Top tips for brides - installment 2

I'll start with a full disclosure: My name is Leah Haydock, I am a wedding photographer and a Sephora junkie.

I can happily while away a couple of hours pootling around Sephora buying all sorts of magic serums, fiddly little tools, the p e r f e c t lip gloss that I've been searching for.....weirdly I don't actually wear that much make up but I sure like buying it.

Anyway, make up is a hot topic for brides. You want to look great on your wedding day but remember that you should still look like you! Maybe a little more glowy and polished of course, but still you. So let's get to it:

* Hire a professional make up artist - they can custom blend and apply foundation with an airbrush to give your skin that dewy fresh look favored by movie stars. It's a sound investment

* Do a trial run. Take a photo and see how it looks. Do you need to have a bit more color in your lips? Groom your eyebrows?

* If you decide to do your own makeup, visit one of the makeup stores at a large department store (go on a weekday morning when it's quiet and they have more time - try MAC, Bobbi Brown or Nars)

* Flash photography can emphasize any pink tones in your skin, even out any reddish areas (around your nose for example) with a yellow-based foundation.

* Blend, blend and blend some more. Take a mirror, head outside and look closely . If your face is still a completely different color to your neck you might want to change your foundation as this will look strange in your photographs.

* Ask one of your bridesmaids to carry some face powder - MAC blot powder gets my vote - to stop the shiny forehead look in the photos.

* Go easy on the glitter and sparkles. They'll show up as weird little white spots in your photos. It may appear that your eyelashes have dandruff - not the best look

*Neutral or pale lipstick/gloss can look a little 60s/washed out in photographs. Try going one or two shades deeper. Or try a stain - Benetint is just phenomenal for that sexy flushed cheek/lip color - and you don't have to worry about touching up every 5 minutes or having lipstick marks all over your new husband!

* And my FAVORITE recommendation is eyelash extensions! You might be thinking "ugh" - but bear with me - I was at my all time favorite spa a few months back (Interlocks Salon in Newburyport, MA - truly fantastic) and noticed one of the estheticians had THE most amazing lashes. Immediately I start quizzing her to find out which new mascara was working such miracles. I was wowed to find out that she had eyelash extensions. They make your eyes really standout in photographs, you don't need mascara, and last for weeks (imagine waking up on your honeymoon with cute long lashes and not faffing around with waterproof mascara in the sea). Novalash are the brand to go for - if you call Interlocks, ask for Leah (not me!), Laura or Robin.

And now feel free to head back up to the photo at the top of this post and check out my eyelashes. Not wearing ANY makeup in this picture I snapped this afternoon after getting my eyelashes re-extended by Leah at Interlocks salon. Cool right?

Sometimes it's all in the detail...

You'd maybe think that there is some photography rule book out there that requires an obligatory photograph of the wedding rings nestled inside a flower...

...I wanted to try something a little different and so here are some wedding ring detail shots with clementines, icicles and snow.







The "attention to detail" people amongst us might observe that the wedding ring is officially on the wrong hand for the groom. But it makes for a more interesting photo - so live with it please ;-)

Some favorites from Sunday afternoon...

Click on the play symbol in the image above to see a slideshow of this great family photoshoot

Top tips for brides - installment 1

I've recently been checking out the blogs of some great photography colleagues including Amber and I've been inspired to put together some top tips for brides. This is based on:

1. My professional experience with all sorts of different weddings and brides as a photographer - and I am being completely honest here when I say that I have never had a bridezilla....thank you ladies!

2. My personal experience as a bride in Nov, 2007

3. My extensive experience as a bridesmaid - Katherine Heigl in 27 dresses has nothing on me...

So let's get to it

#1. Remember why you're getting married

When you're having a stressful planning day and maybe feel like crying...perhaps you're struggling to match the bridesmaid shoe color to the table linens...or the chocolate bar favors are only available in dark chocolate and you want milk chocolate...look at the big picture, go hug your fiancee and think about how your wedding is a celebration of the love and commitment you have for one another.

#2 Rules are meant to be broken - let's start with shoes

Who says that wedding shoes should be ivory satin with a demure kitten heel? When are you ever going to wear them again? Who cares if your seamstress throws up her hands in horror and says that the red soles of the Louboutin's aren't suitable for a bride? I'm photographed some great weddings with "something blue" strappy sandals and even sparkly flip flops! And just to prove I'm not all talk, here are my wedding shoes...

New wedding albums for 2009

So after the wedding, it's all about the wedding album! You want something FABULOUS to show to your friends and family and to relieve every fantastic moment.

The image below shows just one of the 14 different album options I have available. It's a flush-mount, panoramic, photographically-printed album with a brushed copper cover - and it weights a ton! Other custom cover options include engraved metals, Italian leather, colored linens and much more.

Maybe you're thinking but what on earth is she talking about? Panoramic albums allow you to have a wide image running across the two pages with no break through the middle - great for images of a large wedding party. Flush mount albums have the image extending all the way to the edge of the page, this makes for an upscale heirloom quality book. Photographic printing means that the pages are archival quality professional photographic paper. Press printing is the alternative and is a great affordable option for say a mini purse album or a parent album.

It's always best to meet with your photographer and review album choices along with design options. When someone looks through one of my bespoke designed wedding albums I want them to tell you the story, show you the love, let you hear the music, taste the champagne bubbles on your tongue and maybe just bring a little tear to your eye...

Sometimes, less is more...

I just love this image, thought I'd share it

A little bit of me in every single image...

Happy New Year to one and all and huge THANK YOU to all of my clients from 2008, it has been a blast!

At this time of year I'm meeting with recently engaged couples for 2009 and 2010. It's really important that you feel that "click" (no photography pun intended!) with your wedding photographer - you want to have confidence that you share the same approach and vision for your big day. A shout out to some of my recently booked fabulous couples - Tracey & Jim, Georgette & Brett, Allison & Jon, Katy & JT - I am thrilled to be your wedding photographer.

Anyhoo, an interesting consideration when looking for a wedding photographer is the processing of your images - be it in the film darkroom or the digital lightroom. Without getting all technical and boring your pants off, taking the image is really only 50-75% of the work - I'd estimate for every hour I'm shooting, I'm spending around 2-3 hours uploading, converting from RAW and custom processing, not to mention album and storyboard design...

A picture tells a thousand words right? So to illustrate this better I've grabbed an unedited image from a beautiful wedding I photographed in the fall.

As a photographer, I strive to get it right in the camera - here the wedding dress is correctly exposed, the correct color and the delicate draping and intricate lace is shown (it's unfortunately all too easy to overexpose the whites/ivories of wedding dresses and for these stunning dresses to turn into a big white blob)

And here's the image with basic processing and retouching. This bride was absolutely stunning - I love her excited smile of anticipation (plus maybe a little apprehension from her dad).

When you have a bride that looked as naturally fantastic as this, the only retouching applied was a tiny touch of smoothing and glow to the skin for that polished look and a little contrast pop to the colors.

It's a little hard to see on these blog-sized images but this makes a huge difference for images chosen for the album or large wall prints.

The next decision, and this is where the bespoke element of the processing happens, is the application of custom artistic effects. This particular wedding (and bride) was elegant, understated and timeless, and combined with the stunning location of the Inn at Mill Falls, I felt this worked well with a little warming/aging combined with a little texturing. It fits the style and personalities of the day.

One of the reasons I love doing engagement shoots is that it's not only a great way to get to know my wedding clients better and help them get really comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera but it provides a great way to get a feel for the processing that works for their style.

So enough from me, hopefully this explains a little more about my approach to image processing - it's such a personal thing and everyone has their own workflow and style. Looking forward to your comments/questions!