Is it just me, or do most photographers use the cheesiest taglines? No matter. Avonlee Photography in Silver Spring, MD does not buck that trend, but I like their stuff anyway. Know what I like most? The fact that they use regular looking folks in their samples rather than choosing the HOTTEST COUPLE EVER like some photographers do.
Frankly, when I was searching for my own shutterbug, it was so disappointing to see these fabulous samples that in no way reflected reality. A good photographer can make an average man and woman look like a million bucks while also preserving their individuality. If you’re considering a photog who only shows you samples that feature model-quality brides and grooms, ask to see some of their most recent wedding shots. The difference may surprise you!
This is my favorite picture from the studio mentioned above because it reminds me of my own wedding day. If I’d been wearing a veil, it would have been horizontal for most of the day. As it was, I only ended up with a large quantity of my own hair in my mouth.
When I look at this shot, I wonder if the photog asked them to get all kissy-kissy. Ours did, and I can’t believe how awkward The Beard and I look in the resultant pictures. Sometimes I wish we could have pulled off “lovey dovey” without looking uncomfortable, but what are you gonna do? We gotta be who we gotta be!
Does this shot strike you as a touch dangerous? My friends and I used to ride around like that in college (albeit with sun roofs rather than convertible tops), and it wasn’t any safer then than it is now. I only hope that this couple wasn’t going terribly fast, because it does make for a rather lighthearted photo and I’m sure it gets replicated quite often.
Actually, sometimes photogs will use a little trickery to get shots like that last one without endangering lives. The picture looks like the happy couple are zooming along without bothering to look at the road, wear seatbelts, or sit down, but the same shot can be created even if the car wasn’t moving. Rather, the photog used movement of the camera to create the same effect much more safely.
Good to know, Amateur! Hopefully people will read your comment and know not to attempt to try to set up a shot like that on their own.
I had an advantage in picking a photographer, in that one of my co-workers had a husband who had recently set up shop as a wedding photographer, so I already knew him and what a pleasant, mellow guy he was. Also, another of my co-workers got married a few months before me and used him as her photographer. One look at her album and I was sold. Knowing the couple, I knew he’d not only made them look their best, but really captured their personalities, as well.
My favorite shot in our wedding album is a happy mistake, of sorts. My beloved and I both had round-lensed sunglasses that we were wearing when we got to the site. The photographer said he really wanted to get a shot of us in the glasses. Well, we did our best Victorian serious stance in the funky glasses, and the way the sun hit the glasses made these awesome freaky rays. It looks like American Gothic crossed with something psychadelic from the Summer of Love. When the photographer brought us the album, he was grinning like a little kid waiting for us to spot that picture because he knew that would be our favorite.
It was.
You should post it somewhere, Twistie, so we can see 🙂
The phenomenon of not using the Hottest Couple Ever was one of the things that attracted me to the photographer I am considering–Kawabori Photography (kawaboriphotography.com). They have pictures on their website of people who aren’t skinny, people with glasses, people with gray hair, people with big noses, mixed-race couples, and even one couple where the bride is about two inches taller than the groom. And all of them look beautiful and happy.
Of course, the two photographers are actually the Hottest Couple Ever. But they don’t seem to expect the rest of us to look like they do.
I was incredibly happy with my wedding photographer and I would recommend him to anyone getting married in the eastern PA area. His prices were reasonable, he was willing to create a package tailored to what we needed, and the pictures were great (better, I think, than some of the ones he displays on his website). We had some car trouble and the Mini we rented as a getaway car wouldn’t start so he used some sort of camera trick to make it look like we were speeding away when, in reality, we were stuck in the reception hall parking lot.
Photography by Christopher
http://hockensmithphotography.com/home-page.html
I got a lucky fun shot of a wedding as I drove past the basilica in Minneapolis. I wish I were good enough to engineer (or even think of!) this sort of thing: (scroll down to fourth photo)
http://class-factotum.journalspace.com/?cmd=displaycomments&dcid=1806&entryid=1806
The photographer I used for my wedding (fabulous by the way) uses regular looking sample shots as well. The work on the site provides a fantastic example of what your shots will look like. And the photogs (a husband and wife pair), while not the Hottest Couple Ever were perhaps the Funniest and Down-to-Earth couple ever. Anyway, their prices were more than reasonable (compared to other photographers, it made me feel like I was getting an awesome deal!) and they don’t make you buy huge packages or anything. Honestly, I loved my wedding pictures. If anyone’s getting married in Northern Virginia/DC, you should check them out: http://www.photosbykelly.net
Nice one, class-factotum!
*sigh*
My photography will be a never ending source of disappointment for me concerning our wedding. The photos on his website were beautiful, we loved the work he showed us, he had a copy of someone’s actul album he’d done and we liked the style, liked his personality.
In the end, we have very few pictures that I truly love from him, an album in a great style (magazine style) but without great content.
What I really wanted was “beautiful” photos, and we somehow completely misread him.
My brother-in-law somehow managed to take better photos than him.
(and Yay- seems the comment section doesn’t hate me anymore!)
Thanks, Bride!