Before I go on about the wedding of Beth and Matt at the Mystic Seaport, I’d like to send special thanks to my partner Jennie and photographer Robyn Ivy.  They really helped me (Dave) out of a jam!

With that out of the way let me tell you about the wedding!  Here are some teasers from our May, 22nd wedding of Beth and Matt.  The day couldn’t have been nicer and they were both fantastic to work with.  From a photographer’s point of view the wedding was a bit of a challenge.  You see, in this day and age there are so many images that our clients expect to see.  Whether it’s ‘bride looks up into lens from seated position’ or ’shot of the groom that somehow incorporates his lifelong passion for curling,’ there are images that brides and grooms want to feel as though they have a complete photographic record of their special day.  Beth and Matt stressed they wanted none of that!  Photojournalistic with no excessive frills, period.  Well, the Strawberry Road team did a great job of catching that and with some gentle coaxing, we even got some posed shots that I think they will be thrilled to have!  Oh, and for those of you who think you know how to rock, the last image proves you can’t rock THIS hard!

Wow.  Mystic 5.  It’s over, it was amazing.  When my partner Jennie mentioned the conference months ago, I read through the itinerary and saw only one name, Joe McNally.  He was the reason I had signed on to go.  He’s been a hero of mine for quite awhile.  A veteran who’s shot the world and done it beautifully.  Now I’m ashamed to say that he was the only real reason I signed up.  The list of photographers that spoke at the event were a veritable who’s who of wedding photography.  I hesitate to list any of their names here because I would be remiss if I were to accidentally omit even a single one.  So instead of singing the praises of each individual photographer or company, I will convey to you what the broad brush stroke of the event left indelibly etched into my soul…

Each photographer or photography team got up and spoke masterfully in each of their own unique styles.  They poured their heart and message through the microphone and splashed amazing images upon the silver screen (and for those of you who were there, the HDTV’s   I listened, I agreed with a lot of things and disagreed with a few, too.  I learned a tremendous amount about off camera flash, fearless available light photography and gizmos that can save time and money.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that there was a message being put out by every voice.  A simple message that, were you not listening with your heart, you may have missed it.  I have a theory about shows like Mystic 5.  If you go to a show of that ilk, whatever the trade or service you provide, over the three or four days of the seminar, you should shoot to walk away with at least 3 or 4 great ideas or inspirations.  I may have gotten those from this event, but I am still processing the data so the verdict is still out.  But I will say, those ideas or inspirations are vastly overshadowed by the ONE message I know I received.  Here it is, the simple message, the one that I hope know will change my outlook on Jennie and my business… be brave.

My last blog post was honest, it was real… and it caused a firestorm of debate.  After going to Mystic 5 I no longer have any trepidations about that post.  I wrote from the heart, the same way Jennie and I make images.  We believe in what we do and we believe that our customers are smart, savvy and when they read a post like that from us, they know that their wedding photographers are honest.  You see, every photographer that was standing on that stage was able to convey their message about their art and business because they believed in their work.  By the end of the conference having seen all the presenters it dawned on me that for them to get there, they didn’t just have to be great photographers.  For a long time they were just photographers.  How did they get there… by being brave.  They took that leap of belief in themselves that helped them transcend mediocrity and become someone that hundreds of us would want to hear from.  So that’s it, I’m being brave…  Walter, you can save Jennie and me a slot for Mystic 7

Is it a Match? Finding YOUR photographer.

1. Your Friend, My Friend, We’re all Friends. Usually when you embark on planning a wedding you are new to the whole scene. You haven’t had the experience in planning, interviewing, and hiring people/companies for an event of this scope. Ask everyone you come in contact with for recommendations and referrals. And by everyone I mean everyone – friends, family, hairdressers, florists, caterers, DJ’s and Bands. Don’t be afraid to ask! Everyone you meet during the planning process can be a valuable resource to you!

2. Face Time. I say it over and over again; you have to like the photographer/s you hire! You are going to spend a lot of time with this person on your wedding day – often up close and personal. You may love the photographer’s work and have heard their praises sung from the highest mountains, but if you don’t like them don’t hire them! In most cases you will regret it if you do. When meeting with the photographer try to honestly assess if this is a person you want to spend all day with.

3. What does that get me? There are as many different photographers as there are wedding day packages out there. Not only do you need to look carefully at the details of each package but also at the value of the package. The old adage is true – you get what you pay for!

4. Make the most of It. When planning the flow of your day make sure to leave enough time so that you can get those images you dreamed of – the whole reason you hired your photographer! If you’re rushing from ceremony to reception, you’re not going to get those dream images and you’re going to end up frustrating yourself and your photographer. I advocate doing a formal/fun session just before the ceremony. You look fresh and your not rushing from one site to another. Mostly I love them because it’s a time for you and your soon to be husband/wife to have a moment to yourself before you get caught up in the whirl of the day.

5. Who’s in the family? Experienced wedding photographers know to get images of bridal parties, family and special friends. The catch is they don’t usually know who these people are to you! Have one or two point people for the day – someone who knows who the players are. This person should be able to herd people to where they need to go. So much time can be wasted when your waiting for that relative who needs to be in the family grouping but can never be found!

6. The hunt is on!! Most photographers are booked out 6 months to 1 year in advance. Once you book your date start searching online and talking to people to find “your’ photographer!

written by:
Jennie Sjursen
Co-Owner
www.strawberryrd.com

Strawberry road connects to everywhere!  That’s right, we don’t just do studio, we come to you.  We recently had the pleasure of working with the lovely Jess.  She opened her home to us so that we could work with her to capture some very intimate, tasteful and well…steamy images.  We had a blast and Jess was a joy to work with!

Take a look at the new templates!  We’ve been working hard on the blog and tickling up some of the aesthetics.  Oh and by we, I mean Jennie.  Kudos to you Jennie, a little message from the other half of the road:  it looks great!    Now, here’s Jess:

Jennie and I had the good fortune to meet with Kate Parker of Kate ParkerWeddings.  We had a great time going over the trials and tribulations of everything from wontons and bon bons to working your keister off in a faultering economy.  One thing I think she did for Jennie and me was to reaffirm the fact that hard work and a ‘chin up’ attitude can almost certainly insulate you from failure.  Thanks Kate!  No pics this post, but have no fear, something more colorful to follow!

Fox Run Vineyard, what else can I say… The heart of what New England wine making embodies.  Gorgeous colonial plantation style home, a vineyard in the back and fantastic, hospitable owners to boot!  What a fantastic place for us to shoot.  We were met by the owners with open arms; and they were pouring wine from the get go.  Our models for this shoot, Jay and Shannon, didn’t embibe until later in the shoot, but those on hand, runners and owners alike, all had a glass of Fox Run touched wine (Fox Run grows grapes that are added to other vineyard’s wine to enhance flavor) before the first slap of a shutter!  It was a fun shoot in the warmth and serenity of a true New England winery.  Thanks to all who participated.  Enjoy the images…

Boudoir.  Sexy, steamy, cheeky, call it what you will, but it’s all about fun.  Our model La was fantastic!  More than willing to let us shoot and capture some really great images.  We photographed her in a few different outfits and settings.  We went with classic boudoir, some campy high contrast stuff for fun and then back to classic with a well, not to repeat myself, a cheeky ending

Our summer long wedding dress spectacular is still popping up on Strawberry Road.  This dress was one of the 5 from our Midsummer Night’s dress shoot.  It’s funny, the weather this summer has been downright awful.  If it wasn’t raining it was about to.  Things were damp, mucky and just plain dismal.  It’s no wonder that the idea to shoot this dress with such a stunning male model at an Old Lyme beach seemed so inspired at the time.  We were wondering for days how to shoot this dress before we returned it to it’s bride and then one morning, the sun came out.   I called Jennie and said, lets get this dress to the beach, it will be beautiful!  Well, we shot it, we loved the shots and now looking at them I realize they were just great shots of the dress at a small beach in Old Lyme.  Funny how perception can be so influenced by your situation…

We at Strawberry Road had decided long ago to try to be as carbon neutral a company as possible.  In doing so, we had investigated the possibility of solar, geothermal, even hydrogen power to run our studios.  It wasn’t until Jennie took a backpacking excursion through europe that culminated with tobagganing in the alps that she realized we could use tiny elephants on treadmills to power the studios.  (She was taken by Hannibal’s story and well, way to think outside the box Jennie!)  Anyhow, the tiny elephants have worked out very well for us.  However, in true Jurassic park fashion, chaos theory has reared its ugly head and caused major issues for us here at Strawberry Road…

In all seriousness, this is what we came up with for the ShootStyle photo assignment titled “the moment after.”  Nobody ever said we were normal…

If your french is rusty like mine, you can still recognize that the word cake isn’t in the post title.  So if you’d like to spoil another great phrase from history follow this link.  Now, if like me you are a huge fan of cake (breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert, snack, whenever!) you’ll agree that this great food is great anytime.  Now the only thing better than cake is cake done right.  Kristen and Jen at Sugarbelle Cakes and Confections do that and in my opinion, probably better than just ‘done right.’  It’s a whole new level of wow where taste and presentation take the art of confections to a new level…