Bugs, Seniors, and Hail!

Updated Friday April 20th
What a crazy day! I'm totally buzzing from all the great picture-taking today, wow! See, that's when you KNOW you're in the right field, you get a good buzz from working hard. That might be a little twisted but I much prefer to work hard rather than stay and home and eat bon-bons all day. The day started out with a test drive. A VW New Beetle just might be the latest addition to April Greer Photography! Hooray for air conditioning and cruise control! A Scion Xb was a good choice, but lost out to the Bug in the 'luxury' category. Xb just felt too generic for its high price. A bug on the other hand, its cutie patootie and comes with a Turbo!Ray likes the bug, he gave me his typical beefcake shot. Don't let him fool you, he's just a big marshmellow.
leather seats! yay! Two jammin seniors about to make their mark on the world and wrap up high school posed for me after lunch.The weather played into our favor for most of the afternoon with a brief storm of hail. They came to me requesting 'different' photos as opposed to everyone else they know who uses xxx studio in Fife or xxx studio in Puyallup. CooL! I aim to please!

Heavy at Viriginia Tech

This blog is meant to be real, but not heavy. By now you've most likely heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Tears well up in my eyes with each new piece of information about the shooter, the families, the victims. Considering the circumstances, I couldn't 'not' say anything about it here.

News channels will cover the story from every angle and it doesn't make sense to repeat it in this post. I would just like to take a moment express that my heart goes out to the families, friends, students, faculty, task force and citizens attending and surrounding Virgina Tech.

The incident begs horrific questions about the state of mental health in young people and coping methods in today's world. And sadly, it causes our nation to become sensitive in exploring need for self-protection and urge a public's right-to-know.

I can't imagine what the families of the victims are going through dealing with a crime as selfish and senseless as this one. I deeply grieve with the hundreds of people involved in the incident and pray this is the end of public rampage upon innnocent people.

Oh-la-la

Sunday's e-sessions

1st session: meet Shannon + James

Some lip action

growllllll....

I love when people walk into my shots! I like this guy in the foreground, he adds an extra layer to the scene.

Crazy blue skies today!

Taking a wild guess here, but the fountain MIGHT be chilly.

Just before they hopped in the car to take off, I spotted a trippy little parking space. Love it!!

next couple: meet Jon + Natasha

They were a "supposedly" a little camera shy, but I'm holding a big W on my forehead: whatever!!! They were bursting with romance!

love these shots of them nuzzling together!! Jon is a total sweetheart and has intense blue eyes! Natasha is about as foxy as it gets. She's from Polish heritage, of course, the European genes!

smokin!!!

Lots of weddings coming soon! Stay tuned for more!

ein moment bitte

Headed out for some e-sessions downtown today, please check back later for updates!!! Thank heavens for decent weather, I'm elated! Happy happy joy joy Melodie & Bernie's kitche style e-session was last year, although, one of my all-time faves!

Passion

I love Michael Grecco's work. He's very, very passionate about his imagery and true to his philosophy. I first came across his photography through the Seattle chapter of ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers. Grecco passed through Seattle late last year to discuss his new book "Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait." He initially worked for the Associated Press but later filled out into commercial work. Realizing he wasn't much for photojournalism with the AP, he began to focus on advertising & editorial work.

Check out his website: www.michaelgrecco.com You'll love his advertising shots!

His book talks about different obstacles and lighting scenarios used. Other photographers initially ridiculed him for "giving away" his secrets in explaining his light setup. Truly there's only one Grecco, regardless if people knicked his secrets, it wouldn't make any difference. Sharing is a good thing. His book is under $50. Its a good one for the photography library.

A GREAT story of his: shooting snaps with Will Smith. Michael visualized a gritty image, showing off Will's chiseled abs in a wet wife beater. Will's reaction to the idea was really negative and he even insulted Michael. The whole shoot could've gone awry after that. Instead, Grecco bucked up, trashed his own ideas and eventually got Will to trust him enough to open up for this shot. It ran the cover and thus, was a great hit. Will was getting jiggy. Funny to hear that even at the top people don't always dig your ideas.


His philosophy is simple:


My images are conceptual and dramatic.I often use humor and irony to emphasize an idea.I delight in inspiring people, I want them to stop, think and feel. Each shoot is a creative journey that takes us beyond the expected and into new realms.My ultimate satisfaction lies in creating memorable images for clients, advertisers, consumers and myself. I love what I do and enjoy collaborating with those who share my passion.Life is too short to do it any other way.

Last funny story: Grecco asked for a stand in when shooting with Jet Li. Li's translator was adamant to the point of anger that Li did NOT need a stand in. Grecco needed Li to jump kick many, many times in order to set up lighting and figured Li could not repeatedly carry out this task and still maintain enough stamina to perform once the lighting was ready. Needless to say, Li refused the stand in nailed the jump every single time. Shazamm!

Let's get hitched!

Ray and I can't decide on anything in regards to planning our wedding! Call me crazy, but even amidst talent in every part of the wedding industry we are utterly indecisive! We need to move in a forward motion with planning, obviously! My mom recommends a "small" wedding, which is funny because they have lovingly volunteered every penny of their 401k plan towards our fabulous wedding, I understand she wants it to be 'affordable.'

Rumors are flying that my dad offered to sell his G35 Infiniti with heated seats for my wedding and donate his Aprilia motorcycle nicknamed: Jalla, for Ashley's wedding. Dad is such a generous guy. hee hee With those generous donations in mind here's a little poll for everyone to give their 2 cents. The first step: where on God's green Earth should we host this wedding? Thanks in advance for voting and there's a "other" box for those of you with more brilliant ideas than we discovered so far. Thank you!! Check's in the mail!

Marketing Update

mywedding.com recently updated our banners & tiles in 5 different states with a snapshot from Elizabeth's bridal fashion shoot. She's fabulous in front of the camera, her session produced some killa images; she styled herself, created her own posing routine, her dress and everything else involved flowed like water.
I admire her sense of confidence; regardless of how she posed, she 'owned' it.
Its a great feeling to create beautiful imagery together, the collaboration involved makes it a very satisfying experience, not to mention, fun!! If interested in a bridal fashion shoot, please call me or email me: april@aprilgreer.com

Sneak Peek

Ta-dah! See it here first folks: sneak peeks of Wesa & Carl's beautiful wedding album!

Bad news is that I have a splitting headache from the PC today, booking logistics and album prep for longer than my eyeballs can handle; so its lights off at the office. From the 'getting ready' to strikes & spares down the lanes, it was a fantastic day to shoot a wedding! More importantly, it was vital to incorporate bowling into the whole theme because W&C are a ball of laughs! The full spreads debut Thursday afternoon. Yay!

Tinseltown

Just a few more weeks until we shoot Emily & Daniel's wedding in LA. Their fabulous wedding kicks off a whirlwind of travel for us lasting through August! We're looking forward to one amazing and BUSY summer! If you haven't scheduled your e-session, bridal fashion shoot or portrait appointments yet, now's the time to get your photo shoot on the books! We're down to a few midweek appointments starting in June! Yay for summertime & exciting travels~

Soakin some rays

After a very productive morning of album design and photoshop, I planned to reward myself with an enjoyable afternoon walk in the sun! The Surgeon General recommends at least 20 minutes of sunshine each day to maintian healthy Vitamin D levels. Also, sun helps clear up the psoriasis on my face.

Go figure, soon as I walked out the door, a few tingles of rain landed in my lashes. Within minutes, a downpour. Totally peeved, I caught some damaging UV rays elsewhere. 3 cheers to the local tanning salon. In live in Seattle because ???

Crossroads

Over the Easter weekend, Ray and I visited some great friends whose wedding we shot last year. Last night, for the first time it was all sans camera! Conversation ranged from celebs in rehab to political agendas and finally touched on the crossroards of life. If the bride had chosen her path, she might not have met her future husband and vice versa. All in all as we said our goodbyes and headed home, Ray and I both realized the incredible number of crossroads we've taken in life leading up to today. It cracks me up to think about it, in 2003 I held 4 jobs: stocking shelves, assisting photographers, working as a diner waitress, and a dayjob at Wells Fargo. Ray was a printer, a shelve stocker and a pizza delivery guy. We kept our heads down, hopes high, and worked our tails off to make it in the US, because accepting defeat was not an option! If I had slacked off, lost hope, been involved in illegal activity to get us ahead, any number of things could've changed our situation! Along the entire way, what kept us together was our interest in the same goals. Our goals are the SAME! Like yoked strenght, two heads are better than one, whatever you want to label it, it led us to the crossroads and beyond.

Life is grand! Now if anyone could help us figure out when, where, and how to do our wedding, that would help us through the next crossroad. Ha!!!

Tiffany & Co.

04.07.07 Tiffany + Josh Beautiful floral design by Kendra with Loves Me Flowers. We snuck into a "private" courtyard, it had a 'no trespassing' sign that was momentarily overlooked!
Josh had the coolest cufflinks I've ever seen, robots!!! Ray snagged this shot of me during portrait time...thanks babe!
At last, they tied the knot at the DAR in Seattle, Yay!!! Their wedding felt extremely genuine, both Ray and I got choked up during the ceremony, not only was Tiff the super sentimental bride while sharing her vows, but the minister explained to the guests that she was priveledged to be present at the Groom's birth and felt even more priveledged to be at his wedding... a tear-jerker!!!! Here's a shot of Josh seeing his bride walk down the isle.

A great buffet spread in the dining room

We had such a blast with T&J and the families involved, not to mention we worked with a studio hopeful, Lannie! You were awesome Lannie, thanks!!! We'll definitely see you next time!

Tiff - Josh, have a blast in JAMAICA!