I am meeting with a couple tomorrow who will be getting married at Huber's Winery later this year. Here are some photos I put together to show them from when I was there last year.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

I just came back from shooting Whitney & Brad's wedding at St. Gabriel Catholic Church and Wildwood Country Club. Everything turned out so well for them-- I could tell they were relaxed and able to just enjoy their day. It wasn't really cold and the SUN even came out-- in February-- in Louisville, Kentucky!!! So we were able to get some fun outdoor shots in front of the club and on the golf course.

One of the most romantic moments was when they opened their gifts to each other about 40 minutes before the ceremony. They did not see each other before the wedding but did exchange three sentimental gifts. My favorite was the keychain. Whitney was so excited about her new last name and so Brad got her a keychain with her new initial...! I will post more pictures from their day later.

What a great day!

I am so excited about album design now. This week I created a brand new sample album to show my clients. The pages are at the lab right now getting printed, and then it gets shipped off to the album company next week.... Here is one of my favorite two-page spreads:

I had some free time so designed a couple wedding collages from two weddings last fall. I sent them to a wedding planner who handled these two events. The planner is Marcie Hancock and here are the collages I made.





The top one is Waldeck Mansion and the bottom one is St. Agnes Catholic Church and Locust Grove (Click on images to view larger). Here is Marcie's email after receiving them:

Hey Liz - I got your package yesterday --- THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!!! I needed those for my marketing material and obviously it will be a win/win for both of us! I look forward to working together too - I'm glad you are the photographer for the April 1 wedding with Kellye. You two will have a great time Take care - M

One of the things I learned from the Gary Fong seminar last week was to help the bride and groom in designing their album. Typically I give the clients their proof book and let them tell me what they want in their final album. I never thought to do it any other way. BUT it is hard to design your wedding album and I know many of my clients agonize over this process. I used to work as a graphic designer so it easy for me (and fun) to do page layouts. Gary had some software so I could do a design and just put it online making it very easy for the bride and groom to view it and make changes as needed.

Anyway, this is the FIRST ONE EVER that I designed with absolutely NO input from the couple. In fact, they didn't even know I was going to do it. I was so excited to surprise them with a completely designed finished album! Click here to see it.

I emailed the bride her online album design and here's what she had to say:

Liz,
Wow! We love it! I'm not very computer-literate but,....we love the lay-out! You did an excellent job!!

My last wedding was at Claudia Sanders Dinner House and was SO much fun! The bride and groom lit up the room with their happiness. They met through dancing so it was only fitting that they danced all night at their reception. I think you will agree that these pictures illustrate their joy. I will post more pics later.
(Click on image to see full size.)

I just returned from Nashville where I went to a Gary Fong seminar. Gary Fong is a highly respected wedding photographer and I learned SO much from him. He has given me some great ideas on how to absolutely wow my clients! I can't wait to start. I'll write more on this later.

I baked cookies for a Super Bowl party Steve & I went to. Steve took this picture as proof since baking is a rare event for me. Note I don't even have a complete set of oven mitts!!

At the party, I heard another sad-but-true tragic wedding picture story. The new bride I talked to got married last July and is actually going to sue her photographer to get her pictures! She said the photographer (who is out of state) won't even return her calls.

I just have to say this: Don't even think about becoming a wedding photographer if you are not passionate about photography, weddings, love, and brides and grooms. This is an event of a lifetime and needs to be treated as such. I just can't imagine being so callous about such important pictures. Whew! (end of rant.) Sorry about that, it's just that I hear stories like this all the time and I can't believe this stuff happens-- but sadly it does.

Anyway, the cookies were yummy.....

Steve (my handsome hubby) and I went to Doyle & Kim's wedding shower today. It was a fun time- especially since I got to talk cameras with one of the guests. I never tire of 'tech talk'!!!

My new camera arrived today!!!

The Nikon D200 is the hottest camera and it is soldout in the U.S. I searched B&H and even Best Buy-- completely sold out and not sure when they will get more. I finally found one at Roberts. The D200 is the latest greatest and has received rave reviews. Now that I am in my off-season I will have plenty of time to play around with it.

I booked a wedding for December 30th today. Wow, 2006 is looking like it's going to be a great year. I already have 23 - and will probably not accept any more 2006 bookings once I reach 38.