*our blog has moved. please visit us at eight20photography.com for all the latest from eight20 :).

a few weeks ago we got a call from the editor at wedding vow asking if we had any ventura county wedding images that we wanted to submit for their next edition. we had just shot jennifer and rick’s beautiful wedding at hartley botanica so i quickly gathered a bunch of my favorites together and submitted a whole folder! i received a call the next day saying they were going to use jennifer and rick’s wedding for the real wedding in the summer 2009 edition! i was ecstatic to say the least. being published, even in a small magazine is such an honor. i was so excited to get the magazine and see our 2 page spread right in the middle :). we also have a small image featured in the “I Do” section of one of our favorite couples andrea and david who were married at spanish hills country club. wedding vow magazines are available at all ventura county bridal shows in the next upcoming months as well as most ventura venues so make sure to grab a copy, it’s a wonderful resource for ventura brides!

*our blog has moved. please visit us at eight20photography.com for all the latest from eight20 :).

i couldn’t wait to shoot jennifer and rick’s wedding at hartley botanica! not only is the couple fantastic, but i’d been dreaming about shooting at this location for years. plus, the place holds a special place in the hearts of our fam: eric’s sister was married there in 2001 and i just knew it would be a wonderful venue to revisit. i imagine if we lost all the words to describe what heaven looked like, we could just share a photo of hartley botanica and everyone would nod in understanding. it’s a dream-like setting that combines romance and nature — perfect for a wedding day that celebrates the natural love of a bride and a groom!

the flowers were in full bloom, creating the most beautiful backdrop, and the june gloom decided to leave for the last weekend of the month, providing an opportunity for the sun to come out! jennifer’s dress, decor, and flowers all worked perfectly to give her the vintage flair she was looking for in her wedding theme! many wedding enthusiasts and wedding photographers would probably agree with me when i say that one of my favorite parts of a wedding is when the bride walks down the aisle and the groom’s face beams with love for the woman walking toward him. precious! rick looked on in that classic loving way as jennifer walked down the aisle and every wedding guest could share and enjoy the love that the couple feels for each other based on their faces alone. pure bliss soaked their eyes and smiles providing picture-perfect moments!

jennifer and rick: we had a wonderful time celebrating and capturing your wonderful day! we wish you a lifetime of love that blooms like the hartley botanica!

p.s. can you spot eric hiding in one of the photos? anytime eric pulls a waldo i will see who can find him ;).

location: hartley botanica
flowers: fancy’s flowers
cake: skiffs cakes
catering: command performance
dj: bruce barrios
photo booth: action photo booth

In the last four years that we’ve been shooting weddings, one thing that’s always been consistent is the question about cost, and who can blame them? Clients always ask about the breakdown of costs and I found a great article that really delves into the expenses of hiring a wedding photographer, “Why is wedding photography so expensive?” Wedding photography and their prices can vary; what clients get and what they pay for it really depends on the photographers’ equipment, services, and deliverables so it’s important for brides and grooms to do research to understand exactly what they want and what they’ll get. When anyone comes into our studio, I always highly recommend they interview a few photographers to get a feel for the style of photography and photographer’s personalities. Our first priority is happy clients.

Bottomline: Higher quality is a better value for you! Think of shopping for a wedding photographer like shopping at your local shopping mall. You can buy a knock-off purse or invest in the Chanel one, though one of those — and you know which one! — might fall apart and leave you carrying all your stuff in a plastic bag. You can get a bite of sushi at your local gas station’s quick mart or you could get a reservation at Nobu. Both will leave you full, but one might give you food poisoning. Ouch. If you met someone special and you want it to be your last first date, you have the option to buy unreliable and uncomfortable shoes or you could feel safe in a delicious pair of Manolo Blahniks. But if your heel breaks on that hot date and you have to hobble around, well… anyways you get the point. Shopping for wedding photography for your special day comes with the same options. Some photographers are very low price, and some are extremely expensive. But the same way you look at handbags, shoes, and good food should also be how you think about your wedding photography: quality and value go hand in hand. Your wedding photos are the tangible memories of your wedding day and since your album can be handed down through generations, the quality, the moments captured, and the sturdy album are very important elements of a valuable piece.

Looking at wedding photographers’ sites can be daunting and overwhelming. There are so many different styles out there and after a while they can all start looking the same, but the expertise and the quality within might differ. A brand new photographer’s blog images might resemble those of a seasoned photographer’s but you have to look deeper down than just what you see on the outside. Blog images usually represent the best photos from that series; they’re the Photoshopped, hand selected images, but what about the rest that you don’t see? The same way a knock-off purse might look real on the outside, the inside is where it counts. The seams, the craftsmanship, the durability, and the longevity of its purpose should all be taken into consideration before plopping it on the check-out counter. When it comes to narrowing down a photographer, look at the album samples, and there should be a variety for you to see (are these albums something you would want to display in your home?) and click through the online gallery (is it user-friendly and easy for you and your guests to view, order, pick photos). These practices will showcase the photographer’s value.

Here are the questions I always hope people ask us, and if they don’t I tell them the answers anyway!:
Can we look at complete weddings, and not just one? (Really look for skin tones, exposure and framing).

Do you have insurance, for yourselves, your equipment and your business?

What type of cameras and lenses do you carry?

Do you have back-up equipment and are they the same high quality as the rest of your gear?

Do you always have a second shooter and are they random photographers or experienced wedding photographers?

What happens if you get sick and can’t be there?

Eric and I strive to keep our package costs within a couple’s reasonable budget, which is why our packages start under $3000 and album packages just under $4000. We have worked incredibly hard to give undivided customer service and run a boutique studio, taking on at most 30 weddings per year. I run our home studio and am always here for our clients, so they can always expect an email back from me within 24 hours! Shooting hundreds of weddings has allowed us the opportunity to be familiar with all cultures, venues, themes, and other vendors. Although no 2 weddings are alike, you can be assured that no special moment will be missed. Eric can bustle, I can fix flowers, and if your planner fails to show up, we can most likely run the whole show :). At the end of the day, we are there for our clients and only hope to give them the lasting memories and the high quality and value you would expect from Chanel, Nobu, and Manolo Blahnik!

It’s nice to know that excellent quality and great value don’t have to be painfully expensive for brides and grooms.

And because no post should be without a photo, here is one of my all time favorite detail shots from andrea and david’s wedding!