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Here’s Gretchen’s comments from the design process – which she gave no input on – just let me do my thing:

First, THANK YOU! It’s even more perfect than we imagined!!! I’m all misty. Second, we have exactly ONE change to request: Dan would like to include the photo of him and the best man chest-bumping “backstage.”

Have you fainted yet? I know, I know, an immediate, low maintenance reply! Shockingly on-time. (It’s the only completion I’ve managed today.) I figure we owe it to you.

Thanks so much for all your patience, and your talent. Dan just kept shaking his head as I paged through the design, saying “He’s just so good!”

Dan – it takes a good man to know one!  I do want to put a sideline note in about my beloved bride Gretchen, a self described ‘type A’ as you can see from the lists and flow charts that decorated the background of page 2.  Gretchen took my advice about not stressing over the album image selection, and was thoroughly pleased with the results.  You may want to select your album images, but the process is often more rewarding when the design flows from how the pictures best fit together.

A few of my favorite spreads and some comments on them:

This spread from the opening moments of the ceremony is an engaging peek into Dan’s excitement, Gretchen grinning behind the doors, and walking down the isle taking Dan’s breath away, and drawing a tear from the groomsmaid.  The iconic shot of Gretchen’s tweaked nervous smile from behind the hall doors, gives a huge visual splash to the carefully observed moments of the beginning of the ceremony.  I shot this wedding alone, and I find it very satisfying to shoot the big epic graphics, and complement it with great storytelling shots to make you look closer at the page!

A moment in time – or a story across time.  I often try to tell stories in my pictures, but sometimes I can tell time too!!  But seriously, how else could you see how much fun Gretchen has with her dress, and Dan?  Good solid album design comes from good solid ideas while we’re shooting.  I often describe the process of ‘posing’ for me, more like acting for a movie–and this is why.  Good action, helps you forget  your nervousness, be natural in your expressions, and let loose with some fun.  Cheers to great results in your album design.

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Sweet success indeed for this well planned, wonderful event.  Catch the blended storylines in this intricately designed and textured wedding album design.

Here are a couple of my favorite speads:

Here Deanna is coming down the isle (which is a narrow row of cedar bushes) and my three shots on the left show her finding, posing and receiving the roses from her groom; which the key shot on the right is coming into view of the guests for the first time and was shot by the assistant photographer.

The first dace spread is a free flowing sequence that really tells about the interpersonal and environmental space is a freeform design over time.  To me this is the most gratifying way to view the wedding photos – and it’s also without color.

Which leads us into the next spread – which is all about color, the emotion and mood of their after dinner portrait session in the field.

Here’s a close-up shot of Heather’s menus at her reception held in Del Frisco’s wine cellar, the menu designed by Neil.  However the story start a year infront of their wedding…

…with their Chirstmas card and save the date combo.  Here is me holding their limited edition Christmas card, custom designed by me:

Heather and Drew were overjoyed with the complements they received from family, friends and even the rescue organization that they got their dogs from that they had me do their save the date cards as well.

From the save the date postcard which used photographic imagery, Heather decided to take the rest of the suite minimalist to match her wedding decor and theme.

Save the date on the right, menu card on the left.  The paper stock is a pearlescent metallic finish that even though chocolate brown, give a shine to the color.

And here’s what it looks like in the placesetting!

Heather wanted a monogram to tie the pieces together, and with 10 years of design experience I didn’t find that hard to accomplish with style.

The name tags and menu blended in wonderfully with the rich chocolate color scheme.

The Invitations

The invitation design used a fashionable panorama fold on the left of the 5×7″ card.

Inside, flowing blocks of text communicate the details to the guests.

Here the response card design is shown front and back (back side blurry) as it was printed in creme white and slipped into the invitation’s fold.

Response card text.

So if you would like one less vendor to work with, if you would like to have the design elements continue from your save-the-date card through to your album.

Just have us do it – contact us above and we’ll get to work on your engagement shoot and talk styling!

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Here are a couple of my favorite spreads:

If you’ll give me a moment to talk about the elements of design we use in our albums – in this horizontal spread, I cropped the images in a tight panoramic 1:5 format to show the tight moments of the bride and groom placing the rings on each other’s fingers. The tight spacing and blurred edges allow for a quick ‘read’ of the eye across the page. That emphasis is heightened by the horizontal bars of color running through the background of the image at the grooms eye height and the bride’s ring height. The lines tie together the separate pictures with implied continuation of line that I ‘felt’ between the photos while laying them out. This extra amount of care and attention brings your album to life telling the visual stories of your wedding.

In this spread we use the design element of a light vignette to tie together and soften the overall page design, can you see the subtle darkening at the coreners?

And if you’re looking for a creative photographer, look at how we tie the action of the day into the album design! We’re wiling to see the whole day for what it is, without presuppositions about what wedding photography ‘should be’ – so we notice the littlest things that make your wedding yours! (did you notice the bee on the clover in the above spread? – I know it’s hard on the web, but we noticed it and shot it!)

Enjoy your album Kelly and Tom.

And here’s what Morgan said about the card:

Thank you so so so so soso much I am so excited to have our beautiful wedding in the paper for all to see! I also meant to tell you that when I sent out our thank you cards, I have never gotten more compliment on anything inmy whole life! My one friends husband had gotten it while she was at work and he put it up on the fridge and when she got home that night and saw it on the fridge she thought it was a jewellery ad! SHe had to look a few times before she even noticed it was me! Another friend thought it was an ad from Nordstroms! Everyone said how gorgeous the photo was. Thank you so much for that!  

For the back of the card I found an authentic antique postcard and scanned it to give the piece a unique believable look.

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A couple of my favorite design layouts feature the close combination of related photographic moments:

I can’t wait until my next Toronto wedding photojournalism assignment!

Front above – Inside below

Back below:

Book your portrait session with Neil and choose your card style:

• 8×5 full color double sided postcards
• 4×5.5″ Folded Greeting Cards
• 5×7″ Folded Delux Greeting Cards

You can see the golden sparkles from the fall sun bursting around the couple’s clasp hands in the cover photo on their custom designed greeting card.  Heather ordered that picture on metallic paper as a 16×24 enlargement for her walls, I can’t wait to see where that art will live!

Heather and Drew didn’t want a lot of space inside for writing, but wanted to allow the photos to convey much of the message.  

On the back, Heather wasn’t sure what to do to complete the design, so here’s our e-mail convo:

“How about 102 – 109 for the back cover. I know it needs to be portrait but we don’t want another picture of us on the back. Leaves are pretty..”

“Oh yes Heather I hear you – you want a tone poem to fall, expressing the hidden energy between blue skies and falling leaves – yea I got it.”

And then after she got the cards out, here is her response:

“Hey Neil -
Everyone loves the xmas cards. I’ve gotten notes from most of the people we sent them too. Also, the humane society that we adopted Otis from loves them and wanted your info.
Not too mention how much we love them! You’re so talented!

My wife helped me pick out sizes for some of our pics, we took advantage of the sale!

Have a Great Holiday!
Heather”

We’re so satisfied when we give voice in our photos and design to people’s lives and bring joy to all those around them

Above is the CD cover. Below are the enlargements of the band members:

CD Poster Insert Design – Click to enlarge

 

Full page poster with lyrics – Click to enlarge

Contact me to have your illustrative art or design project done.

You can also see this album delivered by me, here’s the layout in detail:

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Courtney & Charlie’s wedding was at the Episcopal Church in Pittsford NY while we shot family photos and wedding party photos at the George Eastman House and gardens on East Ave.  We then continued out to the Rochester Country Club for their tented wedding reception. Apples carried the fall theme and colors through the centerpieces and decor. No matter the location their rich personalities show through in all their photos while their caring and compassionate family moments are seen clearly in their album.

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.

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In their engagement slideshow, I used stop motion photography to create a video-like effect.  On the printed page a tightly designed series brings the viewer closer to examine the differences between each frame.

Sara’s favorite picture of the day paired with a soft texture from my library of textures.

I made a stop to my local New York Antique shop and picked up some choice authentic postcards. A quick scan later and I’ve got Deanna a real vintage look for the back of her postcard to match that beautiful shot sitting on the groom’s lap in thecockpit of the P-40 Warhawk.

Little Ryan Anthony was born November 17th 2007 and I was there to help Shannon make her birth announcements.

But sadly that’s another blog post you’ll have to look forward to another day – this one is is about “Where Art Lives” – we hope the different answers you see us helping our clients making, gives you creative ideas about how to use the art we make for you.

So here’s a look at Shannon’s classy cute bedroom arrangement, decorated with her wedding photos.

Shannon paired small prints with the added the  cutesy  touch of brown ribbon bows and hanging from a pewter pin over her bed.  The prints are a romantic selection from her reception with the signature pink lighting that pops off the walls like little pink polka-dots.

The room doesn’t end there however, on no – we took a few more than three good pictures!

The light touch of the summer sky blue, is starkly broken by the chocolate frames and ribbon on the  opposite  wall above the bed.  White shelves hold a light arrangement which is the focus of this wall.  

Shannon’s two shelf arrangement with white frames keeps the tones light, and the focus on the photos.

If you’re super-proud of what you’ve done with your wedding photos (and we don’t yet know about it) send us in a couple snapshots, or let me know when I can stop by and promo your interior design skills!

Joshua and Erica’s album tied in the bold colors of their wedding with the romantic charm of their location.

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I designed the backgrounds of their album pages with shots I took of their bridesmaid’s dresses to get the iridescent look in the picture – combine that with the metallic paper we offer in our albums and you have a one-two punch for unbeatable color and shine!

Tammy and John’s wedding was held at the Genesee Country Museum and this natural organic album design flowed from their gorgeous event. Read the extended post below to see the full design and read Neil’s discussion of the design elements.

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Here you can see the full layout of the photos by Neil & My wife Cowley of this 70 page album. If you hire both Neil & My wife to shoot your wedding – you too will have a hard time cutting out enough photos to keep your album to 70 pages.

Creativity in the design

What are your display preferences for album design?

Here you can see one particular spread that pushes the creative envelope for combining original photojournalism style photography and the album design. That’s Tammy’s mom peaking through the hanging dresses on the left and a shot looking through the dresses of Tammy laughing hysterically.

I’m particularly proud that our images are ‘flawless’ enough to be spread across two pages in the album design. When an image is printed 19″ wide full bleed, any imperfections show right up. This romantic image from behind is on of the side moments, that allow for suggestive interpretations and is place at a point in the flow of the album that allows the viewer to catch their breath for a moment as they traverse the pages. This suggestive photo journalistic image asks for a pause and reflection in the transition of the story of the album.

Do photojournalists do group photos? YES, of course! Are full bleed two page photos good design? Yes, all the design intention was put in while holding the camera. To me, the ultimate album would be all double truck images of all the defining moments of your wedding. However, I’m not super-human yet so that does seem a out of reach for us mortal photographers.

The floral design for this Rochester NY area upstate wedding was done by Thrive Flowers.

I look forward to creatively expressing your wedding photos in the album design.

You can view their full 48 page custom designed book from their destination engagement session after the jump, or order one here.

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Each image is a ‘spread’ in their guest book, starting with the cover and then working through the pages. each spread is designed to allow space for their guests to leave comments, share stories and put the pen to some encouraging words for Deanna and William. I shot their engagement session at the exotic location of Letchworth State park in upstate New York. Their shoot lasted 6 hours mostly cause we talked and got to know each other as much as shot pictures. I convinced them to get up before sunrise to see if we could catch the sunrise coming up over the gorge, and we did. We then took pictures through different locations in the park, specifically the set of small waterfalls – where they jumped into the water – was were William proposed to Deanna.

I value making intensely personal pieces of art, and so if you’re reading this thinking “Neil would never come to where we got engaged to shoot our pictures” you’re wrong. In fact – the engagement media package is available for anyone to purchase independent of hiring me to shoot your wedding. You can view the details in our shopping cart, and purchase your special story in your locale as the price includes travel within the continental US. What story can I tell for you?

To see the whole design click blow and view in our flash player. Here is the same book filled with signatures at the end of the evening with Brea and Ed.

Purchase a custom designed wedding guest book for your guest’s signatures.

If you’re wondering why this album design has so much whitespace it’s for your friends and guests to sign as your guestbook at your wedding. Featured below the design gallery are some pictures from Brea & Ed’s wedding where you can see it after being signed.

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Brea & Ed shot their engagement pictures in Skaneateles in the fall color because as they are from California – they rarely get the treat of all our orange and red fall foliage. Another treat they didn’t enjoy so much was the dusting of snow that morning. We shot the country side images at the same barn that Anita and Dave were married in….

I love to see guests grin, giggle, aww, and ooh over the book; put their hand to their heart to collect their thoughts and pour our their love for my clients on the page I have made for them. My creative calling is to make love real and there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing it happen in front of me.

The power of love expressed is tangible, and we have people calling us that aren’t having us do their wedding – just to have us to an engagement signature journal to help them make their love real. If a signature journal isn’t included in your package, you can place your order for one in our shopping cart.

Read on below the jump if the flash gallery above does not show up in your browser….

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A graphic, but minimal design for this stylish New Jersey skyline wedding

Christina & Jacob held their New Jersey wedding photographed by Neil & My wife Cowley in the skyscraper overlooking the New Jersy and New York coast from the Newark Club.

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Click below to see their complete design…

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I shot this wedding with the help of Gary Ventura and Mary Corcoran because My wife  inconveniently  decided to get sick and those two skilled photographers stepped in and helped Holly & John’s wedding go of without noticing.  I was able to take the images and design a modern, urban and graphic representation of their day with sharp black backgrounds and endearing pink touches.  The design clearly reflects Holly & John’s personal style and the styling of their wedding day.  

Stay around to see the end of the design as I made it all the way back to their bedroom with them, and I dragged the petals used in the ceremony back to use for their ‘first night’ photos.  A spectacular way to end their wedding night!