I’ve been having such a great time talking with and making plans with couples for their upcoming weddings that I’m late in getting my personal favorite portraits from 2011!  So here they are!  As always, enjoy, vote for your favorite, and leave a comment to let me know what you’re thinking!

I don’t have a whole lot to say about these images except that I hope you have FUN viewing them!  There was no way I could narrow down the fun and the special moments from the wedding receptions to one image from each reception so enjoy, vote, and leave a comment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple weeks ago I found out that I won this award from WeddingWire.com and it is a very cool honor!  This award is given to the top 5% of wedding photographers according to the reviews that clients leave! So… that means that The Story Photography has landed in the top 5% of wedding photographers in the Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica areas!

While it’s nice to be able to receive some recognition for providing the best service and best product that I can, to me, this award is really an affirmation of the fact that I’ve had great clients over the course of the past year!

The number one word of advice for any couples who are considering a photographer for their upcoming wedding…

Choose your photographer by thinking about which one you would invite to your wedding.  Are you looking for someone who is going to add to the life of the party?  Are you looking for someone who is going to sit back and simply record what is going on without interacting at all?  Are you looking for someone who is a relaxed, available to you and your guests, as well as able to give you the direction that you need for great photos?

Your interaction with the photographer you choose is not only going to impact the feel of your wedding day but it will impact your photos greatly.

Of course you want to look through their portfolio and see an album or two but once you know that the quality and style that you are looking for are there, then you need to go with your feeling on the personality of the photographer.

Go ahead and click on that award logo above, you’ll land on the WeddingWire.com page with all of the award winners from the Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica area.  You’ll likely not go wrong with any of those people since they’ve all received great reviews from their past clients.  So now, it’s about finding the personality that you would like to spend your wedding day with.

I know that I’m not the right photographer for everyone but I’d love the chance for you to find that out so if you are interested in setting up a meeting with me, just click on over to the contact page and let me know!  If you think that I may be able to help you find the photographer who is right for you, please let me know!

Narrowing down the selection to one favorite from each wedding ceremony from 2011 was no easy task!  I love photographing the expression, the beauty, and the nuance of the wedding ceremony.  There’s only one chance to get these images and that is a challenge that I absolutely love!

These photographs are shown in order of most recent to least recent.

This first one was from Kate & Adam’s wedding ceremony at St. Cecelia’s Church in Solvay.  The light, the reflection, the detail, and above all that little look that Kate is giving to Adam in the middle of the ceremony make this one stand out to me!

Julia and Craig’s outdoor ceremony at the Geneva, NY Ramada Inn was held on a rainy, rainy day but just look at the joy on their faces!  Expression gets me every time!

Once you get to know me, you’ll quickly know that I love light and I love kids!  This image from Nicole & Eric’s Oneida, NY ceremony is filled with dramatic light, great shadows and that wonderfully cute little boy hanging out in the aisle of the church during the final prayer of the ceremony.  He just couldn’t sit in the pew any longer; I’m glad he didn’t!

 This is a moment that I don’t think I’ll ever forget from Kayce & Fletch’s wedding ceremony at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Syracuse.  Kayce expression as she looks down the aisle at the man she is about to marry, Kayce’s dad trying to hold back the tears, and who can miss the balance that this super-cool bagpipe player brings to this photo?

Erin & Shawn got married at Word of Life Assembly of God in Baldwinsville and the thing about this image that stops me in my tracks is the shear simplicity of the joy that you can see on both of their face as they experience their first kiss as husband and wife!

Again, I’m a sucker for expression and Morley & Mike had no shortage of it in their wedding ceremony at the Genesee Grand Hotel.  This image was by far my favorite though because I can feel the love between them, the  joy that they are married, and the relief that the ceremony is over!

Hannah & Tim were married at Fayetteville United Methodist Church on 1/1/11 and I think that the expressions on their faces just speak for themselves here!

 

Now that I’ve shown you all these expressions and how they make for such great photographs from your wedding day I know that it’s difficult to not become self-conscious and try to have all the right expressions at the right times.  The only advice that I can give to put out of your mind any sense of performance that you might have and simply be yourself with your groom or your bride.  Simply being yourself will lead to the absolute best expressions and the photographs that you will want to site down and share with your grandkids in the years to come!

It’s a very tough thing to try to visualize what a wedding album is like and terms like “premium” & “custom” can mean so many things, so I thought I’d take a moment to show you some photos of my very favorite type of custom wedding album. These albums are technically covered in a fabric but fabric is hardly the right term for this stuff! This covering is LUXURIOUS, seriously, you’ve got to get your hands on this to believe it! I believe in, love the look of, and am so absolutely amazed at how this stuff feels that this is what I had my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding album made from this past year!

So check this out, when you opt for one of these custom fabric covered albums in your package with me it comes complete with an amazing custom album box (available in brown, silver, green, orange) that matches the cover design of your album!

Here’s an overview of the cover…

Look at the precision of the inlayed photograph (you can also see the texture and sheen of the fabric a little better here)…

Here are a couple more views of the meticulous craftsmanship that goes in to the handmade albums…

 

The black & white printing is amazing!

When you open to a layout of two pages there is a super fine “gutter” that allows the album to have the maximum durability (think about the wear & tear on pages that are simply folded) but because of the construction that very small “gutter” doesn’t distract from the design.  Here’s an shot to give you a sense of the scale of the “gutter.”

and finally, check out this color printing, it’s seriously breathtaking!

Just as a frame of reference, here’s the thickness of a 36 page album…