I’ll get right to the photos (just TRY and resist flower girl Amaya’s cuteness!) – because I’m running way behind on getting this one blogged (have been down with a super nasty cold the past two days) and bed is calling for this sick girl to come inhabit it!

Ceremony: Most Pure Heart of Mary
Reception: Heritage Hall
Flowers: Simply Stunning, Lori Zirkle
Hair/Makeup: Posh Artistry
Planner: Lyn Scardina, Events!
Catering: Aboud’s Catering
DJ: Minuteman Music

I’m including a couple of (cell phone, so please excuse the quality – yes the photographer FORGOT TO PACK HER CAMERA) images of my booth, so those who weren’t in attendance can see the setup and those who were there and are stopping by will think “oh, yes, I remember that awesome couch!” A BIG THANKS to friend and fellow photographer Kelly Knetter for helping me out at the booth during the show – sometimes the traffic is just too much for me to be able to talk to all of the people lined up to take a look at my work!

A couple of quick notes for those that met with me at the show as well as those who are considering booking: 2012 is nearly full, and I anticipate it will be full in as few as a couple of weeks. There are a handful of remaining dates that have multiple couples interested; just a reminder that your date is not considered booked until I have your signed contract and retainer fee in my hands. Not one or the other, but both Then you are golden! Also, since I do have a couple of dates open that proved to be pretty popular at the show, an unfortunate part of this business is that sometimes I have more than one couple that wants to book the same date at literally the same time. I can’t “hold” a date for anyone (see signed contract and retainer requirement) – the absolute ONLY way I can be fair to all parties is to treat booking on a first-come, first-served basis. Honestly, I wish I could book you ALL and if for some reason I do not have your date available, I would be more than willing to help you find a fabulous photographer with a similar style that is still available!

Again, thank you to ALL for stopping by and saying hi. It was fantastic to see some familiar faces, even previous clients, and meet all of the new ones and hear about your wedding stories in-the-making. Here’s to a fabulous 2012 wedding season, and if KC Weddings was any indication, 2013 as well!

-Sarah

first look time!

Ceremony + reception venue: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Floral: Sidelines
DJ: Music Masters
Cake: McLain’s Bakery

This wraps up my weddings for 2011. 35 of them. It was a crazy-busy (and sometimes downright crazy) year – although I accepted less weddings than in 2010 (a whopping 4 less ), I took on more portrait sessions. Thank you to all of my clients from the bottom of my heart for your business, and for being patient when 24 hours (ok, well maybe not 24, but there were LOTS of 16-18 hour days in there) just weren’t enough to answer all of the emails and phone calls, keep up on editing and album design, and go shoot booked sessions and weddings. We made it though and in fine style!

Cameon and Joe, thanks for having Mike and I capture your wedding day and ring in the New Year with you. Thank you for being so sweet and hospitable and such fun to work with. Congratulations and Cameon, if you eventually start your veterinary practice in this area, well, you just may have a new client.

Sarah

Ceremony: Cathedral of St. Peter
Reception, bridal prep, catering: Hilton President
Dress: Bridal Extraordinaire
Hair and Makeup: Michele Taylor
Video: Henke Cinema

Jerad had one request: a series of walk off shots. Here ya go!

Ceremony: Christ the King Church
Reception: Great Overland Station
Cake: Mad Eliza’s
DJ: Powerhouse DJs

Most of my portrait clients purchase a disc of at least a few of the images from their sessions, and my wedding packages all include a disc of high resolution, edited images. Unless the client chooses not to, I always blog highlights from sessions where the client is going to be receiving images on disc, and allow these clients to use their “sneak peek” images on Facebook, with watermark intact, since they have purchased the full-resolution images that will be coming later on disc. I actually enjoy the excitement that comes with sharing around their preview images. The operative word here is “purchased” – the clients in this case have paid for images on disc already.

These clients receive a print release with their discs. This is NOT a copyright release and this is a term I hear bantered around by clients (and usually prospective clients when inquiring if they get a “copyright release” with their discs) incorrectly. What is the difference? A print release specifically states, in my case, that the client may print the images, design an album with their images, and share them online with friends or on personal websites. The images are NOT for commercial use. A simple way of thinking of it may be as a “shared copyright” of sorts. Why not a copyright release?

A copyright release turns over ALL rights to the images to the client. This means I no longer own any stake in the images that I took, and I have no permission to use them on my website, on prints or in albums in studio. Obviously, as photographers we gain new business by showing….our work! If we turned over copyright to our clients, we would no longer have work to show because we would not own any of our work. Purchasing full copyright to images is MUCH different than purchasing print rights to images, and would come with a pretty hefty price tag. (Think of purchasing the copyright to a song vs. rights to play it!) I hear a lot of fairly new photographers throwing around the term ‘copyright release’ as well, and I hope this post educates at least a couple of them a bit as it can put you in a pickle if you don’t watch your legalese!

Why does this matter to me, the photographer, you ask? I mean, most of my clients get the image on disc, with printing rights, so what is my concern? I have two. The first is usage of web-resolution images for printing. I realize clients get SUPER excited about getting prints on hand from their wedding or portrait session. However, the images posted to my blog are NOT optimized for printing (and are watermarked). The image quality of the final product will be subpar, and of course being an angst-ridden artist (ha!) I want my work displayed at its best. And the images of YOU displayed at their best! If you just can’t wait to get your hands on one of the images, and you’ve purchased a disc from me, just send me an email and I’d be happy to send that particular image along for your use, in full resolution with the proper print release.

The second and biggest thing that affects us as photographers concerns stealing of unpurchased images, and this is where I’m going to spend most of my time here today. As a former event (horse show) photographer, this is a huge issue and has become so widespread that many photographers have had to seek income elsewhere (such as weddings) or have closed shop altogether. Event photographers are hardly ever paid by the event to be present. When I shot shows, I had to front my gas, meals, and hotel in hopes that a lot of exhibitors would buy prints or files from me. How disheartening to spend this money, then go home and see that some of these exhibitors had either a) taken an iPhone image of the proofing screen at my ordering station at the show and posted it, or b) had done a screen capture of the image on my online proofing site. If you have not purchased an image from your photographer, and you do this, you are stealing. There’s no kinder way to put it – it’s stealing and it’s also copyright infringement. Yes, the photo is of you, or your daughter, or other family member – but the photographer was contracted to cover the event by event management, or in the case of a portrait session, hired by you to shoot – and retains copyright to the images created. We all work hard to pay our bills, right? Well, photographers choose photography as a way to earn a living, and our livelihoods depend on being compensated fairly for our work. Our long hard hours on our feet, time away from our families, and expense incurred photographing the client. Whether you were an exhibitor at a horse show, a parent at a softball game that had a photographer present, or a portrait client who had a session done but has not purchased prints or files, you MUST have purchased the image to use it online.

an example of an unpurchased proof (from my horse show days) – NOT cool to steal and share on Facebook!

another example with a different watermark. If the image is watermarked, ask before using. If you’ve purchased a digital file or print from the photographer, they can tell you where you can and cannot use the image (and may supply you with a low-resolution copy for Facebook use, or give you the option to purchase one at a nominal fee!).

Hopefully this helped clients understand the differences between print and copyright releases, and when it is and is not legal to print an image or share an image online. The bottom line is – if you have a question about whether you can or cannot do something with a professionally-shot image, ask. And if you’ve not purchased an image (or disc of images) but wish to share it online, most photographers will sell a web-resolution image for  a small fee for you to use on Facebook or your personal website.

With SDP’s next wedding scheduled for December 10th, you can look for next week’s Wedding Wednesday article to be the first in a winter series featuring other fantastic local wedding vendors! Stay tuned!

-Sarah

a quick stop at the Peanut downtown to get some fun shots and warm up (it had become FRIGID around sunset!)

Ceremony: Country Club Christian Church
Reception: Town Pavilion

I’ll be sending an email to all clients later this week with the same information. The best part of this sale? Even at sales’ end, Christmas delivery is guaranteed with the Priority Mail shipment option!

siblings being silly

the ladies quickly found a way to seek shelter from those CRAZY (chilly) winds!

when we got back to Memorial Hall and completed the family photos, we had about 30 minutes until ceremony time. I’d envisioned this shot in the cavernous arena all afternoon – and had just minutes to bring it to life (Andrea wanted a dancing shot – one taken outside of the reception!)

Ceremony and reception venue: Memorial Hall
Hair and Makeup: Breanna Borlase, BeChic Bride
Catering: Brancato’s
Tables, chairs, linens: All Seasons
Floral: Floral Accents by Diana

Sara was absolutely, undeniably STUNNING.

Rick didn’t look too bad himself!

The couple’s first look was bar none the most emotional I’ve shot.

the couple laughed…

…as they saw the “peanut gallery” on the balcony!

This was made for Sara and Rick. The cardinal symbolize’s Sara’s grandfather.

Sara and Rick’s parents on their own wedding days – LOVE!

Ceremony and reception venue, catering: Hawthorne House
Floral: Shana Vaughn Designs
Hair/Makeup: Melissa Evans

Cake: Classic Cakes