favorites from up there.

When we first came up a cloud was rolling up the mountain, while the sun was still shining over the cloud giving us a mystical and unique light!

The temperature on the summit was a brisk 45 degrees with a stiff 20-25mph breeze. As the cloud rolled over the summit we were momentarily lost in fog and then rested just under the belly of the cloud.

Will and Penny were surprised when I told them on the way to the summit that it would be great to be hit by a cloud, and they were even more surprised when it happened. My wilderness experience in the High Peaks has taught me about the amazing ecological conditions these mountains reside in. If you are yearning for a mountaintop wedding ceremony, Whiteface mountain just North of Lake Placid is an amazing summit. You can drive to within a few hundred feet of the summit and then take either the elevator or stairs to the top. But here is the panoramic view:

The Adirondack Park is really just a big swamp with mountains interspersed amongst it, and this picture captures that quintessential environment with the bride and groom.

Thanks so much guys for bringing me back to the Adirondacks for your great wedding day!

The wedding took place at the  Glengoyne Highland  whiskey  distillery and we all enjoyed the generously poured high-quality scotch!  wowsa!!

Congratulations Gerry and Jenny – thanks for bringing me to your wedding!

I had an  awesome  time visiting the clubbing scene in Glasgow and partying till 3am – at that latitude the sun rises at that hour and I got to experience my first Celtic ‘time between’ with a beautiful sunset departing Gelengoyne, and a sunrise after dancing all night through the packed clubs of Glasgow.  

If you’re wondering why I’m not answering e-mail, slow on voicemails read on – if you’re not ok with my sillyness – don’t read on!!

This is my photographic family – from these minds my career has been molded – and to whom I give my highest gratitude:

FW7 from Vladimir Chaloupka on Vimeo.

Did you catch my multiple cameos?

Each year in North Dallas TX we gather for the most intense, most personal, and most life changing photography workshop on the planet – Foundation Workshop. It was out of this workshop that my wedding photography career was born – and I have been returning for the last three years as a Mentor to the students of the workshop.  The team leaders are Huy Nguyen, Brooks Whittington, Amy Deputy, Greg Gibson (my team leader in 08) and Tyler Wirken (my team leader this year – blonde  spiky  hair in the hotel room edit scenes).  

Recognize that shadow? my opening presentation

There are two unique things about the Foundation Workshop – first, the students shoot assignments like newspaper photographers.  Second, the student to staff ratio is 1:1 to ensure a crazy, intense, and personal level of instruction and connection.  I was  privileged  to lead off the workshop with a talk on creativity kicking off day one’s four lectures and team building  exercises.  Day’s two and three are full shooting days for the participants to shoot assignments.  While day 4 had a dinner deadline to edit all the photos into a short slideshow for a presentation after a  celebratory  dinner.

This year Team Wirken started the week off with a very silly hotel room bonding experience.  After which our team member’s took on assignments like the South Fork Ranch – where Dallas the TV show was fashioned shot by Stacy Doyle.  A chocolatier who just opened shop – shot by Duncan Kerridge.  A local  Veterinary  hospital in Plano shot by Dan Shuman.  An organic tree farm shot by Jerry Yoon. Finally a family caring for their father stricken by Lou Gherig’s disease shot by Joseph Allen.  It was a real  privilege  to be able to speak into these people’s lives and I hope I’ve made a positive impact on their shooting, thinking and feeling pictures.  My role as a mentor is to visit the team members in the field and help them gain new perspectives, think new approaches and generally push them out of their comfortable ways of shooting and thinking.  Then we take it back to the editing suite…..and talk about all their mistakes all night!

Stacy Doyle shooting at the Dallas TV show museum

Duncan at the Chocolate shop above and Dan at the Vet below

Really – it’s just plain brutal honesty about almost every picture.  Tyler Wirken our team leader has a graphically driven taste for images and he can see every compositional flaw within seconds.  He also has the mental energy to talk about it for 6 hours straight!!  A totally revealing experience for the participants and the staff alike as we warm up our creative brains by realizing all the things we should do better!  So as you see in the video a lot of sitting around and talking – that’s us critiquing our work.

If you’d like to see a still image slideshow by  David Pullum and Anna Kuperberg our official staff photographers there’s the link!

Bedtime stories with Neil & My wife in HD.

Browse our site from the top – following the numbered sequence :

1. Meet Us (intro to our services and thinking)
2. Enaging Products (a rundown of all the things we make)
3. Click for a Contract (packages and pricing)

Sarah & Jeremy had an  emotional  (men crying during the ceremony) silly (did you see those bridesmaids) and funny (um, ringbearer’s finger in the cake – people eating goldfish) wedding celebration. Entertainment for the night was masterfully hosted by Kevin Colangelo. And is Jamie trying to stalk all my NY weddings, or has she just become the best wedding hair babe in WNY? My wife and I drove up with the family to see friends so Sarah got the bonus as My wife as the assistant photographer. She seems to be sneaking pictures of herself into everyones proofs lately, so if you got one  psychoanalyze  it for me.

• Wedding Location at Belhurst Castle
• Hair by Jamie Lynn
• IPod version music by Jap Jap
• Bridal Jewelry by Something Blue on Etsy

Blogger contest take two and YouTube version

Blogger talent search contest or YouTube version.

Ungodly Fruit – Soundtrack by Wax Taylor

The prize is a free multimedia engagement session by Neil Cowley with a value of $3000. The quest is for a storyteller with heart and humor to tell the stories of wedding planning and engagement from inside their head and out through the web. Submit your journal, blog, video log, or contest entry to the comments here to be considered!  Multimedia submissions will  definitely  score you bonus points!!

What is a multimedia engagement session?

• Sara & Jeremy – dog lover’s extended love story
• Letchworth New York destination engagement shoot slideshow
• Erin + Josh Engagement story at Centeral Park West and MOMA NY
• Where art lives with Courtney & Charlie shows you how a couple designed their engagement session

If you are chosen as the new blogger, I will help you design your engagement session and schedule it for as soon as possible.  Your themed shoot will also produce Save the Date Cards, and a Signature Wedding Guestbook.  You will then be responsible for writing 20-30 posts from your engagement and wedding.

Who else has blogged for you?

Deanna was our first bridal writer who’s creative, heartfelt and zany  posts were a lot of fun!  You can view her multimedia  engagement shoot slideshow, her post reflecting on the engagements, her wedding slideshow, and her post reflecting on the wedding experience and journaling/blogging.  Deanna is planning to incorporate some of her reflections in her album design.

The entries will be judged by Neil, My wife and Deanna on the basis of creative writing, personal presentation and emotional candor.  We are looking for writing style, emotional expression, and humorous visual flair (like Deanna’s barbie page).

How can I blog this, pass on the word, tell my friends?

Click the </>Embed button on the above video and copy the code to your own blog or site – or use the YouTube Version with Neil or My wife.

Paste the link to your post in the comments, so everyone reading here can find your site!

http://makelovereal.net/blogger/

Click this button to post this page to your Myspace, FaceBook, bookmarks or other sites:

Album Delivery by Neil

You’ll be just as excited and enthralled to open your album for the first time!

Order a Custom Design Series Album from our three sizes: 8 Series, 9 Series, and 13 Series

We also have an a-la-carte option that starts at $300 – and you build the album with only the photos you want by starting with an either an 8 inch cover, or an 11 inch cover.  Add each page of your album by selecting ‘album page’ from the photo page in your private gallery on the shopping cart.

Wedding Workout with guest Sherry Granader Alkalize and Energize for Great Sex « Wedding Podcast Network Wedding Talk Radio the blog

Sherry discusses acid overload and which foods you should and should not be eating that will make a huge impact on how you look and feel. She has the scoop on the importance of eating alkaline foods, super green foods, antioxidants, and what makes the body crave sugar and salt. Sherry shares her Cupa, Cupa, Cupa Smoothie recipe that’s easy, delicious and very good for you. Find out what you can do today to make a difference in your daily regimen to maximize your energy and watch your vibrant, sexy self return!

I enjoyed this show’s encouraging tone, and let those positive motivations build up to a completely healthy lifestyle as you make healthy choices for your wedding!

PSSST – You’ll want headphones to savor this 4min experience.

The slideshow track is by John Martyn – Small Hours from the album Sweet Little Mysteries: The Island Anthology

Many of the slides on this slideshow are longer than 10 seconds.

I enjoyed stretching the rules and am beginning to feel the space between the photos more fully.

Check your wedding date to see if we are available for your wedding!

This was my last wedding in Lima, my once-upon-a-time hometown, where My wife and I bought our first house, and where the sky invites the face of god. It reminds me of the amazing tropical thunderheads I’ve seen in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.  I am so  grateful  I was blessed to experience this August evening.

Just a technical note of interest – the web is the best place to view these photos because of the amazing Electric Magenta, or Fucia color of the sky.  It is nearly impossible to reproduce that coloring in a print as explained by wikipedia:

Electric magenta vs. process magenta

When electric magenta is reproduced on paper, it is called fuchsia and it is physically impossible for it to appear on paper as vivid as on a computer screen. In order to reproduce it, a small amount of cyan printer’s ink must be added to printer’s magenta to make fuchsia, and therefore fuchsia is not a primary color of pigment–it is the color of printer’s magenta that is one of the primary colors of pigment (along with cyan and yellow).

The name fuchsia was chosen as the alias for electric magenta because that is the color name for the color that in printed reproduction is its equivalent.

Since prior to the introduction of  personal computers magenta was synonymous with printer’s magenta, colored pencils and  crayons called “magenta” are usually colored the color ofprocess magenta (printer’s magenta) shown above.

So while we experience it – it’s not yet something that we can fully capture!

I just thought that was a beautiful analogy to a photograph.

Who is Make Love Real? from Neil Cowley on Vimeo.

…the first section of four short films about our business.  We’re totally excited to share these with you over the next couple months as we book new weddings, meet new people and get used to our new home in Charlotte – anyone in the world can meet with us through our site.  A BIG thanks to Andrew Marzano the producer of our series.

I have to dedicate this first video to My wife, the love of my life – who’s inspired me to such great heights of experience, and such great depths of understanding.

With this post, I’m initiating a new category in the site called ‘Love Note’ where anyone can send in a love note that will be published as a public proclimation for the 5-10,000 people who visit this site every month.  We’re open to any kind of media, and will help you host and present it.  I hope to see us develop this into a little bit of a friendly competion – since my love note to My wife started with a big production budget – I’m winning!

But like the old horse says, “when you are real, you can’t be ugly” – so don’t be intimidated, start sending it in!!

I can tell you a little about it though:

• “I’m In The Mood For Love” – Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra
• “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” – Lauryn Hill
• “Pa’ Bailar (Siempre Quiero Mas)” – Bajofondo

Check your wedding date to see if we are available for your wedding and get an instant response!

It’s here, it’s live and now you can take our site with you on your iPhone, iPod, or other audio/visual media device as well as your desktop computer.  The podcast does have some audio tracks, and slideshow tracks that aren’t published in the web browser – so if you want to see EVERYTHING.  Subscribe with the above button or this link.

If you’re already an iTunes user and would like to review our podcast to get it initiated on the iTunes store, we’ll send you a print of your choice from your wedding or our art collection.  You can link directly into the iTunes store with this link. We appreciate your time – enjoy the stories.

To view the rest of their photos login to www.Make Love Real.com

I don’t think I need to add any words, cause I just stayed up all night again to finish it, and they’d probably just be crappy words compared to everything I felt in the pictures. I look forward to getting back to Toronto for the next big event!

Enigma – Gravity of Love is the slideshow soundtrack

Details:

• Bridal preparation at the  Renaissance Hotel
• Wedding Ceremony rooftop at Ontario Place  Atlantis  Pavillions
  
• Wedding Reception and dinner in the Trillium room
• Toronto Wedding Planning by Angelique
• Flowers by the Pink Twig
• Dresses by Jealous Bridesmaids

Check your wedding date to see if we are available for your wedding!

Just start up this little YouTube video for your soundtrack as you browse on down!

Read on to see the emotional rollercoaster

My eyes are wet just posting this….

….more to come soon…till then this small podcast!

[display_podcast]

I’d like to credit the tunes to John Martyn’s Head and Heart from the album “Sweet Little Mysteries: The Island Anthology” and Jem’s Stay Now from the album “Finally Woken” The story is an instant classic by Jeremy and Sarah, look for their upcoming wedding in September and recommend me to all your friends who are getting married and need their love story told.

And Sara would like to thank her stylist Ellen at Scot Miller Salon, along with her colorist Jarrod and the sweetie Cory for doing her makeup and giving the dogs something to lick off.

If you would like a multimedia presentation for your engagement, wedding, anniversary, or just as a family journal – you can read more about these two packages:

3 Media package – Custom Slideshow – Documentary Audio

]]> http://makelovereal.net/extended-love-story/feed/ 11 http://makelovereal.net/thoughts-on-beautiful-wedding-photos/ http://makelovereal.net/thoughts-on-beautiful-wedding-photos/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:56:15 +0000 Neil http://makelovereal.net/thoughts/thoughts-on-beautiful-wedding-photos/ I listen to the Camera Position Podcast by Jeff Curto and thought listening to it and thinking it through would help all of you making decisions about what type of wedding photographer to hire.

Entry #62 poses the question – Is Beauty Enough?

Visit his page to download from his site.

“Why do most great pictures look un-contrived? The deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached. Only pictures that look as if they have been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.“

This simple quote strikes to the heart of the struggle of ‘choosing a wedding photographer’ when the issues of budget and beauty, of posing and photojournalism collide in your mind.

I hope you enjoy the podcast and this bit of art theory and criticism as you contemplate your photography investment and how it might pay off for you in the future. I hope our pictures look easily made to your eye, because the beauty I see is all around me.

For us, beauty is not in the way your wrinkles can be erased out of the way, but how they can so easily be overlooked when the picture is of a genuine moment or thought – and thereby looks so easily made. While photojournalism is a good word for what we do, it’s become an overused catchphrase in the wedding industry – but an understanding that we strive to make our work as ‘un-contrived’ as possible every time we shoot is probably the best way to understand what we do. The most common, and the most satisfying complement we get from our photos is “it feels just like we were there!” And that complement may not be coming from someone who attended the wedding!

If you are considering spending 5-10,000 on wedding photography and are unsure of what style photographer you want to go with, maybe you should consider reading Robert Adams short collection of essays on Beauty in Photography to find your personal preference for beauty and meaning in photographs. Maybe you’ll even decide the most lasting perspective or approach for capturing your family memories. I would not wish for you to have a personal preference of ‘romanticism’, where you prefer imaginative poses or very stylized images, and hire someone who spends their time finding unique moments of personal interaction. I would equally regret for you to be enticed by overtly romanticized wedding photos and 10 years from your wedding regret that a more inclusive approach had been taken that captures how much your grandmother appreciated being a part of your wedding.

I intend for you creative blessing and peace in your choice,

So do you know where the best art comes from now?

I didn’t include the story of Courtney and Charlie’s first date, but if you’d like to listen to it here:

…you can see how their engagement shoot reflected their first date and how tucker got included.

In case it’s not totally clear, the framed photos are the shadowbox that I made with Charlie’s input. The frame is antiqued barn wood, and it has a two inch deep sealed wooden shadow frame. The glass is painted from the inside to harmonize with the weathered edges of the photos and handmade paper in the backing. The photos are mounted on raw nails to avoid adhesives which lower the archival stability of the piece.

I look forward to blessing more and more of your lives with joy, strength, memories and moments

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157610978707980"]

Listen in your browser, or by Podcast

We’ve started a podcast with our multimedia work.

Yes, thank you, thank you, please hold your applause.

The site that used to host everything, got way too big, way too confusing now hosts a simple wedding portfolio, and to introduce that I’m posting a podcast version of the main gallery here, but do check in to the www.NeilCowley.com gallery and view the fullscreen, high resolution view of this show as it will certainly knock your socks off as you view the photos in high  resolution  clarity and brilliance.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to get your mobile copy of the slideshow.

Add our site to your favorite bookmark service:

Review our services on external sites and please click each of these links:

1. Review Make Love Real at WeddingWire.
2. Review Our Services on Amazon.com – if you have ordered from them before login to review.
3. Digg us by clicking this link and following through
4. Add our site to your Favorites as a Technorati user.
5. Top 100 Blogs
6. Cool Photoblogs rank’s MakeLoveReal.net
7. We Rank with North Carolina Top Wedding Sitesâ„¢

Social Network with Neil:

1. Friend Neil on Facebook: (by far the most useful and used) if you’re not already our client, send me a note to let me know why you’re friending me.
2. Neil’s Myspace Page: (not that I keep up with it)
3. Linked in: professional networking
4. Twitter: neilcowley
5. Neil’s Flickr account where many of the images here are hosted, and much of the teaching/instructional images are found for:
6. www.MakeLightReal.com – Neil’s creative journal if you’re interested in learning about the creative process or technical photo stuff.
7. Open Source Photo – a free discussion forum for beginner wedding photographers.

You can find us listed online in these directories:

• Behance – Creative Portfolios
• ASMP – American Society of Media Photographers – Neil is also an accomplished commercial and advertising photographer.
• Wedding Wire Charlotte NC Wedding Photographers
• WeDj.com Wedding Photographer North Carolina
• Adirondak Wedding Photographers in New York
• New York City Metro Wedding Photographers
• Rochester Club Ballroom
• Enright Florists
• Sheldrake Point Vineyard Weddings
• Glen Iris Weddings with a waterfall overlook
• Atlanta Wedding Photojournalist listed on MyWedding.com
• East Coast wedding photojournalist in Charleston South Carolina
• Miami Florida wedding photographer
• Orlando Florida wedding photojournalist
• Caribbean Island Beach Wedding Destination Villa Photographer
• National Wedding Photographer.com
• Phoenix Arizona professional wedding photojournalist AZ and the grand canyon
• PhotoLinks – The Photography Network
• Photographysites.com Wedding Photographers
• Love Unscripted – Wedding photojournalist photo blog and image stream
• Find a UK wedding photographer.
• Find a US wedding photographer
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• Boudoir South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina’s top Boudoir and Glamour Photographer servicing Charleston, Summerville, Folly Beach, Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms, James Island, Moncks Corner, Goose Creek, North Charleston and surrounding areas in South Carolina.
• photographers for weddings, corporate and commercial advertising
• Wholesale Wedding Flowers - Wedding flowers at wholesale prices from premier flower
  growers. Flowers for DIY weddings and event planners by Lola Blooms.