Posts Tagged ‘akron’

Do you remember when you were a little girl? Think back. You used to spend hours with your dolls and stuffed animals, talking to them, dreaming with them, creating wonderful childhood memories. You would dress Barbie and Ken in their wedding clothes. Barbie had the dress of your dreams, adorned in beads and lace. Bear was the preacher and when you placed him in front of the couple, all of the dolls and stuffed animals became quiet. The wedding was just as perfect as Ken and Barbie were.

Reality is that you were already planning your own perfect wedding, all you had to do was find your ‘Ken’. Years later, and a few adjustments to your dream, you are finally there, planning the wedding for real. You have finally found your ‘Ken’.

Everything is going great. The plans are coming together nicely. You are having your ceremony in the church you grew up in and your favorite minister will be performing the nuptials. The reception hall is booked and you have decided on a sit down dinner with the choice of either chicken or beef. You have found your photographer and have had your engagement pictures taken. You have decided to display your favorite image at the reception. You and ‘Ken’ look so blissful in the pictures. The guests are going to be so happy for you.

Or maybe you aren’t a traditional girl. Instead of the church and reception hall, your dream is white sand and tropical breezes with your family and some close friends.

Now that everything is in place, all the contracts signed, travel booked, dress chosen and you have your favorite songs gathered for the DJ, you can settle back and enjoy the rest of your engagement. You can continue to blissfully daydream about what the future holds for you and your ‘Ken’. You can prepare for spending forever together. Right?

As photographers, we have had the pleasure of photographing memories in both of the above situations. The bride’s dreams were realized and everything went pretty much as they had planned. Both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Ken’ were able to enjoy their day with the utmost joy and happiness.

Sometimes, though, dreams can take a wrong turn and become nightmares.

What would happen if a few months or even weeks before the wedding date, something has seemed to change between you and ‘Ken’? All of a sudden he begins bickering about the details that had long since been looked after. Maybe he just isn’t around as often as he once was.

Then he goes and does it! He calls off the wedding. He is telling you that he found someone else and just doesn’t think it would work between the two of you.

What is there for ‘Barbie’ to do? You have just been crushed by the man that you had been planning your forever with, and of course you are miserable. All of the plans you have been making are shattered. Everything that you have hoped for is gone, in an instant.

After the initial shock wears off, you suddenly realize something: you had signed all of the contracts for your wedding day and now you are the one who will be responsible for them. The amounts you owe are all varying, because of the cancellation clauses in those contracts. Therefore, you may still be owing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to these businesses through no fault of your own, or theirs.

I know a situation like this sounds like someone’s worst nightmare, and thank goodness that it is rare. It does happen though. As a professional, I have seen it happen to a few clients of mine over the last seven years. It is a horrible feeling for us because we have usually had the opportunity to get to know the couples fairly well, and also come to know their story to some degree.

I decided to write this article now because it is currently happening to one of my clients. It was a very abrupt circumstance, and she didn’t see it coming. The couple in question had been together for quite a number of years, and this sudden change came as quite the shock.

I began to wonder if there was any way to help prevent the financial burden that is left in the wake of a terrible situation such as this, and also what information I would want to know if I were to find myself with the need to plan a wedding again. So I got on line and went to Google. I searched for “wedding insurance and cold feet” and found out, surprisingly enough,that there are at least four companies that now offer this type of insurance. It’s purpose is to help protect couples ‘just in case.’ There are also many plans out there that will cover almost any other conceivable reason for canceling or postponing the wedding. The cost for these plans begins at $150 and goes up, depending on the amount and size of the wedding.

I know many may be reading this and rolling your eyes thinking, “I have already spent so much money. Why should I raise my expenses even more?’. While I understand your reservations, I respond to them by saying: because unexpected things happen in life. It is always better to protect yourself than to be left thousands of dollars in debt because of something that is above and beyond control.

Think about it this way, if it makes more sense to you. We have to buy car insurance when we purchase a car, although you may never need it. However, one day, your car may be innocently parked in a driveway when disaster strikes, say, in the form of a tree falling on it. That very insurance that you’ve paid is there to write the damage off.. How would you feel if you instead had to choose between absorbing the cost of repair work on the vehicle, or having to send it off to the junk yard and getting a new car, while strapped with the responsibility of paying loans on both?

As anyone who has ever had a car accident can tell you, insurance can often be the only support that truly gets you through a difficult time. And as a car is an investment, so is your wedding day. So why not do your best to protect it, as well as to protect the money you’ve put into it? As professionals, we are not looking to take advantage of our clients, as many may assume. By providing you with a little information, we hope to assist you in guaranteeing that you protect your investment in professional wedding services, be they caterers, reception halls, or photographers. After all, not every fairy tale can end with a “happily ever after.

Contact us and we can help you attain the dream wedding that you deserve.

It’s the Stark County Fair week – and we have a booth set up to display our portraits and to answer any questions that you may have about any type of photography.

Stop by our booth and purchase a gift certificate, and we will double the amount right on the spot. It’s like magic, except we tell the computer what to do.

Take a look at another special that we have going on. If you are a senior, need a family session or have some kiddos that need their school portraits done, we can help.

Both of these specials are good for the week of the Fair. August 30-September 6, 2010.

If you cannot make it to the Fair, then give us a call at our studio. Don’t worry if we do not answer our phones. Leave us a message and we will get back to you after the Fair is over, and we will honor this special – but you must call and leave us your information for us to call you back. OR you can send us an email and we will get back to you ASAP. Click Here for our contact form.

Today’s house hunters are turning to the Internet more and more when looking for a home. What does this mean? First impression is something that you need and its only a quick click and they move on to the next house listing on any Real Estate Website. How easy is it to take a picture of the interior of a home? Grab a point and shoot camera and start taking pictures. The one thing that you want to ask yourself is – am I doing right by my clients in showing images of their home that were taken in a hurry and that does not properly show off their home to attract the most number of clients possible?

Recently I was able to help out a local Real Estate Agent, Patti Oney (from Whipple Realty), to photograph the interior of a home that she is showing in the Alliance area. The images below are an example of what I captured using a point and shoot camera, and using a professional grade camera with the skill that a professional photographer can offer.

Living Room

As you enter the house you see the living room first.

From a point and shoot camera

Dinning Room

Dining room – professional image

From a point and shoot camera

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom – professional image

From a point and shoot camera

Bathroom

Bathroom – does it look like the tub is filled with water?

From a point and shoot camera – impossible to capture everything that was captured
on the image above this one. Is this a half bath or a full bath? It’s difficult to tell
from this image, but not from the one above.

If you are interested in finding out how we can help make your listing “POP” compared to other Real Estate Agents, and get an advantage over your competition – contact us and we will be glad to help you in selling that home for your clients.

We always enjoy hearing from our past wedding photography clients, especially when their family has grown by 2 feet. About 4 years ago, we photographed Cari and Shawn’s wedding day and we recently heard from Cari regarding her son’s 9 month old pictures.

Here is one image that we captured.

Cari & Shawn – thank you for allowing us to capture an image of your growing family. We look forward to capturing other important “steps” in your lives.

During the seminar that both Nicole and I attended, we signed up for a shoot-out. What is that? It very similar to a cook off, except whoever gets the best picture wins.

The shoot-out consisted of 5 photographers, 5 digital retouchers – we were not aware of what we were going to photograph before we were thrown into the mix. As I entered the room, I was the first victim on the photographer side of the shoot-out, I saw that I had a female model, an old wooden golf club and an orange plastic truck. And I only had 5 minutes to capture an image that I could use for my digital retoucher, which I was very fortunate to have Tabitha Norris (from The Metropolitan Gallery) do my digital retouching. From this effort we received the most number of votes from our peers, of approximately 1,000 members, on a website that ideas about anything that involves photography is shared.

Nicole and Dawn Sheree (from DS Photography) came in second place with their effort.

Here is the image that took first place:
Photographer – Bruce Nicol
Digital Retoucher – Tabitha Norris

Here is the image that took second place:
Photographer – Dawn Sheree (DS Photography)
Digital Retoucher – Nicole Nicol

Furthering our photography education is something that we strongly believe in. That is why we continually attend seminars that feature different photographers, as well as other professionals that help us improve what we can offer our clients.

We were in Chicago for the past 4 days taking private courses as well as group courses on how to improve our photography, how to see the light when photographing and collecting information on items that our clients would love to purchase to enhance their portraits from our studio.

Below is a group image that was captured of all of the attendees, as well as most of the speakers that were present at the photography seminar. As usual we had a blast, and we also connected with some of our friends that we have seen in the past. You can see that its a little bit different then your normal group portrait – well the group that we belong too challenges all of the members to offer a portrait experience that everyone will love.

When is the best time to have your little bundle of joy photographed? Immediately – because we can capture the new baby smell. Just kidding. The reason we like to photograph newborns between 0-2 weeks of age is because we can capture them sleeping and we can have them in position that are comfortable to them which makes great portraits.

Here is a little guy that we photographed recently. He was the perfect little gentleman, and we loved the images that we captured of him.

Are you expecting a bundle of joy soon? Call (330-821-7714) or email us to schedule your maternity or newborn appointment.

It’s our first day at Carnation City Mall with the Easter Bunny, and she is chilling with our daughter.

Drop on by and have some portraits of your children done with the Easter Bunny. She dropped in to the local Bunny Salon to have her fur colored and had her ears straightened (instead of getting a perm), so she looks brand new. Now parents can als0 join their children to have a unique family portrait done. Don’t forget that all of our portraits are printed on site so that you can leave with them soon after we take the image.

Check out the mall’s website for location and hours. Click Here.

Well it’s that time of the year again. The Easter Bunny will be visiting the Carnation City Mall.

Hop on by the Carnation City Mall to see the Easter Bunny and to have some portraits with him.

Hours are:
Thursday 4PM-8PM (March 25, April 1)
Friday 4PM-8PM (March 26, April 2)
Saturday 11AM-7PM (March 20, March 27, April 3)
Sunday 12PM-5PM (March 21, March 28)

Nicole and I are currently visiting a senior photographer in Indiannapolis.

Scott Crosby is a photographer that thinks out of the box and gives his senior clients something different and new. This gives them the chance to be unique and to have images that no one else would capture for them. The big thing is that his seniors have FUN. Yep FUN while being photographed. This fun concept is something that we incorporate into all of our portrait sessions and is crucial for our wedding couples. Why? Because it relaxes everyone that we are photographing so that the image that we capture looks natural and not “forced”. When others look at the images we want them to say WOW – that is a really cool portrait.

Check out our portfolio to see what we have to offer and contact us to see how we can help you capture life’s important moments they way they should be captured.