Crafting the Perfect Wedding Album

Happy Monday everyone! Today's blog is short but important. Today we are talking about picking the best images for your wedding album. Over the past 12 years of doing wedding photography Sarah and I have designed hundreds of wedding albums. After a time we started to develop a philosophy when it came to how these albums should be built. Similar to our business philosophy, which is to revolve everything we do around love, our photo album method is to tell a love story. 

It is very easy to grab 30 or so of your favorite photos and drag them into a folder and hit the place order button. It’s fine to do that if that's what you want but realize that your photo album could be so much more. Your future granddaughter could pick this book off the shelf and see either a common book of old photos or they could be reading a fairy tale. The difference is that one book is made up of good photos and the other of course tells a story and has the potential to be a time machine! 

When you're designing your book remember that you're weaving a narrative. Additionally not as many photos fit into a standard album as you might think. In my opinion that is a good thing. You might have 700 photos in your wedding album and have to narrow that down to 30-40. That means that only the cream of the crop are going to make the cut. 

There are 5 main parts of a wedding day when it comes to photos. 

Preparation ( getting ready shots. Make-up, getting into the dress, first look with bridesmaids etc… )

Couples and bridal ( Immediately after the first look if you have a first look. If you do not have  a first look they will should be done immediately following the ceremony. )

Formals and bridal party (Bridal party shots followed by your more formal family posed shots ) 

Ceremony 

Reception ( Cake cutting, dancing, speeches etc…) 

I would recommend picking 4-5 photos from each part of the day and then fill the remainder of the book with couples shots as they are going to be the star of the show in this story book. 

Personally I like to pick the photos which are the most expressive whether or not they are the best photos because they are the ones that tell the best story. As an example a grainy photo of your grandfather laughing and having a moment with your fiance is worth more than a perfectly lit and staged photo of your rings. 

So, to sum this up I would say to keep the mindset of telling a story and imagine someone picking this book up in 30 years. Be in their shoes as you design and think about how they will read it. Will they be looking through old photos or will they be transported back to a special time and place in your life and in the history of your family.

Sarah and I are open for bookings in the Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky area as well as traveling sessions. If you’re interested in possibly booking a session just hop over to the contact page and shoot us an email!

  If you enjoyed this read, please leave a like and consider subscribing for more photo session advice. Follow us on Instagram at the link below to keep up with our most recent photo session samples and reels.

If you want to learn more about Sarah and I you can click the link below to check out our about us page and hop over to the contact page if your interested in setting up a shoot or a consultation!

Thanks for reading!

- Jordan Epperson

Big Announcement!

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post called “ The Importance of Printing Your Photos. ”  ( Link Below) We have always offered high quality professional prints to our client’s and have been so proud of the results. We have also offered photo books that Sarah and I, for the last 12 years, have designed and shipped ourselves. This process has worked fine for us and every client has been over the moon about their albums. 

As the years have gone on though, it has occurred to me that if clients were able to design their own photo albums they would be even more personalized. It would be simpler and more streamlined. The entire process would be more pleasurable for the clients.

  Today I am thrilled to announce that from here on out our clients will be able to easily design their own personalized photo books directly from their online gallery. They can place the order and have their books inspected by a professional printer before being shipped directly to their home. This is a big deal to Sarah and I because as I always say “ the most important thing to us is our clients having a stress free and positive experience. “ We are so excited for what this means for brides and grooms. Not to mention our family photo sessions and boudoir studio sessions. Our wedding clients will be able to customize their own style of album to be elegant or boho or rustic. Whatever matched their wedding theme or their hearts desire! 

Being able to offer holiday cards, hardcover albums and metal and wood prints in such an easy way is such a positive thing for our clients and in turn, a positive thing for us. 

   We opened our doors in October of 2011 and shot our first professional wedding photography job in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 17th 2012. At that time we were young and our business was extremely small. We were both working full time jobs. Sarah was working at Skyline Chili and I was a backroom worker at Target. It’s nothing short of a blessing that together we have been able to grow our little business into what it is today. We are so thankful to God and each of our clients for supporting us along this incredible journey. We can’t wait to see what the future brings for Every Atom Photography and our little family who loves it with such kindness and gratitude.

 Sarah and I are open for bookings in the Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky area as well as traveling sessions. If you’re interested in possibly booking a session just hop over to the contact page and shoot us an email!

  If you enjoyed this read, please leave a like and consider subscribing for more photo session advice. Follow us on Instagram at the link below to keep up with our most recent photo session samples and reels.

Thanks for reading!

- Jordan Epperson

Why you should always do your photos at sunset!

So you’re excited to have family photos done. You have gone through all the steps. You picked the right photographer and you are ready to book. You ask for their availability and they send you a list of dates and times. But all of the available times are so late! It conflicts with dinner time, your kids are supposed to be getting ready for bed at this time. It’s just so inconvenient. As photographers we understand. It’s not ideal for us either, but it’s essential for the results we achieve. Here is why your photographer is so insistent on doing your session close to sunset.

What is golden hour?

Golden hour is the last hour of daylight before sunset. It is the time of day when the sun dips low and the light becomes soft and gives off a warm hue. It offers a ton of advantages for photos and gives off those amazing lens flares and golden bursts of light you see so often in photographers’ portfolios. Often people say they want an earlier time of day because the light flares aren’t important to them. What they don’t realize is that there are many other reasons for shooting at this time.

If your ideal time is 1pm and you manage to talk your photographer into this time of day, don’t be surprised when you get photos back and see yourself looking more wrinkly than usual. Or notice everyone is squinting and you can’t see anyone’s eyes. The harsh light of the sun causes shadows under the eyes making them look sunken or sick. The bright highlights can blow out parts of the photo making them nothing more than white blobs. The color of light the sun produces is also different. You probably never noticed before but the light earlier in the day is more blue and this can make skin look off in photographs.

These issues are no big deal when taking a snapshot but when you have professional photos done you expect professional results. We have been talked into earlier shoots many times. We explain the reasons for a late shoot and give out the proper warnings but still some clients insist.

I suggest for just one night you make an exception to your routine. Make it fun. Use it as an excuse to let the kids stay up late. Take the family out to dinner or ice cream afterwords! Your family photos are important and will last forever. It’s worth it to go the extra mile. Take your photographer’s professional advice. That is why you hired them right? Trust the expert and you won’t be disappointed with the results!

Sarah and I are open for bookings in the Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky area as well as traveling sessions. If you’re interested in possibly booking a session just hop over to the contact page and shoot us an email!

If you enjoyed this read, please leave a like and consider subscribing for more photo session advice. Follow us on Instagram at the link below to keep up with our most recent photo session samples and reels.

Thanks for reading!

- Jordan Epperson