The veil: that billowy gauzy fabric atop of some brides heads: some of us love them, some of us, not so much. I personally love veils of all kind; however my most favorite are long veils worn on very windy days ;)

We have all seen a variety of veils: cathedral length, fingertip length and the ever popular birdcage veil. But how did the veil find it’s way into the bridal accessories? What were it’s origins?

Some say Rome was were the veil was introduced, being used to conceal a bride’s features and confuse evil spirits. I didn’t really read anywhere why evil spirits may have been in hot pursuit of these brides, I can only assume they came to let them know that the strapless gown fad is over.

Others say the veil was there to prove the bride’s purity and to protect her from the evil eye, which was obviously being thrown by the crazy ex-girlfriend.

What made most sense to me was the idea that the veil was in place during an arranged marriage. The bride’s features were only revealed to the willing groom after the ‘I do’ deed was done, preventing him from backing out ahead of time.

These days, like most details picked out for a wedding, it’s pretty much do as you like. I love love the trend of different colored wedding gowns & choosing a veil that either compliments or matches the gown shade you’ve chosen.
Go bold, go different, go with what you like.

If you’ve always dreamt of wearing a floor length veil following behind you on your day like a little mini-me, do it! If you can’t shake the idea of adding a hot-pink birdcage veil to your ensem’ – go for it! Veils, like shoes and purses, flowers and jewels, are there to add to your look & to show off a little slice of your personality.
And, if the whole idea of a veil fills you with the ick, don’t wear one. I don’t think the evil spirits will mind one bit ;)

Happy accessorizing!

In the good ol’ days, wedding albums were usually made by taking individual photographic prints and slipping them into album pages that had standard size mat openings. That had a couple of implications – every photo needed to be cropped to a standard dimension like 8×10 or 5×7 and every photo appeared with a border around it. As a way to present photos that approach was clean and traditional but somewhat hum drum. And if you shot in 35mm (which has a 2×3 ratio) you ended up cropping out much of your composition.

Today it’s much more common for a wedding album to created as a flush mount book, where one or more images can be placed on the page without restrictions about size or placement. Yet it’s common for contemporary wedding albums to echo their ancestral counterparts by placing images on the page surrounded by large borders. It’s as if these album designs are haunted by the papery ghosts of forgotten album mats that lie mouldering next to dusty enlargers in the basements of photographers who long ago traded film for digital.

If such traditional album designs sound eerily familiar to you, I appeal to you to let your images bleed!
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I knew in hiring my favorite photographer for my own wedding a couple weeks ago, that I would not be disappointed in the outcome. I’m a huge fan of her style. That’s a severe understatement. I knew that I could trust her to do her job, to do it professionally, to not need direction, and to wow us.

She photographed me in angles I’ve never seen of myself, that are so similar to old images of my grandmother. She made special care to capture every detail that we spent so much time and energy on, collecting in antique shops and having custom made. She forever froze moments of my daughter and I that I know she will absolutely cherish and pass down to her own children. She photographed my handsome husband in the way I want to remember him when we’re old and gray.

The most important thing that she did was capture the day the way that I truly remember it, and beautifully. She took her time with us during the portraits and made us feel at ease. We would have held our breath and stood on our heads, had she asked.

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I am nothing if not random. I get inspiration from so many sources.

A few years ago, I dropped off the big forums and stopped reading other wedding photographer’s blogs. Shocking, I know! I decided to draw my inspiration from the sources I’ve loved all along; fashion magazines like W, Interview and Vanity Fair – movies by Pedro Almodovar, Michel Gondry and Sofia Coppola – music and videos by Radiohead, Modest Mouse and Jenny Lewis – books by Augusten Burroughs, Chuck Palahniuk and David Sedaris – and traveling absolutely anywhere.

While asking around, I found that most of my fellow photographers also get inspired by these things, and here are some interesting answers : personalities, self growth and learning, architecture and love.

I’m naturally influenced by my peers here on ShootStyle, and fellow wedding photographers Fer Juaristi and Angelica Glass. Other photographic influences include Avedon, Sally Mann and Newton. Their photography encompasses all these things that inspire me. The moody, colorful, quirky and loud. I may not easily carry over these loves into my work directly, but it’s what my eyes and my heart are drawn to. It’s where my personal work would go, if I had the time. (one day…..)

Emotion, light, composition – my 3 must haves for a perfect photograph. Probably the biggest inspirations that I do use and carry over into my work everyday are nature and relationships.

Right now, with spring teasing to show it’s face any day, I’m inspired by color.

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While some traditions seem pretty obvious to me (the kiss after the ceremony, the honeymoon *wink wink*) others have me pondering “Where did they come up with that?”.

The engagement ring, for instance. We’ve all heard the commercials telling you that true love comes in the form of 2 months salary worth of diamonds. For the record, I think that’s a wee bit silly. I’d rather a lens or cowboy boots … but I digress.

When did the engagement ring become the symbol of ‘i love you this much’?

There is theory that the first rings may have been made from leather, plants, or other degradable material that served not only to symbolize a union between two people, but also their connection with the land that sustained them. Those original sustainable wearable pieces eventually morphed into metal rings adding in the sparkle of a gemstone or two.

Word on the street is some of the earliest adopters of the symbolic ring were the Greeks, Romans & Egyptians. These rings were meant to show the world that the lady was part of a pretty sweet business deal. *ahem* Not so romantic.
The swoon inducing Greeks are credited with wearing the ring on the left hand, fourth finger, where the ‘vena amoris’ or vein of love is supposed to connect to the heart.

Even the Popes got into the ring thing! Back in the 19th century, Pope Nicolas I said ‘heck yea’ to the idea of a gold ring as a betrothal requirement, proof that the groom had the ability to bring home the bacon.

Round about 800 B.C. in India, the first diamonds were discovered, along with the deep desire to flaunt them. Many believe the diamond to be magical, and if you’ve ever watched a bunch of ladies walk into a Tiffany’s, that’s not too far fetched. ;)

The first lucky lady to be given a diamond engagement ring was Mary of Burgundy. The Archduke Maximilian of Hamburg got down on one knee (okay, I may be making that part up) in 1477. And, for most others, unless you were royalty, wicked wealthy or a gem thief, the only diamond you’d be wearing is the one in your dreams.
In the 18th century, the mother-load of sparkle was found in Brazil, making the diamond ring much more accessible, and prompted all the ladies to shout ‘Put a ring on it!’.

Somewhere in the 1930s this simple symbolic ring jumped the shark. De Beers was well known as a diamond supplier, yet it’s sales took a tumble in 1919. So, in 1930, when the De Beers Company felt a bit of a pinch, it turned to the N. W. Ayers firm to figure out a way to get the masses excited again. Encouraged by the Ayers firm, fashion designers & Hollywood stars dripped with diamonds, telling everyone the trend was to sparkle & sparkle loud! De Beers sold a whopping 55% more diamonds between 1938 to 1941. When Frances Gerety wrote the line “A diamond is forever”, the De Beers company pretty much did a victory dance & the diamond ring has since been the symbol of ‘i love you thi$ much’.

I suppose what it really comes down to is – what speaks to you & your betrothed. Is it the lure of a sapphire? The tongue-in-cheek of a cracker jack ring (engraved by Tiffany’s, perhaps)? Is it the glitter of a diamond, a ruby, an opal, an emerald?

No matter what symbol you choose to tell the world you love this person THAT much, make sure you choose something that rings true to you both.

[yes, that pun was intended]

Publication can be a wonderful thing for your business on many levels.  It can give you a chance to showcase a particularly beautiful wedding beyond the scope of your blog readership.  It can also put you on the radar of planners and event designers who may love your work enough to contact you and refer you in the future.  It can give your business a degree of credibility and longevity in an industry fraught with nightmare stories of “take the money and run” vendors.  Add to that the fact that it is exciting to open a magazine and see your work smiling up at you, and publication because a win-win for almost everyone.

The secret to publication is an easy one to learn: capture the details, and capture them well.  After all, why do brides, stylists, and planners pick up a wedding magazine or scroll through a style blog?  Most of the time they are looking for inspiration.  You may have the best close-up shot of a bride and groom ever, but unless that shot is of Brad and Angelina or Kate and William you aren’t going to sell that wedding to any blogs or magazines unless you have supporting details.

In this post, I’m going to go through ten steps that can lead to publication.  This is a recipe that has worked well for me, and I’m confident that it can work for you, too!

1) Know Your Details.  The ground work for publication usually starts before you even take out your camera at an event.  Know who your vendors are and what they are providing.  Find out the story behind the details and if there are any details that might not appear at the event itself (gift bags, invitations, save the dates, etc).  Encourage the couple to bring a set of additional details to the wedding with them so that you can capture them.  Also, make sure that you arrive early enough and/or leave yourself enough time to capture absolutely everything. Whether the details are hand-made etsy creations or custom details whipped up by an expensive designer, they all serve to make the wedding unique and publishable.

2) Over-Shoot Your Details.  Shoot your details horizontally AND vertically.  Choose different lenses, focal lengths, and apertures.  Shoot them from different angles and be aware of the background and the light.  Magazines have limited space and options for layouts- make it easy for them to choose your wedding by providing many details from many different angles and in both orientations.

3) Don’t Forget the Venue.  Detail shots of the venue can also sell your wedding.  Don’t forget to show off the venue(s) from several different angles in different light.  I once had a wedding published that included three almost-identical shots of the venue: one in the morning (when I arrived), one during the ceremony that included the ceremony itself, and one in the evening with an inky blue sky and lights blazing from the windows.  Great shots of the venue not only endear you to the publisher, but they also make venue owners very happy.

4) Give a Sense of Place to Your Photographs.  Close-up shots are great, but don’t forget the environmental shots as well.  Show the couple against the mountain backdrop or on the beach in Cabo- include environmental keys that are indicative of and/or specific to the location.

5) Don’t Kill the Ambient Light.  Whether you are adding fill light to a scene or you are lighting a reception, don’t kill the ambient light.  Let the warmth of the candle glow into your photographs or highlight the purple up-lighting during the first dance.  Lighting not only sets the mood of the reception, but it can also be a great selling point for your wedding.  Make sure that your shutter speed is low enough and/or your strobe power is low enough to let the ambient into the shot.  (Do you have trouble with reception lighting?  ShootStyle has a series of workshops to help you learn how to light your receptions.)

6) Remember the Food!  Whether your couple chooses to have cute sliders, fun cocktails, a cappuccino bar or a dessert table, the food and beverages at a wedding can provide you with some fabulous details!

7) Feature the Unique.  If your event has something unique (well, few things are unique at this stage- I should say if it has something that not every wedding has…) like a canine ring-bearer, fireworks, or a pinata, be sure to include several photographs of the event/detail in your submission and also mention it in your description of the event.

8) Don’t Post Your Photographs All Over the Internet.  Many publications (both print and internet) want exclusivity.  That is, they don’t want the photographs unless they are showing up for the first time on their pages.  Many will let you submit if you have posted on your own blog, but some won’t.  Know the rules and follow them.  I know that it is tempting to share images from a favorite wedding on forums, facebook, twitter, etc, but hold back until you know what you are going to do with the images.  Even if a publication tells you that you can post to your own blog, proceed with caution- some style blogs will lift the wedding from your website and “feature it” without your permission, thereby killing your chances with other publications.

9) Choose Your Publication Wisely.  If you are new to the publication game, you will most likely be submitting your images yourself.  As you become known to editors, they will keep an eye on your work and will start asking your for particular weddings.  However, in the beginning most photographers will need to do the grunt work on their own.  What should you look for in a publication?  Make sure that it fits your wedding.  If you photographed a beautiful country wedding on hay bales, then you may not have much luck getting that published in a magazine that features NYC weddings.  Most magazines and style blogs have a niche- make sure you know what it is before you submit your work.  ALSO, you should choose a publication that your brides/planners/stylists are frequenting.  If you work out of the northeast exclusively, having your images published in an Australian magazine might not bring you any more business.

10) Try and Try Again.  Editors will occasionally give you feedback on weddings- not enough details, etc.  Listen to the feedback and learn from it.  Keep perusing the publications that you are targeting- you will learn about their style and the kind of work that they like to feature.

Have fun and enjoy the beauty at every event!    ~Michelle

Post by Maine Wedding Photographer Michelle Turner.

…. and your camera phone.

As anyone with a Facebook account can attest to, more and more people are creating interesting images out of everyday mundane happenings with their phones, using such apps as ShakeIt, Hipstamatic, Camera+, etc. Personally, I think it’s great. I love having a pocket sized camera on me everywhere I go. From time to time, and certainly not often enough, I leave my DSLRs at home and travel with only film cameras and my iPhone.

Last year, I started taking photos with my iPhone, in the mornings and evenings, of my daughter getting up from or going to bed. Doing so was much less invasive for her (not that she’s not used to the camera in her face alllllll the time), and it allowed me to get her really natural. I called these photos Morning and Evening Snuggles and posted them on Facebook. I was overwhelmed by how many people said they looked forward to seeing them everyday. A simple series of phone photos, who knew?

On our recent travels, my boyfriend and I brought nothing but film cameras and phones – no digital, otherwise. The black and whites produced on the iPhone with certain apps, are really lovely, I think.

We brought a Diana with a Polaroid back, Holga, Fuji Insta wide camera, Hasselblad, Mamiya 6×7 II, and a Polaroid SX70. For those old timers who started off shooting film, long before the days of megapixels and RAW files, digital may now be the only way you fly. I’ve missed the smell of fixer, the anticipation of getting film developed, finding a random roll and wondering what’s on it. It had been so long since we’d played with film, it was really nice to have that nostalgic feeling back.

I did it for 9 years, but my days of shooting film at weddings is LONG gone, and though busting out my phone during the ceremony just looks a tad bit tacky, I would love to shoot one this way. Somewhere I have a few rolls of black and white 120mm ready to be hand developed, with random photos of wedding couples from the last few years. I kind of like knowing they’re sitting there waiting to be processed.

Next time you leave the house, why not keep the big guns at home and step out of your element? You might be surprised what you come up with.

~Zofia

What are you doing online!? Get out there and chug down a big glass of holiday cheer! You deserve it. You’ve worked hard this year, so now it’s time to kick off those work shoes, lean back and sigh big happy relaxing sighs.

And if someone says you can’t stop now, tell them ShootStyle said you had the holiday off!

Many thanks from the ShootStyle gang for coming by and reading, sharing, coming out to play and just for being a great you. We <3 you all!!

With that, go forth and be merry!

Speaking of all this merriment & joy, what is your favorite part of the holidays? Feel free to share in the comments a beloved tradition, a fav cookie recipe, even the quirkiest holiday gift you’ve ever received. We’d love to share with you!

Happy happy!!

One thing I almost invariably do at a wedding is to get a shot of the couple walking. At most weddings there’s a bunch of time spent getting from here to there: from the house to the ceremony, from the ceremony to the reception, from the reception to the spot where we’re going to be taking photos, etc. These could easily be wasted moments photographically. I have this constant desire for just another minute to fiddle with my equipment or set up a shot, so it would be easy for me to focus on getting to the destination ahead of the couple. But I slow down and stay with the couple as they’re walking, because I love the photos I can get from these moments.

Most people aren’t used to having a camera pointed at them but they are used to putting one foot in front of another over and over.  When people are walking, muscle memory takes over and they stop posing. They become more aware of their environment and less aware of me. The couple gets a chance to take a break from their guests and be together for a moment which also helps them act and interact more naturally.

The simple fact that my subjects are in motion makes the photos a little more interesting. These photos also help tell the story of the day by providing transitions from one scene to the next, which can be useful in a slideshow or an album. Taking these photos is a challenge because I have to frame and shoot quickly, then move along and do it again, but the effort pays off in images I love.

Go stuff yourself until you can’t move! We want to thank each and everyone one of you for reading our blog and making this our best year ever! We love you!!!

psst… we’d love to hear what you are thankful for this year, in your business or personal life!