Along with the cinematic engagement session, we also shot several traditional (to us) engagement photos. We really love how these came out, and we think you will too. Congratulations again, Carol and EJ!

We hate to see things like this, but unfortunately it happens all of the time. The problem is complex, and not going to go away anytime soon.

Couples spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on their wedding day: From the dress to the cake, the location to the food, the flowers to the DJ, it all adds up to a pretty penny to make for a beautiful and memorable occasion. Unfortunately the last thing some couples consider is how all of these things will be memorialized in a professional, beautiful manner. The folks in the story below spent upward of $22000 USD on their wedding, and paid $1200 for photography. The photographers did a terrible job, even at a $1200 price point, and now the couple will never have photographers to remember the wedding day by.

Not everyone can budget for high-end wedding photography. That’s ok. It’s important that the couple do extensive research when finding a photographer for their big day. You must demand to see several full wedding shoots, not just the best shots the photographer put on their gallery. Any person with a digital camera can string together 10-20 lucky shots throughout a wedding; It’s the other 400-800 photos that you should be concerned about.

The second part of the problem is the advent of digital SLR cameras. Everyone thinks they are a professional photographer now, and digital cameras are nearly 100% at fault. Walmart sells consumer-grade cameras with interchangeable lenses for $400. That is well within the reach of most anyone on any budget. Give a person a camera like that, and a little ambition, and you’ve got the perfect storm to ruin the wedding day of anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with this “photographer.”

The people that are selling themselves as professional weddings photographers at a cut-rate price are doing a huge disservice to the industry, and craigslist has created the perfect place for unsuspecting brides and grooms on a budget to be duped into hiring these uninsured, uneducated, untalented photographers. And the price point these photographers have set have given upper-end photographers a stigma of “overcharging” for their services.

This is a plea to both parties. If you’re a photographer that is doing this shoddy work, please stop for the sake of these unfortunate couples that are hiring you. If you’re a couple, please do a ton of research and find someone that you can absolutely trust, has a pedigree and references, insurance, business license, a fantastic portfolio over a period of years and be sure you really connect with them so that your day isn’t ruined like this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2132578/Are-Britains-worst-wedding-pictures-Newlyweds-devastated-photographer-failed-couple-frame-took-blurry-shots.html

We wanted to try something new and create a storyboard/film style shoot, and Carol and EJ were game to give it a shot for their engagement photos. We also did plenty classic engagement shots and will share those in a later post. In the meantime, enjoy vintage inspired, widescreen format, Route 66 engagement session. Carol and EJ, we will see you in Sedona for your wedding this fall!

We met Laura and Josh via a friend that just happened to be Josh’s mother. We always enjoy shooting in Las Vegas, the wedding capitol of the world, and this wedding at Angel Park was no exception. From the gorgeous green lawns to the lovely reception setting, this wedding was wonderful. Congratulations and best wishes in the future.

Here are a few photos of the wedding.

Where do we start? We met Ripley three years ago when her mom was looking for someone to shoot her senior portraits. We had a wonderful session with Ripley that day. That session turned into Ripley having the lead role in one of the music videos for Jason’s band, The Asphalt. Cut to three years later and Ripley goes off to college and meets Kyle, a really neat guy, in chemistry class of all places. They fall in love, get engaged and call us to take their pictures.

We took them to an old ghost-town on the side of an abandoned highway and had a great couple of hours shooting their engagement photos. We traversed barbwire fences, dangerous desert plant-life, slippery slopes of granite and the ever-present cow-pie to get to the location. But it was all worth it in the end…We’ll let the sample photos do the talking. Ripley and Kyle, congratulations. We’ll see you guys at the wedding!

We’ve known Trace since he was a little tyke, and now he’s all grown up and graduating high school. We were thrilled to shoot his senior portraits in downtown Kingman Saturday. Best of luck in everything you do, Trace! Onward and upward.

If your kid needs senior portraits please contact us at www.imaginephotoaz.com.

We had the pleasure of doing some portraits of a really great teenager over the weekend.  Kevin is the kind of kid you really love to work with as he has a great style, is comfortable in front of the camera, and really does great with taking direction.  We’re really happy with how the photos came out and are excited to share a few samples from the dozens of finished images.  Enjoy!  Please feel free to contact us at Imagine Photography if your teenager needs senior portraits or they just want a fun afternoon of shooting and some great memories.

We’re proud to have been accepted to be “Fearless Photographers” by Huy and the gang over at www.fearlessphotographers.com.  Go check it out and see what all the fuss is about.  If you’re a bride and groom that are serious about amazing wedding photography, members of Fearless Photographers are just the photographers you want!   We look forward to being fearless in 2012 and beyond!  https://www.facebook.com/fearlessphotographers

Meet Chad.  Chad’s a pilot, digs fast cars, fast airplanes and fast internet speeds!  Chad brought us to his private hanger and we had a great time shooting his senior portraits with his aeroplanes and out on the tarmac with some decommissioned jetliners.   We probably did a few illegal things during this shoot, but it’s not illegal unless you get caught, right?  And with that, we’ll leave you with a gratuitus quote from the movie Airplane!  ”Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.”

There are some people that just get it.  Stephanie is one of those people.  How many times do you get to do senior portraits with a beautiful girl and a hunting rifle one day, and dressed out in her softball gear the next?  Well we did it this past weekend, and it was a blast.  The pics turned out amazing and we are so glad that we were able to work with Stephanie!  Good luck in college!