WHAT A GREAT BLESSING! THE ALBUM IS WONDERFUL!

Pete and I just had a wonderful time looking over the album. It turned out so well! You captured our wedding exactly how we had hoped. Thank You Thank You Thank You. I apologize for taking so long with each step, but you were very patient. We are SO Thankful. We will keep recommending you to all of our friends. Thank You again! -Pete and Caitlin

October 4, 2008 has opened up!

I just had a bride move her wedding from October 4, 2008 to 2009. So that date is now open for a wedding. Email doug@douglasgunder.com or call 402.571.2399 about wedding photography.

Wedding photos as digital files on DVD

This is a interesting thing for you to read if your wanting your wedding photographed and only wanting a DVD of digital photographs. It's a little long but interesting. I got it from a professional photographer forum that I subscribe to. Credit goes to Fred Molesworth a professional photographer in Salem Oregon for writing this.

Chances are your grandchildren will be very disappointed in you.
That’s a pretty strong statement, but I’m willing to predict that it will be true.

Here’s why.

Imagine, 50 years from now, as your grandchildren or great grandchildren are going through the boxes in the attic. Finding all kinds of treasures and keepsakes, they’re enthralled with what they are, and how they tie into the story of your life.

Amongst all the old items, they find a number of round silver objects. Some have writing on them, some are blank, but they resemble some kind of a small platter about 4 inches across, with a hole in the middle.

Puzzled, they take them to their parents.

“What are these, mom?” they ask.

“Oh, I think those are all of grandma’s photographs. Yep, here’s one labeled “My Wedding”. Here’s some more labeled “Family Photos”, and some more labeled “vacations””.

“How do we look at them?” they ask.

“Well, I’m not sure we can. First of all, no one has the device that reads these any more. And besides that, I doubt after all these years that they’re any good any more. Being stored in the attic, the heat and cold probably ruined them”.

The kids are very disappointed. Nowhere amongst all the treasures are any actual prints. All that history is lost. Their connection with the past, and all the wonderful stories that might have gone along with all those photographs.

Along with all the wonders of our digital age come some significant problems that most people have never thought of.

Did you know that something around 90% of all images taken on today’s digital cameras are NEVER PRINTED? I’m guilty of that myself. I have gigabytes of personal photographs that have never been seen other than on a computer screen.

In the old days, film went to the lab, and everything that was printable was printed. Even if it was a bad photograph, it still was a hard copy, a part of your family history, and it had permanence. Even if it never went in an album, it at least went into a box, to be discovered as treasures years later.

I just came across some wonderful old prints of my mother’s childhood from back in the 1920s. They’re TREASURES. They connect me with my past, and keep alive some of the memories of the stories my mother told me about growing up.

Along with those was lots of other family history photograph. Grandparents and great grandparents I never knew, but I have photographs of them. Yes, I’ve had to do some restoration on them, but I had the hard copy that allowed me to do this.

But that’s not even possible with images that never leave the hard drive, and are lost when the hard drive fails. Or with images that are placed on CD’s or DVD’s, because the chances of being able to read them in 50 years is just about zero.

Try to find an 8 track tape player today. Or one of those large 12 inch floppy drives, or even a 5 ¼ inch floppy. And those were popular less than 20 years ago.

The same problem exists in professional portrait studios today. Many people are simply asking for the images on CD. “I’ll print them later” or “I’ll design my own wedding album” are common phrases. Usually this is done with the thought that they’ll save some money by “doing it ourselves”

But you know what? Most never make it into any kind of an album. Life gets busy, other things get in the way, and 5 years later, they’ll still only have a disk. Kids come along, and life gets insane, and 20 years later, they’ll be looking for some way to read those disks, if they even happen to think about it.

And then 50 years later, the grandkids are having the conversation with their parents.

I work with a wedding planner – a professional in the wedding business – who fit’s this description perfectly. Her photographer simply gave her some proofs and a disk. Five years later, that’s all she has, and she’s admitted that it’s likely that it’s all she’ll ever have, because now with a new baby, she’ll probably never get around to designing an album. Life now has other priorities.

We periodically get calls from people in this situation, wondering if we would design an album for them. Or retouch images that were never retouched. Or if we can “fix” the poor quality images that were taken by someone who didn’t have to provide a quality finished product.

I bring this up only to point out the importance of what we, as a professional studio, do. Our job is not just to create the images, to create wonderful story telling photographs about the people in front of our camera; it’s to create a final product, whether it be a professionally retouched and printed single image, a family heirloom wall portrait, or an incredibly storybook album using a collection of the images that were created.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a wedding, a newborn baby, a senior or a family. Having the final product created for you is important.

Then, if you want a disk with all the images “so I can print them later” that’s fine. At least you’ll have something wonderful to show, something your family will love for generations, and something your grandchildren can truly get excited about when they discover that box in the attic. Having the final product properly created for you is important.

Suite of Dreams Bridal Boutique and Fashion Show

Sunday, March 9, 2008 at Embassy Suites (10th & Howard Street Downtown) is the 2nd Annual Suite of Dreams Bridal Boutique and Fashion Show. Show time is 11:00am to 2:00pm. I was in this show last year and will be again this year. A very nice show. This is a show where it's not wall to wall people and you can actually talk with vendors. Some of the vendors are:

Borsheims
VIP Limo
Chaircover Elegance
Bridal Gallery
Bircher Harp
Compete Music
Whole Foods
Tailored Travel
The Cakery
BeautiControl
Florals, Etc
AAA Rents
Douglas Gunder, Photographer

The best part about this show is that money is raised for the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. Finding a cure for cancer.

For the fashion show Tracy Madden, with WOWT Channel 6 News, will be the emcee. I have ten complimentary door passes so let me know if you would like some ASAP. Lots of door prizes. Hope to meet you there!

Did you know?

Our photographic coverage always can be custom designed based on your unique wedding needs. The investment begins at $1300. If you have special circumstance or requests, we welcome the opportunity to customize a package to suit your needs. Please call us for a free consultation (402) 571.2399.

Modern Day Bridal Session

Earlier in my photography career I worked for a couple of photo studios in the south. That was St. Louis, MO and Beeville, TX. When I tranfered to Omaha many years ago I was shocked to find out that many brides here do not do bridal sessions. In the southern part of the United States, the bridal session is nearly a necessity, as brides like to showcase a huge bridal portrait at the entrance to their receptions. The bridal session allows me to get to know my bride before the wedding day to see what she is comfortable doing with regard to her photos. It is also a great dress rehearsal for the bride, as she can make sure that all parts of her dress fit just right, and that it looks exactly the way she wants it to look.

I always approach my bridal sessions from the perspective of a fashion shoot. I tell my brides to expect to be my model for a day and to prepare to have a lot of fun. During the session, I will do quite a variety of shots: ranging from very sexy and fashion-forward, to traditional in order to please Mom and Grandma. This usually ensures that everyone is happy! Here are a few more tips to ensure that the session goes well:

1) Have a glass of wine to relax before the session; putting on the wedding dress usually conjures a few nerves.

2) Wear comfortable shoes (tennis shoes or flip-flops), especially if you cannot see the shoes under the dress when standing. When we need the shoes we can just slip them on.

3) Will bring a white sheet to place under the dress during some shots. This is the secret to keeping the dress clean.

4) Bring a few friends to the session to help out with all the accoutrements (Shoes, makeup, veil, etc.). Most Brides also relax more around friends.

I try to do the bridal session about two months before the actual wedding, as the bride's weight and hair length will look pretty close to what they will be on the wedding day. Also that allows me plenty of time to order and frame the print that will be displayed at the reception. A typical bridal session will last about two or three hours depending on where we go.

Trash the Dress

Ok, this may be a little crazy for some. But on the East & West coast brides are doing it after the wedding. I've not had anyone ask for here in Omaha yet but, I'm sure I will by one of you. Trash the Dress photo session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60I3IumYlQw

If any of the brides I've done past weddings for don't know what to do with their wedding dress then maybe this is for you :-). Since I need some samples here of this I will wave the session fee if someone wants to do this. Be creative! Fountains, swimming pools, lakes, ponds, snow, beachs if you can find one in the midwest. But will travel. I don't know, let's see what you can come up with!

Wedding date opened up

I just had a wedding cancel for July 5, 2008 for personal reasons. So July 5, 2008 is now open to be booked!!! Call or send me a email and we will get together to talk about doing your wedding photography.

A nice thank you.

I just got a nice thank you card from a bride I photographed this past year and would like to share. Their wedding was lots of fun!

Doug

Thank you for the fantastic job you did with our wedding photos. The parent albums were a success and our album looked great! We really appreciate the work you did for us.

Thanks again!

Jaymie & Jon

Engagement & Wedding Highlight Show

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged. So I better get to it! I've made a show for brides to view. It is about a three minute show to music with engagement and weddings photos I've done in the past. Some are recent and some are photos I liked from the past few years. It's fun to watch and see if you recognize someone or get ideas for your upcoming wedding.

Click and it plays:

http://www.douglasgunder.com/slideshow/0001