Album Design

I'd like to share a little about the design process for our new KISS Wedding Books.  There are several basic options that you will have to decide on such as size, cover style and color.  Pricing for KISS Wedding Books start with a standard 10 spreads (20 pages).  We call them spreads because the two pages work together to create one full layout.  Of course you can have more spreads, actually up to 40 spreads (80 pages). 

After your receive your finalized images you can then select the images you want displayed in your book.  For a 10 spread you will want to select 40-60 images.  I would encourage you to select images that best tell the story of your day.  If it were me I would pick a few getting ready shots, some of the dress, shoes, flowers, at least 5 of you two together, (after all, that is what the marriage is all about!!) 2 of the bridesmaids, 2 of the groomsmen, a few family formals and the rest of the wedding ceremony/details of the reception/partying the night away…  We'll then do our best to include all of your selected images in the book design. 

The only other thing you will need to decide is an overall style for your book.  Below you'll find two examples that I've designed.  One is simple and clean.  The other example adds more color, graphics and embellishments to the pages.  The overall style is your choice and could be based on who your are as a couple or on the pictures and what you think will look best.  Each album is then custom designed.  No two books will be exactly the same.  After the book is designed you will have an opportunity to proof the book and make any suggestions as to changes.  Once you have given final approval, the book will be printed, bound and mailed to you within 3-4 weeks.  You will then have a book that will show off the day you began your new relationship and you can share with friends and family for years to come.

KISS Wedding Books!

I'm excited to offer a new product this year - Custom Designed Wedding Albums!  I've been wanting to offer wedding albums for some time but it was an issue of deciding on the right one to offer.  I've decided to go with KISS Wedding Books.  They have a philosophy of keeping it simple yet at the same time offering only the highest quality books.  Each book will be custom designed by me and you will then be able to make any adjustments that you'd like.  I'll share more on design in another post.

But why wedding books?  The digital age has made it so easy to pass on information from one person to another.  For photography this means most photographers offer their clients the actual digital images on a disc.  However, you can't see pictures on a disk.  You have to print them off.  So you usually pick a few favorites to put in a frame.  But that doesn't really tell the story of your wedding of family.  Wedding Books offer a way for family and friends to look at your images.  And not just one or two favorites.  You can share the whole story.  Take a look at the slideshow below to see more on the wedding books that I will be offering.  For pricing on my wedding books please visit my online store or click on "order prints" from my website.  There you will find a product guide with all of my pricing.

Our First Bridal Show!

We took part in our first Bridal Show on Sunday and I am so pleased with how everything turned out.  It was a lot of work being the first one.  I needed to put together my materials like signs, drawing forms, brochures and business cards.  I also created two wedding album samples which I'll post on soon.  Then there was ordering my enlargements and creating the slideshow that I had going on the TV.  Last but not least was creating the actual booth set up.  I wanted sometime that was inviting, creative and that stood out in the crowd.  I think we achieved all three.  My lovely wife and Dad helped me set up everything Saturday night and then Mary joined me again on Sunday to help run the booth.  Mary did awesome and spent the whole day on her feet talking to brides.  I booked three wedding at the show and hope more will follow.  Below are some pictures of the booth.

(For more information on our services please visit http://www.carlsonphotographytc.com/)

New Online Store!

I have finally finished transitioning my online store to a new provider.  I'm so happy with the results.  The immediate thing you'll notice is that I am able to design it to really fit with the main website.  There are also many benefits for the shopping experience.  All of the product are now organized in a more understandable and efficient way.  You can also share images right to Facebook from your online gallery.  Another option is that you can create a shopping cart and email that cart before purchasing it.  Then others can take a look at what your are purchasing, I can lend assistance or someone else can even pay for it.  The new site also now accepts Paypal as another form of payment.  I have also added new options like mounting and spay coatings for prints.  Please take a look around the site and tell me what you think.  Go to http://www.carlsonphotographytc.zenfolio.com/ or you can click on "order prints" from my main website, http://www.carlsonphotographytc.com/.