At Astra Creative we do more than just wedding photography. We have a full service studio in Carmel Indiana and offer all types of photography sessions, be it family portraits, babies, fashion and more. Here are a few examples of some of our non-wedding fashion photography work done with our model Breane…
Tags: Indianapolis fashion photographer, Portrait photography Indianapolis
Tabi and I are proud to announce the addition of new associate wedding photographers to the Astra Creative Team! With so many brides in the Indianapolis metro area wanting great images, it was only natural for us to expand our offerings with another great team of image makers. While they are available to be a part of your day and capture your wedding day in images, the people at Astra will still be handling all of the post-event processing. That way you can count on getting that same great look to your images and books that you’ve come to love! If you want to take a closer look, just follow this link to their gallery.
It was truly a perfect Spring day for an engagement session with this beautiful, young couple. They couldn’t be more in love and the photographs tell the whole story. Moments such as these make us realize just how blessed we are to do what we love with people in love. Enjoy the video of the engagement session. I’ll get some stills posted soon so you can enjoy those too!
It should probably go without saying that as wedding photographers, Tabi and I go to a lot of weddings. Most flow smoothly while others sometimes suffer little hiccups and bumps. For a smooth, fun and carefree reception, consider your choice of DJ very carefully, especially if you don’t have a professional event coordinator at your reception. The reality is that this decision can make or break your fairytale experience. The DJ sets the tone of the evening with music and very often also acts as the Master of Ceremonies and event coordinator. Getting the right fit for your unique style is important for keeping your evening on track and popping.
A lot of factors contribute to why you choose who you choose, cost being a big one. The iPod has made the idea of not having a real DJ seem like a real option for some brides. While on the surface it seems to be a no-brainer, you run all sorts of risks that can dampen the flow of the evening or worse. Usually the best man or some other friend is pressed into service to make the introductions and act as emcee and the couple relies on him cueing play-lists to keep the music flowing. While it’s not always a bad idea to have a friend emcee, you need to choose wisely. This person is going to need to be extremely time conscious and must be willing to adhere to a prescribed schedule of events as well as deal with the unforeseen complications that sometimes come up. In reality, this is asking a lot of any friend and may keep your emcee friend from having a fun and carefree evening of their own. While we don’t recommend this arrangement, we have seen it done with great success. Last year Tabi and I shared an evening with a couple who had a friend act as emcee and it was fabulous! He was great and since he was a family friend he knew a lot about the couple. Bear in mind that they did have a professional DJ in control of the music and pacing of the evening and the friend only did the work behind the mic. Because he didn’t have to worry about music or timing, he had a great time as did everyone else.
Relying on an iPod playlist presents a whole host of problems you should be aware of. While a playlist may seem like a great idea, they are limited in that they can’t bring the energy of the room up or down as needed like a live DJ can. A DJ is the pulse of the evening, responsible for heating the dance floor up to get the party hopping and cooling it down occasionally so that the older crowd can work in a dance or two. The playlist can’t react to the mood of the room or take requests, a DJ can. Using an ipod playlist is really the modern day equivalent of stuffing a jukebox with quarters. While it’s better than nothing, it won’t likely make for a memorable evening and a pulsing dance floor.
This leads us to the next big pitfall, having a friend/relative DJ or hiring the DJ from the local club. While they might have great taste in music and know how to keep the beats flowing, they don’t necessarily know what works in a reception environment. A recent experience with a club DJ at a reception is a great example. He started to announce the wedding party when our ears were shattered by a burst of deafening feedback. Not a storybook beginning if you know what I mean. Then he didn’t announce the toasts and just handed the best man the mic. The toast started while the guests were still talking and the best man was about halfway done with his toast by the time many people realized what was going on and quieted down. This same DJ assaulted our ears during dinner with music at an ear-splitting level. It was so loud that people practically had to shout to ask the person next to them to pass he butter and salt. He really didn’t seem to have a clue that he was ruining people’s ability to socialize over the meal. A seasoned pro would have never done this.
Often times brides choose the wedding DJ based on recommendations from the reception venue coordinator. These can be fairly safe bets because they are professionals and have a positive track record with the venue. You do, however, run the risk of getting someone who doesn’t really click with your personality or style, so it’s important to do your homework before signing on the dotted line. The best way to be sure that your event will be a hit is to hire a professional DJ with extensive reception experience. Get recommendations from friends, family or other wedding professionals and then interview at least two to four DJs that work within your budget. Most important of all, be sure that you meet with the actual person who’ll be at your event. Some DJ services will have a likeable sales associate close the deal and then it’s a total crapshoot on who actually shows up at your event. After all of your effort planning the day you don’t want to leave this important detail to chance. Work up a play-list of songs that you definitely want worked into the evening and songs or music types that you absolutely do not want to hear. This will give your DJ a good idea of where you’re at musically and will help assure that your evening doesn’t go somewhere you don’t want it to. Also be sure to give your DJ a timeline of the evening so that he’ll know when to cue everyone to the special events. Remember, your photographers will be relying on your DJ to cue them on the timeline of events, as last minute changes often happen. If your DJ doesn’t communicate well with your photographers and videographers, you run the risk of having some of those special moments missed. In the end, it always pays to hire a pro.
Tags: wedding entertainment tips, Wedding Photography Tips, Wedding tips - DJ
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Thanks,
Tabi
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You’ve spent a lot of hours and money planning the flowers,decorations, dress and details making sure that every aspect of your day isperfect. Long after the music has ended and the cake and flowers are gone, your photos are what you have left to remember your day by. They are the cherished family heirlooms you’ll share with generations to come. Here are a few tips to help you select a photographer to capture your day.
Tip #1 – Know your style
The three most common wedding photography styles are traditional, photojournalism and editorial. Traditional wedding images are carefully posed images of the bride and groom, wedding party and family. We commonly refer to these as the ‘Mom shots” because they are the types of images that parents most often want for display on the mantle or the wall. Because they are intended for display, these images are most often retouched to idealize the final portraits. The photojournalist photographer will document your wedding day as it unfolds in a candid documentary style. Because the intent of photojournalist is to capture a story, the images are generally not posed or retouched and are often characterized by a casual snapshot-like quality. The editorial photographer creates the highly stylized images you’re likely to see in high-end bridal magazines. The photographer puts the subjects in a situation and allows them to interact naturally and intuitively. This is similar to the photojournalistic style, except that the composition and exposure are deliberately and carefully controlled to heighten the emotion and drama conveyed in the image. These images usually undergo some amount of retouching and refinement to further enhance the impact of the final image.
Tip #2 – Hire a pro
While Uncle Bob might have an awesome camera, a good eye and a big heart, he probably doesn’t have the experience it takes to capture your wedding day in the manner it deserves. Photographing a wedding takes considerable skill to consistently be in the right place at the right time,every time. Then there’s all of the digital magic it takes to turn a picture into a timeless portrait. Sure with Uncle Bob you’ll have pictures of your wedding day, but will they be great pictures you’ll cherish forever?
Tip #3 – Book enough time
The fact is that your time on your wedding day is limited.You need to find the balance between the formal family portraits you desire and the creative editorial images you’ve been dreaming of. While eight hours of coverage might seem like a lot, it’s often barely enough. Unforeseen events and complications can wreak havoc on the best planned day. Running behind means cutting corners somewhere to catch back up, and the creative time with your photographer is usually the first to go. At best, you’ll try to hurry through your creative session with the hope of getting some pictures you’ll treasure.The result is fewer breathtaking images to hold in your hands and remember your day by for the rest of your lives. If you must book short, be sure your photographer is flexible enough to be able to add additional hours to your coverage on the day of your wedding, just in case.
Tip #4 – Find the right fit
You’ll be spending a lot of time with your photographer on your wedding day, be sure to pick one with a personality that meshes well with yours. Better yet hire a male-female photography team that complements your style. A female photographer can get those candid” getting ready” shots without worry or interruption and a male photographer can help put all of the men in the bridal party at ease. And getting two experienced primary photographers is like money in the bank when it comes to getting all of your special moments captured for eternity. Whatever you do, don’t settle for an “assistant” or “associate”. There’s a reason why they have that title and it usually comes down to experience. Most importantly, find a photography team that you feel comfortable with. Since you’ve taken the time to make sure every detail of your day is perfect, doesn’t it make sense to find perfect photographer to share your day with? We think so!
Tip #5 – Have fun!
This tip applies no matter who is making your photographs. We can easily fix blemishes, fly-away hairs and the like, but trying to erase the look of stress and worry is a whole other story. Let’s face it, we’re photographers, not magicians. A fake or forced smile never looks good, no matter how hard you try. The key to wedding day bliss is to take the day in stride and accept what life brings you. Keep in mind that the little things that go off plan will only bother you if you let them. That’s why we have an emergency kit with safety pins, a sewing kit, a tool kit, some duct tape and more. We’ve had to come to the rescue of more than one flower girl’s hem in our day! We were recently at a wedding where the caterer set the room with the wrong color linen and the bride momentarily went into meltdown mode. Sure, she paid extra for the perfect color linens that would accent her color scheme and the caterer dropped the ball. She had her moment of disappointment and frustration but quickly snapped out of it when she put it into perspective. It wasn’t what she wanted, but she knew that only a few people would ever know the difference. More importantly, she realized that in the scheme of things this was really no big deal. She quickly put her anguish aside, her party face on and had a great time at the reception. When she got back from her honeymoon she settled up with her caterer and ended up with a few dollars extra in her pocket to pay for a some spur-of-the-moment honeymoon splurges. Best of all, her smile was radiant all night and it came through in all of her photos. She now has a photo book that captures perfect memories of her perfect night, even if the linens weren’t quite right! If you can remember to have fun and not sweat the small stuff, your bound to have a night you’ll never forget. Consider the fact that your pictures will be that much better for it a bonus for having fun!
It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for an engagement portrait session at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). Carissa and Justin brought their pets along to get some fun “family” photos. Being animal lovers, Tabi and I really had a great time with the dogs.
This year was a great year for the fall foliage colors. Simply stunning!
It wasn’t all about the pups… we had some fun without them too!
Mother Nature wasn’t the only source of color on this day. We also got some colorful backgrounds in Broad Ripple.
And of course the session wouldn’t be complete without some photos with Justin’s bitchin’ Camaro! For those of you wondering, it rides as smooth as it looks! I was lucky enough to go for a ride in it. Thanks!
Tags: Broad Ripple Engagement Photos, IMA engagement pictures, Indianapolis Museum of Art Engagement Photos
If you’re getting married you’ve probably viewed a wedding video or two. When they’re done well they’re absolutely beautiful. However when they’re not done well they can be downright painful to watch. Some are too long, others too short. Some videos are so fuzzy that you can barely tell who’s getting married, or the camera moves so much that it makes you sick every time you try to watch it. Most often the sound is so bad that you can hardly hear anything clearly, if at all. If you’re interested in getting a quality video of your day, step one is to turn down your sweet Uncle Bill when he offers to do your video.
While photographs capture a moment in time, they don’t capture the events as they happened like a video can. Your wedding is the most important and unique milestone in your life. You deserve to have memories captured in a professional manner that you can enjoy for years to come, and even share with your children and grandchildren.
Rule number one for getting great video is hire a professional videographer. I don’t mean someone on Craigslist who calls himself a videographer because he has a business card and a camcorder. I mean find a professional videography service with the experience required to capture the very best of your wedding day. They’ll be able to edit and compile a video you will be proud to share with family and friends for years to come. While it’s not cheap, this is your wedding day. This is no time to be a cheapskate.
The cost of recording your wedding depends on the videographer and package you choose. The minimal wedding video generally requires 4 hours of footage, while a comprehensive video of your day can require up to 9 hours of footage or more. But don’t expect that you’ll have to watch all of that video. A good video production company will compile the footage to make a 60 to 90 minute DVD of your day. The price for one of these productions generally ranges from just below $1000 to upwards of $2000,depending on what is included in the deal. It really depends on the footage you want in your wedding DVD. If you prefer to focus on the ceremony itself, your videographer will be happy to oblige. If you want footage of pre-wedding preparations and the post wedding celebrations, you can get that too. After all it is your day, your videographer will want you to be happy with the final product.
Sometimes because of budgetary reasons, wedding videography gets put off the list. While it may seem like a great way to trim the budget,you need to keep a few important things in mind prior to crossing it off of your list. You’ve spent a great deal of time and effort on making your day perfect. Although you’ve probably spent a tidy bundle on your dress, odds are no one will ever wear it again. Did you want to wear your mom’s dress? I didn’t think so. And I’m sure that the flowers you’ve chosen are quite beautiful. But like the cake, the meal and the music, they’ll all be gone before you know it. And how about the tearful toast from dad, the special words from the best man and the maid of honor? You can’t capture that with a photograph! Just a few years down the road they’ll all be fading memories, slowly lost to the passage of time. Your wedding photographs and video are your only hope to preserving those memories and the legacy of your love. For all of these reasons, you need to think twice before crossing video off your list.
Spirits were warm and the sky was clear this crisp, beautiful fall day. Brian and Beth had a beautiful celebration in the enchanted spaces at the Avon Perennial Gardens.
As daylight faded, the magic of the evening seem to intensify and they celebrated well into the night with DJ Indiana Jones making sure the dance floor was always full.
Tags: Avon Gardens Wedding, Indianapolis Wedding Photoraphy, Indy Wedding Photographer
You may recognize Jen and Steve from their engagement pics posted here several months ago.
It was a lovely ceremony at the First Church of the Nazarene here in Indianapolis. Steve’s 2 little boys are shown here helping with the Unity Sand.
After a big exit in a vintage Rolls Royce they celebrated their wedding at the beautiful Forum Conference Center in Fishers, Indiana.
It was a romantic end to such a beautiful day.,Tabi and I enjoyed every minute of it!
Tags: Forum Conference Center Reception, Indianapolis Wedding Photoraphy, Indy Wedding Photographer
What a wonderful day for everyone in attendance. One couple, two weddings and one fantastic reception at the airport Radisson here in Indy. It was our first Indian wedding and what a beautiful ceremony it was! The beautiful traditional Indian altar, the stunning robes and the actual ceremony were as fascinating as they were beautiful. The Indiana ceremony was followed by a traditional American style wedding, so technically Nikki and Paras were married twice! I wonder if they’ll have 2 anniversary celebrations?! These are just a few images from that blessed day.
Tags: Indianapolis Wedding Photoraphy, Indy Wedding Photographer
A darling couple in a glorious church on a beautiful day. Who could ask for more?!!
… and don’t forget the reception at Primo’s. The perfect way to cap off this day!
Tags: Indianapolis wedding photographer, St. Joan of Arc Wedding photos
Brenna and Nick tied the knot at the beautiful Columbia Club on the circle in downtown Indianapolis.
I think it goes without saying that Brenna has one of those smiles that lights up a room!
Brenna was kind enough to give us a few moments to create these stunning bridal portraits. Thank you!
….and of course there was the reception. Everyone had a great time, including us!
Tags: Columbia Club Wedding, Indianapolis wedding photographer
First of all I want to thank everyone for their patience with us. In the past few months we chosen to focus on servicing our bridal clients first and foremost and in the process we neglected to update our blog. Well. it’s time to change that! This is the first installment of what will prove to be many updates to our blog.
This entry highlights a promotional piece for a wedding give-away promotion run by Fox 59 this past summer. While Astra Creative wasn’t one of the participating sponsors, we were tapped to produce the on-air promotions for the give-away. Here is the first installment that aired in May and June of this year.
What can I say about Jenny and Jon except that they are a perfect match, like ice cream and chocolate!
They are so “obviously” in love that one can’t help but smile. Jon loves to cut up and make Jen laugh all the time. This shot here is the result of a face making contest, which Jon appears to have won. This went on for the entire session. As you can imagine Tabi and I had to work hard to get a steady shot because we were laughing so hard.
They did have their quiet moments too… though even these were punctuated with genuine belly laughs.
All in all it was a great time and we’re really looking forward to the wedding. Spending time with couples in love is one of the great joys of the great joys of this profession. Tabi and I are grateful that we have a chance to share in so many special moments.
As promised, here’s an update to Kelly and Craig’s engagement session. They brought the dogs, they brought their free spirits and then some! As the following pictures show, they really know how to have a great time!
When we suggested that they “get in the fountain”, we really weren’t expecting them to get in all the way! We thought that they’d go in knee deep and maybe get a little wet, but we never imagined this…
I guess that goes to show that an engagement session is really anything you want to make of it!
Thank goodness we saved the fountain for last, these images wouldn’t be the same if they were both all wet.
At least the dogs had enough sense to stay dry. (Not really, Henry the Wheaton Terrier was caught trying to go for a dip)
Tags: Downtown indianapolis Engagement Session, Engagement photographs
Katie and Syd did it and did it right! Every detail was well planned and flawlessly executed. The day was simply perfect! In this photo Katie and Syd share a private moment before the formal portrait session with the family and bridal party.
In this photo and the next, Katie and Syd take time out for an impromptu 10 minute portrait session during the reception. It was dusk and the sun had all but disappeared completely.
We always are amazed at how quickly we can capture great images once the ceremony is over and the couple has had a moment to catch their breath. The combination of high emotion and dusky twilight made for some very special moments in front of the camera. Thanks Katie and Syd for making our job so easy!!!
It was a gorgeous day in on the Rose Hulman campus in Terre Haute! Fromthe looks of things one could never tell it stormed like mad the nightbefore. The wedding took place at the White Chapel and it was truly amagnificent event. Samantha did an amazing job with all of the detailsof the day. These are just a few of the wonderful images we managed totake away from the event.
Its days like this that make Tabi and I so grateful that we havesuch an enjoyable job that we can do together. We get to meet greatpeople, share in their special moments and create keepsakes thatthey’ll treasure forever. We really couldn’t ask for more!
Tags: Rose-Hulman Chapel, Terre Haute Wedding Photography, White Chapel Wedding
Despite the appearance of impending rain, the weather held out and it was a beautiful evening for an engagement session on the canal downtown.
In the quite moments of our engagement session you could really see the passion in the way the look at each other. Love is such a wonderful thing!
Yet another enchanted evening!
What a GREAT session with a fun couple and their pups! These image are asneak peek at the wonderful photos we made downtown on the mall. You’llwant to stay tuned to see more from this session. Without giving toomuch away, let me just say that Kelly and Craig are definitely notafraid of water or having a great time.
Tabi and I can’t wait for this wedding… it’s going to be a blast!!
As I always say, Dogliness is next to Godliness… Kitties rule too!
Tags: Downtown indianapolis Engagement Session, Engagement photography
Last month Erica and John tied the knot at the Speedway Christian Church followed up by great reception at the Mavris Center. Even though the day had a rocky start, Erica & John’s love and high energy kept the celebration going all day. Thanks for having us as part of your amazing day.
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