Advantages of having a Second Shooter in a Wedding

A Second Shooter will take some extra candids while the Lead Photographer is covering a variety of situations, ex.: let’s say the Lead Photographer is shooting the Groom with the Groomsmen, meanwhile the Second Shooter could be taking pics of the Bride having fun with her Bridesmaids… Those are nice pics to have…

At a Church, the Lead Photographer will be shooting from the altar the entrance of family members, bridesmaids and the bride, meanwhile a Second Photographer can be in the back taking pics before the bride’s entrance, with her dad or mom, those moments of anxiety… And then, the beauty of the bride doing her entrance from the back…

There are super short ceremonies lasting only 10 to 15 minutes, with 2 Photogs, you sure get pics from all sides… One only Photographer can’t move that fast to cover everything in such tight timing…

When getting ready, ceremony and receptions are held in different locations, a Second Photographer can be the driver… So the Lead can jump out of the car and do his/her thing without wasting time looking for a parking spot…

Also, you get another point of view, remember each individual Photographer has his/her own personal style…

At Al Ojeda Photography, we always work as a team no matter how big or small a Wedding is !!!

Al Ojeda Photography

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Jen’s Cakes & Pastries

We know Jen through one previous Bride we both worked with, she delivered an impressive cupcake tower… Then she posted on Facebook she would be at Sunday at a Scarecrows in the Village Festival in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. It sounded like fun, so we decided to head towards south to pay her a visit…

Jen, Ida and some friends...

Jen has taken baking and pastry courses at the Institute for Culinary Education  and is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute in New York City. She runs her own business in the Princeton area specializing in cupcakes, pies and cakes… She uses only the finest ingredients: AA butter, organic flour, local eggs, and locally-sourced fruit whenever possible.

Lillipies, picture by Al Ojeda Photography

She has invented the lillipies… What are lillipies ? In her own words: “Lillipies are quite simply “little pies”, the size and shape of cupcakes. My oldest son has always been a pie-lover and would far prefer apple pie to any other dessert.  When it was time to bake his birthday cupcakes for school, I figured I’d tinker with my own mother’s apple pie recipe and try and bake a cupcake made of pie instead of cake.  And the “lillipie” was born.  My clients enjoyed them so much, I put them on the menu!”

 

 

Jen's Cakes & Pastries logo is her son's portrait of her...

 

 

While chatting, Jen gave us a beautiful box with assorted apple cumb lillipies and mini brownies for us to dig into… They were out of this world…

Jen from Jen's Cakes & Pastries

Brides & Grooms: Check Jen’s Cake & Pastries !!!

Her info: www.lillipies.com – lillipies@yahoo.com – 609 240 7738

 

Pictures by Al Ojeda Photography

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Ninety Acres at Natirar Wedding Photos, Peapack-Gladstone

Continuing our blog posts of different venues in New Jersey, here are some thoughts and wedding photos of Ninety Acres at Natirar, in Peapack Gladstone.

Located in the scenic hills of Somerset County, there are plenty inside the building or outside spots where a Couple can have their dreamed pictures taken, especially if there is enough time to make use of all the stunning surrounding areas…

Our Bride and Groom had an intimate fall wedding. The ceremony was held outside, which can give you an outstanding view to another part of the restaurant. Dinner was held at “The Club”, a nice room with brick and wood walls, there is also a small bar and the wine pantry which is visible behind  thick glass.

Ninety Acres is not a traditional venue, we loved the fact it has a modern stylish approach reminiscent of NYC trendy restaurants…

We do have to mention the food. As appetizers, we ordered the laughing bird shrimp cocktail with avocado and for our main course, though we are not big fish people, the sautéed king salmon served with spinach, roasted potatoes and a delicious tarragon sauce… The salmon was perfectly cooked… It was so yummy, we didn’t regret a bit going for it.

Ninety Acres Wedding Photos – Natirar Wedding Photos

Pictures by Al Ojeda Photography – New Jersey Wedding Photographer – Covering the Tri-State Area – Destination Weddings

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

 

Wedding Photography and how not sticking to the planned timings could affect the outcome of the Wedding Pictures…

This is something we came across in several Weddings. We had two Brides having make up and hair done at another location and were getting dressed at the venue, we were supposed to wait at the venue for them to arrive at a certain time, they came 2 hours late… so we ended up shooting 6 hours instead of the 8 we were booked for… We can’t enumerate all situations but, we’ve seen numerous other types of lateness… 

You hire a Photographer for a certain amount of hours, you plan your Big Day minute to minute… But, what happens when for different reasons everything turns late and the timings are not followed?

 

Usually the Photographer is the one who is going to have her/his/their matters complicated… With less time left, the Photographer will take a lesser amount of pics of the Bride alone or with her Mom/Dad/Bridesmaids or will rush to get all others pictures taken… and most likely, the Bride & Groom will end up enjoying very little of their cocktail hour…  

 

Suggestion: Brides and Grooms, confirm timings with all your vendors, make sure they will stick to the timings, because otherwise you may have fewer opportunities to have taken all pics you wanted before or after the Ceremony… Make the Dollars spent on your Photographer worth it… Your Photographer shouldn’t be responsible for situations that are out of her/his/their control… 

 Al Ojeda Photography

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Wedding Photography and the importance of doing an Engagement Session

Advantages of doing E-Pics:

1 – Get acquaintance with your Wedding Photographer, a must after only a meeting for about 30 to 45 minutes when the booking, it provides you a fantastic chance to get so much more familiar with each other.

2 – It will let the Photographer understand which are your dreamed photographs for the upcoming Big Day… The Photographer will be able to evaluate in deep in which direction your style goes and then, emphasize on those pics in your actual wedding.

3 – Unless you are one of those lucky people who is naturally at ease in front of the camera, chances are that the first time your Photographer points a lens in your way, you will be a little bit shy… But relax, the E-Session will help you loosen up and feel comfortable in front of the camera.

What to do in order to get the most from an Engagement Session:

1-     Define your style… romantic, fun, candid, serious…

2-     Find a location that represents who you are or that means something to you, maybe where he proposed? Or your first date place? Or that site that you just happen to love !!!

3-     Have a plan or theme, work it with your Photographer…

4-     Props ??? They are so much fun !!! Bicycles, umbrellas, hats, incorporating your pet, etc.

5-     Think on Clothing (maybe 2 choices?) and HairStylist – Make-Up for the girls.

6-     Think on poses that reflect your personalities – Though we strongly suggest a variety of shoots… Do lots of nose rubbing, kissing, smiling, etc. But emphasizing in your personal style…

How can you use your E-Photos:

1 – You can use the pictures for your save the dates mailings.

2 – Have a signature frame to be displayed in your wedding for your guests to sign.

3 – Include a pic on the wedding program.

4 – Make a memorable guest book.

5 – Why not, a different pic framed as table numbers.

Al Ojeda Photography covers the TriState Area… Happy to do Destination Weddings

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Wedding Photography – Film vs. Digital

Having started our Photography journey in the Film era, makes us think in the differences between the old fashioned Film and the Digital SLR era…

Film would come as color, B&W, slides or even Polaroid… They would come as 35mm, 120mm, large formats… You used less batteries… You had the beauty of wider spectrum of grays, middle tones… But, you were not able to check if a pic was well exposed or out of focus (no liquid crystal display), it was a matter of developing your film to find out what you got… The dark room was a pleasure to work at, you could put hours and days to get perfect copies…

Digital is a complete different concept. SLR cameras can capture raw, jpg large/fine, large/med, large/low, etc, different files/size images… You can take more pictures, since you don’t have that “film cost” issue… So, you went from taking 200/400 pics in a Wedding, to as many as you need… You take all pics in color and later on, in your new dark room: the computer, turn them into B&W, sepia and you can play with a variety of enhancements… With Digital, you tend to store your images in a DVD, CD, external disk, or keep them on files in your PC/laptop/Mac, you actually make less copies and just go through them on a screen…

For Wedding Photography purposes, Digital has become a friendlier way of taking care of business, but for those who started in the Film era, it’s a bitter-sweet feeling of leaving behind your first love…

At Al Ojeda Photography, we are committed to quality Photography Services…

Info: 908 240 3240 – ida@alojeda.com

Extending Free E-Session for Wedding Photo Services Booked during October, 2010

We are extending the Free Engagement Session when booking us with any of our Wedding Photography Packages that inlcude an album to all Contracts signed during October, 2010. Just mention you saw this freebie in our Blog, Twitter or Facebook. 

Includes: 1 hour engagement session at location, a CD with selected and edited images in high and low resolution (printing and online purposes) as well as an online gallery. Copyrights to images. Travel fees may apply.

Remember, E-Sessions helps the Photographer understand your style, getting familiar with each other, and you get to have fun while you learn a lot about how to pose, which is a fantastic training for the Big Day!!!

Al Ojeda Photography

Info: ida@alojeda.com – 9082403240