Misc Archives

Chicago Wedding Photography – The ‘Feel Good’ Moments

When we’re photographing a wedding or engagement in Chicago one of the things that we go over is the theme and feel of the images that each couple is looking for. Sometimes couples who are happy go lucky want to mix it up a bit and go with a bit more style and glamour while other times it’s all about keeping it lighthearted and fun! Either way the choice is yours and one that should require a little bit of thought. These images will be your memories for years and displayed as albums or photo art in your home, so the question boils down to “What would you like to see?” In fact for the engagement session is the perfect time to put a true theme or style together. Since you have more time during the engagement session it’s a great time to think out of the box. If you enjoy bike riding together, let’s grab some bikes and head to the lake front! If bowling is right up your alley then that’s a great place for us to stage a couple shots…with permission of course.

The one thing to keep in mind is that even if you’re doing a more dramatic themed or styled shoot (something our studio specializes in), it’s still important to capture a few happy shots that truly show who you are. Don’t be afraid to crack a smile or have some fun! Drama might make for some artsy images, but smiles are what make the memories of your wedding photography.

Chicago Wedding Photography

Chicago Engagement Photography

How long does capturing a portrait take?

The timing of your wedding day or portrait session is one of those things which seems easy to plan, but may require a closer look and more planning. The question is why is it so difficult to plan out a simple schedule? It’s not that it’s difficult to plan out a schedule, where it becomes tricky is that you must have an understanding of how your photographer operates and the process of creating an image.

When we take a closer look at planning out your wedding day schedule, the first thing that you must ask yourself is “What is most important to me?” To some couples it’s their wedding album images, while others may prioritize video or the reception entertainment. Your priorities and preferences are a good starting point when it comes to setting your schedule for the day. If photographs and memories of your day are very important to you, then a good amount of time must be allocated for capturing those memories. What is a “good amount of time”? This is a question which is best answered by the photographer with whom you are working with.

The schedule that we follow in my studio is that we arrive approximately one hour before the bride is ready. I work with the bride to capture images of details, hair/makeup, and the girls having a fun time. This is also enough time for me to capture images of the guys as they get ready as well. Once the bride is dressed and ready to go, we spend about 20 minutes doing bridal portraits.

Then we move on to the part of the day which many feel shouldn’t take as long as it does…portraits of the bride and groom. What’s important to understand here is that a professional photographer will rarely just point a camera at you and capture a perfect image. More often than not there will be other sources of light used to create your images or a variety of other photo equipment which professional photographers use. This is where the time comes into play so that each image captured can be well lit, posed, and composed. For the bridal portraits I advise the brides that I work with that three hours is a good amount of time. It seems like a long time and for a professional they should be able to work much faster than that, however you must remember that on your wedding day, everything takes just a smidge longer than normal. You’re now riding in a larger limo perhaps and not your personal vehicle, makeup retouches, coordinating the entire bridal party…all of which takes time. And one of the biggest reasons for the three hour window is so that you are not being rushed! Your portrait session is typically your final moments together alone before the chaos and excitement of your ceremony and reception. It should be a time for you to relax and enjoy each other’s company and not simply be rushed from pose to pose. Your portrait session should feel like a nice deep breath of fresh air.

The same idea caters to an individual or family portrait session. I always tell clients that they should not approach their photo shoot as just a portrait session. In fact the words “portrait session” to me sound like something I would go to Sears for. Your photographer is there to capture you…the true image of you, with just a click of the shutter button on the camera. If you have a busy day at the office before and then have 20 minutes for a portrait session before having to run off to pick up the kids from day care, then perhaps that will show in your images. What if instead of approaching it as a portrait session as indicated by a small time slot on your calendar you were to take your significant other out on a lake front picnic which you planned in advance. Bring along some candles, your favorite bottle of wine and approach the entire evening as a “date” for which I will be with you for a brief period of time for some relaxing and fun images…how would that experience compare to just being a time slot in between other busy events on your calendar?

Keep some of these ideas in mind when you’re planning your wedding day or other photo session and you just might be surprised at how the entire experience may end up being a lot more fun and relaxing. As always, please feel free to comment or send an email to mike@novophotography.com

Can I Get My Photos On a Disc?

There’s often a question which is asked of photographers which is “Can I get my images on a disc?” The answer that you will typically hear from me is “yes”! Really I believe that it is up to each client how they would like their images delivered. This is no different than going to a fine dining restaurant. I relate this to going to a fine dining steakhouse, ordering a wonderful steak well done, and then using steak sauce on it which many view as faux pas. It’s one thing if a friend or co-diner points out why the may consider that to not be the best option since you’re overcooking a wonderful piece of meat and then covering up the wonderful natural flavors with a mass market sauce…but it’s a totally different issue all together if the chef refuses to cook your steak the way you want it. The way I view it is that you paid for it, it’s your food…get it however you want it. The same thing applies to the way you want your photos delivered.

When you invest in a wall portrait or canvas print from a photographer or studio, what you are investing in is the beautiful art which is being brought to life on a media of your choice. Once you have a print…an album…a wall portrait, what you’ve got in your hands or on your walls are memories. One of the key things to understand is that if you elect to have the images delivered on a disc rather than on canvas or in an album, this is perfectly acceptable but not necessarily your most economical option.

When a professional photographer creates beautiful art for you, your investment is not going strictly towards the media itself which the images are delivered on, but mostly to the capture and creation of those images. I recently had a chat with a fellow wedding photographer whose base wedding investment begins at $4,000 however that does not include a disc of images but does include an album. He was asked be a client if they could get a disc instead of the album and he said “absolutely”! However that did not change the final investment amount of $4,000. Again, how you get the images delivered is totally up to you. Either the photographer can use their professional print lab to calibrate and deliver the images to you exactly the way the artist has defined them to be or you can do the printing yourself.

One additional note that I like to make sure folks are aware of. The print quality of consumer locations such as Walgreens or Costco will differ greatly from that of a professional lab. There are several reasons for this including the number of inks used in the print process, paper quality, and the color calibration that happens behind the scenes of the studio and the print lab. Unfortunately most professional labs will not work with consumers. This has often resulted in clients receiving sub par prints vs what they have seen their photographer show them on a calibrated display. While the choice should always be yours, keep some of these ideas in mind the next time you’re planning on having a photo session when the question comes up as to how you would like your images delivered.

As always, feel free to contact me directly with any additional questions at mike@novophotography.com

How it all started…

Back in 2003 I attended a wedding in Europe of a family friend with my mom. It was one of those party weeks/fun weddings that made me realize there was no longer any need for me to ever strive to have a cool wedding of my own, and just think of that one if/when I ever got hitched myself. I’m pretty sure that a drive-thru quickie wedding in Vegas is more up my alley anyway.

Great, now what does that have to do with photography? Well, for this trip my mom had purchased a camera for us to document the trip. This was the first digital camera that I had ever had. It was a good old Sony 3 megapixel pocket camera. Actually did a nice job and still does. Now for the most part, my photos were what I would call ‘snapshots’. They captured a moment where you look back and smile, but there was no story being told and very little to keep a viewer gazing at one of my shots for longer than a second (including myself). But when I got this shot and loaded it on my computer…I was somewhat pleased with myself. Not the best image in the world, but certainly not bad for a guy standing in a tux during a heat wave in Europe with a pocket camera on auto mode. Not quite sure it matches Victorias beauty, but it was the best I could do 🙂

So before I knew what aperture was, or what shutter speed to use, or how to better frame a shot, or that this image looked even better because it happened to be taken during the ‘golden hour’…there was me and my pocket cam in auto mode. It was only a couple years later when I began paying closer attention to photos that I would see and start asking “how did they do that and how can I do that”. And eventually that lead me to where I am today which I would describe as being a ‘goal-oriented’ photographer. Which basically means that while I’m not the best or a pro, I certainly would like to get closer to that higher platform.