Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Real Emotion.

December 28, 2010

Written by Stephanie of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

During the wedding day my goal is to capture real emotion, the real moments that make you feel something when you look back on the images.

I once received an inquiry that changed the way I looked at a wedding day. The groom asked me to “capture everything we wouldn’t be able to see”.

Sometimes I get so focused on creating beautiful portraits for the bride and groom and making sure that we have every grouping of family known to man that we all miss the little moments that are happening all around us.

In some ways this is just as much about real life as it is about wedding photography. I was a concert the other night and there were so many people trying to get a picture on their camera that they weren’t really there and in the moment and enjoying the show. They were so concerned with capturing the moment to spark the memory that they weren’t living and creating the moment. Everyday, but especially on your wedding day you should enjoy every moment, seen or unseen. Experience everything, don’t get so caught up in making sure everything’s perfect, what’s done is done and all the planning in the world can’t change anything at this point. So just accept it and enjoy every minute of your wedding, it’s the start of a new life together that should be celebrated and captured.

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Outside of the Box.

December 15, 2010

By Stephanie of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

Sometimes you just have to think a little outside the box!

I’m sure that when everyone is searching for their wedding photographer and once you’ve made that decision of who’s just right, there are a few pictures that you saw that made you say “I want THAT picture!” and I’m sure that’s a lot of what made you  hire us.

However, no two shoots are the same (and it would be oh so boring if they were). That’s one of the difference of what I do (be it a wedding or a portrait) than working in a studio and why I choose location photography. You never know what you’re going to get.I could go to the same location at the exact same time (and date) that I previously and guarantee that we wouldn’t get the same shot.

You have to go into your engagement session and your wedding with a little bit of an open mind. It’s great to tell us certain shots you like and most importantly why you like them, because that will help us to get you the best images.

Now, although you won’t get the shot that you fell in love with when you booked us, you will get images that you are more in love with, because they capture your love! (and most of the time my favorite images are what I most recently shot!)

So, with the thinking outside the box theme, I’m sharing with you a Bat Mitzvah! This wouldn’t be what most people think of for a Bat Mitzvah but I love it!

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Engaged in New York City.

December 14, 2010

Written by Stephanie of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

So, you’re engaged?! Congratulations! There is nowhere better to take your engagement photos than in New York City. There are so many backdrops to choose from and locations you would never dream of that are truly amazing.

I always encourage couples to do their engagement session somewhere that means something to them. For instance J & M are getting married out west and went to school in the south but are starting their lives together here, in Manhattan and that’s something to be documented!

It doesn’t matter what your reasoning is just choose somewhere that has a story, and if it doesn’t already have a story go and make one! I just want every couple to be able to look back on these pictures, and remember the amazing moments they experienced while capturing them.

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Selecting the Photography Package That Fits.

December 3, 2010

By Stephanie of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

Now that you’ve figured out who you’d like to hire, you need to choose a package. Again, this can be totally and completely overwhelming. Some photographers let you pick exactly what you want while others have some best selling combinations and some don’t give you very many choices.  What it comes down to is what do you need and want from the photography on your wedding day and what is your budget?

A lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about wedding photographers.  They think we only work one day  and think it’s a lot of money that they are paying for 8 (or so) hours of photography.  Even though you only see us for the 8 hours the day of your wedding there is  a lot more hours of work that go into your wedding photography. On average we spend about 25 hours on each wedding before we even think about designing an album. There are emails and phone calls to answer, preparing  equipment, charging batteries, getting directions, shooting your wedding, downloading your images, editing and perfecting your images, blogging, ordering your proof album, uploading to your proofing gallery. This doesn’t include if we have the chance to get in a fabulous engagement session. Phew, I’m exuasted just writing all that …and then there is the album.

I meet with a lot of clients who don’t think that they need or want an album, and that is an option which I offer, coverage only. But then, your beautiful pictures sit on my computer and I get to enjoy them everyday until you decide if you’d like an album or just some prints or to purchase the DVD.

I always encourage people to get an album. They are the final piece of the puzzle, they tell the story of your day, this is why you hired a photographer in the first place.

The album is a large portion of the cost of your package as there is a lot of time that goes into the albums as well as the album itself being expensive. I can only speak to the amount of time I spend on an album, but here’s a bit of a breakdown…

Once all the images are culled (edited), I go through and pick out the pictures and design them to best tell the story of your wedding day, then we go through the process of approval, uploading to my album company and keeping track of the status of your album. Again, all this may not seem like that much but depending on how many images we use for your album this can take around 15 hours.

So each wedding is about 40 hours of work!

The best thing to do to figure out what package is best for you is to have an honest talk with your photographer and yourself. You need to be honest about what your looking for from your photographer and your budget.

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Tips for Choosing a Wedding Photographer.

November 30, 2010

Written by Stephanie of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

Picking your wedding photographer can be a daunting task.  Most of you have never had to hire a photographer for anything before and are investing a lot of money in capturing your day.

Please remember, and it’s been said many times before, after you’ve danced your last dance and the flowers have dried, your photographs are what you have left. We know it’s a lot of money you’re spending to capture all the details and the moments you didn’t have the chance to see. I hope that looking back on your pictures sparks the memories and feelings from your wedding day.

Make sure you like the style of the photographers you are looking to hire, I know that should go without saying but what I mean is if there are things you like and don’t see in their portfolio don’t expect to see them in your wedding proofs.

When we show work on out website, blog and sample albums they are what we consider to be our best work and how we typically shoot and design albums.

A large part of most photographers packages are the albums. There’s a large amount of time that goes into perfecting the album pictures and designing it to tell your story. All the companies that I work with offer handmade high quality leather albums. This comes at a premium, but they are beautiful and will last for generations. Not only should you take into consideration the style of the photographers shooting, but also how they process the images and design their albums.

I prefer very modern and clean albums with lots of negative space, I don’t try and fill the negative space with a faded background image because thats not my style.  If this is something you know you like and want in your album, we probably aren’t the best match. Albums are offered in so many varieties of cover options that it shouldn’t affect your decision. In the end, I want everyone to have the album that they’ve always dreamed of and will look back on in years from now and still love, so find what you love!

The day of the wedding you are probably going to spend more time with your photographer than anyone else.  In most cases we are  with you when you’re getting ready to capture moments like your mom zipping up your dress and telling you how beautiful you are. So, the best thing you can do when picking your photographer is to make sure that you are comfortable with your photographer. Once you’ve found a few different photographers who’s style you love you should see who you like best, who you click with and who you’d like to spend your wedding day with.

In the end, as long as your meeting with photographers who’s style you like, being comfortable around your photographer will help you get the best pictures possible.

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Introducing… Stephanie Reinish.

November 19, 2010

Written by Stephanie Reinish of Stephanie Reinish Photography.

Hey there New York City Brides, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Stephanie, the photographer and owner behind Stephanie Reinish Photography!

So what to tell you about myself. I’m a hopeless romantic, I love love! When I see a couple in love strolling around this amazing city, I smile, they make me happy.  Love is why I got into this business.

I came to New York for college and stayed for a boy (of course). We now live happily ever after in Long Island City (just on the other side of the river) with Baxter, our miniature schnauzer and Mambo our cat.

I’ve been a photographer since my grandparents bought be my first camera 15 years ago. I loved freezing that moment that you could never get back.  Since starting my buisness I see things differently, when I’m visiting a new place I see what amazing photography locations there are and how amazing the light is.

Feel free to ask me anything from the best time and location (an hour before sunset) to take picture to my favorite flair of ice cream (mint chocolate chip!). You can email me at hello@stephaniereinish.com and hopefully you’re question will make it onto the blog.

xoxo,
Stephanie

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