The Madison Hotel Wedding Photos

Today we are featuring another wedding we shoot at The Madison Hotel in Morristown. Maryana and Eric were such a sweet couple to work with… They met in Boston while studying and decided to tie the knot in New Jersey where their families live… They would come on weekends for the big day planning… Our friend Georgianne, from Monday Morning Flowers, took care of their flower needs with beautiful bouquets and centerpieces delivered… Everything came out great… Here are the pictures to prove so with the Ceremony and Reception held at the Conservatory…

Trust your memories to Pros…

Al Ojeda Photography –New JerseyWedding Photographers – Covering the Tri-State Area – Destination Weddings

Contact: 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

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

Understanding Professional Wedding Photographers Costs

We got an email from a prospective Bride asking why Wedding Photo Services were so “costly”… I guess she was shopping around and found a variety of pricings from Professionals to Amateurs, not knowing how to difference them, and made her wondered on why such differences…

So, we came out with this list of Professional Photographers costs:

1 – Equipment: Professional DSLR Cameras, good quality and variety of lenses, batteries, memory cards, various flashes, Computers, Photoshop or similar software, external hard drives, CDs or DVDs, CDs or DVDs cases, etc. Remember, equipment needs annual maintenance, just like a car and that has additional costs as well.

2 – Websites costs and internet connection

3 – Advertising

4 – Car – gas and maintenance

5 – Insurance

6 – Office supplies (business cards, paper, envelops, printers, ink, etc.)

7 – Mailing costs

8 – Album, prints, proof books

9 – Cell phones

And the list goes on an on…

Also, the Photographer does not get paid XXXX for X hours of work. The Photographer got paid for X hours of shooting… and a lot more hours of “behind the scene’s” work such as backups, processing, meeting with the couples, traveling, putting up galleries, etc…

Finally, the “artistic” view of a Professional Photographer that requires talent, knowledge and experience which is Priceless…

Al Ojeda Photography

Contact info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 2403240

Wedding Photography and a Graphic Designer Bride

So this Bride is a fantastic Graphic Designer. Her Wedding was held at the Jersey Shore. Her vision has been transmited in these pics taken by Al Ojeda Photography… Cool colors, logos and sea horses combined in a creatively manner…

A gallery of her view !!!

Invitations !!!

Al Ojeda Photography

Contact info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Wedding Photography, September Promotion – Free Engagement Session

Al Ojeda Photography is again offering a Free Engagement Session. Go for any of our Wedding Photography Packages that inlcude an album. Offer good for all Wedding Contracts signed during September, 2010.

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.

Engagement Sessions are a less pressure way for couples to have fun while getting pics taken. It also helps establishing a deeper relationship with the Photographer… The couple will be more familiar in front of a camera, which will traduce in more unique results during the actual wedding day.

Contact info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

The Shadowbrook Wedding Photos

Wedding photos taken at The Shadowbrook in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Lovely couple… Lovely place.

The Shadowbrook Wedding Photo

The Shadowbrook Wedding Photo

The Shadowbrook Wedding Photo

The Oak Room, The Shadowbrook Wedding Photo

 Al Ojeda Photography

New Jersey Wedding Photographer – Covering the Tri-State Area – Destination Weddings

Contact info: ida@alojeda.com – 908 240 3240

Photographers: Another E-Scam

It looks like scammers are working hard to get us, in less than a week we got another one. If you receive an email similar to the following, don’t respond:

comments = Dear Al Ojeda,

This is a requisition for your fotography services.  I am Steve Huso. Based in London.  My wedding is coming up on  October 9, 2010. Pleese I will want to hire your service to be the photographer on my wedding day in London.  I am sorting an america photographer because I really want to make the wedding event a wonderfull day for my American fiance.

You will cover the whole events from Getting ready, Ceremony, and the Reception.  I want you  to capture the atmosphere of the event so that we can relive  the special day moment by moment, photo by photo, for a lifetime. Capture all those little moments that make the wedding day incredible. Also, I will want you to make an album from the event.I will prefer popular flush mount albums that are custom designed.

I am  of the opinion that you are capable to provide the incredible services as requested.Please accept my sincerest appreciation on behalf of my fiance, in advance for your willingness to render your services.

Kind Regard,

Steve Huso

We do have a wedding on the day posted, but anyway by curiosity, googled the request for photo services because it sounded suspicious… Brides and/or Grooms have a very different approach when looking for photo services…

Al Ojeda Photography

Photographers: be aware of E-Scams

Most Photographers know about them, but for those who have never gotten one, here is what we do: Whenever we receive a weird-suspicous kind of email resquesting photo services, we go immediately to google, type any address, name from it and check if anyone else has had received one of them. Usually, we are right, and can read in any photography related forum that someone else has received similar “emails”…  Trust your guts, don’t be fooled.

Here is the email we received a couple days ago:

PHOTO SERVICE REQUEST

Greetings!
My name is Joe and my wife’s name is Pamela, we live and work as wine sellers(wholesale/retail) in England and China and will be relocating to the State of New Jersey, USA on the 12th of October,2010.

I came across your contact information on the internet after my online search for a photographer and I hereby write to request if you will be available to offer 4hours of photographic services for the celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary on our arrival to the States. Myself,my wife,my lovely daughter-Debbie and about 12 family members and friends will be present.

Could you please provide answers to these questions if you are interested in this offer

1)Will you be available to provide this service on any date between October 15th and 20th? if so what precise date will be fine for you so as to include this in our plan?
2)What is your address location in New Jersey so as to estimate how close you are to us ?

Should you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on my phone no: +447405591742               +447405591742 

Regards,
Joe Akins
27 Camberwell Green,
London, SE5 7AN

We found this same email with different addresses on it. As you can see, ours is from somone located in “London” (the address is actually from Haart, a  Realtor Company) whereas other colleagues have gotten the exact same but from some country in Africa, Asia, etc.

Al Ojeda Photography