Our studio is growing and with that comes our first intern! We were humbled to receive so many applicants for the position, which made it a tough choice. But we are happy to say that Tera is joining the Nickles Photography team for the summer. Tera works at Eastmont School District as a counselor. She recently got into photography and love to take senior pictures for the kids that she works with. We loved her eager attitude and willingness to learn. We got along really well when we met and look forward to having her assist this summer at weddings and hope that she benefits from working with us!

This album is from a wedding venue in Leavenworth: Mountain Springs Lodge. It was a gorgeous vintage inspired Fall wedding. With our favorite wedding venues, we offer to make an album that showcases their setting. This is a show album we made for them. It looks a little different than a regular album spread for a client, which would include more family photos, a different title, and not all of our information on the final spread. But we thought this was a prime example of what you should expect of a wedding album when a venue offers albums of their preferred photographers to show couples.

1. Gray Photography  I love Zach and Jody Gray. Probably a little too much! They are Christians who aren’t afraid to talk about their faith. They are about starting a business debt free and building it piece by piece as you make money. They also believe in quality lighting and shooting in camera with not a lot of photoshopping.  You should check out their blog for all things photography including Tuesday Tips.  

2. Outspoken Media  (according to their site because I am still unsure how to explain it myself, lol) ” is a boutique SEO consulting company that specializes in fitting clients with customized integrated marketing strategies to amplify their voice on the Web”. I have very few blogs that I follow, but this blog is the only one I make sure to read every post. A lot of people think that I know a lot about SEO, ORM, and marketing. This is why. Actually, I don’t really know a lot. More like I can regurgitate what I just read and apply what I can to our company. Honestly, half of it goes over my head and I have to look up definitions of a lot of it. But I think it is good for me to learn SEO stuff from the SEO pros.

3. Flights of Fancy  Betsy White makes wedding invitations and they have a blog for their inspiration. I love seeing the burst of color on my screen and it keeps me in the know of popular trends, colors, and fun ideas that I might keep  in mind for a future styled shoot.

4. Daily Dilbert Comic  Ok, after my speech about wedding blogs being a time-sick with no purpose to me, I can see that you might think me hypocritical with adding a comic strip to my day. But this will take 30 seconds and it is purposeful. It sets a happy mood and  I like to be happy.

5. Scott Kelby’s Blog He is a great guy for talking in lamens terms when it comes to photography. His main thing is Photoshop and Lightroom. With a new version of Photoshop and Lightroom every year and updates every month it seems, I need a lot of tutorials! Although my goal is to shoot the best I can in-camera, sometimes I need Photoshop. I want to do it well and know the latest that Lightroom had going on (the software program that we edit 90% of our images in).

And there you have it! What are your favorite blogs? What am I missing out on?

Zach and Jody Gray are wedding photography team based in Nashville. They are some of the best people in the industry! We have been following them for the past couple years and we were beyond thrilled that they were willing to come to Leavenworth to teach their In-Camera Workshop. We love that they are all about getting the shot right, in camera. Not hours spent in front of the computer fixing mistakes or doing so many crazy things to images that they are dated in 5 years. It was an amazing 2 days of learning and growing. We learned some killer techniques we can’t wait to implement this summer! Emily and Haley were wonderful to work with and we couldn’t of asked for better weather! We will be posting some behind the scenes stuff later next week.

This is Zach and Jody Gray

Q&A:

What qualifications do I need to be eligible? 1. Have a car to be able to drive yourself to the weddings. You will not be required to be there all day like us, so carpooling with us isn’t ideal. 2. To have a desire to learn photography 3. Be available and prepared to attend all wedding dates listed in the application. Please be aware that the weddings are located all over: Enumclaw to Ellensburg, Chelan to Leavenworth.

Do I have to be from Ephrata? No. We live here because we like it, but no one gets married here. We travel all over for weddings with half being in the greater Seattle area. You can be from anywhere in Washington State!

What is the time commitment?  The set dates that we need are June 9th- August 26. We have weddings in September, but those would be optional depending on your school start date.

How many hours per week? Set hours are 4-6 hours at each wedding. There is optional time to work in our office to learn the business side.

Can I have a second job while interning for you? Yes! You are welcome to work somewhere else, as long as you are able to assist at the weddings.

Does this internship pay? No. This is designed to allow beginning photographers more real world experience and free education.

What is the Deadline? May 5, 2012

UPDATE: The Deadline is closed and the position has been filled!  If you have photo questions and are a local photographer, no matter what level, we love to talk shop and help when we can. Feel free to contact us!

  There is always room for growth. We just attended a workshop this past week that was awe-some! So excited to implement some new techniques this summer!

A 787 just happened to be test flying that day at Moses Lake. Ben captured the two planes together. Probably one of the only images like this out there.

The plane lowers itself on the front and then a loading dock folds out.

Besides the commercial work, we have been spiffing up our website, helping multiple other companies on their sites, assisting my mom in a fashion show, planning for the 2013 Weddings at Lake Chelan Bridal Show, preparing for hosting a photography workshop in April, designing albums from our couples in 2011, engagement sessions for our 2012 couples, have begun meeting and booking brides for 2013, and shot 1 wedding in January and 2 in February.

We photographed a shipment for Shell Oil. We will be doing another post on Thursday on the Antonov shoot.

Buisness head shots for Nancy Collingsworth, State Farm agent in Bellevue and John Heller, founder of Street of Dreams.

Interiors/Exteriors for Benny’s Colville Inn.

Products and interiors of The Bookery, along with designing and starting their website.

Product photography and head shots for Karma Vineyards.

Event photography to promote with at Tsillan Cellars.

Cupcake wrappers for Dress My Cupcake. Secondary purpose of ad photos for Weddings at Lake Chelan.

Event photography for advertising for Camp Gilead.

My number one question on the wedding blogs that irks me the most is this: How would you describe your photography style (e.g. traditional, photojournalistic, creative)?

You want to know why? Because what this says is that a bride can’t look at someone’s work and decided what the style is or if  she likes the photos enough to see if the photographer is a potential fit. After pouring over images and deciding to contact the photographer the bide has to ask what their work looks like? It just doesn’t make sense. I am a person who likes to find a knowledgeable source, find a “how to” or “to do” list from them and cross things off the list to a T so I know what I am doing is right. I can be dense at times, so lists help me, lol. For brides like me, who want to check things off a list, this question could make or break an interview.  To decide to want a specific style when the terms are so loosely used on both sides of the table… it is just kind of pointless. I am thankful to say that we don’t have brides who ask this question, which means one thing: our photography style is clear to every bride that contacts us. If you are a bride and after looking at a website and still feel the need to ask what the photographer’s style is… then don’t call them. Because it means they don’t know either! They may still be trying to figure out how they like to finish images and you may not know how your images will look.

A better question to ask is this: How would you describe your working style?  Meaning, on the wedding day, how will they act? Are they about getting every shot and will stand on the stage and in the aisle front-and-center at the ceremony? What clothes do they wear and are you ok with that choice? Do they dance with guests at the reception to get the dancing shots (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing)? Are they more “behind the scenes” staying back except for the formals?

This question allows you to get to know the photographer as a person: how they work is a good insight to who they are as people. It’s important to like your photographer on some level- you will be spending your entire wedding day with them! Depending on who you are will determine what kind of person you want shooting your wedding more than the style.

So… here are some pictures we have taken. I grabbed at random, spending 2 minutes to pick them out. We have 3 words that aim for when shooting. What words come to mind when you look at these images?

Here is my mom and sister’s booth. They sell other things besides dresses: including decorations, garters, veils, shoes, and everything in between. Ally, an employee at the store is in the back there, fluffing things up.

The models had their hair done “on the floor” during the show. Thank You to Samclaire for doing an amazing job with the hair. There was a lot of down time between the rehearsal first thing in the morning and the actual fashion show, hours later. The ladies had fun hanging out getting to know each other.

While some where getting their hair done, other where getting their makeup done. A big THANK YOU to  Sarah Engel from Mary Kay for doing all the models’ makeup.

What is a bridal show without yummy goodies?! These treats are a perfect option for any wedding reception. These are made by Sugar by Charlotte. Charlotte is in the picture blow.

Here is another baker showing their super creations. There is always a crowd by the cake table! Pinterest ready treats by Cake Creations that were beyond tasty!