A Few Quick Announcements.....

Hi all - I hope everyone had a nice weekend and enjoyed the nice weather!

I just have a few quick updates/announcements for anyone interested......

1) 2008 Wedding Dates are just about sold out at this time, and we will only be accepting about 3 more weddings for the year.... If you or someone you know are looking for a photographer, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to touch base and/or lock your date before the year is completely sold out. You can see our schedule here: Availability/Schedule

2) We have added a new "Tips" page to the website with a list of suggestions/tips of how couples can optimize the photography portion of their wedding day. They are mere guidelines, but may be of help to couples still in th planning stages of their wedding.

3) Along with the Tips page, we have also just added a "Products" page, which gives a bit more description of some of the items and options we offer with our packages and what's built into our online viewing/ordering events. We've had a lot of questions as of late about what certain items are, or how to go about ordering them, and hopefully this will be of some help!

Congratulations, Jennifer & Justin!!

I know I bragged pretty good about the last one, but I have to admit.... today was definitely another phenomenal wedding! Today's wedding celebration, was that of Jennifer & Justin, who live in Florida, however came back to New York to wed near their hometown. There's nothing better than having the opportunity to work for such a fantastic couple, and we were blown away with not only how easy these two were to work with, but the hospitality of their bridal party and families as well.

I think we got some really cool shots today, and as usual, have hundreds to go through..... we look forward to getting all the images up and online in a couple/few weeks for viewing & ordering. For those interested (and attended this wedding), you are welcome to pre-register your email at the link below to receive automatic notification of when images are available!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=30705

We'd like to again, thank Jennifer & Justin for allowing us to document their big day, and had a blast hanging out with you guys today! Have fun in St. Lucia and look forward to hearing all about it when you get back! :)

P.S. I'll be taking a slight bit of a break this week (meaning I'll only be working 50 hours, rather than 90), and then we have another "3 Banger" back to back to back wedding weekend coming up - be sure to check back for lots of blog entrees and cool photos!

A Quick Note on the Thank You Cards...

We've had quite a few people contact us over the last week or two with some questions in regards to ordering thank you cards and how it works, etc..... I thought it might be a good time to post a few comments of how this works for folks looking to get them out.

The thank you cards are built into the online viewing/ordering events and can be purchase along with any prints very easily - while it does not show you a photo in the order, you can simply specify what photo(s) and/or text you would like within the notes section of the final page of the order.... we suggest selecting between 2-4 photos for this. As for text, some have only the words "Thank You" on them and choose to write a personal message on the back, where others want the entire message printed on them, so they don't have to hand write 100 messages to people.... we are happy to do either. I should also mention that we email you with a sample of the design first to make sure you are 100% happy with it before placing the order in case you wish to change something!

The cards are 8X4 and can be done in a vertical or horizontal format (we suggest vertical, but this is up to the couple) - they also come fully ready to send with envelopes so there is no need to purchase anything else to go with them after your order. Lastly..... we can have these done in traditional or metallic print options.... trust me when I say the metallic are not much more expensive to do and will surely blow your guests away when they see how amazing they look!

Thank you cards are a great way to thank your guests for attending your big day (and for their gift(s), and are so easy and reasonable to order in a way that showcases some of your favorite images..... all prints/cards are discounted by 15% for the first 30 days of the event, so this is a perfect time to take advantage for those looking to get these done and out quickly :)

P.S. We're happy to help with any other questions, but hope this will help those that have either recently been married or are getting married soon and read the blog. Here is a sample of above we did for Alex & Maria this week and you can see a few more design styles if you scroll down a few blog entries I think.

Engagements w/ Matt & Jen!

Today was a beautiful day, and a great day to get outside and shoot some engagement photos with Matt & Jen. We are very excited to be shooting Matt & Jen's wedding next October, and had a great time hanging out with them today. These two are comedians together and with their senses of humor, am sure this wedding will be a blast next year! We're still going through photos (story of my life, right?) but, here's a couple shots I liked and thought would post. Thanks for a fun shoot today guys, and will talk to you soon! :)

Jennifer & Patrick - Wedding of the Year??

It's 3am, and after a long day of shooting and traveling to Mass, I can hardly hold one eye open (I have no idea why I attempt to do blog entries like this). It's been an amazing day and I will go out on a limb by saying the wedding of Jennifer and Patrick may just be worthy of the "wedding of the year" for me..... of course it won't be final until the season is over, but this wedding was without a doubt one of our best!

I first met Jennifer and Patrick several months ago, when they had already hired another wedding photographer, but had quickly run into "personality" conflicts with their photographer at the time. At the time, it was definitely a strange situation, but I was thankful to have the opportunity to steal this wedding and land a great couple to work with. From that first day, we hit if off extremely well, and I'm so thankful to have been a part of their day today. The wedding and reception was held at the Cranwell in Lenox, Mass and is certainly, one of the most amazing places I have ever shot..... that combined with an amazingly beautiful bride (and good looking groom), and you have the makings of an incredible wedding!

I had such a hard time picking photos for the blog, and I could easily see myself posting the entire wedding if I'm not careful - above are a few samples from the day and literally taken a few hours ago. For those interested, you can pre-register your email below to receive automatic notificaton of when images are live for online viewing & ordering:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=30045

I'd like to sincerely thank Patrick, Jennifer, and their entire family for their hospitality, and for allowing us to capture such a special event..... we hope you guys have a blast on your honeymoon and will see you when you get back!

On that note..... I'm off to bed and am basically shot for tomorrow already I think!

Atlanta Conclave w/ Dennis Reggie!

Having inspiration in your field is something I think is extremely important in terms of helping any individual or business to get to the next level of excellence. There are certainly many photographers who help to inspire me as well as give me something to strive for as we continue to grow our business. Dennis Reggie is known as the king of all wedding photographers of our day, and is ranked #1 according to the top ten list of top wedding photographers in the world. Dennis has been a true icon in the photography world, and with over 30 years of experience, has photographed some of the most high profile, celebrity weddings you could imagine.

We are excited beyond words to attend a 3 day conclave with Dennis at his home in Atlanta at the end of October (limited to ten photographers from around the country) and a 3 day wedding/shooting workshop given by the man himself. While this trip is costing us a small fortune, it's very exciting, and I look forward to the new philosophies, inspiration, and techniques we'll be learning to take the quality of our photography and services to the next level. I would love nothing more than to make this top ten list someday, and this will certainly help to get that much closer :)

I'll be sure to post some thoughts after the conclave!

IHS Project...

I've been working on a project this and last week with IHS (Institute of Humanist Studies) in Albany to update some of the images for their website, PR headshots, and some other miscellaneous things they needed photographed. I'll be honest in admitting, I'm not quite sure what exactly they do (besides drink lots of coffee :) but Duncan and the team are always lots of fun to hang out with. I didn't post last weeks headshots, but today had to shoot the building that will soon become their new location in Albany. Albany really has some amazing architecture if you think about it, and their new location is definitely a prime example.... I hope to have something like this for my next house! :)

Another Session with Danielle!

I took a break from shooting brides this week to shoot with models instead :)

Danielle is not only a beautiful girl and very talented upcoming model & actress, but also has an awesome personality and is super fun to work with. We completed our second shoot with her this morning for her portolio and new comp cards. As you can see, Danielle has a lot going for her, and we hope to see her career explode - thanks for a fun shoot :)

Congratulations, Samantha & Bradley!

What started as a rainy day ended up turning into a beautiful day and a fantastic celebration of the marriage of Bradley & Samantha! After seeing Samantha's stress levels leading up until the wedding, it was great to finally see her smile today, and let go of probably a year's worth in stress (good job today, Sam :) After the ceremony, we all headed over to Lanther's Grove park where the post-ceremony festivities continued, and people got to dress down and relax a bit. When asked what I wanted to eat, I jokingly said lobster (we were in a park, so had expected to be having a hamburger or hotdog), and the next thing you know was sitting at a picnic table having lobster - haha!

We'd like to thank Samantha & Bradley for allowing us to hang out with them today, and will hope to have the photos from the day uploaded and available for online viewing & ordering within 2-3 weeks. For those interested, you can pre-register your email below to receive notification of when images go live:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=29485

Thanks again to Samantha & Bradley and hope you have a blast in Las Vegas!

Congratulations, Scott & Stefanie!!

We started another back to back wedding weekend last night, by capturing the beautiful wedding of Scott & Stefanie! I think the last 6 weddings in a row have all been shot in 88-96 degree weather, so I was quickly reminded of how much I enjoy the fall weddings and cooler weather! Both, Scott & Stefanie are such kind people, and they along with their family and bridal party were extremely easy to work with..... I wish it was that easy every time :) By the way, just when I think I've seen the most beautiful church I've been to, I end up shooting in yet another amazing one.... there really are some incredible church options in the Capital Region, and this one certainly remains at the top of the list in my opinion.

We finally had our first equipment mishap, when I accidentally dropped my camera out of my truck and onto the pavement while arriving at the reception..... it didn't take much to snap my wide angle lens completely in half along with breaking the flash (gggggggrrrrr!) Despite the stress from that, we still managed to get by just fine with extra equipment.... I love stress - bring it on!

We'd like to thank Scott, Stefanie and their families for their hospitality and allowing us to take part in this wonderful event. For those interested, you can pre-register your email at the link below to receive notification of when images go live (usually 2-3 weeks in most cases):

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=29436

Congrats again, guys - we hope you have a great time on your honeymoon :)

P.S. For anyone interested, we are working on a new "tips" page on the website with some basic suggestions and examples of lessons learned to help couples get the best photography possible on their wedding day.... we'll be adding to it as we go, but you can check it out at www.mattramosphotography.com/tips.html