2009 April | Denver Wedding Photographer

Monthly Archives: April 2009

Why more than one photographer for your wedding

April 30, 2009 – 5:46 am

A lot of the time we get asked why we add the second photographer into ALL of our larger packages and why we push for it even on smaller and ala-carte weddings. After all it’s not cheap, why take a second shooter over printed proofs or a few hours of extended coverage. I always try to explain the advantages of angles to differing points of view, but sometimes I don’t get my point across as well as I’d like. Fortunately I often speak better with pictures than with words.

The first example is from a lovely wedding last summer. For the ceremony we split the coverage, one photographer following and focusing on the bride, the other the groom. I had the groom and since I was able to focus on him I was able to catch the moment his bride came through the trees and he saw her for the first time on their wedding day.
Groom with tears

Groom with tears

Catching that moment and those tears of joy was something that could have been lost forever if just one photographer had been moving around trying to grab shots of both the bride and groom. As a bride wouldn’t you want this moment captured forever, to show you grandchildren.

Sometimes having more than one point of view for a single moment with a bride and groom can also be vital. Take for example the kiss. Depending on which way the couple leans some viewers have an excellent photo opportunity, some not so excellent. Even if you know how the couple plans on doing the kiss and get in the right spot, well they might not have the pictures first and foremost in their mind (shocking I know) during this special moment.

At a recent wedding I was fortunate enough to have not only an extra, but two other photographers working with me to cover the service.

From one side – an excellent capture of that moment.

kiss the bride

From the isle another capture of the moment that can be cherished.

groom kissing bride

And from the other side a lovely photo of the back of the grooms head. What if there had only been on photographer and this had been the spot they expected the best angle to be from.

So when you see that extra photographer fee in your packages, don’t think of that as the first thing to pull. Your photography coverage only has one chance to capture these moments – that extra set of eyes covering your special day could make all the difference in world.

By Mark Hayes | Posted in Thursdays Tips to Couples | Tagged Colorado, couples, denver, denver wedding photographer, mark hayes, Mark Hayes Photography, mhp, photographer, photography, photos, Specials, wedding | Comments (0)

Wedding Day Gallery

April 26, 2009 – 3:54 pm

Well I’ve been working today on updating some of the galleries. It’s easy to get behind sometimes of updating those galleries with fresh and new images.

I also decided at add something new and a little different this time. Most anybody can usually come up with 1 or 2 good shots on a wedding so most “greatest hits” galleries really don’t tell the potential client one import item – does the photographer get lucky sometimes or do they really know what they’re doing.

So in the wedding collections galleries I added one called “Wedding Day”. Over 100 images from a wedding last year at Dunafon Castle. Most are just shots with little or no credit edits – although there is a few signature edits included.

Until next time,

Mark
View my portfolio site | Contact Mark Hayes for your upcoming wedding

By Mark Hayes | Posted in Colorado Wedding Photography | Tagged Dunafon, photographer, wedding | Comments (0)

Denver Becker Session

April 23, 2009 – 6:56 am

One aspect of a career in photography that I really like is the chance to continue your education and network with your peers. I had just such a chance this week when I took part if a day of education and networking hosted by one of my favorite wedding photographers, Becker.

Some of my awesome peers who made it to the meeting:
Ash Marie

What set this day apart from other classes and seminars I’ve attended was that this wasn’t 30-200 photographers in an event center with a speaker on a microphone and using a slide show. This was a half dozen people sitting in a living room and communicating with each other. The ideas and inspiration kicked around the room where truly priceless and I’m hoping to put many ideas into place quickly in my business to be able to better serve my clients.

While the day was focused on business you can’t get a handful of photographers in one place without glass coming out at least for a while.

Thanks to a local couple we all got a chance to see Becker work his style of relaxed portraits.

Denver engagement session

After that Becker grabbed a quick portrait of each of the attending photographers. I won’t deny a little joy at having a portrait shot with the [b]ecker logo on it.

Denver Wedding Photographer Mark Hayes

Of course then everyone got to turn their lenses on [b] for a few shots. I’m guess from sessions like this he has more “relaxed portraits” of himself than any of his brides do. I wonder if posing for those shots sometimes gets to him.

Becker

Nah, I’m sure it never gets old to him.

By Mark Hayes | Posted in For Photographers, Life, The Universe, and Everything | Comments (1)

Maggie and Jimmy – Blizzard Wedding

April 19, 2009 – 5:14 pm

In case you missed the news 1/3 of the moisture we’re received in Denver this year came down in the 24 hours leading up to Maggie and Jim’s wedding in a mixture of snow and rain. But the weather didn’t stand a chance against these two families. Despite everything the wedding went off without a hitch and if the weather added any stress to the family they never showed it.

I do want to take a moment and call out some vendor appreciation, lets face it if there was ever a day a wedding vendor had to wonder about their career choice it was yesterday while getting vehicles shoveled out in the morning.

For starters to the not one, but two great photographers I had working with me yesterday.

I’ve worked with Dain of Photography by Dain on many occasions and his professionalism and creativity always makes it a great day. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you’re looking for a wedding photographer and I’m not quite your style, give Dain a look.

While I’ve worked with Shannon of Shalynne Imaging countless times on various fashion projects it was out first chance to work together on a wedding. With her eye and attentional to detail I doubt it will be the last time either.

Michael Lancaster of Bagpipers International came out for the music for the ceremony. A combination of bagpipes and guitar music set the tone for the day.

Tim from The Flower Shop at Castle Pines delivered the bridal bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages for the day and took extra care to make sure they arrived in perfect condition.

The weather did limit the changing room use for a while in order to keep people from heading outside after getting ready. So the same vanity mirror that the bride used for her makeup would be later used by the groom for his collar.

Of course at the end the day it was still a wedding like many others despite the weather.

Lovely ladies

A beautiful bride

close friends

a walk down the isle

.. and a newly married couple.

OK and somewhere along the way two photographers comparing the benefits of Nikon versus Canon portrait lenses.

At the bottom of this post is a preview slideshow. Will have a more fleshed out one posted in a week or two, but wanted to get something up this weekend since it was such a great day.