Ohhhh, baby!

Meet Eva.



I had just gotten to know Alex & Nicole Barsuk over tea and talk about a bonding session. Seriously! We were there for maybe two hours just talking about his hopes in the photo biz (he's a relatively new pro, talented and very humble) and her hopes for the new baby they were about to have. Would her name be Eva? Gianna? They weren't sure and knew that they should wait to meet her before they named her.

Eva arrived just days afterwards, and I asked if I could be one of the first (besides Daddy of course) to get my camera on her. They were SO polite to say yes - new babies are just exhausting! But I remember how eternally grateful I was when my friend and pro Angela asked if she could take a family photo of us when Donovan was just a few weeks old, knowing that we working photogs just never seem to focus on our OWN families! I knew Alex was having a great time getting lots of shots of his two lovely ladies, but none of the three of them.

So I headed over right after the Sunday Pronovias show and couldn't wait to meet her. But she wasn't too thrilled that some chick was interrupting her dinner. Poor thing wailed and cried! Then I find out that poor Nicole just had her wisdom teeth out a few days before. Ouch! But they didn't want to reschedule and I'm so glad we didn't. And I'm thrilled we got a few sweet shots in our very brief session.

Fave things I saw during the Pronovias show

Hey there! I had a blast these last two weekends, watching and shooting the fashion shows for both Enzoani and Pronovias that Trudy's hosted. Gorgeous dresses and lots of inspiration!

One of my favorite things was watching all the different types of veils and hair accessories. Here's one I loved:It's so sweet! It's more of a cage veil so it give a hint of your face rather than a full one. And like on this model, the long earring really go well.

And check out this lace on this cathedral length veil - apparently every Pronovias dress is designed with a matching cathedral length veil. Nice.



My favorite dress is so fun - a deep plunging V and tiny cinched waist with pockets. WHY didn't my dress have pockets?! Then I wouldn't have forgotten my vows in my purse and looked like a speechless dork?!


Then, I stayed behind to meet some of the brides and take photos as they tried on the Pronovias dresses. Here's a shot I think is so cool - her name's Marie and she's getting married in Hawaii:I'm still waiting to get permission to use more of the shots - did NOT want to spoil any surprises if you know what I mean!

More soon...

Enzoani Faves from today's runway show!

I had a great time taking shots of some of the incredible bridal dresses by Enzoani today at Trudy's trunk show. Fun! Thought I'd show you a few highlights. The silver dress is one of my favorites! See the detail of the front three images up? The Enzoani representative Mary told us that the roses took 4 weeks to make! There's another Enzoani show tomorrow at 11, and next week it's Pronovias. Did I mention I'm raffling off a blank e-session guestbook?

Want to visit me and see gorgeous dresses at the same time?

So how cool is this! Trudy of Trudy's Brides asked if I'd like to join them for their two upcoming trunk shows. We were thinking it would be a blast if we took shots of brides trying on the designer gowns while the designer or their rep is RIGHT THERE! Talk about high fashion, huh?

So it all kicks off this weekend (Saturday the 21st) at 9 am, with a fashion show of design house Enzoani, with the trunks open and showing after the show, and another fashion show at 11 on Sunday the 22nd.

Next weekend, it's Pronovias of Spain (Saturday the 28th), same time for the shows. (My fave dress in this year's collection is Ronda. Wow!)

On both Saturdays, I'll be there for the show, and then afterwards until 2 p.m. taking photos of brides with the designers or their representatives as they try on dresses. On Sunday, I'll be there from 10 am until 2. Hey, maybe you'll find "the one!"

Everyone who comes to say hi and sign up for more info, we'll enter your name into a drawing for a beautiful 8x12 guestbook, with lots of room to mount your engagement session images and for your guests to leave special messages on your wedding day. And of course, we'll be sending you the images of you in those designer dresses, ready to post on Facebook or your wedding website.

Here's the kicker - seating for the show is LIMITED so call ASAP. Have a great Friday and hope to see you these next two weekends at Trudy's!

Trudy's is in the PruneYard Shopping Center, 1875 S Bascom Avenue in Campbell, and their phone number is 408-377-1987.

Q&A: What the heck does retouching mean?

So I have to be honest, I think every single photographer has a different definition of what retouching is. For some, even color correction means it's been retouched. For others, it means at least an hour smoothing and plumping or slimming or...you get the idea.

For me, because we both shoot in RAW, we have to do a little touching, be it "re" or not. Our first "touch" is a quick pass of editing down. That's culling through about 2300 images for an average sized, average event filled day (of course, fewer guests and only having toasts will cut that down a bit!). We aim for 1500 and are thrilled when we have about 1300 to share with the bride and groom.

Next is basic cropping and color correction, which for us is done before our couples ever see their images. It's also when we pick our favorites, and mark anything we think we'd like to enter into contests through WPJA, which forbids any work done on any image submitted. From here, we also decide if images should stay in color, or try different effects, B&W, sepia, cross-processing, etc. We might edit down further, or toss a few that may have sneaked in on the first round.

From here, I do a little bit more of the artsy effects on some of my faves, then they're put into a story order, categorized, renumbered, and converted to JPGs. From here, we upload them to our online proof site, Pictage, for viewing by our newlyweds!

For us, all of the above is NOT considered retouching. It's what everyone gets, and we know that we'd be proud to have our name on it if your guests or your mom decide to buy a print from Pictage.

But - it ain't retouching. It's not a custom art piece. And it certainly is not ready for me to put in your album.

For us, retouching is when we pay special attention to details either by removing what detracts from the image, or enhancing what makes the image special. Sometimes it takes minutes, but with the one I just finished for my '07 couple Jen & Bill's album, it could take a whole hour!

The first image is beautiful as is - her dress was stunning, the light was gorgeous. And that hair! It needed a few things to really make it art. I removed the ceiling lights, the ruined carpet, the mess to her left, pumped up the detailing on her dress, softened the edges, increased the warm saturation, and it's now ready to go on their wall or in their album. THAT is retouching. :D

Every album we do includes all custom retouching for the images, so our albums do take a bit longer. But our clients thankfully don't mind the wait! I have the best couples...

So there you have it. Now, when you ask about "just five hours" on your wedding day, you'll know that your photographer will spend much much more than just five hours on your wedding. But then, a life changing event like that deserves that kind of attention!

Until next time...

Hey, whatcha workin' on? The second in a very long series

Hi! Well, the new year began, it's raining softly outside, and I'm busy creating albums for my clients. What an amazing time!
But I realized that I had really slacked off on accomplishing what I really wanted to do with this blog, which is helping couples with little things here or there about weddings and wedding planning and wedding photography that they might not get from friends or magazines. After all, I see and experience a LOT of weddings.
I've talked earlier about the vital components to a fantastic wedding experience - the planner, the person officiating, and the master of ceremonies. Think about it - you're not planning a big party, you're planning a chance for ALL of your favorite people, most of whom haven't even met before, to help you celebrate a huge milestone. And while you're both the honored guests, you should be just that - guests. The planner (or coordinator, but that's another blog) is the host, the one who runs the show and makes sure that all YOU have to do is show up. The officiant is the one whose job it is to bring your guests into your ceremony and make them feel like they're participating rather than just, well, sitting there. And the master of ceremonies is the one who can read, anticipate, and guide the party fluidly and flawlessly from one part to the next. SO vital!
What I'd like to focus on with this blog is the person who actually marries you. In a way, the officiate is indeed the master of ceremonies for YOUR ceremony. It's up to him or her to bring the audience in so that they feel like they're participating a bit - or keep the focus all about the two of you and treat your guests more as an audience. You should consider how YOU want the ceremony and if there's a way to influence it, get your wants known.
Here are some things to consider when finding the right wedding officiate:

How involved should your guests be?
Maybe you're NOT looking forward to saying your vows in front of everyone. Maybe you'd rather be facing your guests than your officiant. Maybe you'd like to share the experience with your guests. Or maybe you just want someone to say, "Do you? and you?" and be done with it!
Whatever it is, discuss it with each other first, then find someone who fits the bill.

How do you know them?
If it's the parish priest and you don't get a choice, so be it. But then it's on your shoulders to be as open and candid with the priest or pastor to get to know you two a little bit. By knowing a little about you, it can only bring a little personalization to what can be a very rote ceremony. I've seen absolutely fantastic Catholic wedding masses because the priests knew the couple, or saw one of them grow up, and could engage the audience with bits and pieces of their lives.

And while we're talking about officiants...
Keep in mind that any rules your officiant has for photography must agree with your own wishes. So find out those rules before you book them, or their church. You don't want to find out after your wedding that two minutes before the wedding, the officiant said no photos were allowed in the center aisle. And yes, that's happened to me before - even at an OUTDOOR wedding! So find out what those rules are and if you don't like them, speak up.

Cheers!
Rhee

The Corinthian Event Center - Can you say ROMANTIC?

I'm working on Betsy & Quintin's changes for their 14x14 Fine Art flushmount album. Here's a secret about me. I'm a total design nerd. Love it. I love retouching, I love making art out of photography. Yep, I'm a nerd!

So I'm finishing up and realize that more people need to check out the Corinthian Event Center in downtown San Jose. Seriously. That place is just so romantic! Here's a bit from the album. Remember to click on the image to make it bigger!