Are you newly engaged and looking for some of the most creative, talented, independent wedding vendors in the Twin Cities?  Are you planning a wedding and looking for real information from vendors with years experience and their pulse on the trends for 2011?  Did you miss the November Independent Wedding fair and the amazing vintage circus themed not-so-real wedding? Then join us for the next Independent Wedding Fair on February 5, 2011 at the Campus Club in Minneapolis.

What separates the Independent Wedding Fair from the other Minnesota bridal shows?  The Independent Wedding Fair is intimate — small enough that you’ll have a chance to talk to each business owner and get a feel for what they love about weddings.  There are no trinkets, advertisements, or high pressure sales tactics.  All of the members of the Independent Wedding Association have been hand-selected for providing high quality services and having a passion for weddings.

Best of all, during the fair you’ll have the opportunity to sit in on “Mini Courses” — short, educational presentations by experienced vendors, on wide-ranging topics — from creating a custom cocktail for your reception to making the most of your floral budget.  Tickets are 2 for $10 and are on sale now.  But for one lucky blog reader, I have a pair of tickets to give away.  To win, just leave a comment below with a question you’d like answered by one of our expert panels.  I’ll select a winner  on January 28.

If you purchase a digital package with your portrait session with me, or if your digital files are included in your wedding package, you will get high-resolution files that have gone through basic retouching and are ready to print.  What does that mean?

When I first take a picture, the image is actually pretty lifeless and boring.  The colors don’t necessarily pop and the subject may be too dark or too light.  Basic retouching fixes those things.  Basic retouching ensures the photo is exposed properly – brightening or darkening the photo as necessary.  I make sure that the color is balanced, so that whites are white and blacks are black.  And I crop the photo, if necessary, to make sure distracting elements in the background are minimized and the subject is properly emphasized.  I’ll also add a little bit of sharpening so that the picture prints well.  Any digital file you purchase from me will have gone through basic retouching and is ready to be printed.  You will receive the biggest size file that I have, so you can print to 20×30 or larger without any problem.

What you see on my blog and in my sample albums are images that have been edited beyond basic retouching.  Those photos have been fully retouched.  How is that different?   For me, it’s subtle enhancements.   I believe my style of photography is very vibrant and true-to-life.  I like my photos to look like a slightly-better version of the real world, but not at all unnatural or fake looking.  I go easy on some of the vintage processing and textures that are popular now, because I want your photos to be as timeless as possible.  (Or course, there’s not much I can do about your wardrobe and hairstyle ten or twenty years down the road!)   Fully retouched photos have zits and other blemishes removed, brightened eyes and whitened teeth, and they may have some artistic color treatments.

When you purchase a print or canvas through me, your photo will under go full retouching to look its absolute best.

Let’s look at some examples!  First up, from a wedding last fall.  The original image was overexposed.  Their faces are too bright and the detail in their white clothing is missing.  That’s been fixed with basic retouching.   Notice the fully retouched photo has more color in the beautiful fall trees and there is more light in their eyes.  A slightly golden tint was added for artistic effect.

Then there’s this smiley guy.  Not much difference between the three photos, but the straight-out-of-camera photo is a little dark and a little blue.  The basic retouched photo would make a great print.  But the fully-retouched photo adds a little sparkle to his eyes and a slight vignette so your eye focuses immediately on that adorable grin.   The small scratch on his forehead has also been removed.

Here again, the edits on this headshot are very subtle.   Straight-out-of-camera, the image was a bit washed out and needed some pop.  Through basic retouching I warmed up the image, darkened the background, and brightened her red jacket.  In the fully-retouched image, the colors are brighter yet,  her skin is a touch smoother, and the background is even darker so that she pops just a bit more.

50 Comments in two days! That’s $25 to Second Harvest Heartland already.  Can we keep it up?  See all the details in my original post.

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Venues I have Photographed Weddings or Bar Mitzvahs:

Weisman Art Museum (Minneapolis, MN)

Cafe Lurcat (Minneapolis, MN)

Minnesota History Center (St. Paul, MN)

Nicollet Island Pavillon (Minneapolis, MN)

Rush Creek Golf Course (Maple Grove, MN)

Olympic Hills Golf Club (Eden Prairie, MN)

5 Event Center (Minneapolis, MN)

Mill City Museum (Minneapolis, MN)

317 Rice Park (St. Paul, MN)

Reidel Estate (Fridley, MN)

Hotel Sofitel (Bloomington, MN)

Minnetonka Orchards (Minnetrista, MN)

The Woods (Orono, MN)

Gale Mansion (Minneapolis, MN)

Mendakota Country Club (Mendota Heights, MN)

Circus Juventas (St. Paul, MN)

Guthrie Theater – Endless Bridge (Minneapolis, MN)

Gibbs Farm (St. Paul, MN)

Crowne Plaza Northstar Sky Garden (Minneapolis, MN)

NBA City (now closed)

Elm Creek Park Reserve Chalet

Minnehaha Falls (Minneapolis, MN)

Landmark Center (St. Paul, MN)

Bayview Event Center (Excelsior, MN)

College of St. Benedict’s Gorecki Center (St. Joseph, MN)

Pine Ridge Golf Club (Motley, MN)

Crystal Lake Golf Club (Lakeville, MN)

Minneapolis Queen Riverboat (Minneapolis, MN)

Crowne Plaza (Saint Paul, MN)

Davenport Country Club (Davenport, IA)

The Outing Club (Davenport, IA)

Des Moines Country Club (Des Moines, IA)

Living History Farms (Des Moines, IA)

Tournament Club of Iowa (Des Moines, IA)

Figge Art Museum (Davenport, IA)

Blackwatch Room at Pebble Creek (Le Claire, IA)

The Abbey (now closed)

My Favorite Twin-Cities Florists:

Ashley Fox Designs
Just Bloomed
Sassafras Gardens

The best Minneapolis Wedding Cakes & Desserts:

Cocoa & Fig
Sweets Bakeshop
Jessica’s Cakes
the Cake Diva

Photographers Around the World:

I Love Wednesdays – Sydney Wedding Photographer >> Wedding + Engagement Photography – Telling people’s stories authentically and honestly with a little bit of awesome

Lumsdaine Photography – Sydney Wedding Photographer – boutique wedding and portrait photography

Frost&Roxburgh Photography – Newcastle wedding photographerse – Newcastle and Hunter Valley wedding photographers

Mark Parker Photography – Birmingham Wedding Photographer – Vintage, Modern, Fresh wedding photography

Two Ring Studios – Asheville Wedding Photographer – Creative and modern wedding photography in Asheville, NC

Martin Pemberton Photography – Bristol Wedding Photographer – Affordable, Contemporary Wedding & lifestyle portrait photographer

Laura Burlton photography – Houston wedding photographer – Creative, fine art wedding photographer

Sarah Rominger Photography – Asheville NC Wedding – Artistic, vibrant, and timeless wedding photography

Albert Palmer Photography – Wedding Photography Bristol – Modern Vintage Wedding Photography

Tender Portraits Photography LLC – St. Joseph, Missouri and Atchison, Kansas Portrait and Wedding Photography – Artistic portrait, wedding and lifestyle photography

Asheville Wedding Pros – Asheville Weddings – Professional wedding vendors in Asheville, NC

Matthew Evans Photography – Cairns Wedding Photographer – Natural + Epic Wedding Photography

Inta G Photography – South Florida Wedding and Family Photographer – Photojournalistic, artsy, creative, editorial influenced wedding photography

Urban Bridesmaid Photography – London Wedding Photographer – unique, different and never boring wedding photography

Andy Brooks – London Wedding Photographer – Stylish & timeless portrait & wedding photography

Angela Blake Photography – Birmingham Alabama Wedding Photographer – Modern & Fresh Wedding Photography

Avelaine Scyrup – Calgary Wedding Photojournalist – Calgary based wedding & lifestyle photographer

darin collison photography – Melbourne wedding photographer – Wedding photography. Done differently.

Infiniti Photography – Lansing MI Wedding Photographer – Fun, fresh wedding photography!

Kat Forsyth Photography – London Wedding Photographer – Fresh, fun and natural wedding photography in London and the UK

Stefano Choi Photography – Austin Wedding Photographer – Austin Wedding Photographer

Ben Godkin Photo – Austin Wedding Photographer – Fine art wedding photography and portraiture

Wedding Photography by Alen Abdula – Photography for Inquisitive Minds -

Lynette J – Dallas Wedding Photographer – Specializing in South Asian wedding photography

Amanda Basteen Photography – Des Moines Wedding Photographer – Professional Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Kristi Wright Photography – Austin Wedding Photographer – Modern wedding photography and portraiture

Chavvon & Larissa Photography – Dallas Wedding Photographers -

Dekuji Photography – Melbourne Documentary Wedding Photographer -

PIICX Photography – Wedding Photographer Austin – Wedding and portrait photography

Robb Duncan – photographer – Melbourne and Geelong Wedding Photographer – Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Shy Photography – New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin Wedding Photographer -

JMx Photography – Saginaw Wedding Photographer – Wedding, Seniors, and Family Portrait Photographer

Holly Birch Photography – Champaign-Urbana Wedding Photographer -

James Murphy Photography – Rhode Island Wedding Photographer -

Sweet Caroline Photo – Austin Wedding Photographer – Your friendly fine art wedding photographer

I just discovered a fantastic resource for wedding planning, with a focus on the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area: the Milwaukee Wedding Blog. They recently featured one of my favorite wedding photos in a post about ways for the newly-married couple to make a dramatic exit. Go check it out!

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If you know someone who is dedicated to quality wedding service, creativity, and is locally owned, let me know, or encourage them to apply!  The fair will be February 2010 at the awesome Five Event Center in Uptown, and there will be lots of other benefits to membership in the mean time.

Hey there blogland — I’m currently looking for a fun-loving couple (engaged or married)* to help me by modeling for a cool new project!    Here are the details:

1. The shoot would be outdoors in either Minneapolis or St. Paul on a weekend in March (I’m hoping to capture some snow but avoid the cold).
2. You are willing to wear something fabulous (woman in wedding dress or nice dressy outfit, man in a suit or blazer). This isn’t a trash-the-dress type of shoot, but you might get a little dirty.  Nothing that wouldn’t be cleanable.
3. You’re up for taking pictures where I want to shoot for about two hours.  (Nothing too crazy, mostly urban areas.)
4. You’re a real couple, willing to show your love on camera!
5. You are available one weekend day in March between 2 and 4pm.

In return for your time, you’ll get a DVD of your full-resolution digital files (a $500 value), the pictures posted in an online gallery to share with family and friends, and 10% off any prints you want to purchase through me.

Please send me an email with a picture of the both of you, and let me know which days you are available  in March!

*If this doesn’t apply to you, I’d appreciate if you could spread the word.