TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME AND CHALLENGING YOURSELF

Okay, I admit it. When I open up my virtual newspaper each morning, first I glance at the front page to make sure we haven't done anything silly: you know like blowing up the world we live in. But in most cases, the first section I really read is the sports section. I was born in Massachusetts and although I have lived in Arizona and now Florida, I am a Boston sports fan. I, like most fans from that area, are more of a Boston's teams fan then sports fan. What I mean is I cannot watch the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians play baseball. You can supply any other two cities names and in any other pro sports and nothing changes. I am a Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins fan. I have been my entire life and it isn't changing anytime soon. But baseball has always been my favorite.

Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,"No, I'll tell you what you can do."

I remember listening to games on my transistor radio. You, younger people, can ask your parents what those were. I can  remember Teddy's last home run, Billy Rohr's near no hitter and Tony Cs tragic story of potential, stardom and the night a fastball crushed the side of his face. He was never the same and out of baseball way too early. Then his life ended way too early. I had season tickets to the Boston (not New England back then) Patriots. This is when they were really bad. Hell, the stands caught fire once and it was more entertaining then the game. I had season tickets to the BIG BAD BRUINS and the greatest hockey player I ever saw, Bobby Orr. I saw Russell, (the greatest basketball & team player ever) and Havilicek win championship after championship.  I hate the Yankees, Jets, Knicks and Rangers: hell, I would hate the New York Soccer team but I have no idea who they are.  (Now that I think about it I hate them also).  DISCLAIMER.. If your a sports fan you would understand what I mean, but for you non sport fans let me explain. I am talking laundry just laundry, not people, cities or states. Heck I even like and admire some Yankee players. It would be hard not to like Jeter or Posada, although their third basemen not so much. This is all said in fun folk.

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

So you see, I am a Boston Red Sox fan and this is a great time of the year. They are in Florida. Spring training has begun, the winter is almost over (almost) and hope springs eternal in the breast of every Sox fan. This is the year we do it again. Heck, we have Crawford, Gonzalos and a revamped bullpen: it is our year. Take that you **##** Yankee fans.

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,She made the gang sing this song:

Ok, so now you really understand I am a Boston fan. Then why would I go to see a Toronto Blue Jays farm team play?? Well, a few reasons; one the park was about 20 minutes from our house when we lived in New Hampshire. The seats, the very best ones, box seats from the first row to the third row cost us $12.00. Twelve dollars! Are you kidding me? At a pro game, the hot dogs are about that much!!! It was a pretty nice park and they provide a great family atmosphere. In between innings, you can see sumo wrestling and a man riding a ostrich throwing hot dogs into the stands. OK, it's guy in a costume but its $12.00 for the best seats. What did you think you were going to see, a real ostrich or Sid Vicious singing the national anthem? (just seeing if your reading all my post).  I didn't understand the connection between the ostrich and the hot dogs either but the kids loved it.  But none of those were the main reason!! I went to try and capture some good action images with my camera and challenge myself.

If I can combine four of my loves in one evening; my wife, baseball, photography and a cold beer, that is not a bad night, boys and girls. Plus I get to challenge myself: play my own little game within the baseball game and very, very rarely pull a hammy doing it. My challenge is simple: to take images showing action and always try to include the ball in the air not secured in someone's glove or hand.
This may sound easy but try it. It starts when you order your tickets. I always get tickets between home plate and either first or second base and no farther away from the field then the fourth row. I always take my longest lens, which now is the Nikon 70 - 200 VR lens. I set my ISO for around 1800, my camera in manual mode at 2.8 and the firing mode to continuous. I know that after the fourth or fifth inning, the sun will be down and the chances of getting enough light to freeze the action diminishes a LOT!!

I start off focusing on the pitcher: waiting for the windup. When he starts, I start firing shot after shot till the ball is out of the camera's sight. I am trying to capture a few different images. I like to get the torque of the arm in the windup: the ball in his hand a second before he releases it and then the ball on its way toward the batter.

My second effort is of the batter. I focus on him with one eye while my other eye is looking at the pitcher, I kid you not. This gets easier with practice but I would hold off on the beers till after you get your images. I wait till I see the pitcher release the ball, count 1 or 2 seconds and then start firing.  It depends on how fast the pitcher is, also if it is a fastball or off speed pitch.  I am hoping to catch bat on ball (you need to be really lucky) or the ball and bat right before or after contact. If I can catch the ball in the catcher's glove and the batter swinging and missing, I'm okay with that image also. Usually by the fifth inning, the sun is down and the minor league park lights are not up to what I would need. Then I concentrate more on the game and a few cold beers.

It is always a fun night and if I can come away with a few shots I like, then it's a perfect night. Especially if on the way home, I hear that the Sox won their game (even better if it is the  **##** Yankees that they beat)


"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."


If you do not know these have been the lyrics to the 1908 classic " TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME" Written by Jack Norworth.
It was written on scraps of paper on the train to Manhattan New York. He gave them to Albert Von Tilzer who composed the music and a hit was born.
It is sung in nearly every ball park during the seventh inning stretch to this day. Not everyone is a fan.

"In the seventh inning fans all get up and sing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,' and they're already there. It's really a stupid thing to say and I don't know who made 'em sing it. Why would somebody that's there get up and sing take me out to the ball game? The first person to do it must have been a moron." - Pitcher Larry Anderson Larry was obviously a deep thoughtful and warm human being.

A FEW FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE PAST WEEK!!

Just a few images from the past week

( A REWIND OF --- FREE YOUR MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW and OSCAR MEYER'S WEINER.. THE WEEKEND MUST BE HERE!!

 Phyllis and I are leaving this morning for a short vacation ( 2 days) to Daytona. While we are gone I thought I would publish a few of our most popular blog postings from the not to distant past. Today's is a blog I wrote about "Freeing your mind and Oscar Myers Wieners". Sounds like a strange combo? You will need to read it see what I was writing about and I bet you will be able to relate!!


Later this week I will be posting some pictures of a new  wedding album we will be offering. Our new "Platinum Series" will include a leather cover with a cameo. The cameo refers to a 5x5 window that will house one of the images from the wedding!
We area really excited to be adding this new series and will go more into it later this week, including pictures of the album, inside and outside!! At this point the new albums will be offered as an upgrade to our standard albums.
Well Phyllis is getting ready to leave and I have to pack up the car. So enjoy this rewind of one of our most popular blog postings !


I'm not sure why but I have had song lyrics racing though my mind this whole week. It might have something to do with Idol auditions.  (By the way love, the guy with tourets) But I digress. From the moment I wake up till the time I try and sleep, songs are seeping in. Some are my favorites like Sinatra, Sammy and Dean. Others are songs I have not heard for years. You ever have that happen? You're trying to go to sleep and a song from the Dixie Cups or Sid Vicious just pops in there. (I made up the Sid part. I would not know a Sid song if my life depended on it). It's even worse when it's some commercial you heard earlier that day. It is just disturbing to be in bed with your wife and have the lyrics, "I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener,  everyone would be in love with me" running through your head. Have you noticed that as bad as it is to have it in your head, sometimes you can't stop yourself from singing out loud?? You do not even realize it and you hear it and you think, "Hey, that sounds like me, it is me. Hey, I don't sound too bad." Then you see the person next to you suddenly giving you more space,


Ok, enough song lyrics. (I am now going to have that damn song in my head all day).
Well, then I went to Disney and started shooting (that photographer talk for taking photographs). Go ahead use it today. Watch how people will assume you're a photographer. Of course, you run the risk they may call the police instead. The words,  "Yup, I just shot that dude" tends to catch people's attention. 


But, I digress once again. As I was walking through Disney's Wild Kingdom shooting,  the En Vogue song, Free your Mind and The Rest Will Follow', popped into my head.

FREE YOUR MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW
BE COLOR BLIND DON'T BE SO SHALLOW....FREE YOUR MIND!

Actually, it's one of the all time great choruses. I'm not trying to trivialize the lyrics here. On the contrary, they were/are some of my favorites and made an impression on me when I heard them. Wouldn't it be great if we all followed their preaching? If we realized how shallow it is to look at color and make a determination? If someone told you they spent hundreds of thousands of dollar on a new house and you asked why they bought that house and they answered it was because of the color, what would you think of them??? Pretty shallow person? But some people make those type judgements on people based on the same criteria. But yet once more, I digress. Off the soapbox and back to the photography.

So it gave me an idea, I knew that I was in a zoo so why not challenge myself to take some images that would not involve animals: to see if I could capture (more photographer talk) some images that were interesting.

So that is what these images are: my attempt at challenging myself. Did I accomplish what I was trying? I think so. What do you think? Oh and have a great weekend!!

Bamboo trees are all over the grounds in The Wild Kingdom!

The top of a building somewhere in Disney's Wild Kingdom. I was waiting for my family; Phyllis, Paul and Greg  to come out of the restrooms, so I know it was near a restroom. Which one? I do not know, they didn't miss many of them!!

I saw these scarves hanging on a tree limb and I liked the colors and play of the shadows. Why were they there? Hey, it's Disney. A 6 ft mouse just walked by and the scarf didn't seem so out of place.

More bamboo: the lines and color caught my attention. All images were shot with my Nikon 70-200 VR lens. You should have seen people stop and look at the trees, trying to see what I was shooting. See, photography is fun!!

FREE YOUR MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW and OSCAR MEYER'S WEINER.. THE WEEKEND MUST BE HERE!!

I'm not sure why but I have had song lyrics racing though my mind this whole week. It might have something to do with Idol auditions.  (By the way love, the guy with tourets) But I digress. From the moment I wake up till the time I try and sleep, songs are seeping in. Some are my favorites like Sinatra, Sammy and Dean. Others are songs I have not heard for years. You ever have that happen? You're trying to go to sleep and a song from the Dixie Cups or Sid Vicious just pops in there. (I made up the Sid part. I would not know a Sid song if my life depended on it). It's even worse when it's some commercial you heard earlier that day. It is just disturbing to be in bed with your wife and have the lyrics, "I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener,  everyone would be in love with me" running through your head. Have you noticed that as bad as it is to have it in your head, sometimes you can't stop yourself from singing out loud?? You do not even realize it and you hear it and you think, "Hey, that sounds like me, it is me. Hey, I don't sound too bad." Then you see the person next to you suddenly giving you more space,


Ok, enough song lyrics. (I am now going to have that damn song in my head all day).
Well, then I went to Disney and started shooting (that photographer talk for taking photographs). Go ahead use it today. Watch how people will assume you're a photographer. Of course, you run the risk they may call the police instead. The words,  "Yup, I just shot that dude" tends to catch people's attention. 


But, I digress once again. As I was walking through Disney's Wild Kingdom shooting,  the En Vogue song, Free your Mind and The Rest Will Follow', popped into my head.

FREE YOUR MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW

BE COLOR BLIND, DON'T BE SO SHALLOW…

FREE YOUR MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW
BE COLOR BLIND DON'T BE SO SHALLOW....FREE YOUR MIND!

Actually, it's one of the all time great choruses. I'm not trying to trivialize the lyrics here. On the contrary, they were/are some of my favorites and made an impression on me when I heard them. Wouldn't it be great if we all followed their preaching? If we realized how shallow it is to look at color and make a determination? If someone told you they spent hundreds of thousands of dollar on a new house and you asked why they bought that house and they answered it was because of the color, what would you think of them??? Pretty shallow person? But some people make those type judgements on people based on the same criteria. But yet once more, I digress. Off the soapbox and back to the photography.

So it gave me an idea, I knew that I was in a zoo so why not challenge myself to take some images that would not involve animals: to see if I could capture (more photographer talk) some images that were interesting.

So that is what these images are: my attempt at challenging myself. Did I accomplish what I was trying? I think so. What do you think? Oh and have a great weekend!!

Bamboo trees are all over the grounds in The Wild Kingdom!

The top of a building somewhere in Disney's Wild Kingdom. I was waiting for my family; Phyllis, Paul and Greg  to come out of the restrooms, so I know it was near a restroom. Which one? I do not know, they didn't miss many of them!!

I saw these scarves hanging on a tree limb and I liked the colors and play of the shadows. Why were they there? Hey, it's Disney. A 6 ft mouse just walked by and the scarf didn't seem so out of place.

More bamboo: the lines and color caught my attention. All images were shot with my Nikon 70-200 VR lens. You should have seen people stop and look at the trees, trying to see what I was shooting. See, photography is fun!!

DID YOU EVER HAVE TO FINALLY DECIDE?? ON FLAMINGOS???

I had an idea for today's post, then, as I'm sure some may relate to, another idea started creeping into my mind: that can be a good thing. But I liked them both: that can be a bad thing for my creativity.


Kind of a heads or tails thing!!!

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Pick up on one and leave the other one behind
It's not often easy, and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind?



So I decided on, ummm... nope, not yet. I could not decide for the life of me so I took a walk in the clear, clear water of my mind: looking for a memory that would help me decide.

Did you ever have to finally decide?
Say yes to one and let the other one ride
There's so many changes, and tears you must hide
Did you ever have to finally decide?


As the people that know me really well can tell you, this can be a recipe for disaster. But I walk along thinking and hoping: hoping like hell, that creativity would come from some corner of my mind.


Sometimes you really dig a girl the moment you kiss her
And then you get distracted by her older sister
When in walks her father and takes you in line
And says "Better go home, son, and make up your mind."
Then you bet you'd better finally decide!
And say yes to one and let the other one ride
There's so many changes, and tears you must hide
Did you ever have to finally decide?


Ohhhhh, That did it! I made a decision. Funny what can shake the creativity up!!
It would be on flamingos!! Uhhh! What is creative about a blog on flamingos?
Well, it would be on looking at flamingos in a different way. Okay, this is beginning to sound interesting.

First, a few facts about flamingos. They are a bird and the only thing that scientists seem to agree on is that; FLAMINGOES ARE WELL ATTESTED IN THE FOSSIL RECORD, WITH THE FIRST UNEQUIVOCAL MEMBER OF THE EXTANT FAMILY PHOENICOPTERIDAE.  (Bet you're going to be impressing your friends with that fact all day!!)


From what I could find out the rest is up for grabs.  I tried to read more on their ancestry and my hair started hurting, so we move on. After all, if you're reading this to find out about the flamingo's ancestry, you might be in the wrong place: the Audubon Society is down the hall in someone else's mind.


I do have a few fun facts. We have all seen flamingos standing on one leg. You might ask why do they do this? Good question: one that I shared with you.  What I discovered was that the reason for this is not really understood. It is thought that they, like other animals, have the ability to have half their body go into a sleep mode while the other half stays awake. So they are resting one half and then switch legs and let the other half rest. Amazing isn't it, that is why I love to photograph nature. 


Another fun fact is that their oddly shaped beaks are specifically designed to separate mud and silt from the food they eat and are uniquely used upside down. By the way, they eat mainly brine shrimp and green algae. Who fnew Flamingos like sushi?? Some more fun facts; the ancient Romans, thought flamingos to be a delicacy. (Flamingo parmesan ??  No thanks) Andean miners have killed flamingos for their fat believed to be  a cure for tuberculosis. Ancient Egyptians believed flamings to be the living representation of the God Ra.


Now on to the bad news... once again we find this type of news about a species of the animal world!!! 
Scientists have discovered that flamingos are dying by the thousands along the Great Rift Valley lakes of Kenya and Tanzania. However, they are baffled as to the reason. Possible causes include avian cholera, botulism, metal poisoning, pesticides or poisonous bacteria, say researchers. Also, fears for the future of the Lesser Flamingo — Phoeniconaias minor — have been raised by plans to pipe water from one of their key breeding areas, the shores of Lake Natron. The lakes are crucial to the birds' breeding success because the flamingos feed off the blooms of cyanobacteria that thrive there.


It is bad enough we're killing each other but we are greatly contributing to the deaths of our animal neighbors.
These things are really sad to read but we need to change things and knowledge of the problems are our keys to changing.


Ok, so I decided I would concentrate on the flamingos for awhile and photograph them. Well, we have all seen the pictures of the flamingo standing on one leg in the water or for that matter, on your neighbors front lawn.

 So I thought I would try and look at them in a different way: make it more interesting for me to shoot and more  
 interesting for you to see, ( at least I hope so): almost like a portraiture session with the flamingos.


So here are my flamingo images brought to you by my creativity and the "Loven Spoonfuls" whose lyrics I borrowed. Hope you enjoy them.

GORILLAS I INSIST!

I photograph animals in zoos and occasionally, I  will have people ask me why I do it: that if I respect animals and are against hunting, recreationally, how can I even go to a zoo  That question was asked recently after I posted some images on my blog. When I was asked, a story came to my mind. When the notorious bank robber, Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks he replied, "Because that's where the money is." The reason I photograph in a zoo is " because that's where the animals are."  I love animals and enjoy photographing them. I, unfortunately, will never get to see all the animal species in the wild that I saw in just one day when I visited Disney. I know the concerns some people have with zoos: that animals have rights and should not be caged: (they say as they eat a ham sandwich and wear leather shoes).  I also know the arguments for zoos: some animals are in danger of becoming extinct. I will not argue either case here and now. I am a photographer, I photograph things. Are there zoos I will not go to? Without question, there are. If I go to a zoo and see animals in environments that are too small or dirty, I would leave and not return. I would also take images to document the conditions. But there are zoos that provide clean, large areas for the animals and have a medical team to assist the animals. Two that come to mind are the San Diego Zoo, (although I have not been there for over 6 years) and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

When I do go to a zoo, I always insist on spending the most time with the gorillas. There is something about them that fascinates me (and countless others). Gorillas are the closest relative of humans, after the two chimpanzee species. Their DNA is highly close to humans, around 95%. Gorillas' natural habitat covers tropical and sub tropical forests in Africa and they are highly intelligent animals. Many know the story of Koko, who was taught a form of sign language and appeared on 60 Minutes. Like other great apes, gorillas can laugh, grieve, have a rich emotional life, develop family bonds and make and use tools. They can also think about the past and the future. Some researchers believe that gorillas have spiritual feelings or religious sentiments. It has been shown that gorillas have different cultures where they prepare the same food differently and they have color preferences. They are truly amazing animals!

Now, the bad news. Both species are endangered, they have been and continue to be poached. Habitat destruction and the bush meat trade are two big threats to this species living. The Ebola virus has also killed an estimated 5000 or more gorillas since 2004. The Silverback gorilla, (one of the ones shown here) is an adult male usually over 12 years old and make strong group leaders.

When I watched them the other day, I admit to feeling sad: that these magnificent animals are in this environment. It's no matter that they are living in a very large outside area, not caged, but rather with a moat around the area, it still saddens me. But maybe if people all over the world can see images taken by photographers, they will be educated about them. Then maybe the people of the world will fight this practice of poaching. Maybe then gorillas can live in peace in their natural environment. I hope so. Meanwhile, please view my attempt at showing them in a respectful manner.

TUTORIAL; THE ANATOMY OF CREATING A WEDDING ALBUM.

One of the many fun parts of being a photographer is designing albums: all kinds of albums: wedding, guest books, portraiture and family albums are all really fun to design. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of designing an album for Lisa and Brian: a really great couple whose wedding day we had the honor to photograph a few months ago. I thought that I would go through the process of how I design an album. Hopefully you will find it interesting and informative.

During our initial meeting and then again later, we inform the couple about our process. After the wedding images are posted online and they receive their DVDs, they then need to pick 20 - 25 images that they would like in their album. I also let them know that I may be adding some other images that I think help the flow of the album. I endeavor to tell the story of their wedding day in pictures and may need to add some images to accomplish this. Our basic album is 20 - 25 pages (although more can be added at the couples request) and the amount of images I use depends on the design. Each album is different.

When I receive the images, my work starts. I organize them by parts of the day. We almost always go to the rehearsal, we think it helps us the day of the wedding. The wedding ceremony is so much different now then in the years past. They take place in houses of worship, hotel function halls, outside the function halls, in a garden or even in the forest. We have photographed weddings in a lot of different locations and at each location there are subtle differences. Being there at the rehearsal insures that we are not surprised the day of the wedding, well almost lol. There are always little things that go on, like the ring bearer deciding he does not want to walk up the aisle. Maybe it's something about being male and seeing an aisle ????

Sometimes a couple will ask us to use an image from the rehearsal. Next, we would use the preparation images from both the bride and groom: although many times the grooms do not want pictures taken until after their dressed. Next, would be the ceremony pictures or some of the formals depending on time and the bride's wishes. The reception rounds out the coverage. We are there until the last dance,  a long day but we feel it is worth it.

With Lisa and Brian's wedding, they did choose an image from the rehearsal. I used that as the opening image in the album: the obvious place for it.

I like to put the bride and groom's name on this page.As you can see, they were are very attractive couple and I decided to go with a design that would be simple and elegant. The next page would start the prep section.

 I actually did not use any images but the ones that Lisa and Brian selected. They selected a little more then 25 (actually they select 98 images) lol. They told me they could not select any less and could have selected 300 lol. They told me to choose what I wanted out of the 98. This actually worked out really well giving me choices in almost every section. When I do the bride prep page, I always like to show a portrait of the beautiful bride and then images of her being helped by her bridesmaids. I will almost always use at least one detail image. Lisa chose this detail image: showing some of the jewelry and a healthy glass of OJ. (at least that is what I think it was or maybe a mimosa!)

We design some wedding albums with one page in this section and for other weddings we use two pages, depending on the images that are chosen. If there is a parent present, we try to capture their look for this section. You can just see the pride and happiness on Lisa's mom's face. We have another image showing the young ladies helping Lisa with her hair and then another image with the ladies all wearing their gowns.

We are now starting the pre ceremony formals: photographing the bride and her party first and then the groom with his party. Although at times we do photograph the initial meeting of the bride and groom alone seeing each other just before the ceremony, Lisa and Brian went with the more traditional ceremony. Here we have Brian photographed on the front steps of the wedding venue with his groomsmen including his dad. We also have Lisa with her bridesmaids in the garden area.

On this page we have the guys in a relaxed pose (you can tell that this was a wonderful autumn day).
Brian's brother was his best man so we have an image of Brian and his brother: one of Brian and his dad  and then one with all three of them. Brian gave his groomsmen great looking watches and we had to get a shot of them.

This is an image with Lisa, her mom and sisters:  THE LADIES! in black and white.

   We selected more images of the formals then we usually use but these were very important to Lisa and Brian. We always understand and act with the knowledge that this is the bride and groom's day. We believe in doing it their way and if we think it should be different, we explain it to them and let them make the informed decision. Whatever they decide, that's the way it is done.

  As you can see, we are now in the ceremony. Phyllis and I are both taking pictures during the ceremony with two different type lenses. This allows us to get two perspectives on the wedding. Here, we have a wider shot showing the couple: some of the wedding party and some of the guests. Alongside, there is a closer shot keying in on the bride, groom and the gentleman performing the ceremony. If we shot using the same lens, we feel we would risk the album becoming boring.

The first two rules of wedding photography should be don't forget the camera and DON"T MISS THE KISS.

I love this image: a great kiss with Lisa leaning back slightly, creating an S curve with the lines of her body and the dress: classic lines for a classic beauty.

  Now some of the formals shots after the ceremony included a great image of Lisa and Brian on the front steps lined with multi colored mums. I had to put a frame around this image, almost like putting a bow on it but with a little more elegance lol.

 Lisa and Brian chose so many images, I wanted to use as many as possible without over-crowding the album. I thought this one page with multiple images taken during and after the ceremony

 gave a good feel for that part of the day, while providing as many memories as possible.

 The last formal image: the classic wedding party image shows the bride and groom with their closest friends from the wedding party.

These images show the reception and what represents this section best?  Why of course: the cake cutting and the first dance. The hall had Lisa and Brian's initials projected on the dance floor: a really great touch. You need to capture what they are feeling during the whole day and especially during these moments. Hopefully we did.

The final image: a single page with a great picture of the last dance. You can see, heck you can almost feel the love they are feeling!!

You may have noticed words printed on pages throughout the album.  On occasion, we will use the lyrics from the couples "song", the one they danced to on this their wedding day. We feel it makes the album even more personal and brings back memories of their wedding day.

In this case, it was "Danny's Song" by Kenny Loggins.

The last page is actually the cover of the album. The front cover is on the right: two different images of the dance: one in color and the other in black and white.

 I haven't mention it yet but we use Zookbinders  for all our albums. They have a great selection of albums, photo books, framed images and many more  products that Brides & Groom's love. Would never switch from the Zook.  They are, in my opinion the best.