Anyways, Tama had an awesome wedding with quite the bridal party & a “House Party” – apparently this is a Texas thing  A true Texas girl, she had a great show of support from all her friends & family – many of them also coming in from Texas.  To make it even better… Dustin is from a little town not too far from where I grew up in North Carolina, so needless to say I felt right at home!  An added bonus, another one of my beautiful brides (who is next on the “To Blog” list), Kristin, was a guest at the wedding.  I love it when that happens!

We had been hit with a little cold snap before the wedding (although nothing like the cold we’re suffering through now!), and even had a cold windy snap after wards, but as it goes… the weather was absolutely amazing the day of the wedding.  It never fails  And of course, it’s always a little windier on the beaches, but of course… perfect perfect weather, and a perfect beautiful breeze.

So let’s get on with this show and see some pictures from the day of!  Starting with my favorite trend of 2009… Shoes to match your colors!

What an amazing couple Dustin & Tama make… you can see sparks fly when they’re together

Here’s the couple, Kristin & Chris, who I had the pleasure of photographing at their wedding just after this wedding.  I love this picture because every time I see it I can’t help but think “Sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don’t”.  That totally sums this couple up lol.

Getting back to Tama & Dustin – this next picture just gives me goosebumps.  You’d think nobody else in the world existed in this moment…

As you can see, the beaches, the ballroom everything was gorgeous.  If you’re considering having a wedding locally or even a destination wedding, this is a fantastic place!

Check it out:

Embassy Suites by Hilton, Destin/Mirimar Beach Hotel
www.embassydestin.com

570 Scenic Gulf Drive
Destin, FL 32550
(850) 337-7000

And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a little video.

Tama & Dustin – Married! from Bella Vita Photography on Vimeo.

So – enough of my babbling – and lets see their family & their little bitty cutie (who as you’ll see, likes a high sodium diet of Florida Sand!).

As you can see, he loves the beautiful white sand of Destin so much, he even was willing to take it off Daddy’s feet!  He probably won’t remember just how much he loved the Florida Beaches, but at least he’ll have this as proof when he grows up!  All in all, we had a great time, and the gallery will be online soon!  We’ll have more family beach portraits from our beautiful Destin Beaches to come!

]]> http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/09/destin-beach-portrait-photographer/feed/ 0 http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/08/destin-weddings-sticker-shock/ http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/08/destin-weddings-sticker-shock/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:06:08 +0000 admin http://bellavitaphotos.wordpress.com/?p=166 So, one of the interesting things about being a photographer is interacting with people.  And I love how in one day, I can meet such a wide range of people, and get such a wide range of responses to the same statements!  I can quote someone the fee for a wedding in one breath, and if they’ve searched around for wedding photographers any – they barely bat an eye.  But then you come across a young bride, early in her shopping experience, or even a family shopping for some quality family portraits – and quoting a  $100-$250 photoshoot can send them into a whirlwind from simple sticker shock.  Add to that, we are a major Destination Wedding location, and it widens the array of people that we talk to on any given day.

So… I thought since we are approaching one of my busiest times of year – wonderful fall wedding season – that I would quote a wonderful article by a group of photographers, Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter, about WHY professional photographers cost so much.  It’s been quoted and referenced by numerous wedding & portrait photographers, and in the world of portrait photographers is widely known & seen in wedding photographers forums & in circles of professional photographers.  It’s nothing new – we can recognize the face of sticker shock when we see it – and it’s not unusual for the very next bride to hear the same price & breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t *quite* as high as she’d feared.  What a contrast!

So for your reading pleasure… WHY are professional photographers (especially wedding photographers) so expensive?

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home “photo printers”, when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time – How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here’s why.Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph, you’re paying for time and expertise.

First, let’s look at the actual time involved. If you don’t read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 – 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive- 3 – 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs- 2
- 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.For an eight hour wedding:

- I won’t bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.Now for the expertise.Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let’s not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera – and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way – the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.What about the cheap studios at the mall? Please don’t compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won’t come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you’ll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you’re there, you’ll also spend $200 on other things. They don’t have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.

Conclusion
We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

And soon… I’ll be blogging a little about what the *real* differences are in professionally printed images vs. your local lab like at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc… with hard core proof!
Angela

]]> http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/07/alys-beach-childrens-portraits/feed/ 0 http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/07/grayton-beach-childrens-portraits/ http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/07/grayton-beach-childrens-portraits/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:48:43 +0000 admin http://bellavitaphotos.wordpress.com/?p=86 So not too long ago I headed out to Grayton Beach and Alys Beach, just past Watercolor & Seaside along 30-A in Walton County to do some children’s portraits, which fell under our “Celebrating Adoption” portrait sessions.

Here’s an update/sneak peek as I upload all the pictures from this session just a couple weeks ago. View this Post

Tani & Brayden were absolute dolls. They’re not twins, just really close in age, adopted from Russia. They were such fun, and while I normally would post some really sweet & sentimental pictures, I’m gonna break the mold today. Why, you ask? Well, because while Tani & Brayden were certainly sweet, they were two of the funniest kids you’ll ever meet! Now, Brayden was a little sweetheart, he will certainly be a little ladies man before too long – but Tani reminds me of my daughter. She wears the pants for sure, and has the funniest & goofiest little personality. The world is her stage for sure! Here is a sneak peek of what it’s like to hang around Tani for a bit:

Yes, they’re definitely two peas in a pod!

And heres a picture that normally wouldn’t have made it through the editing process, but considering Tani’s face, well who can resist…

My littlest baby, Azlin, often sits on my lap as I edit photos late in the evening, and she saw this and giggled her little behind off. All she kept saying was “Baby punny mommy, baby sooooo punny”.

(For those not accustomed to little ones – punny is toddler-speak for funny!)

Ok, now in all seriousness… I can’t just post these without at least a few of the sweet sentimental ones!  After doing the pictures you just saw with our portable studio set up at their home off 30-A, we headed out to Alys Beach.  If you haven’t been out to Alys Beach, it’s a definite must-see when visiting our beautiful area especially if you’re already in Walton County & on 30-A.  So many people already know Seaside, which is a beautiful community on it’s own.  But take Seaside, less crowded, and certainly as beautiful if not more so, in a very modern, elegant & sleek Mediterranean way… and you have Alys Beach in all it’s wonderful Glory!  It’s got a fabulous little children’s park, and a lush green lawn that walks right up to the white sandy beaches.  Anyways, here they are with their sweet sentimental moments out in Alys Beach:

Alys Beach has the most wonderful architecture and doors that are made for taking pictures:

Who can resist baby feet:

As you can see, Alys Beach is almost as beautiful as these two cuties!  It’s nice because it’s so not crowded, but in the same token… not just any photographers are allowed to shoot.  Even we had to call ahead and get special permission before shooting out there!

Ok, More coming soon with a sneak peek of them playing in the park & on the big winding hill!

]]> http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/07/grayton-beach-childrens-portraits/feed/ 0 http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/02/childrens-portrait-photographer/ http://bellavitaphotos.com/blog/2008/02/childrens-portrait-photographer/#comments Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:05:10 +0000 admin http://bellavitaphotos.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/more-fishing/ Dalton Fishing… hes just too cute for words!   When his mom said she wanted his portraits done of him fishing, I knew it woudl be awesome.

This is down a neat little path up here in Crestview with an awesome creek. It almost looks artificial it is so perfect, but I assure you – this is the “real thing” – a “true” little fishing hole. Perfect for first time fisherman!