Photography Planning Tips

If you just got engaged, and are starting to plan your wedding photography it can be a bit daunting. There are so many photographers and so many styles of photography, where do you start and what should you be thinking about when planning your wedding photography? Well today I was a guest blogger at Stella Event Design where I shared 6 really great tips on how to plan for the perfect wedding pictures. While I believe all the tips will help you plan for a successful wedding day here are a few of the most important ones to consider, Communication is KEY, Start the photography early, and Personalize your Must Have photo list. To read about why these things are so important and for even more tips on planning your wedding photography check out the blog post and good luck to everyone planning a wedding!

Stella Event Design - Photography Q&A

This week is photography week at Stella Event Design, a full-service wedding coordination and event planning boutique, specializing in weddings along the Michigan lake shore. I worked with Stella Event Design on a spring wedding this year and they were amazing, I wish all of my clients had such a knowledgeable and creative resource at their disposal! This week they're featuring 3 photographers in a Q&A session and today it's my turn! Check out Stella Event Designs blog for the full Q+A. Also, I have been invited to be a guest blogger tomorrow so check back for some great tips on how brides can work with their photographers to get some really creative images on their wedding day!

Here are a few photos from the wedding I worked on with Stella Event Designs in April. The day started at 6am on the beach in Saint Joseph Michigan where the bride and all her bridesmaids went for a run. I kept up on my bike and documented the early morning run. What a fun way to start the day!

Another beautiful Chicago Wedding

Joe and Gloria tied the knot on July 26, 2008 in downtown Chicago. After the ceremony we did this amazing portrait shoot under an overpass near their church in Chicago. For those of you who are planning a wedding, you'll definitely want to consider setting aside some time for a quick photo walk like this! It's a great opportunity to have fun, relax, and capture some unique wedding pictures on your wedding day. Don't limit your photo walk to a park either, as you can see from these photos, you can get beautiful wedding pictures just about anywhere!













This last shot was taken outside the Meridian Banquet Hall in Rolling Meadows, IL. We snuck out towards the end of their reception to get a quick closing shot for the day and found this spot behind an abandoned restaurant next door. Joe and Gloria were so much fun to work with and their willingness to try something different for their wedding portraits really made for some incredible wedding pictures! To see the rest of their Chicago wedding photos visit, www.benpancoast.com.

Wedding Photos at the Ritz Charles in Carmel Indiana

The Ritz Charles in Carmel Indiana is one of the few banquet halls built specifically for weddings that really delivers a unique, beautiful ceremony experience. While many wedding reception venues offer the same great service for the receptions what set's the Ritz Chapel apart from the others is how beautiful their Chapel is! I've shot quite a few weddings here and they're always beautiful! One of my favorite ways to end the night is with a few beautiful bridal portraits outside the wedding chapel at dusk.

Yesterdays portrait of a bride and groom turned out particularly well because they incorporated their puppy into the shot. I love how the dog is looking up at them as they kiss, what a perfect way to end a beautiful wedding day! Congratulations to the happily married couple!

The Photography Team hits Columbus OH

I teamed up with Dan Terpstra on 6/7/08 for this Photography Team event in Columbus Ohio where we photographed David and Mandy's wedding. Whenever Dan and I team up for one of our high end Photography Team weddings we make the most of the day and this wedding wasn't any different. After a quick stop downtown we headed over to the zoo for an outdoor ceremony and photo walk. Check out The Photography Team website for even more cool pictures from David and Mandy's wedding!

Wedding Photos at Notre Dame: Basilica of the Sacred Heart

If you ever have the opportunity to watch a wedding ceremony at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus you simply can not pass up the opportunity.

As a wedding photographer I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to shoot several weddings in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and yet I still can't help but pause every time I walk in for the first time on a wedding day and look up to admire how incredibly beautiful the church is.

The weddings I've photographed here are always incredible and the best thing is the bride and groom don't have to worry about decorations, just show up ready with your wedding vows and you are sure to wow your guests!

Although the Basilica does not allow wedding parties more than a half hour for wedding pictures it's typically plenty of time for a few important family photos before heading out onto the beautiful Notre Dame campus for a photo walk with your Bridal party!

I think one of the best things about having your wedding at the Basilica is the fact that you really don't have to go anywhere else for photos, you can walk out of the church and have as many options as you'd like for family photos or bridal portraits.

These are just a few of my favorites from throughout the day, as you can see you don't have to make every shot about being on the Notre Dame campus,

this classic bridal party shots are the perfect compliment to the photos of you and your new husband or wife in the Grotto or with the golden dome in the background!


Check out more recent wedding photos at Notre Dame here!