Look Spectacular on your Wedding Day! | How to look FABULOUS in Photographs!
December 29, 2009 | Filed Under Weddings | Leave a Comment
As a former bride and wedding photographer, based in Memphis Tennessee, I understand the importance of making sure a woman looks her absolute best on her wedding day. I also understand the anxiety and stress that can go into preparing for such an event; after all, how often in life are you going to invest thousands of dollars and hours-and-hours of wedding preparation to ensure you look your very best? P.S. If your thinking more than once, now might be a good time to let your future spouse in on your plans!
As a photographer specializing in wedding photography, I have lots of experience helping bridal couples look their best on their wedding day and while I’m taking pictures there are many things I do with posing to help accomplish this goal. Over the years, however, I have noticed several other critical factors that can help ensure all brides look their absolute best on their wedding.
Hire a GOOD professional makeup artist!
This is one of the most critical decisions a bride can make to ensure she looks good in all her wedding photographs and is one item that often gets cut by budget savvy brides. There is a reason most commercial portrait photographers work very closely with makeup artists they trust, they understand a good makeup artist is critical to making their models look good!! To ensure you find a make-up artist you like, get a referral from one of your friends and absolutely schedule a run-through! You don’t want any perfectly avoidable problems popping up on your wedding day. Also, if the rest of your wedding party isn’t getting their makeup done with you, make sure you bring someone whose opinion you trust along with you. You’ll want an honest opinion of how you look before you walk down the aisle.
Understand what makes you feel and look good!
One of the most critical determinants of how we look on the outside is how we feel inside. When someone feels like a million bucks it is going to show well in their pictures and if they are self-conscious it will have a negative impact. As the primary photographic subject on the wedding day, ensuring you are comfortable with how you look in your dress, makeup and hair will determine your mood come photography time.
Posture and Posing!
There are a few simple things that brides can do with their posture to make sure they look good in their wedding photographs. Before you you invest the next several days in a America’s Next Top Model marathon watch session, you may want to take a couple minutes to read a post by Julyne Derrick of About.com she has a great article about 5 red carpet secrets for posing and tips on looking thinner. If you need to practice in the mirror..go for it! Its our secret!
Hire a talented professional photographer!
Lets be honest!..If you want good pictures you have to hire someone with some skill behind the lens, but equally important is your photographers ability to assist you in posing and in making you feel comfortable. As a wedding photographer, I approach each couple individually and in the months leading up to the wedding I always put in extra effort to get to know my wedding couples so that I can make them feel absolutely comfortable on their wedding day. If you are uncomfortable, it will show in your images. Making sure you hire a photographer that you click with will go a long way to determining the quality of your pictures.
Hope some of this advice was useful!!
Tracy-contact me
Matt and Danielle’s Engagement Session | Marion Engagement Photography Arkansas
December 28, 2009 | Filed Under Engagement/Newlyweds | Leave a Comment
I posted a teaser of Matt and Danielle’s engagement photography session last week and finally got around to posting a more complete list from some of our favorite shots. We had such a beautiful day to roam the Dow Gardens and we really took advantage of all of the splendid scenery!!! One of the reasons I like doing engagement sessions so much is that it gives me a chance to learn so much about my wedding couples. Matt and Danielle told us that they were composing their own wedding song and recording their own vocals for their first dance as newlyweds…Isn’t that soooo AWESOME! I always say that we seem to get the best wedding couples and Matt and Danielle are no exception. I can’t wait to hear there finished result.
As a wedding and portrait photogrpher in the Memphis and Marion Arkansas areas I am fortunate to meet a lot of beautiful wedding couples. Memphis Tennessee and Marion Arkansas have many beautiful areas for a Memphis photographer and their bridal couple to choose from. If you are interested in having your engagement session done by one of our Memphis engagement photographers please contact me and I will be happy to set up your engagement session today. Hope everyone enjoyed the photographs! Tracy-Contact Me
Fun in the Fountain! | Preview of Matt and Danielle’s Engagement Pictures | Memphis Engagement Photography
December 21, 2009 | Filed Under Engagement/Newlyweds | 1 Comment
Charlie and I had such a wonderful time taking Matt and Danielle’s Engagement Pictures recently. They are such a fun couple! I’ll be posting a bunch more of their engagement photographs soon, but wanted to give everyone a little teaser first….We were just finishing up all of the pictures we were planning on taking and I noticed this great fountain area in the middle of a park.
It was pretty warm so it was packed full of kids who were running around and playing while their parents watched. We thought it would make a great photo op to put them in the fountain and since Matt and Danielle were such great sports it made for a great sequence of photographs.
Hope you all enjoy the photographs.
Tracy-contact me to schedule your engagement session
A Walk in the Woods…to get some pics! | Marion Arkansas Wedding Photographers
December 18, 2009 | Filed Under Left Shoe Photography, Weddings | Leave a Comment
As a wedding photographer based in the Memphis area I am fortunate to meet a lot of different bridal couples with a lot of different interests. One of the things I find most enjoyable is learning about what makes each couple click. Every couple is so unique and I always love to incorporate as many aspects of a couples personality as possible into my photographs. Through all the phone calls, facebook messages, personal meetings and engagement sessions I typically get to know my wedding couples really well!
For one of the weddings we recently photographed this fall, the Bride and Groom were really into the outdoors and often described to us how they enjoyed walking in the woods while they were dating. My husband and I also really enjoy the outdoors and I understood completely how important this was to them. I made it my mission to incorporate this aspect of their relationship into some nice detail pictures. While Charlie was finishing up some of the wedding formals I grabbed the rings and went into the woods to get down and dirty. I got some funny looks from some of the wedding guests when I layed down in the dirt in the woods to capture a few pictures, but to me the results were well worth it.
Hope you all enjoyed the pictures.
Yours truly,
Tracy-contact me
Left Shoe Photography | Wedding Portfolio
Time to book your Memphis Wedding Photographer | Left Shoe Photography Weddings
December 16, 2009 | Filed Under Left Shoe Photography, Portraiture, Weddings | 1 Comment
Lets face it…the last few months of the year can be a crazy time! Between scheduling and decorating for the Holidays, arranging travel plans to visit family and friends, getting those last few gifts purchased for your special someone before the last store closes on Christmas Eve (Grooms, I’m talking to you!!!) or finishing up your last few college final exams before semester break, we all have a lot that we need to get done. In addition if you are planning on getting married during the busy Memphis wedding season next summer, it’s also a time when you need to seriously start thinking about booking your wedding photographer.
Choosing your wedding photographer, along with arranging other critical vendors (florist, ceremony and reception venue, caterer, DJ or band) are all important decisions in ensuring a positive experience on your wedding day. Perhaps the photographer more than others (although I may be biased) , plays an especially important role in that it is their job to record your special memories for enjoyment many days and years into the future.
As a wedding photographer based in the Memphis Tennessee area, I always notice that the fall and winter leading into the next wedding season is the busiest time for our wedding photography bookings. Unfortunately, every year it breaks my heart when I have to turn down a beautiful wedding couple simply because I have already been booked for their wedding day. So ladies (and gentlemen), if you are suddenly nervous and want to ensure you get the biggest bang for your wedding photographer buck, it’s time to get serious!!!
Which brings me to my main point…. Often when I’m standing up or attending a wedding that I won’t be photographing for a close friend or relative I’m asked what they should look for when hiring a good wedding photographer. Memphis, like any other city, has many wedding photography options available and it’s important to make a selection you feel comfortable with. Here are a few important considerations I think every Memphis area (or any area for that matter) bride and groom should consider before making their choice:
1) Do I like this wedding photographers pictures and portfolio?
Well I hear what your saying…”Duh…of course I should like the pictures!” And this will be the first thing that often attracts you to a certain photographer after viewing their portfolio online or in person; but it is important to imagine yourself in a photographers pictures. All photographers photograph weddings with a different style and it is important to connect with the style of the photographer you are interviewing. You may have an idea of what you think your pictures may look like, but make sure you like what you’re seeing from the photographer you are interested in.
2) Can this photographers pricing accommodate my budget (or vice versa)?
With most purchases you get what you pay for; the same is true for wedding photographers. If prices seem to good to be true, they probably are and it is important for you to ensure you are getting quality products and service from your wedding photographer. If you have a photographer you are especially interested in, contact them and see if they can accommodate your budget. Most photographers, yours truly included, have a variety of pricing options available to offer prospective clients. At Left Shoe Photography we do our best to accommodate the budgets of as many brides as possible and will often craft unique packages for each wedding couple. After all, who wants to pay for something they don’t want…Not Me!!!
3) Do I like this photographer? I mean really like them!
This is frequently one of the points that is overlooked in the search for the right wedding photographer and it is perhaps the most important consideration. When you have a wedding consultation with a prospective photographer make sure you consider whether you would enjoy being in this persons company for a whole day and if the photographer is someone you can get along with; you will be with them practically your entire wedding day. If they aren’t someone you click with, sorry, but the day is probably going to be pretty miserable. I’ve heard too many times, “Yeah, their pictures were nice, but their photographer was a total jerk!”
The primary reason I photograph weddings is because I really enjoy them and as a result this enthusiasm really shows in my effort to serve my clients on their wedding day. I feel incredibly fortunate to be afforded the enormous responsibility of commemorating someones wedding day. It’s an honor I take very seriously. Many other wedding photographers feel the same way; unfortunately, many do not.
Hope this bit of information helped you in planning for your big day! If you are in the Memphis area or elsewhere and are interested in my wedding photography services please contact me. I’d be happy to discuss what I can do to craft a wedding photography package just for you.
Yours Truly,
Tracy-contact me
Left Shoe Photography | Wedding Portfolio
Callie’s Senior Portraits| Memphis Senior Portrait Photographers
December 14, 2009 | Filed Under Seniors | Leave a Comment
We had a great time photographing Callie’s senior portraits recently. Charlie and I met Callie and her mother at a local park that was a beautiful location for her private senior photo shoot. It was a beautiful day and we had plenty of time to photograph her in several different outfits and locations. She is so stunningly photogenic, it made our job as photographers so easy. My favorite images are the series of her in her homecoming dress under a beautiful iron arch within the middle of the park. We have been fortunate as senior portrait photographers based in the greater Memphis area to photograph some really amazing Seniors recently!!! I hope you all enjoy viewing Callie’s senior portraits as much as we enjoyed taking them!!!
I hope you all enjoyed the images. If you are a senior and are interested in scheduling your upcoming senior portraits with Left Shoe Photography for this year or next please contact Tracy to talk about your senior portrait session.
Best,
Tracy-contact me
Kisses in the Sunshine - Engagement Photography Session
December 11, 2009 | Filed Under Engagement/Newlyweds, Weddings | 1 Comment
Hi Everybody,
I met up with Michelle and DJ at the lovely Michigan State University Horticultural Gardens for their engagement session and we all had a great time capturing some amazing photos for them. I absolutely love it when I have the chance to photograph the wedding couple before the wedding day and this time was no exception. We arrived early so we had the entire gardens to ourselves for most of the session and it allowed me to capture some really unique moments with them.
Michelle and DJ are planning a beautiful wedding this winter (hopefully the weather cooperates; NO BLIZZARDS ALLOWED!!!) that Charlie and I will be photographing together. I’m really going to miss photographing winter weddings on a consistent basis after our move to Memphis Tennessee is complete; I’m sure I’ll continue to have the opportunity to travel and photograph for wedding clients back in Michigan on a less frequent basis. We have had the good fortune to meet and photograph so many wonderful people. Our clients have been the best - We will miss you all dearly!!!
I hope everyone enjoyed viewing this engagement session gallery.
Congratulations to Michelle and DJ on your wedding engagement! I look forward to getting to know you better and thank you for giving us the opportunity to share with you on your special wedding day.
Best,
Tracy - contact me!
Left Shoe Photography | Wedding and Engagement Photography Portfolio
Left Shoe Photography is relocating to Memphis Tennessee!
December 8, 2009 | Filed Under Business | Leave a Comment
It is with excitement and regret that I announce that my husband Charlie and I are moving to Memphis Tennessee as a result of new job opportunities in that area. As a result, Left Shoe Photography will be relocating to Memphis and will begin serving wedding and portraiture clients in the Memphis TN area in February 2010. In the coming days, our current website will be redesigned to reflect these changes. Over the last few years we have experienced tremendous growth in our business and as a result been very fortunate to meet and photograph so many nice and wonderful people for which we are very grateful.
In the coming year we will continue to photograph our contracted wedding clients within and outside Michigan. We anticipate no interruptions in print and album fulfillment during this period. As always we can be contracted to travel for weddings and portrait sessions and will doubtless be back to the Michigan area to continue photographing many beautiful Michigan couples. Please contact us if you wish to book us for a future wedding or portrait session outside the Memphis area.
We have been truly blessed and will miss all of you dearly!
Best,
Tracy and Charlie-contact us
Sunset on Isle Royale Michigan
