Two weeks ago we (Marianne and I) were at two different weddings. In both cases a friend or relative had apparently agreed to help out by playing music for the ceremony and in both cases….it wasn’t smooth.

This situation brought to mind my past as a wedding DJ. At that time I was almost NEVER at a wedding that I wasn’t working at. Because of this I was generally unaware of what would happen when professional sound management was vacant from a wedding ceremony. Since I stopped DJing I have had many occasions to experience what a wedding ceremony is like without a DJ, band, or instrumentalist. There is a vast difference.

Wedding #1

Despite all of the planning that happens prior to a wedding, sometimes the most basic of things get missed. In the case of this wedding, the “friend” running sound wasn’t told to fade out songs once people were up front for the ceremony. Now, this seems like a little thing…until the bridemaids take 45  seconds of a 4 minute song to get to the ceremony location. The remaining 3:15 is absolutely painful. Because of the angle I was at to take pictures I couldn’t see who was standing in line to come down the aisle. I actually assumed that something had transpired that caused a delay…therefore the song was played longer than necessary as the problem was fixed. I was wrong. The song ended on its own, the “friend” started the next song and the next person finally came down. That person was the bride and she took about 30 seconds to get to the alter but the song just kept on playing. At that point I stood in the middle of the aisle behind everyone’s backs but in view of the officiant (Johanna Respini). I non-chalantly motioned towards the music and then ran my hand across my throat in the “cut it” fashion as a way of asking if Johanna wanted me to arrange for the music to end. She subtly nodded and I made the arrangements (this is the great part about working with professionals).

Later in the ceremony the issue returned during a rose ceremony, but the bride turned and glared at the “friend” with an obvious gesture to end the music and it was faded out.

Wedding #2

This wedding was far simpler, but the same problem reared its ugly head. The entire procession was just one song (Goin To The Chapel), but it somehow started part way into the song which sounded horrible. In virtually no time the entire bridal party was up front and ready to begin…but the music continued. Not only that, but the stereo that was used was on the 2nd floor of a home and no one was manning it. Eventually someone caught on and ran upstairs to turn the music off, but it seems that the officiant in this case decided to plow ahead (I couldn’t really tell as I couldn’t hear her over the music). The mother of the bride than told the officiant to stop until the music ended, and she did it through angry, clenched teeth. To be honest, it was awkward for EVERYONE.

So what’s the point? After photography, sound should be a major consideration for a wedding. Whether it’s a DJ, instrumentalist or a band, having someone that knows what they are doing behind the sound controls will help weddings in so many ways. I have great admiration for A Sound Choice Entertainment and the DJs that they employ for this very reason.

Please don’t assume that sound is something that can be ignored at a wedding. Hiring a professional can be the difference between a smooth ceremony and angry, clenched teeth.

If only it were that easy!!

Senior pictures are a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. They mark one of the first major changes in a person’s life: Entry to adulthood. Because of this it’s vital that those pictures be all about the senior and not about…acne.

That’s right…we said it: Acne! As much as everyone wishes it was different, people getting their senior pictures taken are still at an age when they are fighting acne. They want their pictures to scream their personality, hobbies, dreams and more, but they look in the mirror and all they can see is acne.

But that fear is overblown! In fact, with the right steps, you can remove the fear altogether.

First of all, we recommend that you start a skin regimen a few months before your pictures are going to be taken. The right skin care can dramatically alter your complexion. A regimen can be as simple as using a sensitive skin facial cleanser, a toner or cream with benzoyl peroxide, an oil-free moisturizer and drink plenty of water.

Too late for you to start a skin regimen? The next obvious step is makeup. The secret to a smooth finish is concealer plus foundation and a little loose powder to finish up. Guys, you shouldn’t be embarrassed to use makeup as well. If it’s done right no one will ever know you were wearing it (and I’m sure you know a girl or two that knows how to apply makeup).

Horrible  breakout / hate makeup / running late for photo shoot and forgot makeup? No problem. When all else fails a true professional photographer can remove the acne from your photos. Here is an example of a picture where we removed some acne (cropped to protect the model’s identity, of course):

Before and After Image "Mastering"

You’ll notice in the above image that the acne/blemishes have been removed, but the skin still has texture and looks “normal”. A common result of improper skin smoothing is the skin taking on an unnatural “plastic” look. Make sure you ask your photographer for before-and-after examples of their photos to make sure they have the skill necessary to save the day should acne rears it’s ugly head (and we all know that acne has an almost magical ability to show up exactly when we don’t want it to and with sufficient force to overwhelm any skin regiment that has been done).

Acne doesn’t have to put the brakes on your senior pictures. With the right steps, and the right photographer, you can remove the fear of acne and just enjoy one of the most important photo shoots of your life!!

Marianne and John

Every senior we work with is “Amped” in their own way. Perhaps their clothing style is over the top or they can play the piano by ear. One may play 4 different sports while another is a level 72 Rogue on WoW. Some can stick a triple heel flip and others wonder why the GPA is limited to a 4.0. Regardless of what makes you “Amped”, we have a whole new way for you to show it off…”Amped Seniors” temporary tattoos!

In an effort to mix art with good old-fashioned fun, we are starting a gallery of tattoo images incorporating the seniors we work with and our new tattoos. We are challenging ourselves to see how artistic we can get with a simple temporary tattoo. We JUST got our first batch of tattoos in and Tatiana (from the previous blog post) was kind enough to let us kick the gallery off with this image:

Our 1st Tattoo

Why are we doing this? Because IT’S FUN!! And that’s what we strive to make every session at Agape Studios.

We’d love to know what you think of the new tattoos!

Thanks!

Marianne and John

This morning we (Marianne and John) decided to head by the fabric store to get some materials for recovering a chair. As we pulled into the parking lot our office phone rang (our office phone rings our cell phones). The person on the line had a high school senior that HAD to have her picture into the yearbook editor before the end of the day. YIKES! Now THAT is a time crunch. Fortunately we had some time available and were able to get Tatiana in, get her session done and get retouched photos off to her yearbook editor…all in the span of 4 hours from when the call was made.

Here are a few images from the shoot:

We had a blast and wish Tatiana all the best as she moves into her adult life!

Marianne and John

Both Marianne and I have butterflies over the fact that we just submitted our very first image for a national photographic contest. The contest is being held by Professional Photographer magazine and the winning image will appear on the cover of the magazine! I believe there are some other prizes for the winner, but it’s really all about the cover.

This is the image that we submitted:

Entry to Professional Photographer magazine

This isn’t the original composition of the image (you can see a large version of the original hanging up in our studio), but it needed to be cropped so that it was appropriate for a magazine cover. Imagine the masthead running along the top and article headers running down both sides and I think you will see how the image would be PERFECT for the cover.

This year they have added something new: ANYONE can go in and rate the photos! I don’t think this has anything to do with who wins, but we are eager to see what people think about the image. Please take a few minutes to go and rate the picture (you will automatically be entered to win a Canon Powershot G11!!!). You can do that here:

Click here to rate the image that we have submitted for consideration for the cover of Professional Photographer magazine.

You do have to signup in order to rate the image, but that is done for security purposes so that one person doesn’t go in and rate a picture 50 different times.

Thanks so much to Bethany (senior model rep for Silverton High School) for being a great model! Senior pictures are one of the backbones of our business so we thought it appropriate to submit a senior picture for the cover.

Thanks everyone for all of your support!!

Marianne and John

We truly understand the importance of traditional portraiture, whether it is for a senior, a wedding or a family. That being said, sometimes it’s a blast to get crazy, get out-of-the-box, and get Amped!!

One of the things that make us stand out is our ability to utilize technology to bring to life images that are difficult, or even impossible,  to create. We call these “Amped Images” and we had the opportunity to do one today!

Kayla is a senior this year and is a die-hard drummer, but she only has access to an electronic drum kit (and those aren’t particularly photogenic). She asked us to “Amp” up an image that would showcase her love for the drums. We procured a kick drum (thanks Bryan!) and set to work in the studio.

At some point the idea came up that we should “overlay” Kayla into the front of the drum. We started off by taking a picture of Kayla on a greenscreen while approximating a drum’s curve (ignore John’s foot which was used to make sure the stool didn’t go flying out from under Kayla):

Next we captured a picture of the kick drum that we had:

Next we removed Kayla from the Greenscreen:

What follows is a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo, but the final result looked a little something like this:

We had a blast shooting senior pictures for Kayla today and we hope you liked a little bit of the behind-the-scenes at our studio!

Thanks all!

Over the past few months we (Marianne and John) have been getting all revved up for senior picture season. It is, by far, our favorite time of year.

To celebrate the start of senior season, we have decided to offer FOUR free senior picture packages! That’s right, TOTALLY FREE!! No tricks, no hidden costs. Just good old fashioned free stuff. To be more specific, we will be giving away two Classic packages and two Amped packages (visit www.ampedseniors.com to get the details on each package).

To enter the contest simply go to the Contest Entry Page, fill out a few blanks, make sure you “like” us on Facebook, and submit. It’s really that easy!

We look forward to the upcoming season!!

Marianne and John

We were thrilled to have Linnsey added as one of Senior Model Reps for Sprague High School! Linnsey and Marianne headed out Wednesday afternoon and braved the ever-changing elements to get some really spectacular images! Here is a tasting:

All images are the sole property of Agape Studios and may not be copied, printed, or used in any way without prior approval from Agape Studios, LLC. All images contain metadata which allow their use to be tracked online.

A few weeks back we scheduled some portrait time at the beach (Lincoln City to be exact). We previously posted a picture of Destiny in the basement of the beach house but now it’s time to show off her sister, Brittany. When Brittany mentioned that she played the drums we just new what we had to do: Take pictures on the beach with the drum set. Brittany agreed. YEAH!

As the video mentions, senior pictures is a once in a lifetime event. You can NOT go back and redo it. Avoid regret by enlisting the help of a professional for this monumental moment in your senior’s life. They will no longer be a child, they are becoming an adult.

This is THEIR shoot, THEIR moment, THEIR change. Make it a landmark.

John and Marianne

Here at Agape Studios we truly believe in trying to make something ordinary or even ugly and transform it into something more. Something beautiful. One of the best ways to do that is to show the contrast between the subject and where they are.

On a recent trip to Lincoln City Marianne started looking around in the basement of the beach house which is in the middle of renovations. She saw the possibilities and decided that we were going to take some pictures of one of our seniors down there. Here is a little look at the scene:

The basement of the beach house.

We took Destiny (one of our senior reps) down to the basement and played around with the alignment of the refrigerator and the light that we were using.  This was one of our final images:

Destiny in the beach house basement.

As you can see, something that normally would  be ignored can add a great element to your images. Make sure you always look twice!!