As you might notice, the new sessions are not free.  There is a $99 sitting fee (which is still a huge discount off the original $499 fee!)  Since there is a fee for the new event, we decided to include something in the package–so you will get (1) 8×10 or (2) 5×7s of your choice–and the 5×7 prints do not have to be the same : )  Look at it this way, with all of the giveaways, we know every girl is going to win a least one item!!  Contact us if you want to book an hour.  P.S.  There is a possibility we might be adding more timeslots before 4pm if we get a crazy amount of girls interest again : )

Here is a small list of the different giveaway items from the awesome designers who will be priding clothes + accessories for you to play dress up in:

• headpieces
• hair accessories
• undies
• a sexy “kimono” style robe
• nightgown slips
• funky, fun dresses
• jewelry
• lingerie
• other neat clothes

I will get a photo post up soon to give you a visual of all the lovelies.  I have already received 4 packages of items for the events, and it just makes me more and more excited every time I see something new!!

On another note, we will be announcing the winners of our zillion giveaways during the Bridal Expo giveaway we held last Sunday!  There will be a special blog post + each couple will be notified directly!  I can’t wait!

Here is a list of the services/items that were given away:

• free engagement session with ae photography ($499 value)
• free album with any coverage plan from ae photography ($750 value)
• 10% off your entire wedding coverage with ae photography
• 10% off your entire wedding floral order from the cypress house
• 5 different stunning headpieces from feathers + frills

Here are the 5 different headpieces + info about each one:

Here are some lovely tunes that have been giving me creative vibes and helping me get my work done.  Hope you enjoy ; )

And, finally,  here is are some lyrics to a song that literally makes me choke up.  I can’t find a normal cd version to share with you on youtube, but it’s by Hanson, and it’s wonderful… and pretty much sums up my feelings lately.  I’m not going to into detail, but you should really check out the song.  It’s amazing.  This version is the best I could find online…

Somebody let me down
Somebody show me love
I wouldn’t care much either way

I’d rather the sticks and stones
Than dragging the ball and chain
Of what if the world won’t take me

Even if the hole should crack
Even if the blood flows red
Nothing could be worse than numb
So please, use me up

I just want anyone
To use me up
‘Cause no one ever does
Use me up

I’ve carried it all too long
The fear of the pain it brings
Feeling the panic building up

I’d rather the broken heart
Than live in the emptiness
Of what if the world won’t save me

Even if the bow should break
Even if the blood runs cold
Nothing could be worse than numb
Please, use me up

I just want anyone
To use me up
‘Cause no one ever does
Use me up
Use me up

Treat me some way cruel
You could throw me away
As long as I feel it
Show me something real
You can’t deceive me
I am yours to use

By the way, if you haven’t see 500 days of summer… go rent it.  Perfect movie with a great soundtrack.

Goodnight, folks.

Click on the images to go straight to the site.

We just love how it turned out and are happy to get some new photos up, although there are a million more to be posted!  Check back soon for gallery pages.  We have never really done gallery pages, because they just seem too “traditional”,  so we always just make the slideshows our galleries.  I am working on a way to make the galleries unique and actually include them for once!  We need to got some of our session stuff up! Well, we are about to head out to get some work done!  Please, let us know what you think!!

-ae

COLORED CRINOLINE

This is something I have seen here and there on other photographers’ and/or wedding blogs, but have never had the chance of working with myself.  I WANT THE CHANCE.  There are so many cool ways to make photos pop when this neat idea is put to work.  Brides: do this!  Use your main wedding color or your wedding accent color.  It could be so fun, and it’s definitely unique!

copyright becky novacek photography

Here is a “Colored Crinoline how-to” that was just recently posted on Hot Pink Brides.

Of course, Offbeat Bride has a variety of posts that show photos of this!

Here is Offbeat Bride’s article on how to do this.  It’s a little more in depth– with pictures of each step.

It doesn’t have to be a short dress.  I have seen plenty of standard length, more traditional dresses, with just this wonderful pop of color underneath.  I am seriously dying to shoot a wedding where the bride does this!  Who’s going to be my bride?!  You have tips & inspiration, so doing it should be a cinch.

First off, this Sunday we will be part of the Bridal Expo in DeKalb at NIU.  The show is from 12-4pm, so come see us.  We are tired from sleepless nights and hard work, so we will probably look sickly and ratty–but, hey… let’s meet!  We planned on throwing up our large prints from the Borders display and calling it a day, but no, I had to decide (at the last minute) that I wanted to go through all of our recent weddings and pick favorites, spend 250937 hours editing them, not sleep, spend $2500 on prints + materials, and pretty much lose my mind.  That’s the way I roll.  I am so tired right now, I can’t even put it into words.  There will probably be about 30 misspelled words and a few sentences here and there that make no sense what-so-ever.  Bear with me, folks.

On a happier note, all of that crazy last minute editing has allowed me to create this post for you.  This is what we’ve been up to–pretty much the end of our 2009, minus the mini sessions.  I decided to post *tiny (and I emphasize the word tiny) peeks of all of our client’s wedding galleries that we have not yet started posting to.  I hope this will brighten your day and make you feel like the wait is worth it  : )  I started out just selecting to two from each wedding only, but then by 5am, I kind of forgot and just edited random amounts.  That being said, sorry if you only get to see two photos while some others have three or four (I know I will get emails about this ; ) )  All of our fall/winter weddings were wonderful, and we loved being a part of them.  I will go in order starting with the earliest:

John & Abby’s wedding was pretty much breathtaking.   They had so many neat, personal, handmade details, and yet still made it look so high class + upscale.  Their reception and Private Time were held at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club.  It was our first wedding there, but definitely not our Last!  Danielle + Layton’s wedding was just 2 weeks after.  We really have some amazing shots to share with you from this wedding.  John and Abby were so incredibly easy to work with, and once again, humored us by doing all of our “crazy” ideas without saying a word.  You will see later…let’s just say “American Gothic on a Golf Course” (can you tell we like to use that?!)

Isn’t Abby stunning?  Love the flower in her hair!

And that brings us to Jeremy & Ally’s wedding.  I’ve know Ally since she was a little girl. She was friends with my younger sisters growing up. Because of that, it was extra special for me to be a part of her wedding. Once again, these two totally understood our style and gave us plenty of time for Private Time, perhaps the most anyone has ever given us! We had a lot of fun and got some great shots. They are so cute together–it was easy to capture the love : )

Be prepared to see a lot of wonderful Private Time shots when I post this full wedding blog in the future!

Here are some of our favorites from Layton & Danielle’s wedding.  You may remember these two from their Engagement Session posted awhile back.  As I said in that post, I went to high school with Danielle, so I felt honored when she came to us and immediately said she wanted us for her wedding.  As I got to thinking about it, I’m pretty sure these two gave us a huge amount of time for Private Time, too.  We had so much fun walking around the inside of the Country Club looking for unique spots.  Here is one of my favorites shot through the stairs:

Definitely a unique view and lighting setup.  I pretty much overlooked it at first, but the more I saw it, the more I loved it.  It’s quickly becoming a top pick.

Before we got to the reception, we rode around in a giant “tour bus”–and I do believe that was the first time we’ve ever had a couple use a bus like that for a wedding.  We’ve had limos, and suv limos and bus type limos, but that was an actual bus.  It was pretty neat.  Here is a shot I took of them in the back of the bus. There were quite a few sweet ones from this spot.  It was hard to pick a favorite.

It was getting dark quickly, and Eric and I were pretty much in a panic.  We knew we didn’t want night time flash shots for their wedding party portraits + private time, but it was looking like we weren’t going to have much of a choice.  We had planned to stop at Emerson St. for a quick photo, because that is their last name, and it’s something we’ve never tried.  Good idea, but it took a long time to get there!!  So here is the end result:

Worth the drive and extra time?  I think so : )  I would like to have something like that from my wedding day.  And finally, here is a shot we took inside the country club.  We liked the snowflake ornaments hanging from the ceiling and knew we wanted to use them in some way.

Now we are at Brock & Brittany’s winter wonderland wedding!  We shot Brock’s brother’s wedding earlier this year, so we had already kind of gotten to know Brock and Brittany through that. I’ve gotta say, Brittany wins the medal for being the most willing bride we’ve ever had.  It was her idea to walk in the snow (in her gown and heels) and go climb up and stand on a snow covered picnic table for some quick shots… and it was absolutely freezing out!  When she mentioned the idea, all we had to say was…..  YES!  That about made our day.  Those photos will come with their full wedding post, but here are some other wonderful ones of the happy couple:

So, yeah, the balloon hault didn’t last too long.  We used them at Layton & Danielle’s wedding, as well as Brock & Brittany’s!  Sometimes you just have to deal the pain in the butt issues to get the fun photos you really want.  Once again, these balloons were not blowing in the right direction, and poor Brock was really trying hard to make it work.  He did!  So many of them turned out great!  So this next shot says it all.  This couple was ready + willing, and because of that, they got some extra unique images that they will have forever!

This next photo is part of a new add-on we are now offering.  It’s called the Thank You Set (original, I know… we are too busy being unique with our photos.  I don’t have time to come up with cool add-on names like I always planned to!)  We will bring this awesome Thank You parasol and use it for a few shots during private time.  You will then get a set of 100 photo postcards with your favorite Thank You image.  It’s new for 2010 : )  Contact us if you are a current client and are interested in adding this option on.  We also have one that says “I Do.”

Finally, we will wrap up this post with our last wedding of 2009; Kyle & Lindsey.  We never got a chance to meet with Kyle and Lindsey before they wedding, but were happily surprised at all the unique touches they couple had put on the wedding day and how their wedding was very much our style.  I especially loved the simplicity of Lindsey’s dress and the AMAZING, and I do mean amazing, bridesmaids dresses she had they girls wear.  Those images will come in their full wedding post, but here are a few favorites for now!

This next shot is one of my favorite wedding captures ever.  While we do a lot of the legs and feet shots, most of them are not posed–even if they appear to be.  Occasionally we will pose the couple and ask them to “hike” their dress and pants up a tad.  It makes for a fun shot.  This photo was completely unposed and just look at Kyle’s pants!  We couldn’t have “posed” it better.

So there you have it–our final events of 2009.  I’m still working on the “best of” posts and the vendor/reception hall reviews.  I promise to get those up soon!  Plus, we have another awesome announcement or three about the Boudoir Event this month.  The plan is to post it Saturday if I get the chance, so come back and see!!

I think pretty much all of these images will be a part of our Bridal Show booth, so I guess they will all be old news if you come visit us!  I hope everyone enjoyed their sneak peeks.  We can’t wait to get all of these new weddings up in the galleries.  They are all so wonderful!  Thanks again for letting us be a part of your day, everyone.

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Well, while our job requires us to do some those, that is not what comes to our minds when the word “portrait” is said.  We are all about showing the truth of the moment and creating an honest image.  Lining people up in a row and having them say cheese, or putting them in some awkward stiff pose is the furthest thing from the truth in our book.  We realize that these types of photos can be necessary during special events to insure all of the important people get photographed during the day, but a portrait can be so much more than what immediately comes to mind.  These “traditional” shots are what can create the weird and sometimes quite hilariously awkward frames you can find at  awkwardfamilyphotos.com … have you ever been there?  Go have a look.  : )  Here is a taste:

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Hahahaha.  : )   Sooo… here are some tips to give you a tad bit more natural shots… if that’s what you’re looking for.

NOTE:  If you like the styles above, you may be following the wrong blog : )  And, a big thanks to www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com for the perfect samples and giving me a hearty laugh at least once a week!

When you’re photographing little ones, don’t pose them in some uncomfortable way and force them to smile.  Get down on their level.  See the word through their eyes.  Let them play with their favorite toys and capture what they truly do when they’re teeny tiny.  Thinking ahead, wouldn’t it be 100x more special to have that picture of them laying on the floor in their playroom, playing with their favorite toy when they were 3 and, in turn, showing off a fun, natural smile, because they were doing what they loved to do?  Not only would you get the “specialness” of that moment when they were so little, but you will be able to remember the way the room was decorated and forever have the memory of their favorite childhood toy.  You may think that these are just snapshots and not something that would actually look professional, but this is what we do!  Welcome to a lifestyle session, folks!  They are full of fun and truly capture the realness of what goes on in your lives.

When photographing families, same thing goes!  Of course, everyone wants that one great traditional shot, but you have to think outside the box.  What does the family do for fun?  Puzzles, books, going out for ice cream?  Ask them these things when they book you.  Make a plan to have them sit our the couch and read their favorite story.  It will be cute, cozy and full of smiles : ) Meet them at a local ice cream shop and have them all get cones.  It’s pretty easy to imagine the great shots you could get with that set up.  For winter shots, have them build a snowman or make snow angels.

99.9% of the time, we don’t pose.  We put people in a situation and then let them do their thing.  This way of shooting is applied to everything we do; seniors, kids, families, engagements, all mini sessions and during weddings.

Another tip about portraits–still going off what people typically think of; a portrait doesn’t always require a face.

“A portrait doesn’t always have to have a face in it. Be aware of your subject’s body language and look for ways to depict emotion that are not obvious.” Isabel Lawrence

I couldn’t have said it better myself…. so I didn’t.

The portrait above show the entire family without showing a single face, and still manages to tell the story perfectly.  Dad and child playing in the background and mom + baby in the foreground… mom in the “aching back stance”.

Here is one Eric took of me.  No face, but I do believe the hands in the pockets tell the story:

This photo show both tips.  Miss Ella is doing her favorite thing; drawing.  That girl goes through 20 sheets or more a day.  And to us, the photo will always be a memory of how she is such a fashion statement.  She refuses to wear anything by a dress, and pink tights are the best… heck, anything pink will do!

This “no face” thing is something we seem to do all the time.  For me, they are probably my favorite shots.  Here are some more examples to show you some ways we put this tip into action at weddings.  These photos, as well as the portraits of the guys above, are all from Jake + Maggie’s beyond stunning wedding.

I hope you find these ideas helpful.  And, I hope you enjoyed some more of our Hintzsche Christmas ‘09 shots ; )  Someday I may actually do a full post… but for now, just little peeks here and there.

Just picture the pink one above on a sweet cake like this:

Name + Esty Shop:
Abigail Halpin :: http://missavocado.etsy.com

Where are you located?
Southern Maine, near the ocean

How long have you been making the toppers?
I started making the toppers in 2008, following a few months of trial and error prototyping.

When did you open your Etsy shop?
I opened my Etsy Shop Summer of 2005. I was still in school at the time and had just taken up crocheting, so was looking for a venue to peddle my wares. As time went on though, I switched the focus of my shop to art.

Where did you get the idea to make the toppers the way you do?
I’d read an article about a wedding that used a vintage paper wedding cake topper to decorate cupcakes with and was really inspired. I went hunting down vintage toppers online and decided to try designing my own version. I was intrigued by the idea that it was relatively flat and would be easy to store after the wedding.

How many colors/styles do you offer?
Each year I’ve designed a different style. In 2008 I’d designed one that had a 1930’s feel, this past year I featured toppers that were more in keeping with the bright colors of the ’50’s and did offer color customization for brides with this option. For 2010, I’ve just started sketching ideas.

How much time does it takes to make each topper:
Initially I draw the topper, scan and then digitally color. Once printed, I create the crepe paper background, add glitter, a veil and other embellishments, then cut out each bride and groom. Not including the illustration time, I’d estimate each topper takes about an hour to assemble, plus drying and pressing time.

Advice on planning a unique wedding:
Be true to yourself! I helped my sister with her wedding a few years back and everything from the boutonnieres to the dress was made by a family member. It was a lot of work (and definitely not for everyone), but the wedding fit my sister and brother-in-law to a “t.”

And here is a lovely cake idea for the fushia topper:

And for the green:

That last cake is stunning.  Wow.  I love it.

As a little “goodie” to our readers, Abigail is offering free shipping for one cake topper to the first person who orders and mentions our blog post!  So head to her Etsy Shop and order one!  I hope I see some of these lovelies at our 2010 weddings!  Thanks, Abigail, for sharing your sweet toppers and advice with us : )

All cake photos copyright theknot.com

December 13th was our 6th anniversary (as far as marriage goes), and I never got around to posting about it.  We shot an Engagement Session all day in Chicago.   Eric was entertaining me by blowing some bubbles while we waited for the couple to change into their second outfit.

We did get a chance to go out for a very quick dinner… so that was nice : )  So quick that we didn’t even get to take our bags off our shoulders.  Eat and run.  I ate french onion soup, and it was deeelish : )  Eric probably ate 5 burgers or something… I don’t remember.

December 21st was Eric’s birthday, and once again, no posts.  We had weddings the 19th and 20th, and once again ended up in downtown Chicago.  We had to stay overnight for work… but I suppose it was to be in a hotel and all on his “birthday eve” and birthday morning.  It might have been better if we weren’t starving to death and half dead form the back to back weddings.  This hotel gives you chocolate chip cookies at check-in…. let me tell you–mine was finished before I even got off the elevator.  It was 6pm and we hadn’t eaten since 6pm the night before and had been working non stop with 3 hours of sleep!  That was the best chocolate chip cookie ever.  I would have taken a photo, but I ate it before I got the chance.

We went up to the room, and Eric decided to go get us some dinner at a deli… so I sat on the couch and passed out a couple times.  Utter exhaustion.   I took a picture of the cool artwork/headboard.  Anyone could make this!  And I just might : )

So this is kind of a hotel tradition of mine.  The situation always seems to present itself, so naturally, I take advantage.  I’m sitting on the bed (camera nearby, of course), and Eric is playing with cords + plugging things in + so on around the desk area (you know, man things).  I always get a pretty nice view during this time… so I snap a photo to remember it by.  He will appreciate these images when he’s old and jolly… and by jolly, I mean fat.

So we were in Chicago, and we could have celebrated by going out on the town, seeing a show, shopping… whatever, but we both agreed staying in sounded a whole lot better than anything else.  So we laid in bed and watched “Where the Wild Things Are”.

While laying in bed, I told Eric a story my grandma told me about my grandpa just before he passed away.  I will tell it to you.

They were at a restaurant that overlooked the water, I’m pretty sure… or at least someplace where they were able to look out the window and see the storm clouds rolling in.  The had finished dinner already, but decided to stay and have coffee until the storm passed.  They didn’t want to drive in it.  He said they would order coffee and dessert.  When the waiter came to take their order, he told her that they would have one of every kind of dessert they offered.  He told my grandma they would eat what they wanted to there, and just take the rest home for later.  My grandpa didn’t strike me as the type to do something that sweet and …. romantic!  It seemed like a movie or something.  I love that story.

That being said, we proceeded to order one of every type of dessert on the room service menu to eat in bed while we watched the movie.

I felt pretty dumb getting my picture taken while eating junk food in bed… but, oh well.  So that is me… in desperate need of rest, makeup smudged, in my pj’s, hair in need of some attention, eating pie in bed… and I post in on the blog for all to see.  I’m insane.  And, yes, I’m rockin’ a concert tee from a Hanson show.  : )

Just a side note in case you ever stay at the Wit Hotel and order every dessert off their room service menu… skip the s’mores ice cream sandwich.  Seriously.  I can’t believe they sell that.  It looked like something I “created” and heated in the microwave when I was 8 years old.  It was soggy and tasted disgusting.  Can you guess which one it is in the photos above?  Yuck!

So Eric had a decent birthday, I think.  Then, of course, it was time for the Christmas celebrations.  Those photos will come some other time, but here is something I thought was quite adorable.  Ella got window markers from my dad.  We were all busy talking and eating while she went straight over to the glass door to start coloring.  I went over to check it out later, and this is what she drew:

Special, huh?

We’ve created life, created a business, and continue to create beautiful photographs while we work as a team–playing off eachother’s strengths.  I love Eric more than I even know, I think, and  I can’t to see what we create in 2010.

I’m working on some different “best of 2009″ posts.  Eric and I are also going to be doing reviews on most of the vendors we worked with in 2009, along with all of the different reception halls we have photographed at.  Hopefully you will find the info helpful!  We wish everyone a very happy 2010!!

MONDAYS: inspirational post. We are always on the hunt for things that inspire us.  After starring at a screen night and day, always clicking the same buttons, moving the same bars, watermarking, resizing, uploading,  yadda yadda–we can get in a fog easily.  As soon as we see something lovely, something brilliant, we are motivated to keep going and to do better.  Might as well share our inspirational finds with you, right?  Keep in mind that it is not always photography that gets us pumped… art and colors and stunning blogs… there are many things.  We hope you will enjoy them as much as we do!

TUESDAYS: tip post. We have website and blog messages quite often asking us for tips on how we do things around here.  These many not come every Tuesday, but we will try our best!  We will mix it up and give you some pro tips along with some tips for just catching some great snapshots of your everyday life.  We are not ones to act like we are full of knowledge… and I’m pretty sure you will never find us doing mentor sessions and hosting workshops (but who knows, maybe my thoughts on that will change in the future)… but everyone likes quick little tips and ideas to make any camera give them some neat shots.

WEDNESDAYS:  ae wedding post. So we aren’t the best when it comes to posting weddings, and I know I’ve explained my reasons for this before.  It’s 2010, however, and I am going to, as Tim Gunn would say,  make it work.  So maybe I won’t be able to do “full wedding” posts every time as I prefer to do, but I will just have to deal with it.  I know couples are dying to get a glimpse of their day just as soon as they possibly can, so that is something that is going to happen.  It may only be a couples shots, but it will be done.  So prepare to get sick of wedding fast, because we have stuff to post all the way back from May 2009.  It should be fun!

THURSDAYS:  thoughtful post. This day will be dedicated to random posts, whether they be personal or info about ae photography, they will give you a little insight into our lives, what we are up to, or what’s new with the business.

FRIDAYS:  fabulous wedding post. Of course I had to squeeze in a posting day for weddings.  I do so love them.  I love looking at wedding blogs, funky + unique wedding ideas… and basically just stylish weddings in general.  I know many of our followers are planning weddings, so I figured these posts might give them some great inspiration.   I will feature great Etsy designers, helpful wedding articles I may stumble across, ideas we’ve seen at weddings that have totally stood out, neato gowns (because I love to look at those!), and pretty palette ideas… and whatever else I think of.  Sound good?  Hope so.

SATURDAYS:  who knows. Obviously Saturdays are our busiest days, so blog posts can be quite tricky.  We barely get time to eat and sleep.  You can expect twitter updates with wedding details, though–and those are always interesting, right?  If we are not completely busy, we will try to post a little somethin’ somethin’ on here.  I guess it will be called a “wild card day”.

SUNDAYS:  session post. Engagements, seniors, trash the dress, maternity, family + many more… all of those things are possible.  We have plenty backed up to share, so this day won’t go post-less for awhile.  Unless I take a nap or something.  Sounds amazing right about now.