Archive for the 'About Us' Category

The Google Game

Are you planning your wedding and looking for a few design or color scheme ideas realized in pictures from real weddings - well then we have a game for you! The Google Game.

This magical Google widget will search all of our sites for the obscure but inspiring photo that you seek!
We also have planning pages showing group photo locations and vendor recommendations.
Maybe we photographed your friend’s wedding and you forgot where it was….

Free Wedding Photography: electric love

I hesitate a little to bring this up, but I think it bears breaching the topic for conversation. First, let me introduce a few opportunities for free wedding photography from across the nation and the blogosphere.

New Traditions: response to the Celebrations Studio debacle

My friend and college Jason Groupp a photographer in the New Jersy and Manhattan area, is giving away one free wedding to a couple who was wronged by the closing and bankrupcy of Celebrations Studios. The Celebration Studios problem is big news in the wedding industry as there may be as many or more than 2000 brides who’s photographer will not be showing up at their wedding this year. That’s a big problem and if you’re looking for someone in the NJ or New York - Manhattan area we have a special rate for you up until June, so just contact us.

Vrai: You can make an impact!

Christina is a wonderful button of a photographer based in the Chicago Illinois metro area but willing to shoot a wedding anywhere in the US if you are choosing to make make the least impact on the environment and the most impact on the community on their wedding day. Sounds like a great deal to me!! The submissions begin now and end by 10 pm (CST) on February 10th, 2008. Submissions can be mailed or emailed (info at vraiphoto.com) and must include the plans already made or ideas to implement, a 5×7 photo of the couple sized to 300 dpi (1500 px by 2100 px), and your wedding date (must be no later than 12/31/2009), any other information is helpful in making final selections. (mailing address on her site)

A chance to show family and friends that social responsibility can still have style, elegance, and beauty! The online poll will begin no later than 10 am the next morning and voting will last until 11 pm (CST) on February 13th. The winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day.

Jessica Claire helps those who help

Jessica a photographer out of Orange county, has a nomination process each year on her blog, which you can read about in three parts. First the call for entries, second reading the stories of the entrants and finalists (I find this one most interesting), and third announcing the winner. Looks like a Louisianan couple who grew up together gets the free shoot.

I also google’d ‘free wedding photography’ and came up with Robin DePaula’s blog, Punam Bean gives a few shots, Gulnara Studios contest, Free photography in Madison WI from a beginner trolling on wedding bee, there’s of course Craig’s listings even including ‘retouching’, one free wedding a quarter!, Jason’s give back project, and photographers wanting to travel.

Ok ok, so onto me…..

In 2005 I shot a wedding in Thailand of a couple who was prohibited from marrying by the Chinese government.

Eben answers his riddle for his birthday!

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read on to see a few pics from the birthday party

Riddle me Eben

Watch this Video and answer the riddle in the comments:

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Tomorrow is Eben’s 9th birthday! Happy birthday my wonderful son!!

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Take a minute to click with us

We would sincerely appreciate your help in both referring us to your friends who will appreciate our services, but also communicating with the myriad of clients you may not meet or know by reviewing our work online. We must cast a broad net to reach each year’s new clients because we don’t serve the same (wedding) client twice. So while we know many of you have made financial sacrifices to hire us, your minute or two effort here will save our future clients the additional costs of more advertising.

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My site was nominated for Best Photography Blog!
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 Digg! this blog
  4. Add our site to your Favorites as a Technorati user.
  5. Top 100 BlogsTop100 Bloggers - Top Blog Directory - Blog Top list
  6. Cool Photoblogs rank’s MakeLoveReal.net
  7. We Rank with North Carolina Top Wedding Sites

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:

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