When Ashley and I sat down to discuss the direction of her album layout, we were both on the same page - we wanted to bring out the colors of the day and infuse them into the design.  I couldn’t be happier with how some of the spreads turned out and cannot wait to see the final product in person….

Cheers!

(this first image actually, sadly enough, did not make it into their final album, but it was one of my favorites from the day so I wanted to share it anyways!)

This is the start of the album - I’m not sharing all the spreads.  Just a few of my favorites!

It’s amazing how lost we feel when we get disconnected from the world and in a way, it’s sort of terrifying how much we rely on the web and our computers.

Thank you for your patience while this issue was being fixed.  I won’t waste anymore of your time.  Go enjoy the photos!!!!

and P.S.  my email was down for about two days.  I think everything ended up forwarding, but if you send me an email or new client inquiry and I have not yet responded, please resend it.  Thank you.

Photography. People. Laughter. Beauty. Art.

Sarah approached me a few months back about arranging to do some portraits for her non-profit brand.  She was very specific about what she was looking for  and we chatted and came up with different concepts and approaches.  In person, Sarah is fun, sassy, spunky, and energetic, but in front of the camera, she has this timeless style and quiet beauty that is a throwback to the Golden Hollywood era of Grace Kelley and Rita Hayworth.  She also has insanely beautiful blue eyes that totally captivate you (and the camera).  I spent the most amazing day getting to know her and photographing her.  Meeting people like Sarah is just as much a passion for me as the photography itself.  I love hearing about the lives and stories of my clients and it has become something I look forward to the most when I go on a shoot.  Since it was Valentine’s Day, Sarah and I exchanged our worst date stories ever…and while I’m not going to share them with everyone, I’ll just say that hers was GOOD.  Really really good.  We laughed.  A lot.

I can’t think of a better way to have spent my Valentine’s Day.

Hope everyone is staying warm!

Peter and Katie were married on Sunday, January 31st.  The ceremony was traditional Coptic Orthodox, which is very different from any other wedding ceremony I know of.  It’s fascinating and so colorful and joyous and I love photographing these ceremonies.  Then Peter, Katie and the bridal party went to the Kennedy Center for photos before heading over to the Capital Hilton for their ballroom reception.

Enjoy!

The flower girl was such a little ham in front of the camera.  She followed me around all morning long.

Katie’s soon to be sister in law looking on…

In traditional Coptic Orthodox wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom are actually crowned, symbolizing that they are becoming rulers of their own “kingdom,” i.e. their new home together.

This next one was captured by my associate Benjamin Burrows, who I was SO lucky to have come all the way from Boston to photograph this wedding with me.

Married!

So So Sooooooo Sweet!  I love this one.

Their first dance was done to this amazing song called “Lovely Tonight” that was written and recorded by one of their friends.

They’re so cute together!

The Ballroom at the Hilton.

As I said, lots of emotional speeches and toasts.

Congratulations Katie and Peter!

Venue: Capital Hilton DC

Florist: Nashwa Fahmi

DJ: The Pros

I still love designing and I use that skill set almost on a daily basis.  I design almost all of my own marketing materials and packaging concepts, but the one area I love to utilize it most is in album design.

There are a lot of album designing companies out there - you send them your wedding images and a few days later you have a pretty descent layout.  Simple and easy, but it just doesn’t feed that crazy, creative addiction I have, so I’ve opted to keep all my album designing in-house.  Each layout is one-of-a-kind and best yet, it’s my chance to tell the story of the couple’s wedding day.

For me, good album design is easy on the eyes, simplistic and most of all timeless.  But GREAT album design…well it’s on a whole other level because it’s the art of crafting a story through imagery.  It’s the type of layout that pulls you back to a particular place and time and brings up emotions and memories.  Simply put, it has the ability to move people.

I recently delivered Tina and Elvis’s Wedding Album and I was so happy with how it came out.  In fact, I’m making a sample for my studio!  I thought I’d share some photos of the album, as well as some of the page layouts.

Cheers! (and here’s hoping the snow holds off for my wedding on Sunday!)

If you’re a photographer, you’re probably thinking, “yuck!  I’m way too cool for bridal shows.”

I used to be one of those photographers.  I thought that everyone who went to a bridal show was only looking for the free cake and deals/discounts.  Right?  WRONG.  Last year, I decided to move my business from Boston to the DC metro area.  Whereas in Boston you couldn’t swing a bouquet without a bride knowing who I was, I had absolutely zero word of mouth in DC.  No one knew I even existed.  So I thought about it and I weighed my options.  I could wallow in pity, crying about the fact that I had no business OR I could get out there and meet brides face to face.

I did my first bridal show last April and was pleasantly surprised by the brides stopping by my booth.  They were actually interested in my work!  They didn’t care that I wasn’t handing out coupons or that I didn’t have a giveaway.  The first words out of their mouths weren’t “how much do you charge?”  They really wanted to talk to me and find out what I could bring to the most special day of their entire lives.  As a bonus, I got to showcase my personality as much as I did my photography, which as I’ll always say time and time again is JUST AS IMPORTANT as how spectacular your photographs are.  If the couple isn’t comfortable around their photographer, it’s going to show in the photos.

The reason I’m sharing this is because all too often I hear photographers snub bridal shows.  I’ve even heard photographers berate one another for participating in them.  It’s ridiculous and I wanted to share my experience with shows to give another perspective out there to photographers considering it. Bridal shows CAN work for you if approach them with the right attitude.  Yes, you will encounter the uber  budget bride who is looking for the best deal, but you’ll also talk to many brides who have made photography their number one wedding priority (and budgetary expensive after the venue and food/drink).  They are genuinely interested in finding the right photographer for their day.

p.s.  Some of my favorite clients found me at a bridal show…

Here’s my 2010 booth display from Sunday’s Washington Bridal show - a very special thanks to my sister who is amazing and spent her Sunday morning helping me set up.  And of course, THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRIDES WHO STOPPED BY TO SAY HELLO!  I enjoyed meeting and chatting with each and every one of you. I have about 5 spots left in my 2010 wedding season so if you are interested, email me now to schedule a consult.

In a few weeks, I’m launching a brand new Boudoir brand for my company.  I am SO excited about it and I did a mini debut at the bridal show.  If you didn’t attend the show but are interested in learning more about boudoir, email me and I’ll send you a gift towards a boudoir package!!!

(to play, you need to hit the play arrow on the bottom left hand corner of the frame…make sure your volume is turned up!)

BUT, as they always say, there is a silver lining.  Once Steve, my handy-dandy maintenance man let me back into my condo, I noticed a lovely email waiting for me in my inbox.  Wedding Wire has just announced their 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ , which recognizes excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry and I’m so excited to say that I was selected as among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada.

AWESOME!

If you are newly engaged and looking for a great resource for vendors, I highly recommend Wedding Wire - it is the perfect place to read real reviews about wedding professionals from real brides.  You can visit my Wedding Wire page here.

Thank you to all of my super star clients who took the time out of their hectic lives to write a review for me and share their experience.  Not only does it mean a lot to me, but it helps other brides know what they can expect when working with Michelle Lindsay Photography.

Now, I’m not really the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day - I will admit it.  I guess I’ve never really understood why we need one particular day out of the year to tell our loved ones how special they are to us - shouldn’t we be doing that every day of the year???  That being said, it’s hard to ignore the holiday, especially when your job involves documenting love stories, so this year, I decided I wanted to do something special to help give women out there a more unique gift idea, as well as the opportunity to try something new and amazing for themselves.

For Valentine’s Day, I will be offering my most popular boudoir package at a GREAT discount.  If you are interested, please make sure to contact me prior to January 18th to schedule your session.  The session can take place wherever you’d like.  One of my favorite locales is the Hotel Monaco - I can also come directly to your home or apartment (you’d be surprised what we can do with a small space!!!)

In other news, I am excited to be attending Imaging USA this upcoming week.  4 whole days spent with inspiring photographers, previewing brand new products and technology, and in general, just an all out good time!  We’ll be kicking it off Nashville style starting tomorrow, which coincidentally also happens to be my birthday.  Anyone wanna guess how old I am?!????

Cheers!