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!!
If you are chosen as the new blogger, I will help you design your engagement session and schedule it for as soon as possible. Â Your themed shoot will also produce Save the Date Cards, and a Signature Wedding Guestbook. Â You will then be responsible for writing 20-30 posts from your engagement and wedding.
The entries will be judged by Neil, Liesl and Deanna on the basis of creative writing, personal presentation and emotional candor. Â 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 Liesl.
Paste the link to your post in the comments, so everyone reading here can find your site!
I can’t really explain it any other way…in case you were wondering what I was doing earlier tonight.
We had to tolerate thunderstorm downpours – but we got to receive the blessings of the August sunset.  If you’re planning an August wedding in Upstate New York be sure to plan some time for sunset portraits.
There are a few things you must keep in mind when contemplating the way that you will propose marriage to your lady. First, this is a memorable moment, which will be told and retold over the years to your friends, family, children, and grandchildren. Make it a story worth telling. Secondly, every woman is different; make your proposal specific to her taste and personality. Some women would love nothing more than to have all their friends and family be witness to the event, while others would much prefer a private and intimate moment with you alone. First and foremost, make sure the way in which you ask makes her comfortable.
Make it a story worth telling…..of course this is near and dear to my heart and the humor of how everyone’s expectations are botched in funny little ways is part of the cuteness of such an enormous expectation. Â The expectation is the lock on the woman’s heart – and meeting it is the key to winning that heart with the Man’s gesture. Â I’m writing this for the Men so this is how you have to think of it:
Give her some bragging rights!
Seriously, she needs to be able to brag you up to her friends and family – and doing this right will help her do that and give her a greater sense of confidence as she earns their approval and admiration from the story you create. Â A great story makes her feel unique and special at the same time.Â
Planning and patience, wow – that was an amazing project!
Plan some time for pictures into your wedding schedule – and we’ll be able to be creative and allow you and your husband to have time to relate. If we’re all feeling rushed, it doesn’t allow for the creativity to bloom the same way!
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.
“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,
