Dallas Wedding Photography BLOG aka IGOR Photography BLOG by Kick-Ass Photographer Extraordinaire Igor
Here is where you will find our latest Dallas-Fort Worth wedding photography, engagement sessions and bridal photography and wedding films, selected destination weddings, a few thoughts regarding this beautiful art form, many useful advice and tips for brides, grooms, wedding vendors and wedding photographers, including very specific information regarding wedding photography, wedding venues, best photo locations and weddings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter LinkedIn and Pinterest and you will quickly find out when we post something interesting.
Beth and Shawn's beautiful wedding at the Ridglea Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas. I had the pleasure to document both their engagement session during the spring and their summer wedding, both days we had storms passing by, which made for some nice clouds. It was such a great experience and joy to see their love and commitment to each other. I wish them a life full of happiness!
Beth & Shawn's wedding photography
Read about the common mistakes below that you can easily avoid if you just take some time to properly plan your wedding and wedding photography.
1. Not having a Wedding Day Schedule
Talk to your wedding photographer before finalizing the schedule for your wedding day. There is a lot to consider in terms of photographing, time needed and natural light. Certain times of day are more photogenic than others and your photographer needs to have some time set aside for the portraits.
2. Letting Relatives Get in the Way
We have a name in the industry for a guest who shows up with pro photo equipment and takes “unofficial wedding pictures”, we call him Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob may think he's doing you a favor by taking more shots for the couple, but usually he just gets in the way and makes us miss our shots. Tell Bob to leave the camera at home and just enjoy his time at the wedding without working.
3. Not Sticking to the Schedule
Pay attention and respect the wedding day schedule you and your photographer discuss prior to your wedding. Being 30 minutes late can make or break your images. Don't just assume it only takes 5 minutes!
4. Not Explaining How You Like to Look in Photos
Beauty is really very subjective", explain if you have a physical feature that you are self-conscious about and if you have a specific angle that you like the best. Let us also now what kind of photos and style you enjoy the most, like candid, formal, artistic, in color or black & white?
5. Not Getting a Second Shooter
Sometimes brides want to save a little money or feel that it is too obtrusive for more than one photographer to be present on the wedding day. But consider this: The second photographer offers another unique point of view throughout the entire day that you would not have had photographed and one photographer can’t be at two places at the same time, and they also serve as a photo assistant.
6. Concentrating Too Much on the Photos
A good photojournalist can capture the story of their day and capture some artistic portraits without being visible all the time", try to just enjoy your wedding day.
7. Not Getting Help Organizing Your Guests
Designate a person that you trust and who knows your family and friends to be in charge of organizing people for portraits. That person can gather the people needed, direct them on what shots they will be in, and then release them when they are done. It keeps things moving quickly, smoothly, and enjoyably.
8. Trying to Make Things "Perfect"
Just have fun, whether it's getting a little cake on your face or some little detail that didn't turn out exactly like you had hoped, go with it, have fun, and keep smiling. The photos will be so different if the bride is scowling at her new hubby, don't you think?
9. Trying to Pose to Hard
A good wedding photographer gives direction for a reason: to get the best moments and shots from the day. The best thing to do is relax and act naturally. Be in the moment. Be hopelessly in love with each other, the pictures will turn out perfect!
10. Skipping the Bridal Session
The bridal session is the time for the bride to showcase her beauty and gown. Is also a perfect time to get to know your photographer and to find out how you look the very best, this is also the time when you can create something artistic and stunning.
11. Waiting Too Long to Book Your Photographer
If you find a great photographer, book them! Great photographers book a year or more out and won't be available forever, especially for a Saturday wedding. Nothing is more frustrating than choosing a wedding photographer and then finding out that they booked out your date a week prior.
12. Looking at the Camera All the Time
Some couples want candid photographs, but they always feel like they need to look up at the camera and stop what they are doing. It could be an instinct, but remember, unless the photographer asks you, try to act natural for the best journalistic shots.
13. Asking for Too Many Shots
If clients have done their homework and have chosen an experienced and reputable wedding photographer, then chances are that the photographer does not need to be provided with a two-page spreadsheet of every combination for family portraits.
14. Not Choosing a Photographer You Get Along With
Make sure that we get along. I work with clients for sometimes two years or more. If we don't get along, it's not going to be a very enjoyable time. The wedding photographer is most likely the wedding vendor that you will spend the most time with.
15. Having a DJ blasting the dance floor with “lasers lights”
Nothing is more annoying and looks worse than green laser light dots and streaks on your dance floor pictures, it will ruin those pictures every time.
16. Skipping the Engagement Session
Engagement sessions increase the confidence and comfort level of the bride and groom in front of the camera and allows the bride and groom to practice having their photo taken in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Ultimately, an engagement session will let the bride and groom see how the photographer works, which leads to comfort and trust in the photographer. These photos make great reception photos!
17. Falling for Photography Trends
Too many times, brides fall for something trendy in photography. Remember all the colored bouquets in B & W photos or all the hazy photos captured against the sun? It is important that these images stand the test of time and are valued for each following generation. Trends are fun but rarely last! Look for a photographer with a timeless shooting style, and be wary of too much Photoshop and “digital tricks”, manipulations and fads.
18. Not Hiring a Professional Photographer
This is a big one! Choose someone who is a professional and not just anyone with a camera. Family and friends seldom make good wedding photographers for your wedding. Make sure the photographer you choose has training and experience as a professional photographer, has the equipment and ability to consistently capture the moments of your wedding no matter what situations may arise. You should expect to spend between $2,000 and $6,000 for any decent wedding day photography, this is not where you want to cut corners.
19. Not smiling, All the Time
Tell all of the people walking down the aisle to look up and smile. If they are too nervous to smile, they should at least keep their head up and look down the aisle. This helps keep the face from forming the 'evil double chin' look that happens when you stare at the floor while walking!
20. Forgetting the Details
Think about spending a few minutes to decide what details and decorations are important to photograph, did your mother make special wedding favors? Are you carrying important heirlooms with you?
OK, so here you have a few common wedding photography mistakes to avoid, now put them in your "memory bank" and continue with the wise wedding planning!
Sneak peak of my latest bridal photography at the 7th St Bridge in downtown Fort Worth with beautiful Shailaun. We had a great time shooting this urban and modern session at night. Shailaun was terrific and so was make up artist Shay and assistant Daniel. I'm very happy with the results of this session, what do you think? Stay tuned for more photos and a short video from this bridal photo session!
Contact us today to schedule an epic bridal shoot with wedding photographer Igor.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
Tip of the day for the bride and bridesmaids! Wear a dress shirt while you are getting the hair and make up done! Why? Brides often wear T-shirts that have to be pulled over their freshly coiffed hair at the end. Dress shirts, however, can be unbuttoned without doing any damage to your beautifully done hair. A small tip that will make you wedding day more enjoyable.
Here is Lily & Erik's wedding preview! A classic and timeless Catholic wedding in Fort Worth, Texas.
Since I love vintage cars this wedding was extra fun to shoot, their wedding limo was a beautiful antique Chevrolet from the 1930s, absolutely awesome, nice to see an original and unique limo.
The rest of their Mexican wedding was as timeless and classic as the car, full with happiness, a fun mariachi band, a lot of dancing and some great Mexican catering. I love my job!
Lily and Erik's Catholic wedding, reception and photo session at the Fort Worth botanical garden.
Contact us today to schedule a Free consultation with Igor Photography.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
On a stormy but beautiful spring day I got the privilege to capture the engagement photos of Elizabeth and Shawn at the Deer Creek Stables in Burleson, Texas. As the the worst of the storm passed us by we got blessed with an amazing sky and sunset. It was truly an engagement session to remember.
Sunset engagement photography in Burleson, Texas
Contact us today to schedule an epic Dallas-Fort worth engagement session with Igor Photography.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
As promised here is last weeks bridal session!
What better day than on a beautiful April spring night to have a bridal shoot in downtown Fort Worth. We decided to do a night shoot by Fort Worth's Sundance Square. The theme was "sexy in the city bride", with a moody and a little darker urban feeling.
What a blast, it was a fantastic night and I had a great time working with Kate, my assistant Daniel and hair/makeup artist Micaela.
I'm very happy with the outcome, it turned out exactly how I had envision it. What do you think?
Contact us today to schedule an epic Fort Worth bridal session with wedding photographer Igor.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
Bridal session with beautiful model Kate in downtown Fort Worth last week. It was an awesome night for a bridal shoot together with Kate, Daniel and Micaela. We concentrated in getting some fashion style and moody low light photos. I will soon post more photos from this wonderful bridal photo session.
Low-light bridal photography in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sexy bridal photography in black and white
Contact us today to schedule an fashion inspired bridal session with wedding photographer Igor.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
I had a great time photographing Grace and Robert's beautiful wedding at the Victory Arts Center in south Fort Worth. It was a perfect spring day full of joy and laughter. A traditional wedding venue, a timeless decor and wedding them, and a young couple that was truly shinning with love. What a perfect way to spend a spring Saturday!
A few black and white photos from a perfect wedding day!
This years month of August will have 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. You will only see this once in your life, it only happens every 823 years and you are fortunate enough to live it :)
No wonder that I thought that August was going to be busy this year, after all most of my wedding clients book me on one of these 3 days of the week.
To all wedding photographers, can you photograph 15 weddings in a month, I guess "shoot and burn" shooters have a chants to break a new wedding photography record this year!
Correction: after some research I found out that this is a calender urban myth, a hoax.
But I saw it on internet and it must be true?
It happens almost every year, and next August with "15 wedding days" will happen in year 2025.
Next time I promise do the research before I post any random information ;)
Lesson learned? Don't believe the internet and research before posting!
Why should I schedule an engagement photo session? Couples and other people ask me that question all the time.
The simple answer to that is that you like and value photography and that you want to document your engagement with some professional engagement photos, and that it's also an excellent chants to get comfortable with your wedding photographer before the big day, and that on top of that you can use the engagement photos for the "save the date" cards and the reception table book.
These are all good reasons, but the most important reason to have engagement photos taken is one that most people don't think about. No bride, no groom, no wedding photographer, ever seems to consider.
The real reason is because photos are not for today! Think about this, some periods of life are very short. A tiny window of time that perhaps may be only a few months or a few years long. A really thin slice of life, really, compared to your entire life.
But yet what happened in this small, tiny window of time is disproportionately huge.
Something happened that changed the rest of your entire life.
In that tiny window of time, small little miracles happened.
Because in that tiny window of life, you found someone. And they found you.
You fell in love. They fell in love with you.
This is the start of something big, a commitment to each other, and maybe the start of new life into this world.
This changes a lot of peoples life, like a ripple effect in a lake it affects everyone around you. And in time, the descendants you have brought forth by virtue of your commitment, will affect new generations in the future.
Think about it! You have basically changed the course of the world, you have contributed to the future of this planet.
I know I'm getting carried away thinking about it, but this is in essence why I can say that your engagement is very important. It's a very short period in your life that has a very significant impact on your loved ones, your family and maybe to the world.
That's why it's such an important sliver of time to celebrate and document with beautiful engagement photography, to have this time forever preserved so it's there to be seen whenever you wish to remember, to revisit this important time in your life and feel the joy and emotions again, and of course the same goes for the important wedding photos. These timeless photos are for the rest of your life to enjoy and for your descendents to love!
So that's my long answer and reason why you want to have an engagement session and engagement photos.
Please leave comment below and let me know if you agree or not?
Contact us today to schedule an epic DFW engagement session with wedding photographer Igor.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
On a very cold winter day I had the pleasure to photograph Lauren and Greg's engagement session. We decided to have the session at the newly rebuilt Sundance Square Plaza in downtown Fort Worth, just a "stone throw away" from a hot beverage. It was a great shoot, we got some fantastic engagement photos from the session despite the unusual cold weather in Fort Worth, as a matter of fact, I think it added to the mood since they where hugging and keeping each other warm and cozy. Not that they really needed the cold to be close to each other, they are so much in love that you almost need a breaking bar to separate them :)
Contact us today to schedule an epic Fort Worth engagement session with wedding photographer Igor.
682-233-5367 / contact@igorweddingphoto.com
There are so may reasons why you should do your proper research and hire a professional wedding photographer for your wedding. Don't cut corners, you wedding day is not the day to hire the lowest priced photographer that you can find. These are just a few of the most important reasons without mentioning anything about the photographers artistic talent:
Liability — Professional wedding photographers carry liability insurance to cover any property damage during a photography shoot. IGOR Photography carries liability insurance for up to 2 million dollars.
Releases — Professionals know when Model and Property Releases are required and what they should include.
Paperwork — Professionals use contracts, pay taxes and document the scope and cost of each job.
Equipment — Professionals have state of the art photo equipment and back-ups to get the job done even if there’s an equipment failure.
Efficiency — Professionals work to ensure your client’s or your business incurs minimal disruption during the shoot and that the photo job gets done efficiently.
Budget — Professionals stay on budget and inform you immediately if any change will later the price.
Copyright — Professionals understand copyright law and how it impacts the use of the images for their clients.
Licensing — Professionals know that images must be licensed to protect you and the work created.
Deadlines — Professionals meet deadlines and arrive on time.
Customer Service — Professionals treat you and your clients with courtesy and respect.
What may initially appear to be a deal can very easily turn into an expensive headache when the resulting images do not meet expectations. In the long run, hiring a qualified professional wedding photographer is an investment that can save time, money, frustration and tears.
