Monday, November 29, 2010

Birdsong Photography.... cool and talented all rolled into one!


You're thinking about photographers for your wedding. This is good. Mull it over a great deal, because in the end, the cake is eaten, the flowers wilt, your guests go back home and you're left with two things: a ton of wrapping paper to dispose of and your photos.

Picking your photographer is one of those crucial decisions you make for your big day. Think about what your style is, your personalities, what you want photographed. Read up on your choices, read their blogs, check out their work, ask about them on local chat boards.

When you meet with them, ponder how you felt during the meeting... and after. Are you and your future spouse chatting excitedly in the car about how much fun that was? How incredible the pictures you just viewed were? How at ease you felt? Can you imagine spending an entire day with this person?

Your photographer doesn't have to be local. Most professional photographers travel and here's an advantage to that you might not have considered; A fresh set of eyes! We live in a beautiful state and how awesome would it be to see the wonderment of Colorado captured by someone who doesn't get up and stare out the window at the mountains every day? I think that sounds pretty cool!

Last year I had the pleasure of "meeting" this amazingly cool photographer on Twitter who tweeted a message to me (in 140 characters or less) regarding my website and it's catchy opening tune. He basically wanted to steal it for his own, and I, being of a sharing nature and happy that someone else found that goofy jazz song equally entertaining, sent him the file. Since then we've struck up a friendship and bonded over raising kids, relationships and the joys of having a job that truly fulfills us. This past August Brett visited our fine state, and my husband and I spent an evening dorking out in front of his camera where we got hitched. It was an absolute blast and as we chatted about it later we both felt energized and excited and we would have jumped right into the sack, but we had lunches to pack for the kids first:).

<----husband's fav shot



Brett Birdsong travels all over. He typically drives, as he likes to take in the sites and folks as he's headed towards his destination. Despite the travel, Brett is very fairly priced. I won't say cheap, because I hate that term and don't think anyone likes to be referred to as "cheap", especially when they work so hard. Brett loves Colorado and will be here in the spring to shoot a mountain wedding. Brett would like to make Colorado one of his frequent stops.



One of mine... I laugh so much with my husband! ---->






Read his blog, check out his pictures and mull him over. Imagine the pictures he'll take of you and your nearest and dearest in a setting that is still powerful and exciting to him.

http://birdsongphotography.com

Monday, November 15, 2010

Blogging about one of my favorite people!


Meet Dawn Ackerman, owner of Hillside Consultants, Inc. based in Colorado Springs, CO. Dawn is an amazing artist using flowers as her medium. Dawn is also one of the coolest people I have ever met:)

Dawn has been bringing floral joy to folks for well over a decade, and loves every moment of doing so. I have met a lot of people in this biz, and Dawn never ceases to amaze me; not only with her flowers, but with her personality. You cannot help but grin and laugh around this woman.



(love these, Dawn!)






I got married last December and Dawn stepped in and took care of the flowers for us. She asked me a ton of questions about colors and favorite flowers and theme... and then kept it all a surprise! You brides out there, imagine this... not knowing what your bouquet is going to look like. I had no idea what she was going to do, but I can honestly say that there was not a single moment I was worried about it!

This is my reaction when I walked into the room------>


Because Dawn had done this on the tables!



And, oh my, our bouquets!!!


She had twisted wire all through them (and out of the centers of some!) and on these wires were lots of little Steampunk-ish elements! Our girls and I felt like princesses:)


You can find out all about Dawn and her company here:
www.hillside-consultants.com
In addition to savvy business owner and florist extraordinaire, Dawn is also the wedding flower expert for the Colorado Springs Examiner. You can read her tips here:
www.examiner.com/wedding-flowers-in-colorado-springs/dawn-ackerman

Fabulous photo of Dawn is courtesy of Real Photography: www.realphotography.com
My wedding photos are courtesy of JasonG Photography: www.jason-g.com