by Judy | May 25, 2009 | Weddings
The Vivid Visions Photo team had a great time celebrating with Rebecca and Ben as they tied the knot. The scene was Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyards-a horse farm, horse rescue and vineyard winery combined into one property on Long Island’s gorgeous North Fork. The theme was western cowboy country, and the mood was set by the great love the Bride and Groom clearly have for each other.
Congratulations to Rebecca and Ben! We wish for you a wonderful life together, filled with love, laughs and not too many meadow muffins!
by Judy | May 23, 2009 | Fine Art & Stock, Uncategorized
Life is crazy these days and I don’t often get a chance to just “go for a ride,” but last week Arty and I went looking for mating horseshoe crabs at sunset, and although we came up empty on the horseshoe crabs, we caught a gorgeous sunset over the Long Island Sound.
I was grateful for the anti-shake feature on the Sony A700, which allowed me to snap a couple shots without the tripod. Here is one with a few minor tweaks made in Lightroom. I really just appreciated the beautiful colors. Such a palette often provides a starting point for colorizing a promo piece. Serene and peaceful despite the dramatic color, don’t you think?
by Judy | May 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
What a great day we had on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at the Cutchogue Canine Classic at the Castello diBorghese winery! Dogs and their people from far and wide stopped in to strut their stuff and celebrate all things canine. Vivid Visions assistant, Mitch was johnny on the spot making sure that the mobile studio was ready to go, and we made good use of it, too. I’ll let the photos below speak for themselves, but first I want to thank LauraLiz of Cablevision’s Neighborhood Journal, her supervisor, Eileen, and cameraman for stopping by to allow Vivid Visions to showcase our pet photography service. And, of course, behind this great photography work is Vivid Vision’s husband, who provided the truck and muscles to set-up the booth in the dicey weather.
A special hello goes to Boris the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog who is almost as handsome as Vivid Visions’ special guy, Boris the black lab/golden. It’s was great to meet another fellow with such a stately name!
Vivid Visions Photo gave away a free pet photography session to Jo Leobacter, who entered our drawing. And we found so many people interested in the mobile studio service, that we are looking at venues to offer it again. Stayed tuned if you would like to participate.
It was also great to see three Last Chance pups find forever homes, and we were pleased to make a connection with Gillian Wood-Pulz of the North Fork Animal Welfare League. It’s all about finding great homes for great pets! I’m so glad we could be part of it.
And now without further ado, here are some of my favorites from the couple of hundred photos we snapped.
See the rest of the photos here.
by Judy | May 14, 2009 | Weddings
Our last post about saving money on wedding photography discussed how eliminating the pro photographer can lead to disappointing images. This time, we’ll compare the cost savings of the “Friends and Family” method with the value received from pro photographer services
“Friends and Family”:
Your wedding guests are just that-guests, and once they get caught up in the celebration that your special day deserves, they may be too distracted to capture the important moments. And, you are gambling that they know how to use a camera properly in the varying light that churches and reception halls are notorious for. Lighting for ambiance creates real challenges in capturing properly exposed images. The usually come out too dark, or if they are well-lit a slow shutter speed means blurry pictures. But let’s look at your actual costs-disposable film cameras cost about $5 to buy, and another $10 to develop the film and make the prints. If you have 100 guests, you’ll have about 10 tables, and most likely 2 cameras per table with 27 exposures each.
Total Cost: $300
Total Prints: 540 4×6 prints-if all exposures are printable.
That’s right, you’ll get the good, the bad and the ugly. So you may get 540 prints, but you might only get half or less that are truly keepers. There will be many that are too dark, too light, poorly composed (chopped off head, a thumb in the lens), out of focus or just plain indecent. Yes, your guests may also share some very nice digital images, but there is no guarantee that they will suitable for enlarging-especially if they are taken with a camera phone.
Professional Photographer:
Proper coverage of a wedding or special event is a big job. We anticipate the action and then snap the shot at the decisive moment with the camera and lighting at the proper settings. We make sure that there are captures of the details, such as the flowers, invitation and place settings, the special moments before, during and after the ceremony, and the festive atmosphere of the reception. And we have contingency plans in place in case of bad weather or other unexpected occurrences. No matter how many there are in your wedding party, we will pose them so they look their best in the gowns and tuxedos that you selected specially. We’ll make the rounds at the cocktail hour and the dinner to make sure that everyone is included in the photos, so your record of the day includes your specially selected and invited loved ones.
The total cost depends on the options chosen, but let’s match “Friends and Family” and go with just coverage, processing and proof prints, based on Vivid Visions Photo current price list.
Total Cost: $575 for 5 hours of coverage and unlimited images captured in that time frame
Total Prints: 200 usable images guaranteed and mounted in proof album with typically 100 to 200 additional prints provided
Extras: Password protected online gallery, DVD or CD of all proofs delivered formatted in print and email resolutions. All images presented will be keepers. They will be properly lit, optimized for color and dynamically composed.
When you have put so much effort into making sure your special day is as perfect as it can be, you’ll want to remember it in photographs that are the best they can be.
by Judy | May 9, 2009 | Fine Art & Stock
Every time there was rainy day in April, my father, the king of corny jokes, loved to remind me of the old saying “April showers bring May flowers,” but he would then add “and what do May flowers bring?” Of course, by the time I was 10, I knew the answer, but that didn’t stop him from announcing his punch line with a broad smile and deep chuckle-“Mayflowers bring Pilgrims!”
Thanks for the history-botany-climate lesson Dad.
But he was right, those rainy April days were more bearable knowing that in just a few weeks, the flowers of May would be in full bloom, and May is the blooming time for one of my favorites-Lily of the Valley. Small little flowers they are, but on a damp morning, the garden would be redolent with their bright fresh sweet scent.
These lily of the valley must have been a family favorite, because my aunt, Dad’s elder sister, grew them prolifically in her own garden. When she retired and sold the house, I managed to acquire a few of the pink varieties. They smell just as nice, but seem to have a special glow in the setting sun. Don’t you think?
