We found out on Friday that one of Paul’s past brides has lost her battle with illness. Damiene was devoted to her family and our hearts go out to her husband Wesley, and her two young children, Eli and Karsten.
We will always remember Damiene’s beautiful hands. They graced our business cards and DVD labels for many years.
Damiene and Wesley
We’re extra excited this month! We found out that one of our great couples will appear in the Whirl Wedding Guide out on newsstands this month. Here’s a link to the floral section and our photo of Natalie’s bouquet (which really was exquisite!). And for your own beautiful bouquet, give April at Mocha Rose a call
I’m a little late in posting this. One of our beautiful brides, Katherine, was interviewed for a piece on the Today Show. Check out her story by clicking here.
And you can also follow her on her blog, A Runner Wife.
Here are a few questions we hear on a regular basis:
How many years’ worth of experience do you have?
All together, we have over 30 years of experience behind the camera. Paul started out as a crime scene photographer during his career as a police officer. Cyndy officially joined Paul in 2002 and started her professional career in wedding photography. We have photographed over 200 weddings together! That number doesn’t even touch the weddings we’ve photographed separately. And add to that over 150 boudoir sessions Cyndy has captured and all the family, commercial, engagement and baby sessions Paul has photographed. That’s a lot of pictures.
What kind of equipment do you use?
Paul and Cyndy both use high end Nikon bodies. The lenses are all Nikkor fast glass of f1.4 and f2.8 quality, great for low light receptions. All together, there are 7 individual camera bodies at each wedding. Why use so many? Like individual paint brushes, each camera gives a different look to the photos it produces. We use the camera and lenses to create a signature look for your wedding. Even more importantly, having extra equipment means that we’re ready with backup cameras in case of emergency. Just something we do to put your mind at ease…
What is your payment policy?
At the time of booking, we collect a $200 retainer to reserve our services for your special day. This is fully refundable up to 30 days prior to your wedding. As the wedding gets closer, we require payment in full 14 days prior to the event. For non-wedding sessions, we require payment in full at the time of your session.
How do you protect the digital files?
Normally Cyndy will leave the wedding reception prior to the end of the night. This gives her a chance to begin the long process of downloading the digital files from that day’s wedding. By the time Paul returns home at the end of the wedding evening, there will be two full backups in place in a fireproof, waterproof safe. After your wedding images have been completely processed and finished, the digital files are again copied to a separate hard drive and a DVD backup. We are that serious about your data.
What happens after the wedding?
Sometimes the general public thinks that a pro photographer just presses a button and the photo is finished. So why a delay between the wedding day shooting and when those files are available for shooting? In reality, there is a lot of work spent at the computer tweaking the image files to make them look better than what happened in reality. Lots of things influence a photo file, such as the “color of the light” or getting the white balance correct, cropping to strengthen the focus of the image, noise reduction from low light photography, and sharpening the photo so edges are nice and defined. And since this is happening to over 1000 photo files, you can see that the time does add up. Our personal goal is to have your wedding images online for viewing approximately 2 weeks after your wedding.
Where are you located?
Our studio is in Zelienople, just north of Cranberry Township. And we’ve photographed weddings all over the Pittsburgh area. But we don’t stop there! We’ve covered a ton of places from Delaware to California, Minnesota to Texas. And if you want to take us to someplace tropical, we have our passports!
Do you contract out to other photographers?
Nope. When you book Paul Meyer, you get Paul Meyer. Period.
Fridays are the new Saturdays! Click here to read all about it.
You truly get the Red Carpet Treatment from Tony and his staff of professionals…
Recently there’s been a lot of buzz around the photography industry. It turns out that many photographers will use music without first securing the permission from the recording label and artist. Here’s an interesting article all about the subject. Through our professional associations we’ve heard of several photographers being sued over the illegal use of music. And since photographers are very well versed in copyright laws and infringement, there is no chance of claiming ignorance.
I wanted to reassure all of our customers that we only use music that we have purchased the rights to use. So are songs may not find playing time on MTV or top 40 radio stations, but we’re OK with that! At least we know that we’ll never end up in litigation with the record companies.
Looking for a way to save $$ on your wedding dress and have a little fun at the same time? Check out Filene’s Basement for the ultimate sale. A special thanks to Pat at Filene’s for sharing this fall’s info!
Northeast Ohio Brides Get Ready to Battle for Bargains
The annual Running of the Brides®, legendary sale of designer and famous label wedding gowns, takes place Friday, October 16, 2009 at Filene’s Basement in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. The selection of over 1400 gowns, sizes 2 to 26, will be priced between $249 and $699, a real bargain compared to the $900 to $10,000 these dresses would cost in a bridal salon.
Named the #1 “sale worth waiting for” by AOL’s WalletPop.com, brides who take advantage of the once a year sale will save a ton of money and make great memories in the process.
Filene’s Basement’s Running of the Brides
Friday, October 16, 2009 — 8:00am to 9:00pm
Harvard Park Shopping Center
4045 Richmond Rd. (Harvard Rd. exit off I-271 N)
Warrensville Heights, OH 44122
216-593-0009
Cash, checks and credit cards accepted. All sales are final.
when it comes to outdoor photos. There are plenty of unusual places that will set your wedding apart from the everyday. Just a quick conversation and we can come up with a plan of action for your on-location photos!
We love back alleys!
And long funky buildings can give you a modern look!
Parks are nice, but thinking outside the box is what we do best…
We want to offer up a very special congrats to our assistant photographer, Becky, who married Guy on August 29th. Nothing is quite like a wedding on a windy beach! Here are a few photos from our girl, who usually is behind the camera – not in front.
Even though July is right smack in the middle of wedding season, we still carved out some time to do some personal photography.
Fourth of July
Yep, we had the day off and it was great! We went down to the Point to catch the fireworks and here are a few of the photos.
Driving home from a wedding
The son and I were heading home from a wedding when we saw this immense cloud. It was so impressive I actually pulled off of the highway and popped the trunk to grab my camera. He took the photos while I played the part of ’storm chaser’. It felt like we were back in Oklahoma again.
And as the sun set, we were lucky enough to grab these shots as well.
And one that reminds me of a sky painted by Michelangelo.
Another home project gets finished!
Lastly, I’m very happy to announce the completion of our courtyard (or “Partio” as Paul calls it). Badger’s Landscaping finished it up this week and we could not be happier with the results. It’s become a relaxation spot in our yard.
Now I have to go out and water our grass seed so our lawn looks as good as the courtyard…
