A few blog posts ago I posted Angel & The Fretz’s engagement session where we pulled off our take on the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World imagery… The Most Interesting Groom in the World…

A number of you didn’t catch on immediately that both of the girls in the shot above are, in fact, Angel: Black Angel and Turquoise Angel. And that my friends, is what this post is all about.

Once I decided on a pose, we grabbed the first shot. I originally intended this to be a landscape shot, hence the angle of view, and I also needed to give myself a little room to crop and move things around so I shot a little wider than I needed to.

RAW Shot #1

While Angel ran off to change, I told Fretz to just sit still and chill… and when she returned we captured the second image.

RAW Shot #2

Now the astute among you will notice that the bottle in his hand above is a Bud, not a Dos Equis. Who would have thunk that there wasn’t a Dos Equis in sight at the 5 Paces? The bar staff searched high and low and eventually went out to find a Dos Equis for us. They actually LEFT to go and find one for us! How cool is that?!

So they returned with the right brew and I grabbed a third shot solely for the purpose of swapping out the beer bottle later.

RAW Shot #3

This is where the fun begins… I needed to decide which Fretz I wanted to keep. I chose the Fretz from RAW Shot #1 above which meant the only thing I need from RAW Shot#2 below is Turquoise Angel, and here she is.

Then I layered RAW Shot #2 above it…

… and proceeded to “paint in” the Turquoise Angel using a layer mask to “reveal” the layer below it (i.e. the Turquoise Angel). Here is what the mask looks like when it is complete.

Now it was time to deal with the beer bottle. The first thing I did was take the Dos Equis bottle and match the size and angle to the master shot. Here is a shot of the [rather sloppily cut out] bottle side by side with the first bottle so you can see where it’s going to be placed.

And here it is in place. Keep in mind that we are zoomed in over 200% so the artifacting and edges you see (a) will not show up at normal size and (b) are exaggerated by the sharpening that is part of my blog posting process.

By far, the hardest part of this image was getting the beer bottle to NOT look like it was floating out there in space. One thing that I know from old Mickey Mouse bits was that one of the primary visual clues the brain uses to determine spacial placement is the presence of shadows. So the answer was adding a near-black shadow right below and to the left of the bottle.

So I put it all together, add a little more photoshop magic to give it the overall emotion and feel I want, and we have…

If you have any comments or questions, please let me know in the comments below!

Here’s the publisher, Heather Vreeland, laying down some last minute ideas to paper.

Below is one of our models, Taylor, in the makeup chair and the ever-fabulous Raney O’Keefe (AGAIN!) striking a pose. Note to photographers: in both of these shots, I was playing with my new Lensbaby Muse lens with the f/5.6 aperture ring insert thingy. Boy is that thing hard, but FUN! I could have picked up one of the newer versions, but honestly, I kind of enjoy the fight you have to go through the find and grab your focal point. So in case you were wondering, aside from the coloring and contrast bump, these two shots are straight out of the camera. Shot with a Nikon D3, of course.

Here’s a shot from a whole series of images we ended up not using but it was too cute to not show someone!

Taylor showing off her shoes — but nevermind the gorgeous Vera Wang (style: Delaney) she’s wearing! That’s Taylor’s mother, Tina Rowden, who also happens to be a great local photographer. The image on the right is what ended up in the magazine.

The last shoot we did was just to tie up loose ends for the content we needed for the issue.

Some of you may not know this, but Heather is actually a pretty incredible photographer. She has an amazing eye for composition so whenever we shoot I always (well, sometimes anyway) let her shoot a little bit with a “big boy camera.” I think if gives her a sense of power and world domination. Just a guess.

Here are a few of my favorites featuring one of our models, Kristi Ryczek…

Here are a few behind the scenes images:

Chelsea is so fun to shoot with because she’s always playing jokes (you may remember Chelsea as the cover model for the Summer 2010 Issue of Occasions Magazine) … and you can always count on Raney for a pose!

But let me back up a little bit. When I think of the beautiful, historic Swan House, this is what I see in my head:

I think of the rich history and all the stories this building could tell if it could talk.

Remember what I said above about photo shoots? The image above and the next two didn’t even make the first round of cuts. Yet, fast forward a couple months and there it sits… a big, beautiful two-page spread to open up the fashion feature. This is quite easily my favorite image from the entire shoot.

And now I’m going show you something to make your jaw drop. I say that in complete humility because it really has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with our stunning model Madison Olson and the fabulous makeup by Raney O’Keefe. This image is basically straight out of the camera. No photoshop actions. No retouching. No fixing. No nothing.

I took the image out of the camera in RAW format, adjusted my color and exposure in Lightroom, and exported it. In fact, I didn’t retouch Madison in a single image in the entire magazine feature. Just amazing.

Remember what I said above about photo shoots? We had a little bit of free time (by “free time” I mean that we had 7 minutes and 35 seconds) and I said “Madison, let’s play.” So I grabbed Heather Vreeland’s new 50mm f/1.4 lens because I was really curious how the lens would perform and I wanted to play with it. In fact, a number of the images in the magazine were shot with that little 50mm lens she carries around with her in the camera bag she got from Target. So Madison and I ran around in the grass and came up with Heather’s favorite series of images from the shoot. This is just two of them…

Have you been paying attention to the beautiful floral headpieces Danny created for us?

Yes, she is IN the fountain. By this time, it was pretty much dark and we had to get creative with the lighting sources.

Here’s Danny with one of the props he brought along for the shoot — ya know, just in case — and Raney doing a little touch up work.

One more behind the scene’s shot, complete with my assistant hard at work in the background. He was probably tweeting about how hard I was working him.

Let’s face it, I’m a photographer because I love being the outsider looking in and experiencing the lives of others through the lens. I adore the idea that I can immortalize a moment and at the same time create a work of art. It’s just amazing that I can do that and at the same time remain relatively invisible. I like being invisible. I like it when people to look at me and see my work. Not me.

And that, my friends, is the problem. I don’t much like promoting “me” because I’m afraid I’ll come off like an attention grabbing narcissist. See, marketing in the photographic industry, with the help of the social media sphere, has rather swiftly morphed into the race to be the most liked, have the most fans and create the most buzz… and relatively little of that has anything to do with your work. In fact, a few of the photographer rockstars (the term “rockstar” is used in a derogatory way as much as it’s used in a complimentary way these days) have been to more workshops than they have shot weddings. Unfortunately the average bride would never know that.

So all that blabbering above is the reason I sometimes don’t like posting about my personal life and how great I am for shooting Usher, or Brian Littrell from the Back Street Boys and his wife, or this or that photoshoot. I love doing what I do and in the end I just want you to see the work. But I promise that I’ll try to do a little better in 2011.

All that said, this falls into the “stuff I never blogged” category…

Back in November we were featured on the Elizabeth Anne Designs blog for a photoshoot we did with a number of other vendors, all coordinated by Jeannine Kennedy with FAVOR Events. The shoot was at a private residence north of Atlanta and the blog featured a bunch of the images from the shoot…

In addition to a few larger images of ones that she featured on the blog, here are a number of my favorites they didn’t blog:

Here is a list of vendors that participated in the shoot:

Event design/styling: FAVOR Events
Florals: Tulip
Venue: Privately owned farm in North Georgia
Linens: BBJ Linens
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Invitations: Southern Fete
Jewelry: Anthropologie
Gowns: Chaviano Couture
Model: Angela Wolff with CLICK Models

I’ll be posting a bunch of images from the shoot in a few days, but for now take a look at the images Heather Vreeland chose for the magazine:

While you’re at it, check out the Catering spread starting on page 26 and Hayden’s birthday party photos they featured on page 130. Oh… and check out our back cover advertisement for Ben Vigil Photographers featuring Erika & Leroy atop the one an only Ventana’s rooftop venue styled/coordinated by Eliana from ellyB Events…

How cool is that!!!

Stefanie is the owner of The Wedding Box and her twitter profile describes The Wedding Box as “a stylish, southern, and inspiring event planning + design company located in the South: specializing in creating dream weddings for southern gals.”

I’d say that sums it up. Stefanie just oozes class and I was happy to do her headshots for her. She chose to have them taken at the Hotel Palomar and next door at Altorex Restaurant & Rooftop Lounge, which were über cool and super chic.

If you’re a bride in need of a planner (and yes, you DO need one), you can’t go wrong with The Wedding Box and Stefanie Dunn!

One last image…

This next image was taken atop the rooftop lounge. It was super hot that day and as we were trying to get this huge 4′ outdoor fan turned on for some heat relief, I decided that we’d play a little bit and get some cool “non-business” shots she could enjoy. This one is my favorites:

Disclaimer: One of the reasons I’ve put it off blogging about this for long is that it I’ve had a number of weddings this year who did not hire a wedding planner and I’d never want one of my brides to think that I’m talking about them. So I’m going to be careful here and stick to my collective experiences.

So let’s cut to the chase and deal with the objections.

• I’m ultra organized and I can do it all myself
  You may be right on both accounts. And that there is the problem. Instead of being able to sit back, relax and truly enjoy the emotion and momentous events of one of the most important days of your life, you’ll be endlessly answering questions from a whole plethora of family and friends. Of course, they’re just trying to do their best to help but in the end, when the buck stops with you, the bride, YOU are their only choice to get an answer. And you’ll remember your day for every little tiny glitch. Wouldn’t it be better to look back on your day and hear the words from your planner “everything is taken care of, it’s time to get married!”
   
• My sister/aunt/mother/bff has offered to help me
  This is the flip-side of the previous objection. You want to celebrate your wedding day with those closest to you, not put them to work.
   
• The church/venue/dj will handle everything for me
  There are very, very few venues that can live up to that promise. Or more accurately, what the hotel/dj means by “handle everything” and what the planner means by “handle everything” are two entirely different things. What they really mean is that they will take of everything that pertains to the service they provide. In other words, if the table center pieces at your reception being provided by an outside florist are the wrong color or the wrong flower or just plain wrong, guess what? The venue will wash their hands of it (and they will), because that’s not their job. And you aren’t going to find out about it until you waltz in for your first dance. The planner would have been on top of it when the florals arrived two hours earlier. When the groomsmens’ tuxedos arrive with a missing pair of pants, the planner will take care of it (this actually happened about 3 months ago). When the limo goes to the wrong location (this has happened too many times to count), your planner will be on the cell phone talking directly to the driver making sure they get where they are supposed to go. When plans change at the last minute your planner will be there to let your photographer know so they don’t miss an important moment.
   
• I can’t afford to hire a planner
  This is my favorite. Why? Because it’s so simple to explain. Planners, like all wedding vendors, work with other vendors over and over again. They come to know their policies, how they work and what their preferences are. Moreover, they come to know which vendors, be they photographers or caterers, will serve their brides with spectacular service and quality products. They save you money when they steer you away from vendors who nickel and dime you with hidden charges and fees. They save you money when a venue gives you a preferred rate because they know the event will go smoothly with a planner involved. They save you money by guiding you to vendors who do it right the first time.
   
  So let me tell you a little secret… if you come to me and tell me you are working with a planner, there’s a pretty good chance that the money you save with Ben Vigil Photographers will come pretty close to entirely paying for your “day-of” coordinator.

Does that last statement shock you? It should. It should shock you into going out and hiring a wedding planner. Something goes wrong at every wedding. Without fail. Every vendor makes mistakes. They’re human. But every reputable vendor I know will breathe a sigh of relief when you tell them you are working with a professional planner. The planner is there to make sure everyone is on the same page, that everyone does their best to perform as they have promised and in the end, to take care of all the “little things” so you can enjoy your day. It’s really quite simple from my prospective as a photographer. I deal with emotional intangibles on your wedding day and this is how a planner helps me preserve those moments:

• A good planner = a smooth stress-free day.
• A smooth, stress-free day = a stress-free bride.
• A stress-free bride = a happy bride.
• A happy bride = great photos.
• Great photos = a satisfied bride.

Do you see the relationship between “a good planner” and “great photos”?

That’s not a guarantee of course, but it sure does help.

Back to the subject at hand… every month Linda Surles (twitter | facebook) from the Bride & Groom Planner and Heather Vreeland (twitter | facebook) with Occasions Magazine team up to produce the Atlanta Wedding Professionals Networking Luncheon. I was excited about this months luncheon because it was being held at the Fox Theatre, Grand Salon Ballroom.

I’ve been to The Fabulous Fox many times for shows, but I’ve never shot or even set foot in the ballrooms and I finally got to see what I’ve been missing!

Our speaker was professional productivity expert Peggy Duncan (twitter), who I personally REALLY enjoyed listening to. She is the kind of disciplined person that makes me quake in my boots… as in, I’m ashamed to be in her presence quake in my boots kind of way.

These amazing florals were provided by Bloom Floral Design

Look at this amazing cake from Sharon Alexander at Sweet Sensations.

A BUNCH of industry friends were there but here’s just a few that I managed to grab. My apologies to the photogs that I didn’t get.

First up is Nadia with nadia d. photography who creates some awesome dramatic portraiture!

Next up is Laura with Artstar by Laura Stone, whom I famously told how annoyed I was by how good her photography was. It really is.

Next is the über chic Hollie with Lytle foto, who shot The Not Wedding recently and has been featured all over the national blogs.

And last, but not least, is David from Optimum Productions who helped shoot the behind the scene’s video for our recent Occasions Magazine cover shoot at the beautiful new 200 Peachtree in Atlanta. By the way, he’s single…

Here’s a list of the industry professional involved:

Venue: Fox Theatre, Grand Salon Ballroom
Catering & Decor: A Divine Event
Cake: Sweet Sensations
Florals: Bloom Floral Design
DJ: Joel Rabe, Lethal Rhythms
Media Sponsor: Bride & Groom Planner
Media Sponsor: Occasions Magazine

You can view more images over at our Facebook gallery of this event.