Donald Pope Photography

Wedding Photo Booths

Wedding photo booths are the hottest trend in wedding, event and corporate photography.  Before you jump to conclusions and start to think that the booths are akin to the photo booth that you see in the mall, let me say that the new booths are far from that.

New booths contains state of the art technology.  The booths have a touch screen, prints black/white and color in less than 10 seconds and can have any logo embossed on the images.  The booths can also superimpose any background that the bride or groom selects via green screen technology. 

The booths are typically set up as a entertainment device.  Many times, they are set up as a booth while other times they are set up as a "red carpet" affair.  The booth are self service and allow live posting to social media such as face book.  The booth can be used as an open air unit to accommodate  up to 10 guests in one photo.  The rental period is typically around 4 hours and comes with a trained attendant to help the guests have the best experience. 

Donald Pope Photography now owns and operates Mid-Atlantic Photo Booths.  Mid-Atlantic Photo Booths is a provider of photo booth rentals in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Rentals are typically between for $500 and $650.  All rentals come with unlimted prints and no cost to your guests.  For dances and fund raisers, booths can be rented on a ala carte basis where each guest pays for their own print.  Contact us to set up your rental today.  DP

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Harbourtowne Golf Resort Wedding

Located in St. Michaels, MD, Harbourtowne Golf Resort is a true delight.  It is one of the best wedding venues that we have shot at. 

The resort has a golf course, restaurant, bar, hotel and wedding venue.  The entire facility sits on the Chesapeake Bay with a water view.  It was perfect for a wedding.  I would highly recommend this location for a wedding. 

Timing of the sunset means everything.  We intentionally waited until the sun was low in the background.  This allowed a very short window of an almost perfect sunset.  You have to work fast because the sun can set fast.

 

After the shoot, we were approached by Coastal Style Magazine.  The magazine said that they wanted to publish our images from this wedding in their magazine.  We had a perfect bride and a perfect groom.  This was a perfect opportunity to have our work seen by others. 

Donald Pope Photography would like to say "Thank you" to Mike and Nancy for trusting us with your special day.

Barrie & Courtney's Engagement Party

On 04/17/10, I had the pleasure to photograph the engagement party of Barrie Gray and Courtney Marshall. Several months ago, the couple contracted the wedding photography with Donald Pope Photography with the engagement party included.  The engagement party was held in Frederica, DE at the home of the brides parents.  

Everything about this party screamed class.  The home was beautiful, the guests were warm and the entire event went as smoothly as one could imagine.  My team got the best feeling that you can have about a couple.  Friends and family arrived at around 4pm for a 4 hour dinner party.   Food was served from start to finish with seafood being plentiful.  The serving staff was from a local restaurant in Magnolia, DE. 

Engagement parties can be a challenge for a photographer.  Most guests don't want to be photographed while eating, however, the majority of the event is based on eating.  This is an easy problem to solve.  We solved this problem by holding off at a distance while photographing.  On occasion, we would approach the guests and ask for them to interact with us for a photograph.  This the healthy balance that a photographer needs to use in order to create a large number of quality images from the engagement event.  This strategy worked perfectly for this wonderful event.  Many thanks to associate photographer KS. 

Barrie and Courtney's Wedding is scheduled for June 26th, 2010 at Kingdom Hall, Locust Ave, Philadelphia, PA.  It will be a spectacular wedding.  DP
 

Scout Your Wedding Venues

Scouting the locations of your wedding ceremony and reception venues is an important part of a photographer’s job.  The scouting and examination of the venues should start many weeks before the wedding.  Upon securing the deposit from  your client, a wedding photographer should immediately start to plan to visit the wedding venues.  If you are a Delaware wedding photographer and your event is being held near Philadelphia, Washington DC, New Jersey or Baltimore, then there is no excuse not to scout your venues many weeks before the wedding. 

 

On 03/21/10, I scouted the church and the reception for a wedding that is to be held on May 29^th, 2010.  The church is called St James Evangelical Lutheran Church located at 5185 Castor Ave, Philadelphia, PA  19124.  I was able to have church staff show me both the outdoor garden area and the sanctuary.  The garden area was in the center of the church and was open to the sky.  It should yield great photographs.  The sanctuary is very nice with a balcony.  I typically use the balconies to create special shots from overhead.  This is good information to know well in advance of the wedding. 

 

Later, I was able to drive the approximate route from the church to the reception venue.  This has a lot of value.  It told me how much flexibility in timing between the church and the reception venue.  This drive took about 5 minutes.  The reception venue for this wedding is called The Chateau.  The Chateau is located at Bridge St at Harbeson Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19124  It is very well impressive and well laid out.  While scouting, I had the occasion to meet the Banquet Consultant for The Chateau.  Her name was Debbie Marchak.  She gave me a tour of the facility with emphasis on areas that I could produce formal shots.  While talking with Debbie, I was reminded that the person that runs the reception hall should be your “best friend”.  They can be a very good client resource for your wedding photographer business.   

 

The lesson here is that the wedding photographer should plan well ahead of the wedding in an effort to have a good event.  When the photographer has less surprises, it tends to yield better and more creative images. 

Bridal DVD Slideshows

Bridal DVD Slideshows have come a long way.  Many years ago, DVD Slideshows were a cheap attempt at making up for not being able to afford to hire a professional videographer.  As we fast forward to modern times, DVD Slideshows are a excellent compromise to video.

When a wedding photographer is deciding how to implement DVD Slideshows into his/her wedding packages, the first decision is to decide if you want to do it with your own software or to use a creation service.  Donald Pope Photography uses a creation service. Emotion Media provides custom DVD Slideshows in various formats, including High Definition.   The use of a service can be an expensive cost to the wedding photographer, but the quality is superior to other options. 

Recently, brides have started to request that the DVD be produced both as a physical DVD and a DVD to be hosted online.  This is an important selling tool.  For example, if a Virginia wedding photographer books a bride that lives in Maryland and the bride has friends in Delaware or Virginia, she can share the DVD show with all of them in one click.  Facebook has been a great social tool that the DVD can be implemented into.  If a bride embeds one of your DVD Slideshows into her Facebook page, it will be great exposure for your business as a professional wedding photographer.

Here is an example of on online DVD Slideshow from a wedding that Donald Pope Photography covered.  

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Meeting Your Bride For The First Time

Meeting your bride for the first time came be the most important part of the the relationship that you will build with the bride or the couple.  Some thought should go into the meeting.  Professionalism is the word to remember for all photographers.

Wedding Photographers are not just creative artists, but also salesmen.  With your salesman hat on, you must remember that the bride is purchasing a product and the product must have value.  She must feel good when she makes the purchase.  One of the first things that a photographer should try to do is create a meeting environment that makes the bride feel comfortable.  If you meet at your studio, then there is a built-in validation that comes with that.  Most wedding photographers use their homes as the studio, so your home should be comfortable and should send an impression of your style of wedding photography.  If you are meeting a local business or restaurant, it should be something middle of the road.  Don't over do it. 

Occasionally, the wedding photographer can not meet the bride in person.  It may be a referral or a Internet generated contact.  Consider the scenario of a Maryland wedding photographer booking with a Delaware bride for a Virginia wedding.  If the distance is too great, then the "meet" may be by phone.  In that case, wedding photographers should follow-up all phone contact with emails.  It shows the bride that you were listening and that her wedding is important.

When meeting in person, be sure to have examples of your prints and your products.  While most brides on a budget will initially say that they don't want albums and coffee books, wedding photographers must remember that brides probably have never seen high quality albums and books.  She may not be able to afford to buy high quality wedding albums now, but she may want to purchase them later.  Make sure she knows what you offer.

Lastly, make sure that the bride fully understands your style.  During the initial meet, the wedding photographer has the opportunity to express his/her style to the bride.  Donald Pope Photography takes the extra step of asking the bride what she expects.  If a wedding photographer meets the brides expectations, then referrals will come when the wedding is over. 

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Wedding Package Options

Now is the time that most wedding photographers have to start to set pricing for the 2010 wedding season.  The inquires will come at an increased pace over the next few months.

Most photographers make amendments to pricing, but few make amendments to the way that packages are presented.  For 2010, Donald Pope Photography will be using a alternate approach to pricing.  Rather than offer just packages of predetermined sizes and products, we will offer $200 - $600 in prints or products of the couples choice.   Smaller packages will include a $200 credit while larger packages will include a $600 credit.  The credit can be used to purchase any product offered.   

That means that if a bride does not want 8 x 10 prints, but instead, she changes her mind after the wedding and wants an extra coffee table book, she can simply go to our site, select the photographs that she wants in the book, and order the book or her choice with the credits.  Remaining monies from the credit can be applied anytime within a year of the wedding.  Later in the year, she may decide that she wants a few 5 x 7's and canvas print.  She can simply apply her remaining credits to that purchase too. 

By offering this type of pricing structure in addition to the standard packages, the bride can really maximize the value of the photographers offerings.  As an additional benefit, the bride does not have to commit to exactly what she wants in her package.  She can decide what she wants to purchase up to 1 year after the wedding.  All products will be provided by Pictage. 

DP

Tips For Better Wedding Photographs

Donald Pope Photography continues to book steady for the 2010 wedding season.  While planning the upcoming season, I thought it important to share with other wedding photographers and couples some tips to help to create wonderful wedding photographs.

Share with your wedding couple that it is more important to maintain eye contact with each other rather than the person officiating the wedding.  Many couples experience sensory overload and don’t really know where to look.  Share with them before the wedding that a more photojournalistic look can be obtained if they simply relax and look at each other as much as possible.

DP

Wedding Photographer Studio Management Tools (Shootq)

Managing workflow can be one of the most difficult things for a wedding photographer to stay on top of.  Previously, I ran my wedding photography business in a traditional way by using lots of paper and notes.  I always had issues and problems that I could not solve.  Below is some of the problems that I was able to solve using a studio management tool called Shootq.

1.  Organizing Leads.  It can be very difficult to keep all the potential brides in order.  Maintaining contact with the potential lead is the key to being able to book later.  Leads can be entered into Shootq with the "Quick Lead" tab.  The basic information about the lead is stored and notes about the freshness of the lead and details about your booking efforts are embedded. 

2.  Access to Studio Information.  Since I started using Shootq, I have access to my studio's information, including leads, booking and payment information from any location.  For example, if I were to shoot a wedding in the Baltimore, MD area, I could go to any computer, log into Shootq, and have access to all the information about a wedding or portrait shoot that I may have scheduled the next day in Philadelphia or Delaware.  Your files are not stored on your computer, but safely at Shootq.

3.  Contracts Delivered Anywhere. Booking brides and grooms that are in other locations can be a real problem.  For example if a Delaware photographer wanted to book a bride that was getting married in Baltimore, he would have to mail or fax her the contract.  With Shootq, you can send the contract and booking information via the Shootq system and the bride can sign it electronically.  This opens up the opportunities to do business in areas that are not in your local area.  It opened up wedding opportunities to my business in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Paperless contracts have eliminated much of the paperwork associated with booking a wedding or engagement session. 

4.  Sell more products. There is a delicate balance between upselling quality products and being an overbearing salesman.  With Shootq, you have the opportunity to have your catalog of products attached to the booking proposals.  The wedding photographer can include high quality photos of the products inside of the proposal.  The bride or groom can add options such as high quality wedding albums to their packages while booking. 

These are by no means all the reasons for that studio management tools are valuable.  Other studio management tools are just as powerful.  Some examples include Studio Cloud and Tave. I highly suggest that all wedding photographers consider implementing a studio management tool. 

DP

How Many Batteries Does a Wedding Photographer Need For a Flash Unit?

When heading off to a wedding, it is important to carry a great deal of items.  One of the most important things that you need plenty of is batteries.  Not just any batteries will do.  Both quality and quantity is important. 

I shoot weddings with a Canon 580EXII flash head along with a Canon battery belt.  That is a total of 12 batteries going at one time.  I make sure to bring at least 36 batteries to every wedding.  Rechargeables are the economical preference.  Personally, I use PowerEX 2700mAh rechargeables.  They are a bit expensive but they work very well.  Don't skimp on your battery quality.   You will find that you have consistent flash power when you use good batteries.  The proof is in the images.   

Have all of your batteries charged before the wedding.  If you have an assistant, have them charge the set that you take out of the camera.  I recommend that you don't allow the battery to run down completely before swapping them out.  During a wedding, you may not have the perfect time to swap them out.  Take advantage of a good time to swap them out before the run down completely.  Remember that you may not get a second chance for that perfect shot so keep good recharged batteries on hand. 

When the reception is over and you are packing your equipment away, make sure that you remove your batteries from all of your equipment.  If they were to leak, it could ruin your flash head or your camera.  And when in doubt about if a batteries shell is about to leak or is the shell is dented, just throw that battery out and replace it.

DP