As a non-native Texan, this heat is just killer. Although, I may be starting to get used to it. Kind of.

With it being so hot (and getting hotter!) this time of year in the Dallas area, like I’m talking 100+ degree weather, I thought it would be helpful to suggest the best times to schedule your portrait session – engagements, bridals, day after, and Beloved sessions. Because, if you’re like me, you don’t want to look a hot mess. A hot, sweaty mess. Unless you’re one of those lucky people who doesn’t sweat. And if you are, what is your secret?!

A few things to consider if you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex:

1. If you’re wanting to shoot an outdoor session, I recommend the fall (late September to early December) or the spring (March through early June). And even early June in Dallas is cutting close into the hot zone. We can certainly shoot in the winter, even if there’s snow, you may just have to bundle up a little more than usual.
2. If for whatever reason, timing only permits a session in the hot, summer months, then I recommend scheduling your engagement, bridal, day after, or Beloved session in the morning. Early morning, as in when the sun is rising. Even if you are not a morning person, (and let me tell you I am not one either!) shooting in the early morning provides much more comfortable temperatures, usually in the 80′s. And the light is also just as pretty as sunset.
3. And of course, there’s shooting indoors. While I personally prefer the outdoors, and natural light photography, we can always shoot indoors, should it be needed. Especially here in Dallas, where the weather can go from sunny, to cloudy, to storming in a matter of minutes.
4. So what time of day should you schedule your session? You may think that since it’s nice and bright in the middle of the day that it would be an ideal time for a session. No! Actually, it’s probably the worst time because it is SO bright that it cause squinting, it’s super hot (in the summer), and can cast unflattering shadows on your face.
5. I recommend clients schedule their engagement sessions about an hour and a half before sunset, during the “golden hour” when the light is nice and pretty. So in the fall and the spring that right around 5-6pm depending on when Daylight Savings Time starts/ends. Sessions usually last about two hours.

Why do I love shooting at the “golden hour”? Because you get golden light, like this:

And the golden light on the right? LOVE! These were shot in mid-May and the weather was amazing!

Happy Thursday!

For other Thursday Tips check out these previous posts:

Wedding Day Timeline
Feed Your Vendors
5 Benefits of Hiring a Wedding Coordinator
Why a Second Shooter is Important
Let Your Personalities Shine
Remember to Take a Break
Contacting and Meeting Your Wedding Photographer
How to Find Your Wedding Photographer
5 Reasons to Have an Engagement Session

what next?

1. Share this with brides you know!
2. Subscribe to our new monthly e-zine: tips from the best in the industry on creating a stress-free wedding that honors your relationship and, most importantly, building a lasting wonderful marriage.  Leave a comment below or click here to sign up.
3. See more inside scoop with other posts on wedding advice for brides & grooms here.

Because I knew it was coming. And I was sitting on pins and needles. And getting nervous.

Why? Well, because of YOUR help we made it to the top ten of the Elizabeth Anne Designs and The Sweetest Occasion Inspired Creations Contest. And the winners were announced this morning.

And with MANY THANKS to YOU, we got 2nd Place!

Check it out on Elizabeth Anne Designs and The Sweetest Occasion!

Thank you so much for your votes and your support from our entire team, After Yes Weddings, The Left Handed Calligrapher, and Emily Hudspeth Hair Design & Makeup Artist!

Happy Thursday!

I just met Emily last week and I can tell you she is not only a fabulous hair and makeup artist, but she’s also so fun to be around! She used to live and work in Los Angeles, so we quickly related through our California connection. We were lucky enough to have Emily on board to do some hair and makeup for the Dallas PhotogShootout (which I’ll be posting this week!).

Check out some of Emily’s work from Friday:

Working her magic on our lovely model, Erica.

And the end results!

And on a photographer’s note, let me just say how important it is to have awesome hair and makeup that not only makes you look and feel fabulous, but will last all day long through the all the photos, your tears of joy, and of course, sweating on the dance floor!

In order to win:

Leave a comment on Kelly’s blog (not mine!) and tell us about your most interesting hair and makeup experience…you know, the best haircut you’ve ever had…the funniest experience getting your makeup done, how your hair stylist saved the day, etc.

We’ll choose the winner by midnight this Friday, March 5th and will announce on Monday, March 8th. Winner will need to use the complimentary hair and makeup trial by August 31, 2010 and will need to be a bride getting married in 2010.  Winner will also need to visit Emily’s studio in Addison, TX for the hair and makeup trial.

So hop on over to the Sweet Pea Events blog for your chance to win!

And the way that I booked our photographer was probably pretty unconventional (knowing what I know now). It was completely over email. We didn’t meet our photographer until our engagement session. And since he lived out of our area, meeting him between the engagement session and wedding day was not as simple. But I have zero regrets about our wedding photographer, because he was SO AWESOME! And everyone at our wedding had a fantastic time.

But now that I think about it, it was because I didn’t know the ins and outs of hiring a wedding photographer, let alone the rest of the wedding vendors we worked with. Namely, because I had never been married, nor had I ever planned a wedding.

So since I’m guessing most brides who will come upon this post probably haven’t been married before or have never planned or contacted wedding photographers before, here are some helpful hints for getting the most out of your search.

1. Ask for referrals from recently married friends. That’s actually how I ended up finding our photographer. And it’s the best way to find out about the style and personality of the wedding photographer. Were they professional, fun, adventurous, traditional, modern, etc. Make sure you find someone whose style you LOVE. And, it will give you some insight to their price ranges.
2. Check out the photographer’s work. Read their blog. Can you get a sense of their style and personality? Is it something that you connect with, or is it not you? If it’s not you, that’s okay, it doesn’t have to be. Can you imagine yourself in the photos of the photographer? Can you imagine loving the photos fifty years from now? If the answer is “YES!” then start contacting your favorites.
3. When you send out initial inquiries, most wedding photographers will want to set up an in-person or phone meeting. My mentality (at the time) was that I just wanted to know their price point, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. However, now I know that most wedding photographers want to ensure that they are a good fit with you. Because having a good rapport with your photographer who will be documenting your day is KEY. Imagine a wedding day where you don’t trust your wedding photographer or you don’t get along. It could make for a very uncomfortable time for a very important day.
4. Narrow down your choices to three max. Make it easier on yourself. But if you’ve found the photographer that you ABSOLUTELY must have, contact them and let them know just that! We work hard to make it easy for a client to make that decision pre-meeting, and your meeting should solidify that conviction.
5. If you are ready to book your photographer, book them! Most wedding photographers book anywhere between 6 and 12 months before your wedding date, so if you know that you want a particular wedding photographer, make sure to secure your date! And when you inquire with photographers, make sure you have a date! A photographer can’t secure a maybe this date or that date, and will require a retainer to book a date. So, it’s easiest if you have a wedding date set.

I hope this post was helpful. I know that if I had known what I know now, I’d be better prepared for hiring wedding vendors. I hope this makes things easier for both brides and grooms as well as photographers!

*NOTE: This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but merely a starting point for brides and grooms. A comprehensive list would probably take up a series of posts.*

If you have any other suggestions or helpful hints, please leave them in the comments!

Happy Thursday!

what next?

1. Share this with brides you know!
2. Subscribe to our new monthly e-zine: tips from the best in the industry on creating a stress-free wedding that honors your relationship and, most importantly, building a lasting wonderful marriage.  Leave a comment below or click here to sign up.
3. See more inside scoop with other posts on wedding advice for brides & grooms here.

Since the ceremony was in a different location from the reception, they provided these great maps for their guests.

I loved their cake.

This was my first wedding where they had pie. So fun!

This is a clear labor of love: each stone was labeled with each guest’s name.

And I loved this: a popcorn buffet! A fun spin on the candy buffets that have been a big trend for the last year or so.

Details help set the tone, the personality, and the feeling of the wedding day. Think about all the fun things you can bring together!

Happy Thursday!

Are you looking for online inspiration for your wedding beyond The Knot?

Well good news! A brand spanking new online wedding magazine launched today! Introducing Nonpareil Magazine:

It has tons of DIY goodness, affordable, yet stylish centerpieces, and tutorials!

Another online wedding magazine that I’m a big fan of is Utterly Engaged. Having launched last year, they are now in their seventh issue:

And of course, it wouldn’t be a blog post of mine if I didn’t offer a few more blogs to peruse for inspiration and entertainment galore!

• Once Wed
• Ruffled Blog
• Snippet & Ink
• Ritzy Bee Blog
• The Broke Ass Bride
• The Knot

Happy Tuesday!

what next?

1. Share this with brides you know!
2. Subscribe to our new monthly e-zine: tips from the best in the industry on creating a stress-free wedding that honors your relationship and, most importantly, building a lasting wonderful marriage.  Leave a comment below or click here to sign up.
3. See more inside scoop with other posts on wedding advice for brides & grooms here.

But I have to say that since moving to Dallas, I’ve been embraced by the wedding photographer community as well as some awesome wedding vendors. Of the folks I’ve been blessed to meet, they’ve taken me in, without saying, “Who the heck is this girl from California?” or “Oh great, more competition!” I’m happy to say, we’ve evolved acquaintances into friendships.

And trust me, it’s not super easy. For one, I’m a shy person, by nature. I know, I know, for someone who puts her life online, how can I be a shy person? Well, I wasn’t always this outgoing, putting my life out there. I was the quiet kid who stood on the sidelines, listening. But when I started my journey into wedding photography back in California, I knew that I had to find people who shared a passion for the craft, were fun to hang out with, and that maybe I could help with carrying bags. So I would go to photographer get togethers. Alone. I know, I didn’t even bring a wingman! But I was intent on pushing myself to get out there and meet people. Because I knew that eventually, I’d be moving to Texas, without anyone I knew.

It was great practice. And although it could be nerve-wracking, I learned that it wasn’t all that scary. Like the other person wasn’t going to eat me alive (and if they were, I could always run!) and for the most part, I knew that people coming to these get togethers shared the same interests and it was all about sharing our stories.

So I put the same principles into practice when I moved to Dallas. I also have to include that Facebook and Twitter were great resources for “meeting” Dallas/Fort Worth wedding photographers and wedding vendors before moving here. I met the awesome Kelly Simants of Sweet Pea Events through her business partner Michelle Loretta of mmm…paper and Sage Wedding Pros through Twitter. I “met” Cesar and Tanya Perez of Perez Photography through a combination of Twitter and Facebook. And when I met them in person at an industry event, it was kind of like we had already met, except not quite. And through interactions like that, I’ve been able to meet and connect with so many more wonderful people than had I done nothing at all.

If you know you’re moving to a new city or state, start connecting with people now. With social media, the barriers for meeting and connecting with others are really low. You just have to make the effort to do so.

And because sharing is caring, here are 5 tips for tracking readership of your blog:

1. Burn your RSS feed to Feedburner. If you are asking, “What’s Feedburner?” then please read on. Feedburner was bought by Google, so if you already have a Gmail account (or other Google-related account), you have a Feedburner account. Log in, type the URL of your blog in the box, and voila! It’s been burned. Take the URL that Feedburner gives you, and create a link on your menu or sidebar. Readers can click to subscribe to your blog! Easy.
2. Give your readers the option to subscribe by email. Some people don’t use Google Reader or know what it is. But they do know what email is (hopefully!) This service for email subscription is also available from Feedburner. Log into your account and select the feed you burned in Tip #1. Go to the “Publicize” tab and click “Email subscriptions.” You can pick up the code to paste into your blog post or website. You can choose your preferences for emails and to view who has subscribed. Pretty nifty!
3. Set up Google Analytics. Google is pretty awesome for offering these services for free. Go to Google Analytics. Log in with your account. Add the URL of your site or blog. It will give you a piece of code which you must insert. There are tutorials from Google on how to do this. Basically, you want Google to be able to “see” it on your website. You’ll want to insert it after the <head> tag and before the </body> tag. From there, you’ll be able to track hits, keywords, referral sources, etc. You’ll be able to know if traffic is coming from Facebook, Twitter, organically, Stumble Upon, etc.
4. Set up Google’s Webmasters Tools. Again, if you’ve never heard of that, keep reading. Since this is also a Google product, you have an account. Go to Google Webmasters Tools, and log in. From there, you can add your website. You will get a line of code which you need to insert on your website. Fear not! There are various tutorials from Google on how to do this. After a couple of months, you will start to see results, as to who is linking to you, the keywords where your site appears on a Google search, and other relevant information.
5. Do you use Twitter? Are you annoyed by super long URLs that don’t fit in 140 characters? Well, start using a URL shortener. There are several out there, but I like bit.ly and su.pr. Both are free services. Basically, you create an account and you can track how many times your short URLs have been clicked. Bit.ly is a basic URL shortener that keeps track of how many times your link was clicked. 0 times, 23 times, or 173 times. Su.pr is owned by Stumble Upon so for every link you submit, you are also submitting to the Stumble Upon network, which can be viewed by a greater audience. It also has some analytics to times of day that your link is clicked.

There you go. Five tips for tracking your readership, and make it a little easier.

And because photos make posts more exciting, can I just say I’m totally craving beignets from Cafe du Monde?!

Happy Friday!

what next?

1. Share this post on Facebook and Twitter!
2. Like me on Facebook here or follow me on Twitter here
3. Subscribe to the new monthly e-newsletter Slice of Photo Cake containing exclusive tips and resources for photographers, from hobbyists to full-timers.  Click here to sign up or leave a comment below.

Believe it or not, I still spend time reading wedding blogs. Why? Market research, of course. I love seeing what trends are in style, going out of style, and simply timeless. And no, I’m not longing to plan another wedding. Trust me, I’ll leave that to the wedding planners. But with a handful of friends springing up engaged, I thought I’d share my favorite wedding blogs.

• Southern Weddings Magazine – Real Southern wedding inspiration.
• Elizabeth Anne Designs – So much inspiration, and wedding bloggers.
• Green Wedding Shoes – Real weddings, photoshoots, trends.
• 100 Layer Cake – More real weddings and color palette inspiration.
• Inspired By This – Leila is a PR guru, and shares all kinds of inspiration.
• Wedding Chicks – Sweet deals, eye candy, and lovely real weddings.
• Blue Orchid Blog – Liene shares all kinds of useful advice for planning your wedding.
• A Practical Wedding – No-nonsense wedding advice.
• The Bride’s Cafe – Real weddings and great DIY projects.
• JL Designs – Carissa is a floral designer and shares her amazing work.

So where do I spend my time in blog land when it’s not related to weddings? It’s a mix between business and fun.

Business:

• Sage Wedding Pros – Michelle and Kelly are business dynamos teaching wedding pros how to rock their business.
• Think Splendid – Liene is a social media maven and offers great advice for how to leverage it.
• Lara Casey – She is Making Things Happen. all. the. time.
• Brand Camp Blog – Advice on beefing up your brand.

Fun:

• La Tartine Gourmande – Full of yummy food. And she translates everything to French.
• Elizabeth Anne Designs: Living – Everything outside of the wedding.
• Simply Recipes – Recipes. Recipes. Recipes.
• Dooce – Funny. Sarcastic. Awesome.
• Young House Love – Read this if you just bought a house.
• DesignSponge – DIY projects and great interior decor inspiration
• Smitten Kitchen – More food.

So, there are more, but this is what is currently living in my Google Reader. I try not to subscribe to everything, otherwise I’d inevitably be glued to my laptop. All. the. time. And Cent enjoys interacting with me every now and then.

What are your favorite blog picks?

And because a picture will spice this post up, here’s my sister’s bouquet from the wedding.

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Welcome to January. And welcome to my 365 project which you can find at http://365.catieronquillo.com!

And for a little preview of today’s post, here’s the alternate shot I took:

Say goodbye to my last piece of Red Velvet cake for the time being, to be explained in a later post this week. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in starting your own 365 project or checking out all the folks who have started a project, visit Tasra’s site at http://www.tasramar.com.

Happy Tuesday!

CONTACT CATIE | VIEW PORTFOLIO | SUBSCRIBE to the BLOG

One holiday that Cent and I have been able to spend together for the last two years as well as this year is New Years. I remember the first New Year’s that we spent together was going into 2007. Cent told me that we couldn’t clean and that we had to eat specific foods. This was totally new to me. So on New Year’s Eve, we tidied his apartment and bought the ingredients for New Year’s Day dinner. In Southern tradition, a meal of collard greens, black-eyed peas and rice are prepared. The greens represent money and the black eyed peas and rice are for good luck in the coming year. We don’t clean on New Year’s Day so as not to sweep out the good luck and good fortune. So, while greens and I are not BFFs by any means, I still want to honor Cent’s traditions.

Same for this year. Above is a quick photo of our New Year’s Day 2010 dinner. And I think I ate an equivalent of 2 tablespoons of greens! Trust me, that’s progress.

Cent met some new traditions spending Christmas with my family. In my parents’ house, we traditionally go to Midnight Mass and then we open gifts when we get home. After taking a quick poll amongst my friends, I learned that most of my friends do what Cent and his family do – open one gift Christmas Eve and then open the rest on Christmas morning. Well, we roll differently.

What new traditions have you met with your significant other/fiance/spouse?