Happy New Year everyone!  2007 has been a great year for me both personally and professionally, and I just want to thank all of the couples who’ve trusted me with their wedding and my friends and family for being such awesome people.  Alisha and I have a strong feeling that 2008 is going to be twice what 07 was :)

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

*This is part of a series that revisits my favorite blog posts from 2007*

As I peruse wedding-related blogs I often times see people debating
over engagement shoots.  I never chime in, but I want to scream to them
"do it!"  I am lucky because I have a pretty high percentage of couples
who go with an additional day of coverage, and I think it’s probably
the best value a couple can add to their photographic services.  That
engagement shoot first allows the couple and their photographer to
establish a rapport.  I like to think I have that with my couples
whether we do an engagement session or not, but there is no denying
that day spent before the wedding makes a stronger bond.  Plus I know
once I deliver that engagement shoot, I am gold the wedding day.  The
trust isn’t even 110%, it’s 200% that I’m going to deliver a job that
blows them away.  They’ve followed the blog, seen so much of my work,
and have had time to etch the new shiny engagement images into their
memory forever. 

In addition though I know it gives couples shots of them without
wedding attire.  Wedding images are of course extremely special to
people, but it’s also nice to have beautiful, professional images of
yourselves in everyday clothing as well.  This was really cemented to
me when Alisha and I started talking about all things related to
weddings, and I realized that I definitely wanted some of our friends
(it’s nice knowing 10 million photographers) to do some shots of us
around some of our favorite cities engagement style.  I saw how
important that was to me, and for the money how good of a value that is
to many couples.

I love e-shoots, and have some coming up that I’m excited to share!

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

*This is part of a series that revisits my favorite blog posts from 2007*

I have been wanting to do this post for a while now, and with the
weekend off I was finally able to put it together.  I’ve been wanting
to do this to educate couples out there because I think the more they
know the better they can help their photographer out. 

I encourage everyone out there, whether I am your photographer or
not, to really think about the light when you think about photos.  The
light we have to work with can make all the difference in the world.  I
always tell my couples that I can work with any situation – you can
stick me in a closet and I feel like I can deliver a beautiful job -
but gorgeous light can make our jobs a whole lot easier.  Here are a
couple examples of soft, warm, ideal light around sunset -

Those were all shot around the time of sunset when the light has
that soft warm glow to it.  I always like to try and convince my
couples to sneak outside with me around this time of the day, even if
it doesn’t fit in the schedule.  Even if it’s only 10 minutes, it will
be well worth sneaking out this time of day for a portrait or two. 

I know all too well that the schedule doesn’t always allow us to
photograph in this light though, and often times the majority of the
photos have to be done in less than ideal light.  Again we have ways of
making this work though and here are 2 examples -

I thought we were able to create some beautiful stuff at Jake and Regina’s wedding (some of it is even on my website),
but I had to battle with the over-head sun throughout the day (I won
the battle by the way).  I was able to capture this image by waiting
for a cloud to finally come over us.  It lasted about all of 2 minutes,
and I don’t want to make my couples wait, but I think the final image
shows that waiting for that small cloud to even our mid-day light was
well worth it.

This image of the model-worthy Jasmine Star and
her equally hot husband JD was shot around mid-day in California sun.
By taking them to an area with a little bit of shade and equal lighting
we were able to score an image that is magazine worthy.  The area had
to have even light though (notice the background has the same light as
our subjects), and we lucked out with this spot. 

Again we are pros and we can work in any conditions that may arise
and deliver amazing images.  However the light we have to work in is
extremely important to us and can make our jobs much, much easier. 

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

*This is part of a series that revisits my favorite blog posts from 2007*

A couple weeks ago Alisha
and I had the opportunity to do a marathon boudoir session, and it was
a blast!  Definitely a ton of work, and we just about crashed on the
couch of the loft towards the end of the session, but we both really
like boudoir photography and I think as a team we are even better.  I
have the model background for work like this and Alisha has the
feminine view of things that is just something you can’t teach.  Plus
her and I have a ton of chemistry together when we shoot…. which I
think helps everyone ease up around us :)

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

*This is part of a series that revisits my favorite blog posts from 2007*

Before I get into this post, a little bit of background is needed.
Those of you in the industry who have done fashion shows can skip this
part, but for those of you who don’t know what it’s like to shoot a
fashion show I wanted to give a little rundown.  First the photographer
has to get press credentials through the magazine he’s shooting for and organize the schedules that are to be shot (which can be extra fun).  Once the photographer gets in the show, he (I’ll use he since
I am a male) has to set up in "the pit."  It is indeed as bad as it
sounds :)  The pit is basically the area sectioned off for the video
and stills, usually located at the end or near the end of the runway,
that is way too small for the amount of people that have to fit
in it.  This leads to everyone being super friendly and even more super
respecting of other people’s space as you can imagine.  Here is a
sample picture of Alisha to illustrate what I’m talking about -

So now that you’ve seen the conditions at fashion shows, you can really appreciate what we had going on Saturday at Ines DiSanto’s
suite.  We came into Ines’ suite after the press show had occurred, and
we had the chance to visit with Ines and Veronica (her daughter) both
personally.  It was without a doubt the highlight of the day.  I have a
huge appreciation for Ines’ work and to have such an up close and
personal showing was amazing.  Her and Veronica let us come in and
photograph a smaller showing with a much smaller number of people…
and we were the only photographers.  We were able to grab some food and
drinks, visit with some really nice people, and Ali and I even shared a
couch together at the end of the runway without any other
photographers.  Ines came over towards the end and her and Alisha hit
it off talking about the dresses and showing Ines her favorite on the
back of the camera and such.  It was a very unique experience and a
total highlight of our day.  I had to grab a shot of them on the couch
chatting away.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite designs from the showing –

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

*This is the first of 7 posts re-visiting my week of favorite blog entries from 2007.  Check back every day for a flashback!*

Often times we get asked by people what they should splurge on
(besides photography of course) to make sure they treat themselves for
their wedding.  My answer is always the same so I thought I’d do a blog
entry about it.  The 2nd best investment I love to see people make in
their wedding purchases is the dress.

There is a radiance and confidence that shows all day when you have
a bride who has that beautiful dress that fits perfectly, looks custom
made, and brings out her natural beauty.  It shows in the photographs
and you can just see it all day.  There is no substitute for that and I
love seeing it.  Here are just some of my beautiful brides and their
dresses we love…

Cameron is absolutely beautiful to begin with, but when she slipped
into her Monique Lhuillier I was floored.  I could not get enough of
photographing her in this dress and was just in awe all day.

I loved Sarah’s dress choice for her 1,000 Islands wedding.  The
simple and elegant Vera Wang fit the wedding and theme almost as well
as it fit her body (and that’s saying something). 

Rosemary wore an Ines DiSanto dress that had beautiful details all throughout. 

The beading in Noel’s Reem Acra was literally some of the best I’ve
ever seen.  I remember Megan saying to me "I’ve never seen beading like
that."

Ok so Nicole isn’t a fair choice and I admit it, her smile looks
like it should be on a TV commercial and would look amazing in a cut
off t-shirt and jeans.  But I loved how the dress formed to her upper
body, and the layer look on the bottom just totally pulled it all
together. 

Jean had a gorgeous summer tent wedding with a color scheme of green
and orange.  The flowery detail on the top of the dress and green sash
in the middle fit her wedding perfectly and she looked stunning.

At this rate I feel like I could take up the entire front page so
I’ll stop, but I might do a continuation later on.  I also might do
"best dress shot" as the 3rd annual photo contest at the end of the
year as well… we’ll see!

PS – Reception lighting is the wild card and always my 3rd
suggestion, and the only reason lighting is a wild card is because it’s
not always affordable for everyone or practical, but definitely the
most under-rated option out there for people to use for a wow factor. 

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours :)

Lillie really liked the rocking horse that Santa brought!

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

I can’t believe I’m saying (typing) this, but it’s time to reflect on the year 2007.  Another year that absolutely flew by.  I can remember doing Nicole and Scott’s wedding the first weekend in May and thinking "here we go, the full time wedding season is finally here!" 

For the next week or so I’m going to re-post some of my favorite entries from 2007.  It will give me a chance to re-live the year through the archives, post some awesome memories of the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with, and share some entries that are old to me but fresh to many of the new readers we always get on the blog. 

In the meantime I thought it might be fun to do a recap of the press exposure received in 2007:

The Bride and Bloom is a relative newcomer to the national wedding magazine market, but one that I’ve been a big fan of since it’s first issue.  Beautiful photography and a magazine that focuses on giving the best possible magazine, regardless of who advertises with them.  I’ve been lucky enough to score 2 of their back covers in 2007.

This was also the first year I received my name and work in national powerhouse Wedding Style Magazine.  In addition to the fact that it’s probably the most highly regarded wedding publication in our country, this was something that was really special to me on a personal level as well.  I remember a close friend of mine getting some work published in that magazine several years back and thinking to myself "damn, I wish my work would get in there.  I’ll know I’ve ‘made it’ once I can get my name is a magazine like that."  This issue was a great start, but it’s gotten even better as I’ve signed on to shoot the NYC Mercedes Benz Week in February for them.

Speaking of runway I was also commissioned to shoot Bridal Market for The Knot.  Probably the most commonly used wedding resource now-a-days it was awesome to shoot the event for such a hugely popular company.   On a funny side note… I remember thinking it was a big deal back in Spring of 05 when they used one of my shots on the web section of Upstate NY :)  Oh how far we come!

In addition to being hired by them, I’ve also had numerous shots selected to run in their print magazines and online galleries as well.  More is already scheduled to appear in 2008

I’ve also had the privilege of seeing my work run in numerous smaller magazines throughout the year, but these were some of the real highlights.  Thanks so much for sharing in this with me and I look forward to the continued recap of 2007 with you!

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

Check out the new article on theknot.com called "Our 50 favorite gowns!"  They have put up a new gallery of images from Fall Market Week and a bunch of them were shot by this photographer…. Luke Walker?  Always glad to see more work on The Knot…

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]   

I wanted to do a little end of the year review of the collateral print material we use over here at Luke Walker Photography. 

The first is the old standby, the business card:

It’s a 2 sided euro-cut card on a thick stock that features the logo, email, and toll free number on one side and a design pattern and website on the other. 

We also have our custom printed DVDs:

When I first posted these I had some people ask if they were done with labels, and they are not.  These are silkscreen printed archival DVDs with the background of our website above and contact info below.

This is our greeting/thank you card:

Blank white on the inside and our logo & contact info on the back.  I had these printed on a photographic matte stock to continue the clean, elegant look.

Another old standby, the letterhead:

As with most of my collateral this was designed and printed by Elevation (who I have a serious man crush on).  Logo in the upper left, an opaque large logo in the bottom, and a red strip across the lower page that features our contact info. 

Finally, our stickers:

One of the most simple printed materials we have, just a classic business card sized clean white sticker with our logo.  Good for sticking on laptops, camera bags, our packaging products, car bumpers, and anywhere else where people want to spread the love.   

0 vote as favorite [add a comment] [send to a friend] [permalink]