4 Tips To Help Choose A Wedding Photographer

Here are 4 tips to help you choose a wedding photographer

I’ve seen online that lot of brides and grooms-to-be have been asking how to choose a wedding photographer. I’ve come up with 4 simple tips to help you choose who would make a great fit.

1. Personality - You’re going to be with your photographer more than you are going to be with anyone else that day, even your soon to be significant other. Sorry, you’re stuck with us :P We’ll be photographing from the beginning of the day until the very end and you want to be sure that you have someone there that keeps calm, stays professional, and enjoys the day. I always recommend having conversations and meetups beforehand so you can get to know our personality as well as who we are as a professional. Communication is a big factor in the client | Photographer relationship. Also, engagement sessions are a huge plus, you get gorgeous photos and you can see if you mesh with your photographer before the big day and see how they work! Check out this blog post for more information > Why Do Photographers Recommend Engagement Sessions. <

2. Style - Every photographer has their own style of photography and editing so you’ll have to do your research in regards to what you prefer. The styles range from cinematic, romantic, photojournalistic, light and airy, documentary, dark and moody, etc. I like to describe my style as being vibrant, photojournalist, impactful, and fun.

3. Experience - Time for more research! Isn’t that exciting! At least you have a lot of resources to help you. I love the internet. Experience is going to differ depending on the type of person you hire to be your photographer. Less expensive options might not be as attentive during the time leading up to the wedding, they may offer less communication. More expensive options could offer printed, tangible heirlooms so you have something you can pass down to your children. Find out what the experience is going to be like when you have your initial conversations with your photographer. See if they have that energy you’re looking for. It all comes down to what you value.

4. Portfolio - This is going to be the fun part! Scour the interwebs and find all the profiles you love. I say ‘love’ because you want to love your wedding photos. The best way I found to do this is in a Google Sheet or a tool like that so you can come back to it later. Check their portfolio images but also see an album. A lot of the time, blogs have a bunch of images you can see from a wedding, for example, > Stefanie + Jesse's Bella Collina Wedding. < Stefanie + Jesse’s blog has a bunch of images that aren’t in the portfolio tab of our website. Enjoy this part of the wedding planning journey. Picture you in these images, imagine where you’ll hang them up in your home, and how excited you’ll be to relive your wedding day!

I hope you enjoyed these 4 tips to help choose a wedding photographer!

7 TIPS FOR GETTING INTO WEDDING SHAPE | Part 2

Hey everyone! He is the continuation of "7 TIPS FOR GETTING INTO WEDDING SHAPE" for you to enjoy! If you missed Part 1, it's in an earlier blog post. Enjoy the read!

4: Hold yourself accountable:

Make sure when you start any new diet and exercise program that you keep track of your progress and keep up with writing in your fitness journal if you start one. Keep track as to what you eat every day. They even have apps for these things now, but I like the idea of writing notes in my phone or on paper. There’s no need to download another app that’ll take up space on my phone and it gets the job done. Remember, holding yourself accountable means acknowledging when you have an “off day.” If you ate an extra slice of pizza or drank a soda when you knew you shouldn’t keep track of that. If your goal is to look and feel your best know that the power is in your hands. Whether you lose 5 pounds or 50 lbs. before your wedding mental clarity is important. Know that you hold the key to a healthier life, and your success depends on yourself at the end of the day.

5: Don’t be afraid to ask for support:  

You are responsible for your own weight loss journey, but when you join a group or work out with a friend it does help the process for many people. Your friends and family may have the same reservations as you do when it comes to starting a new routine. Find someone you trust to workout with you and help each other achieve goals. Sometimes having someone in your corner helps the process. Better yet, see if your significant other wants to join a program with you. It could be a way to get even closer before the big day!

6: Don’t be afraid of failure:

Stick to your diet as much as possible. Eat vegetables daily and eat lean meats or go vegetarian temporarily if you can. Never beat yourself up about the occasional cheat day. We all have our moments. You might be surprised to learn that the body does well when put into shock every occasionally. If you’re eating a strict diet of nothing but vegetables and lean meat and you have a night where you eat a cup of low fat ice cream it’s not the end of the world. In fact, it may give you a small boost in your metabolism. Just do not let that one night a week be an everyday habit.

7: Get a trainer if you can:

Sometimes having a workout buddy is good for motivation but when you get closer to the big day you may need a little extra help to get down those extra pounds. When working out on your home or with a friend isn’t enough you may need the assistance of a professional. Finding a trainer may seem like a difficult task, but I find that word of mouth is the best thing. Make posts on Facebook, check websites, or go to your local gym for the perfect trainer. Many will offer your first session for free or half off so deciding on who will work best with you is mostly affordable and easy!

Remember, trainer or not muscle is denser than fat, so you've most likely turned some fat into lean muscle (no matter what the scale says)b by your wedding day, if you’ve stuck with some workout regime. Visualize yourself coming down the aisle in the best shape ever and don't give up! Even if you haven't lost weight, you should be seeing some results in your muscle tone by the time you get to your big day.  

Thank you, Katrina, for the amazing information! For those interested in contacting Katrina, her information is listed below :)

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Katrina Tecxido

www.fanfitgo.com

www.facebook.com/fanfitgo

www.instagram.com/fanfitgo_katrina

15 Things You Didn't Know About Me

ABOUT ME

Hey everyone! I hope you all are having an awesome day. I just wanted to post this About Me blog so you get a chance to know me a little better. For more about me, check out http://www.sonacityphotography.com/thephotog/. Without further adieu...Here's a list.

1. I never got a referral in school and only got detention once! I was bad, I just never got caught :P

2. I used to rap and produce music all the time. I even got the opportunity to open up for Afroman with my group "The Out Crowd"

3. I'm a classically trained pianist

4. I'm addicted to traveling, I've been to Puerto Rico, Israel, Mexico, Amsterdam, Switzerland, England, Vienna and can't wait to visit more places

5. My girlfriend and I have a pet hedgehog named Wanheda. I love her sooo much :D

6. Basketball is my favorite sport. Unfortunately, the Magic aren't doing so well

7. Whiskey is my drink of choice but I also enjoy craft beer

Lemus has an amazing style and there are always hidden meanings in his work

8. I'm addicted to collecting art (I love local artists). Check out Lemus https://www.facebook.com/germanlemusart/ 

9. Models that have hair ties on their wrist while photographing is a huge pet peeve (Don't worry, I'll let you know) | People driving 10mph under the speed limit in the left lane is also a huge pet peeve | I also despise pickles. lol

10. Penguins are my favorite animal 

11. Green was my favorite color growing up but now it's purple

12. My girlfriend is a trained opera singer and yes, I've recorded her for a rap/country song :)

13. I love themes...Bars, Parties, Weddings. In college, I would throw themed parties which actually resulted in a couple of people dating long term and soon they'll be getting married!!! :D

Me and my love getting our archery on for Valentine's Day

14. I teach myself a lot | I wish I knew more about astronomy

15. The people in my life mean everything to me

What are some of your favorite things to do? What music do you like? Let us know a little bit about you in the comment section below :) 

Preparing For Your Session | Part 1 'The Client'

You're gonna look great! 

There are many different kinds of sessions that photographer's offer. The first thing you should do is understand what kind of session you are having, don't worry, most of the session names are pretty straight forward. This allows you to get into the right mindset and distinguish the different variables that set your session apart from the others. For example, if you are meeting with the photographer for an engagement session, you want to look beautiful and in love. A lot of the time, you won't be posing in an engagement session looking like you're about to go to a Halloween party. However, if that is how the two of you met, by all means, I think that would be an awesome session and I would love to photograph it! If you're preparing for an editorial session, you'll want to check out different magazines and I don't have to remind you how wonderful Pinterest for ideas. Just be aware that the photographer is also an artist, and while getting creative ideas, will most likely not want to copy the exact photo that you have. Here are some more words and pictures!

Whoops! :P

Confidence!

There is a laundry list of items you could think about to get ready for your session, but the best thing to do is keep it simple. 

1. Be you and be comfortable. Being yourselves will overall get you the best photos! The clothes that you wear should reflect your personalities and how you see yourselves :) They should also be clothes that you can move around in, play in, and work your body into different poses. Don't be boring like a plain white shirt with khakis, but venture to find your clothing spirit animal, just keep it in the same color family so it's not chaos.

Don't have one of those moments like when you look back at your high school yearbook and think "What was I doing!?" We've all been there. 

2. Now, I always carry certain props with me but that's because I feel they bring a certain energy to an image. It's like putting italics on a word :P 

Now, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet so they chose Daphne and Myles as names

I do ask my clients to bring items with them that they like. ^^^ Amber and Jimmy brought baby blocks to spell out their baby's name. #SoCute

3.  Most likely the photographer will have a great location set out for your already, but if you have a special place that you'd like your session to be, let them know! We love going to places that make you happy, it makes for better images!

4. Think about how you'd like to display the images you've taken! The products Sonacity Photography offers range from small prints, to albums, to large prints on metal! How big do you want that canvas of your family to be? Would you like to be able to see all the photos in an album? Remember, these moments become family heirlooms that will be treasured by your children and grandchildren. So be sure to make ridiculous faces and stick your tongue out at them. 

5. Trust your photographer :) -Thanks, Carlos Romero!

What are you thoughts? How do you get ready?

If you have any questions or feel I've left something out, feel free to contact me! The inquiry page is really close by :)

Are you stress free about your wedding day?

Awesome Wedding Intro!

Ladies and gentlemen, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. YOUR WEDDING DAY IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN! Will it be hectic, hell yeah. and you should be ready for that. Prepare. Take some yoga and relaxation classes. Get your pilates on. Should it be stressful? Hell no. You know how people get these gorgeous, smiling photographs on the craziest and most hectic day of their lives? Besides downing a bottle or so of wine, half a bottle of whiskey, a pack of Yuengling, and taking a Xanax bar or two, they remember they get to spend the rest of their life with the person they love. You've spent months and/or years planning this day to be perfect, but the honest truth is that who knows how the weather will turn out, how traffic will be...damn you I4, or what will happen that is out of your control. You can only control how you perceive the day. Fact, you will be surrounded by people you love, people who you admire and who admire you. People who want the best for you and want you to be happy. These are the truths that make your wedding day stress free and wonderful. Have fun with your friends, soon, you'll be marrying your best one!  

Who else would you be able to do fun stuff like this with? Your best friend ;)