03/08/08 I love our pictures- typically I do not like to be photographed - but you truly made me feel comfortable in front of the camera and look fantastic! My wedding day was the best day of my life and you captured it exactly how I will always remember it. I know we would look back at our pictures in years to come and be able to refresh our memories of such a special day. Thank you so much for helping us capture our memories in pictures, you are a fantastic artist.  Dreu Schorr, Rice/Schorr Wedding, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Atlanta, 2007

Such are the compliments that make me proud to be a wedding photographer and to provide creative Art Books that commemorate the bride’s big day!

Wedding season is just about to start, and armed with our creative lighting techniques, some fabulous new software by NIK that selectively enhances images with quite an elegant interface, as well as employing the newest techniques and suggestions that will be garnered from the upcoming WPPI Convention in Las Vegas next week, we’re ready to rock!   

1/5/08 Well, as you can probably see, writing blog entries is not my number 1 goal in life. In fact, the reasons that I even attempt to keep one updated are two-fold: 1) To let potential clients know that the website is current, and 2) To post information about recent weddings; such as, kudos from happy brides, new lighting techniques, helpful hints on how to select your photographer, and so on. So, on to today’s subject: Another nice compliment from a happy mother of the bride! I received a call last night after posting a wedding that was held in December. The bride and groom are on their way home from Italy, and the mother of the bride called to say, “I stayed late at work tonight so I could look through the wedding images and (paraphrased) I was in tears (of joy, that is)!  The photographs were even better than hoped for!  You and Barbara make a wonderful team!  Can I write a recommendation to other brides?” (etc., etc., etc.)

Well, I just have to say that this type of call makes my day.  I love being a wedding photographer, a profession that enables me to creatively record a person’s most-important day in a such a way that they often respond with this type of call.  I want to wish everyone a very happy new year and all the best as you plan your upcoming wedding!

 

 

 

8/13/07 I just wanted to let you know that you made my wedding dream come true.  You captured every moment just the way I wanted and I will look back at the pictures for a life time and have good memories thanks to your work. The art books are AMAZING and I have received SO MANY compliments.  “Thank you” does not even express how much I am in gratitude to your work. So many of my friends have had nightmare situations where their film was lost or the pictures just aren’t what they wanted. Pictures are something you just can not go skimpy on since they are all you have after your big day is over.  Relatives that could not make it to the wedding loved seeing the pictures and again said your work was A+++. I will for sure recommend you to all my friends that are getting married in the future. You made a non-photogenic girl like myself appear to be so and made me comfortable, and Stefhen as well, in all the shots. They look so natural and I just love them all. If you ever want to use me as a reference, please do so. Thanks!

Amy Loffredo

Sales Coordinator
WFSH, WNIV, WGKA
404-995-7332

6/16/07 It can be tough, not to mention stressful, to choose your wedding photographer. How does one narrow it down?…………… I’m of the opinion that the work should sell itself. The difference between good and great wedding photography can be discerned to a large part by the quality of the lighting seen in the images. Most photographers settle for a single, on-camera flash to light their photographs. While this may be fine for some situations, a multiple-light system like I use can help to create candids with a three-dimensional look that appear to have more movement and action. If you’re looking for something special, something that will make the difference between beautifully-posed portraits with ordinary lighting and those that look like an experienced professional portrait photographer shot your wedding, choose Nelson Photography. You’ll be glad you spent a little extra on the most important part of your wedding…your photographs!

3/26/07 Thank you, Amy and Stefhen, for choosing me to be your photographer! Your wedding at Peachtree Christian in Atlanta…then on to the reception at the Fox Theater, was one of the most elegant and beautiful events I’ve ever attended. You were both wonderful to work with and Barbara, Kristin, and I had a fantastic time! I even learned something about traffic on Peachtree on a Saturday night…take Spring St. instead! May I also mention that Nikki was a wonderful mother of the bride and perfect hostess. I’m gratified that you’re pleased with the photographs and Art Book design. I think we were able to reflect the beauty of your day in a creative way. Anyway, we’re so happy for you and wish you many blessings as you begin your new life together.

2/24/07 Jessica and Michael had a gorgeous wedding at the Carl House in Auburn, Georgia, recently. I can honestly say that brides… especially like Jessica…make the job of professional wedding photographer one of the best jobs in the world. She is the type of person that, because she is so sweet, you just want to do the best job for her that you have ever done. Granted, no two weddings are alike, and you try to be as creative as possible for each and every bride, but I think we had extra fantastic success capturing the happiness of her special day and I hope it is reflected in her Art Book that is now online. Thanks, Jessica and Michael, for a wonderful time!

2/8/07 I just finished the design of another Art Book, designed from a small wedding held at a beautiful home only a few miles from me. The Gilbert wedding made me stop and think that each wedding has its own beauty, whether the event be large or small. This particular wedding impressed me with the warmth evident between not only the bride and groom, but between their young children, the obvious affection of the girls for their new father, his son’s affection for his new sisters, and the complexities of blending a new family. My point being, whether a wedding and reception are large or small, it all centers around the love of the bride, groom and the new happy family. Wonderful memories such as these deserve to be preserved in a beautiful Art Book so they can be revisited at will.

1/29/07 “To be mentioned in the same breath with Mr. Nelson is very special.” Tiger Woods, 1/28/07…Actually, having just won his 7th tournament in a row, Tiger referred to Byron Nelson’s 11 golf tournament win streak in 1945, but his comment caught my eye! Yesterday’s bridal fair in Buckhead was an opportunity for me to meet and present my work to hundreds of wonderful bride’s to be. I wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who stopped by. Together with my wife Barbara and daughter Kristin, we greeted and answered questions about our Art Books as best we could, how we go about photographing a wedding, our willingness to travel, and many other aspects of a wedding that demand a bride’s attention. The show itself was very well done with many gorgeous bridal gowns on runway display by professional models. All in all, it was a very successful show and I appreciate all of you!

1/23/07 Take a look at the new Daniel Art Book just posted this evening…Blaire’s wedding was truly a storybook affair with a surprise from her parents of a horse and carriage which carried her from her home to the ceremony a half mile away! Very romantic! Speaking of Art Books…they can take a while to design, especially when each spread is designed from scratch, not from templates. The results, however, are spectacular, and no two Art Books are alike. The 7×10 holding 10 spreads is the minimum book size, but the books can hold up to 35 spreads and can be 10×15 in size. If one volume of 35 spreads doesn’t do the job, a second volume is the ticket. The key thing to remember is, though the initial design may be a two-volume set, as is the case with Blaire and Josh’s wedding, you have the power to modify the design in any way you like. Once you are completely satisfied with the design, then and only then does it go to print.

1/13/07 As I met with a bride, her groom, and her mother today, they were highly complimentary about my website, except for one thing: My prices weren’t clear. I decided years ago that putting my prices on my website was a good thing for several reasons; the bride could determine whether the prices were within her budget before even contacting me, thus saving everyone’s time; she could determine whether the quality of the photography was as good or better than expected for the price; and, last but not least, it is the fair and professional thing to do, in my opinion. That said, pricing that is unclear is certainly not my intention or, for that matter, useful. So…today’s entry has to do with clarifying my pricing (I’ll probably add a similar explanation to my FAQ’s). I start with a simple approach: Rather than creating “packages,” I prefer to charge a professional fee to cover my time on the wedding day itself, after which everything can be purchased separately, and there is no minimum order. I’ve chosen this pricing method because no two weddings are alike and when I did have packages as my pricing method, I found that, more often than not, I was customing them anyway. In the interest of transparency, I feel that a professional fee (or sitting fee, a term with which you may be familiar) plus anything the bride wishes to buy; such as, an Art Book, is the way to go. For the photographer, it keeps one on his toes and striving to do his best work at every wedding because the better the photographs, hopefully the more the bride will want to purchase. This reasoning also extends as a benefit to the bride herself in that she has hired a photographer with a huge incentive to do a fabulous job! Now that I’ve explained why I’ve chosen my pricing method, here’s how it works: I charge $1,000 to photograph a full wedding and reception with no time limit. For that price, the bride also gets an engagement session, all her wedding images posted on Pictage.com for 90 days, her Art Book design displayed on line indefinitely, and a proof book by WillowBook, which contains ALL her wedding images. The actual wedding album or Art Book is additional and is priced by the spread. Think of it this way, when one reads a book, the first page is page 1 and is usually located on the right-hand side. As one turns the page, page 2 would be on the left and page 3 would again be on the right. A spread is simply pages 2 and 3 as viewed together. The price for each spread is $100 and can contain anywhere from 1 to, say, 12 images, with the average spread comprised of about 6 images. Let me also mention that spreads are always $100, whether they are in a medium-sized 7×10 Art Book or a large 10×15 Art Book. There is a $500 charge to upgrade to the 10×15 Art Book. Imprinting; such as, names and date are included at no extra charge. Loose prints, such as, 4×6’s, 5×7’s, and 8×10’s, priced separately, are listed on my Prices page and can be easily ordered on line through Pictage.com.