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5 Reasons to preview a Venue | SMHerrick Wedding Photography

Where was the location again?!

I have heard, several times, that wedding photographers do not habitually preview the wedding venue(s) with the couple to be. This really surprises me, for several reasons. Here are some of my top personal reasons for finding this process a must.

Calming Effect. Nothing removes the jitters for the Bride to be better than letting her know you have a plan and are in control of her wedding photography.
Lighting. This should be every photogs primary concern in any situation. Touring the site is the only way to know what is to be expected. I often visit a site two or more times. I always take into consideration time of day, windows, ambient lighting and so forth. It is also a very good idea to find out if you can use your flash during the ceremony and where you are allowed to stand. These last can ones vary from wedding to wedding and venue to venue!
Know your options. It is important to look for option A,B and C. Weather could impact outdoor shots not only on the day of the wedding but prior to it as well. A fierce storm can easily disrupt a beautiful garden for weeks or even an entire season. I will look for options on premise and off just to make sure the couple get what they want. Knowing these locations well in advance will make it easier to shift in a pinch.
Stage equipment. 3 cameras and only one photographer? I have been in situations where I knew I would need to be moving fast and a lens change would be a time suck I could not afford. I place cameras where I want them, settings and lens ready to go. You can usually find a young child to guard them too… this wins many favors!
You have covered tons of variables and can relax yourself and enjoy the process. If you are not having fun, people will notice it. If you are not prepared, it can easily be reflected in the finished product and your bottom line.

Wedding Photography is wonderfully rewarding. Be prepared, enjoy yourself and have success! If you are interested in seeing one of my venue walk-through, follow this story.

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How to get to know your locksmith

9 Feb ’12

So we all make mistakes. Keys locked in a car is a drag. Your keys locked in your car with you standing on the outside of your car is a superior drag.

If you are in the Minneapolis and St. Paul and surrrounding areas, I strongly suggest giving Pop-A-Lock a call. Crazy fast service. Great price point and really, really nice and professional people.

Of course being a business owner and picking up on what was an excellent business model, plus never missing the opportunity to take a portrait, I decided I would reach out to the owner. Grab a cup of Joe, snap a pic or two, see what I could learn from another business owner.

First thing was this guy knows coffee shops. (Read about that experince here.) Got to this place, Diamonds Coffee Shoppe in NE Minneapolis, a couple moments early. Killer atmosphere. Amazing coffee and yes I would love a second cup if anyone reading wants to meet for one. Second thing, customers first. I was happy to hear that I could snap a couple of pics, once I saw the nature with which he conducted his business, I felt really privelaged to steal some of his time. Mach Ten with his hair on fire. The several calls that interupted our dialog, which he always paused and apologized for having to take, proved not to be annoying, but admirable from a business perspective.

Notice the second cell phone? Crazy. I have a hard time with one!

Anyway, of all the things I have learned about his industry, no I cannot open locks now so do not call me, one of them really stuck. If you are a parent, if you own a car, if you have ever come close to, or feared, locking your car while juggling the milk, the breifcase and Happy Meal, only to realize your little one is patiently waiting all safe and secure in the car seat, put these people in your cell phone directory!!! (Or, they have an App… I do not have an app!) They will open your car door for free if your child, or pet, is locked inside! That is amazing.

Thanks for the time Mark! I wish Pop-A-Lock continued success. Definitely worth a Yelp! or Google review… think I will do that now.

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Crazy Good Coffee in Minneapolis

9 Feb ’12

I love a great cup of coffee. Add some ambiance and some delicious snacks, Trifecta.

I recently had the pleasure of grabbing all of the above in a great little place in NE Minneapolis, and I have pictures to show for it.

Diamonds Coffee Shoppe is must add to your destination bucket list. With simple delights,

and some great style.

I love the lack of pretentiousness… this was easy to miss… I should have looked for more hidden throughout the place.

And plenty of cool seating, candy dispensers and a Tee or two.

Stop reading my post and go grab a cup. Let me know when you are headed there, I will try to meet ya!

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Getting what you pay for…

3 Feb ’12

Maybe better put, understanding what you pay for.

In today’s technology-driven-everything-at-your-fingertips world of search engines and tools for comparison shopping, I think it is safe to say we are all Smart Shoppers. I will even go out on a limb and say it is hard to get duped into paying too much for something. When was the last time you fell for that deal that was too good to be true? Something for nothing? A price that makes no economic sense?

10 cent Hamburgers* All Day! (*Bun and condiments not included, but required for purchase.)

The burger joint down the street would fail miserably if it tried to sell you a burger for a dime and then charge you an additional 74¢ for the bun, ketchup, mustard, pickle and some onions. Now if they ran a promotion such as buy one get one free or something along that lines, all would be good and well received.

For some reason, and I do not understand why, many portrait studios are coy about their prices. I elect for the straightforward pricing. No hidden costs, period.

So what do you get when you hire my studio for your potraits? This could be a long list. I love my profession and am very dedicated to it. You will look amazing. I promise.

I am also a social geek. I like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and all that good stuff. So do you? Cool. Post your pics from the session and have some fun with them. I do not charge for web versions of your pics. I also do not limit how many you can use – I may suggest picking a certain number of favs, but the choice is yours.

I have a crazy powerful set of computers and so many software programs I cannot help but play with photos. Yes you will benefit from this. I include Black and White versions, sepia and whatever else seems to be trending. Fun.

I enjoy a good movie and like making them too. How about a video slide show of your pics set to some cool tunes. You got it.

I like prints. Sure flipping through a million images on the iPad is fun. But what about the walls? I price my prints aggressively. Why? So you print some of them and show them off.

Albums and specialty items such as brag books and gallery wraps are all the rage. Or at least they should be. I have this awesome little item, comes in a set of 3 and will set you back around 50 bucks, called an accordion mini. Slickest thing on the planet and makes a great gift. Check them out here. (Miller’s you rock!)

How about this web site? (Gotta throw some props to my web guru for all the fantastic help – Thanks Joshua!) Like I stated before, I am committed to making sure you look your best. Check out some of the post pages such as What to Wear, Hey Baby and All About the Bride. I am going to be a posting fool. Everything from fashion trends to makeup, yes I am giving out… tips. Well, maybe more like I am having people guest post. Where are my resources? How can you trust my tips? Read the posts and check out the credit lines.

So much more than just another pretty picture. Full service commitment to you.

Shoot me an email and let’s take some pics!

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How do I possibly market my business on Valentine’s Day?

27 Jan ’12

There are countless possibilities…

Thinking outside the box is critical whenever you plan a new marketing endeavor. When Katie Bassett of KBI Design in Edina, Minnesota and I sat down to discuss some new marketing, one of the biggest challenges was doing something that could be elegantly tied to Valentine’s Day and promote her Interior Design Business. Not a business one usually sees concerned with marketing on Valentine’ Day.

We wanted to capture her beautiful design style, as well as, her outgoing and playful personality. We sat down together with pen and paper and started scripting out several ideas. The focal point of this marketing piece was going to be a sofa. Yes, I know, what does a sofa have to do with Valentines and marketing? Plenty, if you let the creative juices flow and have a little fun too.

We created a plan. First order of business was to get a shot of the sofa. Not the easiest task as it was in a client’s home and removing it for a photo shoot was not something she was going to ask for permission to do. I packed my gear, several strobes, camera and a large roll of white paper and some white canvas. I needed to try to isolate the sofa from the surroundings as much as possible. I had not been able to scope out the scene before the shoot, so grabbing everything was better than guessing short.

The photo shoot went as well as it could. Actually, it went quite well. In speaking with the sofa’s owner, I discovered she had a soon to be high school senior (scheduled and did the senior portrait shoot a couple of months ago.) I packed my gear and headed back to the studio with a dozen or so raw images to work with.

So here was the end game. Katie wanted around 500 cards to mail to her clients. Elegant but simple. No hard sell, just a nice wish on Valentine’s and a reminder of who their favorite designer is and why.

I created the card in Photoshop. Very clean design using colors from the sofa for the font colors and elements. I then turned to Miller’s, my favorite print lab, and let them work their magic. The end result was amazing. Katie loved them and increased her order to 1500 cards. Here is a sample of the front and back:

To complete this project, Katie ordered envelopes based on the colors from the sofa and I made custom return address stickers:

Knowing Katie was doing her best on the social media front, I decided to have a little more fun and created this video and posted it on all of her social feeds.

This was truly a great experience. Katie is such a joy and her wonderful personality showed through. Not only did marketing based on Valentine’s Day, for a business that typically wouldn’t, turn out beautiful, it was insanely unique and drove her tons of attention from clients and local showrooms. A gigantic marketing success.

XOXOXO (couldn’t resist that)

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Painting With Light

15 Jan ’12

Tired Dancer…

It is hard to ask a young client to relax and act natural for the camera, even under normal circumstances. To ask same young client to get their make-up done, costume on and then to sit perfectly still is really pushing it. The below photo is an image created by painting with light. This exposure lasted for around 60 seconds with an aperture of F/13 and film speed of 50. Shot it with my Canon 5dii and 24-70mm f/2.8L.

The set up was straightforward. Camera on tripod. Shutter release cable to start and stop the exposure. For light I used a homemade contraption which really is nothing more than $5 shop light I picked up at Home Depot, a flood light and then a series of pieces of furnace ducting I taped together to make a snoot.

I patiently explained to my little model exactly how the shoot was going to go. I got on the floor and demonstrated how to pose and then asked her to give it a shot. In a situation like this, I really try not to request much of anything in terms of a pose. I want the individual totally comfortable – they do have to sit completely still for nearly a minute. Once the pose is figured out, I move on to demonstrating how the lighting is going to work. All lights in the studio go out. Pitch Black. Then I move about periodically turning the homemade Light Brush off and on. Bursts of light that would make an unexpecting individual jump, squirm, open their eyes and so on.

Once I feel we are on the same page, the shooting begins. The above image was one of two takes. This was the first shot. I did not like the second one – we changed the pose a little and her legs were pulled in too far.

I used my light to accent specific features; face, legs and dress. I hit the chair a couple of times and, because I wanted to imply that the dancer never gets a rest, I threw the light on one more time behind her. The crescent shot of white below her chin brings the viewers eyes to her face while at the same time is a little distracting. Now you know how she feels. Cannot catch a break, even while at rest.

Let me know what you think. Have some questions? Thoughts or just a comment? Share, follow or just give a thumbs up.

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The Photog Xmas Wish List

14 Dec ’11

So, you are a photographer. It is that time of year that your hard work, great customer service, and beautiful portraits will easily translate to all sorts of gadgets and toys related to your craft. I bet you have even penned a wish list or two… maybe even put it online at your favorite camera-gear-outfitter-super-plex.

My List

New Tripod
Couple of Medium Softboxes
Poker-Chip-Style stack of CF Cards – 16 gigs or better
Always stand to have a few spare camera battery packs
I would put lens down, but that showed up a year ago… L series even!!!

So let’s see it. What do you hope to find wrapped up under a bow… and why?

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Year in Pictures

11 Dec ’11

Love the way that sounds. Year in Pictures. Has such an ominous sound to it. Anyway, before I go off on some tangent I should get to the point of this post. I rebuilt my blog, I think I may have mentioned this earlier, and in doing so I more or less “had” to delete my old posts so that everything would fit and work in this new theme. I really dig the theme, I actually purchased it. Unfortunately, it has a couple of bugs and a bit of a learning curve to it. All that said, the author put in some great features and it is well worth the few bucks he is charging. The rebuild process has been cathartic in a sense. Without getting over dramatic, I will simplify it down to fun.

So, the “Year in Pictures” is a look back at the last year from this Minnesota based photographer’s viewfinder. Instead of trying to recreate old posts and edit them to fit in a place they were never designed to go, I decided this would be a great way to look back at my work, share some of the shots and events that I love, and all in all, build a better blog.

I hope you enjoy my year in review. Thanks for stopping by!

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New Day, New Blog

9 Dec ’11

Finally, I have found a blog theme that I can get along with. Now to do a little housekeeping and then I can start playing around with this!

Thanks for stopping by. Please take a look around my photography in Minneapolis and surrounding areas. Minnesota is a beautiful state to live in for photography!
Later

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