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If you are fair skinned, don't overlook sunscreen.

My Bride, her ladies and her mother were all outdoors for their formal photos and everyone ended up getting fairly burnt yesterday.

Nothing really showed up till the end of the reception, but by then they were not feeling good. Sun damage is not something you want to start your honeymoon with!

C

Over the past few weeks I have been working to upgrade my website using a program that writes the code from Photoshop.

Because I live and breathe Photoshop, This software was just a fantastic find.

I published out my site this past weekend, and just love it! It's a quantum leap ahead of my previous one.

Every month just seems to get better and better! I am so excited for the Lynnwood Bridal Expo, I have so many new things to show everyone and some absolutely beautiful Art Gallery Wraps and albums.

If you have questions about anything photography related, please stop by. I'll have lots of things to see and feel, and will be overjoyed to answer any questions and hear all about your ideas and share some of mine!

Cheers!

Cara

When Amber and Jeff got married on August 4, it was a fun day. But Jeff had wanted so much to do one thing: ride her away on his motorcycle. Things didn't work out that way.


Last weekend, we did a follow up shoot to give him his motorcycle shots, and then we went to the beach. What followed was just some fantastic photos and we had just the best time! The weather was wonderful, and it was fun to have them wrap up in a big swath of tulle and just play in the sand.

The people on the beach were watching with polite amusement, but then they all let out a horrified gasp as Amber marched right into the water! We had been talking about doing some shots of her in the water in her dress and had even researched how to get her dress clean again.

Amber braved that cold water and we got some fantastic shots. She got wet, I got wet, and we had a blast.

I stayed up late going through the photos and enhancing some in photoshop. I had some on the website in a few hours and the results were so wonderful.

Amber and Jeff are Overjoyed! He got his motorcycle shots, she got to be a supermodel, and I got to take some wonderful art shots with a Bride and Groom that were just so much fun to work with! Take a look on my website to see, and stop by my booth at the Lynnwood Wedding Expo to see some of the art canvases from the shoot!

Have a great day!

One of my couples is getting married in April, and we did their engagement photos recently.

We ran all around downtown for a while, and just had the best time! We also got to know each other and got some great photos.

They are using one for their wedding invitations.

This one is My Very Favorite!

I sure had fun doing this photo shoot! We found just the best nooks and crannies everywhere!

See some of them at the link called "Natasha and Jason"

:)

With Metallic Paper!

Wow, this stuff is GREAT!

I just got back a whole rack of 10x10's for a flush mount album, and did them all in Metallic Paper.

The Photos have a wonderful luminous quality, are resistant to fingerprints, and are very durable.

This paper is just great stuff!

:)

Have a wonderful Day!

Cara

There are just limitless Album Options open to you today! From Really Big to tiny mini albums, and everything in between, you can have any type of memory album you like!


Do-it-Yourself folks and scrap book artistans will love the myriad of options available to you in scrapbooking stores and craft stores. You can truly make a beautiful work of art!

Online services like Kodakgallery.com have legacy books and photo books for very inexpensive albums that can be given as gifts.

For a more traditional approach:

Basic Slide-in Matted Albums
Stainless Steel Premium Matted Albums
Flush Mounted Albums (My Favorite for Standard Packages)

These all work great with printed photos

But.. for a premium and completely distinctive album, the digital library bound digital album is an amazing and breathtaking choice! Zookbinder, Digicraft Austrailia, and Boca are the gold standard of these amazing albums.

See My website, in Special Services, there you will see Premium Album Choices and you can link directly to them.

Let your imagination go wild! Have fun with your wedding photos!

For Sharing Your Passion With The Whole World

For Giving Yourself The Gift of Doing What You Love

For Living Your Life On Purpose and With Gusto

Teacher, Mentor, and Irrepressible Joy!

Thank You Steve, You will be missed!

If you are paying for your wedding (and most of todays brides and grooms are paying for their own) you are probably trying to stick to a budget.

Having a budget doesn't mean being cheap, it means keeping track and being judicious about what you spend where.

Before I was a wedding photographer I was a bride. A bride who paid for her own wedding.

The key to any successful budgeting is three steps:

#1 Establish Reasonable Goals
How much money do you have to spend on your wedding?
On your reception?
What will that Budget provide?
Do the research to see what you can truly get for your budget.

#2 Make a Plan and Stick To it (as much as possible)
This doesn't mean not to have fun planning your wedding, just go about planning your wedding with purpose.


#3 Keep Track of What You Spend -- This is THE Budget Buster!!!


Knowledge is power. A few Blogs ago I mentioned "The Binder", a great way to keep everything together and organized. If you are like most brides, and have a budget that you want to keep to, this will be a huge help.

Have a great time planning your wedding!

Cara

Where did you and your sweetheart meet? What special things do you share?

Think Beyond the Studio for your Engagement Photos!

The Beach?
The Woods?
The Space Needle?
On a Ferry?
Pike Street Market?

A Landmark that has special meaning for you can make for just spectacular engagement photographs. A blend of posed and action shots can really make for a wonderful grouping of images to treasure.

Give me a call, it's what I do!

Have a great Day!

Cara

Do you have Something that Has Special Meaning to you?

Your Horse?
Your Dog?
Your Car?

If you can't make them a part of your wedding you can make them a part of your photos!

With some planning and the right mindset, your meaningful things can be incorporated into your special day.

One of my couples had a very special car that they wanted to be photographed with. We did it up 'Homecoming Queen Style' at a local Arboretum, and the photos turned out great!

Brides and Grooms have been photographed with their horses, their dogs, and a host of other meaningful critters.

It just takes a bit of planning, patience, and imagination!

Have a great day!

Cara

Tomorrow ~ 8/26 ~ I am participating in a show called SWANK. It's an artist show/sale/artist forum.

I always want to bring the artist in me alive, and so in addition to continually sharpening my skills in photography I am looking for ways to nurture the artist within me.

Here is the website http://www.seattleswankshow.com/Artists.htm

Here is the address!
Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center (Lower Brick Building)
6532 Phinney Ave. Seattle, WA

It is important to constantly stretch and grow. Challenge is crucial to the artist in me! Swing by and tell me what you think if you are in the neighborhood.

:)

Cara

Artistic Shots not only make great wedding photos, but can also just make great art!

Think big!

Think about having that piece you love made into an art piece for your mantle or wall!

I can get up to a 40"x60" canvas of any photo printed and delivered for about $400, and the effect is amazing!

In my photos, there is a black and white of a Pakistani Bride's hands putting on her wedding jewelry. The Mhendi painted designs show perfectly in the closeup. This would be a perfect art piece for an application like this.

I love that photo, and I think it's a great piece that could be made into a large wall art piece. The bride and groom loved this shot as well.

Enjoy!

Cara

Knowledge is power.

The cornerstone of knowledge is research, and research without organization is chaos.

One of the simplest ways of getting and staying organized is using a 3 ring binder to keep all of your contracts, samples, photos, clippings and lists in one place.

This powerful portable tool is a continual lifesaver for me when I have a large project that I need to manage at a moments notice.

Use this simple method to give yourself confidence in what is done and what remains to be done. No guess work, no worries! Take the drag out of the details....this is supposed to be fun!

When the wedding is all done, you will have this record to help you remember all of the things that were part of the preparation.

For me, it was a big help in me learning a new love.... Photography!

Have a great Day!

Cara

At my wedding, I had many special guests that fell outside of the 'norm' of mother or father of the bride or groom, but were very important guests.

Every Special guest had a Corsage or Boutonierre which helped visually identify them as a special guest. The people who were there to help me knew that anyone wearing flowers were essentially considered my family. My photographer knew that anyone wearing flowers needed to be photographed!

It worked like a charm, and even my littlest of special guests felt extra special that day.

Consider this if you have a large family or like me, a very non-traditional mix of people who are family to you.

Have a Great Day!

Cara

Prior to the smiling marathon, apply a VERY thin layer of vaseline to your front teeth!

It sounds silly, or even a little gross, but it will sure help those smiles keep gliding smoothly hour after hour!

Hundreds of Miss Americas can't be wrong! Give it a try...

Instead of a regular thank you note with a small photo tucked inside, try something new. A personalized Photo Card as the Thank You card!

A card made from your photo will stand up, acting as a mini frame; and a lasting reminder to them of the gratitude that you give for their gift!

Also, they can use the whole card in a frame for mounting on the wall, and always have your kind words of thanks inside.

Personalized Greeting Cards are already part of my line of special offers for my valued Brides and Grooms!


Cara

For that special photo that you want everyone to get a print of, consider a black & white photo with a splash of color added. The effect can be very dramatic!

See my photos for an example of this.

I recently did a senior picture photo shoot with a young man, who at the time of our scheduled shoot had a flare-up of acne. He expressed dismay when he saw his web proofs, and talked about having a re-shoot scheduled for a later time. I asked him to go ahead and look past the flare up and pick one photo.

I took that photo, and did careful re-touching to remove the acne but not make his face look altered. When he saw his re-touched web proofs he was Thrilled!

Because weddings can't be re-scheduled due to acne, and sometimes over-makeup can cause even more problems, consider re-touching an alternative to having photos that are less than what you want.

Cara

Bridal Shows

Get a list of upcoming bridal shows in cities near you. Shopping at a bridal expo beats driving all over town so take advantage of this opportunity.

Wedding Magazines

A wedding magazine is the perfect start to planning your wedding; browse for ideas, pick styles and colors, and get in touch with the reality of planning.

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