Lori + Derek's Engagement Album is IN!

Yippie!!!!!!!!! Lori and Derek's engagement album came in this week (have I mentioned I *adore* the UPS carrier?).


The albums are bound, and super excellent quality.


The difference between these and the brag books (see post below) is that these are designed by our super graphic designer! The brag books are simply one photo/page. No fancy design.


Engagement and wedding albums are professionally designed by a graphic designer. There is more than one photo per page (for the most part ... we do have some album spreads that are double-truck or a single image, but ti's a part of the overall design vision).

A few of my favorite spreads in the album.


Many of our couples desire to use their engagement album as a sign in guest book. Lori and Derek, however, wanted to keep their stellar book pristine, opting to have it as an album. I just LOVE how it turned out!


Lastly, here's our stamp on the book ... or artistic signature, so to speak.

Products — Brag Book

The UPS man is my new best friend. Lately he's been bringing all sorts of goodies, including this brag book for my mother-in-law. :-)

Our brag books are a full cover, with photos printed directly onto the pages.


A brag book is a small book with one photo per page (as opposed to our regular albums which are designed by a graphic designer with multiple images per page, and a super sweet design).


They're super-cute at 5x5 inches! (but it you need them to be a little larger for, say your grandmother, we can make them 8x8 inches as well).


The first step in getting one of these beauties in your hot little hands is to make a favorites folder in your photo gallery. Then give me a shout and we'll get things rolling for you!

Album design process

A few weeks ago, my friend Heather posted a workflow on her blog to help let her clients know what's involved after we take your awesome wedding photos!

Mike and I have a good system down, so the editing and getting proofs to our clients is a fairly speedy process. Yay! But our albums on the other hand ... those are quite time-consuming. This post has a few photos I pulled from Mary and Ty's wedding. I was going back through the images and constantly found myself falling in love all over again with their photos. :-)

So, here's the breakdown of the album process:

1. We release the photos to our couple after the wedding.

2. The couple needs to go through and select favorite images for the album. This is a time-consuming process, and as a newlywed, I realize there is A LOT going on ... (this process takes anywhere from 3-8 months).

3. Karen takes the couples' favorite images, and adds any additional photos to the mix to tell the story of the wedding day.

4. Photos are sent to our awesome graphic designer.

5. Amy, our designer, works up a few layouts and sends them to us to be sure she's on the right track for the album (this takes about 2 weeks).

6. We OK the layouts, or send any changes back to Amy.

7. Amy finishes out the rest of the book (this takes up to a month, depending on the size of the album).

8. Amy sends the draft to us, we send back any edits to her.

9. Revisions are made (this takes up to 2 weeks, depending on the number of revisions).

10. We make a slideshow and send the proof to our couple.

11. The couple reviews the album and requests any additional changes (some couples do this very quickly, others take weeks ... so this part of the process is truly up to YOU!).

12. Final changes are made (this takes up to 2 weeks, depending on the number of revisions ... the fewer revisions, the quicker the turnaround).

13. Couple is shown the revised draft and approves it!

14. Album is sent to the printer and binder (this can take up to 2 months, depending on the time of year, and if it's a rush season).

As you can see, even if a couple is speedy at making decisions, this process can take 6 months ... which is why we tell our couples albums are often delivered on their one-year anniversary. Since the "traditional" first anniversary gift is paper, it's a nice time to deliver the album as well!

(side note, the bulk of our proofing, even our album proofing, is done online to preserve resources, yet another reason we're a member of Greener Photography!).

Robin + Chris' Wedding Album Preview II

Wow! Has it REALLY been a month since I shared a preview of Robin and Chris' wedding album?

Well, since then, we've finished it up and have been given the goahead from Robin and Chris!


It'll be a whopping 100 pages .... which is why it's taken so long. But I think once it's printed, everyone will agree ... the wait has been worth it!

Also, to view the entire album design, please CLICK HERE.

Greener Photography

Mike and I are proud to be the first members of Greener Photography in the state of Kansas.

Ways we are green at Heartland Photography:
- Exclusive online proofing. This eliminates hundreds of pages of unnecessary paper for thousands of wedding proofs.
- Recycling. The recycle bin under my desk is 3x the size of my trash can. Mike's a recycling junkie, too!
- Recycling - albums. One of our album lines contains recycled material, so your precious wedding memories are environmentally friendly, too! Just ask about this awesome feature!
- Reuse. When shipping out print orders, I always re-use the bubble wrap/packing material. No use in wastefully throwing it away!
- Online communication/information. At the bridal shows this year, we opted for a small pamphlet, with a direct link to our complete pricing guide online. This eliminated SO MUCH paper!
- Residential galleries. In working from our residential galleries, we eliminate the need to waste gas by driving to/from the office. :-) This also cuts the need to use additional natural gas/fossil fuels to heat/cool an additional space.

2009 Bride's Choice Awards!

Earlier this week, I received an e-mail from Wedding Wire, an online wedding planning Web site, informing us Heartland Photography received their Bride's Choice Award. We're honored, because our bride's happiness is of highest importance. And to be only three of 30+ area photographers with this distinction ... what an honor.

Please feel free to cruise on over and check out what our brides have to say about their wedding experience with Heartland Photography!

We'd also like to give a shout out to our friend, Diane, at Simiplistic Bride, for also receiving this award. It's well deserved!

For a full list of Wichita's Bride's Choice winners, please CLICK HERE.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

In November, I headed out to Topeka for a training seminar for an amazing organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. If the name sounds familiar, it is probably because this non-profit has been receiving a lot of press over the last year.

In a nutshell, the organization provides complimentary portrait sessions to families who have a stillborn or who will pass shortly after birth. There is a powerful article about the organization and process in Newsweek this week. There is also a sidebar about how the organization started.

(FYI: For privacy reasons, it is unlikely that I will ever post a photo from one of these sessions on our blog).

The training session covered a lot of the paperwork and housekeeping items that is involved, but I was incredibly lucky to be in an actual hospital, so the nursing staff at Stormont-Vail talk about the babies and their families, and what a valuable memento the photos are to the family. The above photo is from our hands-on session. We worked with both studio and natural lighting (but you know we're suckers for awesome natural light!).

One valuable tool the organization provides is a forum for parents, family and friends who have lost an infant ... please feel free to pass along this forum link. Also, I know a number of photographers read our blog ... if you're interested in getting involved, please feel free to contact me. The organization is SUCH a worthy cause and is always looking for volunteers. There are upcoming training sessions, and I'd love to help connect you with one of those if you're interested.

Pike

As I'd hoped, Lisa did in fact have me back to her place this weekend to meet Pike, a 5-year-old beagle/dachshund mix she recently rescued. Pike was found wandering along the Kansas Turnpike near Topeka and spent some time in the shelter there. He came to Wichita with another family who decided he demanded too much of their attention. Instead of seeing him back in a shelter, Lisa quickly offered to take him in, as she has done before. Having rescued a dog myself, one I consider very much to be a member of my family, I can't tell you how thrilled I was to hear this tale. Pike is so appreciative and well-behaved that I hope to have him over for a play date with my dog, Harley, soon. Thanks, again, Lisa for having me over to meet Pike. What a sweet dog!