A wise man once told me that you will live a happy life if you marry your best friend (and trust me, he’s pretty wise.)  Many things in life come and go:  money, children, youth, power, health, prestige.  Even though so many other things fade, your best friend and committed significant other will always be there through the ups and the downs.

As a wedding photographer at Bello Romance Photography, I am becoming more in tune to the varying dynamics of the different relationships I see every day.  From recently engaged couples to newlyweds to those celebrating their fortieth anniversary, every relationship has a different dynamic.  Thus far, I have experienced and observed different personalities and perspectives.  Every relationship is unique, but I think I can find a bottom line in this madness.

I see a correlation between the couples that I feel will stay together, and those that won’t.  I feel as though the more compatible couples laugh more.  Each enjoys the other not just as their lover, but also as a friend.  They carry on about funny stories, inside jokes, and even their body language just seems more trusting and relaxed.  If this sounds like you and your other half, KUDOS!

I love working with these couples.  The easier the couple works together, the easier the photos flow.  Our romance photography is about capturing that moment.  You can imagine how much more of a challenge it is to capture those moments when they exist so scarcely in the relationship?  Granted, I like a challenge every now and then, but I would much rather be shooting their last wedding.  Brides, I love working with you all, but when your wedding is over, I only want to see you again for anniversary photos and  family portraits, (or maybe coffee.  That would be nice, too.)

            Many things come and go, but the important things last forever:  Your commitment to your best friend, and the photos that show it.

Village trekking through the Himalayas near the city or Darjeeling.

I’ve decided now is an ideal time for me to write a blog.  I return to the keyboard more knowledgeable.  After spending two weeks in India, I am a bit wiser and feel as if my view of the world around me has sharpened.

The ideal life is short, and the ideal relationship is long.

Dear reader, we all want our time on earth to be a wonderful experience, but we also want to share it with the right person.  I believe these go hand in hand.

I imagine that’s why a wedding is such an important event.  It’s a celebration of two special people finding each other, exicited to face life together.  Two people meant to be.

Furthermore, I think that the reason why weddings in 2012 are so costly is the mindsets of the modern man and woman.  They want their memories of the momentous day to be good ones.  In twenty-five to thirty years, you’ll still want to have the memories of your wedding be some of your happiest.  It would be a shame if the overall feeling of the day was tainted by stress or chaos.

Preserve your memories in the manner that you want to remember them.  As a wedding photographer I can honestly say that there will be a difference between images taken at weddings in the Omni Severin hotel or the Ritz Charles glasshouse, and the weddings in an American Legion or the local church basement.

No matter how your walk through life may be or where it may begin, every starry-eyed newlywed will want to remember the magic in their relationship the day the bells ring.

At Bello Romance Photography, we aim to capture and preserve the timeless romance of your relationship.  What makes our photography worthwhile to me and many couples is the feeling we capture in your eyes and in your relationship.  We do not lean on the crutch of good architecture in the venue you booked or the landscaping of the country club grounds.

While your investment in a beautiful setting is important and will reflect beautifully in your photos, Bello Romance Photography makes sure to capture the feeling in your relationship.  While beauty and environment will fade, change, or whither, your strength in one another will not.

Indiana wedding at Valet Vista

We Capture Romance.

As a small business, it is very important to understand branding.  A good brand should be timeless and flexible.  Labeling a business as “2012 Linens” would be a horrendous idea, and it won’t last.  It is limiting and its time will run out.  Common sense.  The flavor of the 2012 year in the wedding world is the romantic vintage theme.  The new style is made in the likeness of one-of-a-kind hipsters and creative artists.

Trendy wedding theme: VINTAGE! ANTIQUED! DISTRESSED!

wedding photography actions

Bridal shops display their modest, lace dresses and planners are going crazy trying to think up yet another way to personalize the most inventive idea for a centerpiece to make their brides’ intimate outdoor wedding spectacular.  Candles, crafts, antique furniture.  Photographers are popping out of the woodwork with muted tones, cross processing, and warped color curves to make their images old timey and vintage.  It would be a wonder to find an old abandoned truck that hasn’t been posed by in a field.   Textured, distressed, and yellow.  That, my friends, is the vintage style in a nutshell.

You don’t need to be a frequent Tumblr user, Pinterest fanatic, or StumbleUpon addict to know what style I am referring to.  Just check out the girl in the thick hipster glasses sitting across from you in the coffee shop.  The style of today is yesterday, and as vendors, we serve our clients and give them what they desire for their wedding day.

My question is, how long will this déjà vu fashion last? As wedding professionals and business owners, how much stock do we put into this current fad? Will it last long enough to matter?

Is vintage timeless?

My thoughts are that this vintage epidemic will fade.  There will, as well as there should be, always be those artists who will forever stay true to their vintage style and products.  However, stay true to your brand and artwork, because without consistency, your branding becomes weak.

Everyone goes through those monumental moments in their lives, and the term ‘monumental’ is relative.  From a tropical vacation to a baby’s first (insert verb here), milestones make life wonderful.  So why wouldn’t you want to remember it forever?

Call them what you will.  Souvenir, keepsake, memento, token, reminder, symbol.  We collect them and keep them to remind us of the most important instances in our lives.  Certificates, movie tickets, tee shirts, snow globes, postcards, collectables, and of course the most common keepsakes of all, photographs.  Stick them in your scrapbook, drop them in that drawer, or shove them on that top shelf.

Everyone does it to ultimately make sure they remember that significant event in their lives, for the rest of their lives.  I’m going to just jump into the example of your wedding, because I’m sure you are all waiting for it.  I am, after all, a romance photographer.  One of the most momentous times in your life: when you declare to your family, friends, and God, who you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with.  If it sounds like a big deal, it’s because it is.

Whoever you choose to be your photographer, and whether or not Bello Romance Photography is the right match for you, not only will I beg you to at least choose a wedding professional to capture the event, your event, of the year, but I will also urge you to make sure you decide upon that keepsake.

Get a wedding album, and get it done right.

A wedding album is a perfect way to remember over and over again the best parts of your wedding.  At Bello Romance Photography, we work with our couples to create a book perfectly suited for them, inside and out.  All of our wedding albums are custom designed with the newlyweds in mind, and all of our page designs are approved upon before we send them off to the lab to be printed.

Brides, I hope that whoever you trust to make your wedding album, I hope you choose to have a final say in the result of not only your purchase and investment, but your memory.  Your keepsake.  As important as a wedding album is, and I believe it to be, make sure it is treated with the same importance. ­

“She goes around in circles
Till she’s very, very dizzy
Still they holler

Keep a busy Cinderelly”

~Disney’s Cinderella

...perfect example from a perfectly romantic film...

With the endless this and that’s of planning a wedding, the brides minds can go a little topsy-turvy with stress.  From the DJ, to the florist, to the venue, to the linens, to the caterer, to the dress, to the bridesmaids, to the cake, to the ceremony, to the invitations, and so it goes on and on.  Talk about a to-do list, right?

Well brides, before anything else, what you need to scoot right up to the top of your list are your own, personal well-being.  Your stress level should not get so high that you become an example of a Reader’s Digest article, with break-outs, early wrinkles, and on and off cold symptoms. Let’s face it, stress can be the cause of instability, mentally or physically, and you don’t need to be a doctor to figure that one out.

Here is what I recommend.  Now is the perfect time.  Halloween is right around the corner.  Pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and corn mazes are open and in season.  Now is the time for apple cider, pumpkin pie, and Halloween candy. The smell of fall leaves and winter frost is in the crisp air, and now is the last chance to get out and have some fun before winter freezes over.

The point? I guess I should make one right about now.  Make sure you take the time to play.   All work and no play makes Jill a dull bride.  I encourage you to take the time to have a stress reliever.  Take your fiancé, or maybe just all the girls, and go for a hay ride or a run through a haunted house.  Never forget to jot down time for yourself on that to do list.  Keep calm and plan your wedding right.

We all wake up looking a bit ruffled. Read on to hear how to look like a real model by the time your photo shoot rolls around!

So ladies.  Let’s take a moment and create a hypothetical situation.  Now pay attention, because this is something you will want to store in your memory bank for the morning you have to wake up to ready yourself for that important photo shoot.   There’s no doubt in my mind that you, like every other woman in the world, wants to look her best, and by that, I mean that you want to look flawless.  Sure, there’s retouching and Photoshop, but it’s always more impressive when you can say, ‘Yup! That’s really me!’

One thing to remember is that the makeup style and ‘perfect’ look that you have created in your head may not be the appearance that will create a great portrait.  A flawless model doesn’t come from layers of smoothing makeup, brilliant nail polish hues, and an even tan.  In fact, I would venture to say that it is the complete opposite.  Ladies, here is what it really takes to be a flawless model in a photo studio.

If you stay away from the BAD things, you will certainly end up with a GOOD thing!

First order of importance is the base of everything:  your skin.  Obviously it helps to think ahead.  Knowing full well that your photo shoot is in a week, eating loads of greasy, blemish erupting foods will not get you the resulting flawless skin in your portraits.  Wrinkles, freckles, and scars are natural blemishes that make up who you are, but if you are not comfortable with them in your portrait, let your photographer know.  Do not smear thick layers of makeups and creams into every crease and chasm of your face.  Trust me; it will look better digitally corrected rather than discolored and cakey.  Make-up shows.  Last but not least, and probably the most important tip I can give you, is NOT to go tanning.  Evening out that tan line is not as ‘life or death’ as it may seem.  Tanned skin can come across as unhealthy and even leathery in a photograph.  Instead, skip the UV rays and show off your natural skin tones. Porcelain is a gorgeous, glowing look that will make you look divine.

Along those lines, pun intended, everyone has wrinkles.  And like I said before, caking makeup across your skin to cover it up is not the way to go.  In fact, applying too much makeup to any part of your face can be disastrous in a photo.  Sometimes, too much eye liner hides the connection with your eyes to the camera lens.  Too much red lipstick, along with the shine that comes with it, can come across as messy, not dramatic.  Also, the wrong application of eye shadow can make or break a portrait for you.  Don’t get me wrong, dramatic eyes and red lipstick is a look that CAN be done, and it is quite popular, but if you do not usually apply makeup, I would suggest a makeup artist, or at least a very savvy friend who can.  Also, a little tip is to go to the shoot with a nice foundation set with neutral colors, and add makeup as you go along to get different, desired looks.  You can always add makeup throughout the shoot.

Don't forget this important step!

Good photographers do not just take photographs, they capture a mood, and one of the easiest ways to ensnare a certain feeling in an image is to play with the subject’s hands.  The way a woman places her hands in an image can change the atmosphere completely, and that is why having well groomed nails can be such an important note to jot down on your checklist.  I suggest a manicure, but if you don’t have the money to drop a couple tens whenever you have a shoot, then take an hour at home and groom them yourself.  Soak your fingers in hot water and take care of those overgrown cuticles, trim and file your nails, and apply a neatly painted base coat.  When in doubt, pick a neutral color, and you won’t be afraid to play with your hands in a shoot.  It could make all the difference.

So get ready, get set, and put your best skin, face, and nails forward!

(and feel free to speak your mind below!)

Although photographing a wedding is an experience I have the privilege to enjoy every Saturday during the fall months, they are never typical.  Something always sets a wedding apart from the rest, whether it is the people, the décor, the class, or even the ceremony.  No two weddings are exactly the same, which makes it an amazing thing.

This past Saturday, another photographer, Anara, and I covered a wedding at the First Meridian Heights Presbyterian Church, and the reception in the Crystal Room at the Marrott Hotel.  Very beautiful, of course.  The timing was great, and we even found a little bit extra of it, which is always a good thing.  It speaks well of the couple when everything runs smoothly on the wedding day.

What made this wedding different from any others I had photographed before are the family relationships.  Two families becoming one is a wonderful thing, and this family couldn’t be happier.  The sisters by marriage embraced the bride as one of their own, and the bride returned the acceptance.  The parents of the couple were wonderful, not overbearing, and truly helped the event run smoothly.

It got me thinking, what sets us, Bello Romance Photography, apart from all the other photographers?  Are we typical? Are we different?  Is different the good kind? What makes us that different, amazing thing?

The ceremony came and went flawlessly, with happy tears and proud ‘I Do’s’, and the bridal party prepared to depart for photographs at Butler University.  Anara and I slapped the lens covers on our cameras and began to put away our equipment, when a man approached us.

He was the lighting and maintenance man for the church, and had been for the past twenty-three years.  He explained to us how he has seen nearly three hundred weddings, and had seen a lot of ceremonies, all different, and a lot of photographers.  Three hundred typical photographers.

He was amazed at how active we were, taking the chapel by storm and the service by the reins, in a tasteful manner.  He explained how the photographers he usually sees work with a tripod when the bridal party and the bride enters the church, snaps a photo of the kiss and the vows, and again with the tripod as everyone exits the service.

In contrast to his former experiences, apparently over the last twenty-three years, Anara and I capture every magical and artistic shot in the ceremony.  We wandered around the church, snapping from every angle, and even laid on the floor for that perfect shot.  I shot from the second floor choir loft to get the best angles from the architecture, and Anara used her long lens to ensnare the emotion.

We were everywhere, but never too close or too loud to be a disturbance.  No flash photography was allowed, and we didn’t go past the fifth pew in the aisle, as to not distract from the ceremony and the newlyweds.  We were aggressive in getting the shots we needed, but serene on the outer shell to fit the mold and blend in.

Our outcome? A successfully shot wedding ceremony and a happy family.  Not to mention the church maintenance man who promises to refer us from now on.  What sets Bello Romance Photography apart from the rest is that we go over and above the expectations of the typical wedding photographer.  And that’s an amazing thing.

McDonalds has ketchup red and French fry yellow, Starbucks claimed their lean and green logo, and Hallmark takes pride in their choice of royal purple.  Dominant companies thrive on advertisement because they are recognizable to the public. (You can even follow this link and test your skills - http://www.driving.ca/quiz/logosquiz/index.html)

At Bello Romance Photography, we are always reaching for new heights, and that includes a new altitude in advertising.  We want to be recognizable at first to Indianapolis, then the state of Indiana, then the Midwest, the country, and etc.  Yes, that’s right, etc.  We have no limits to where we metaphorically draw the line and say, ‘Now I’m content with my success.’

We want to spread the art of romance photography, more specifically Bello Romance Photography across the globe, and it starts with small steps.  We have adopted our very own color, the color of Bello Romance Photography.

Photographer Emily Brauchle models the signature color of Bello Romance Photography, Bello Bleu.

World, meet Bello Bleu.  Bello Bleu, meet the world.  They will all know your hue someday.

Someday, you will be up there with the Ronald McDonald t-shirts and the Hallmark channel.  Someday you may even be as exclusive as the Apple Inc. white and be best friends with the Coca-Cola red.

Who knows, if you never try it, you will never know.­

The school year has started and the energy of the high school youth is almost tangible in the air.  Sometimes I feel like the summer; even though it is considered their days of freedom, hide them from the public in endless hours of indoor video games and amusements.  When the school year starts, I see more glimpses of students around town then when they are out for the summer, and that my friends is ironic.

When four white walls surround you for 180 days every year for 13 plus years, the outside world becomes an enigma.  I remember wondering how the streets looked in the middle of the day while I was in school, and noticed how the changing of seasons snuck up on you when you realized you were waking up in pitch black again during daylight savings.  For seniors in high school, this routine structure in their yearly schedule is a non-issue.  They’re so used to it.  But right about this time, certain milestones cause them to pick up momentum on the anticipation and excitement the idea of graduation poses.

The senior class portraits are taken for the yearbook, lettermen jackets are awaiting their final patches, football season is zooming by, and everything a senior does is slowly becoming their ‘last time’.  It only take a few months for this realization to dawn on seniors, that after this school year, they will never experience anything like the last 13 years of their lives ever again.  Which is great.

Now, the importance of senior portraits is understood.  The reminder to research for the perfect photographer is scratched on the mothers to-do lists and is mentioned in passing by grandma, who has an empty place on her mantle for such a picture.  Seniors don’t have much to think about, as their curriculums are sputtering to an end, and can only daydream about the style and look of the small wallet sized prints they will be passing out to their friends like candy.  The idea of capturing the success and essence of not only their entire high school career, but also the last 18 years of their lives up until now, is an exciting and nearly stressful image.

The mistake commonly made is who exactly is chosen to harness what is building inside of an individual.  It’s not about who can fit all of the track and football awards into an image, or who can come up with an entirely innovative way to photograph a letterman jacket.  What the deciding factor should be is who can capture your child the way they are.

So many photographers have perfect images of high school seniors, and to me, that perfection is the flaw.  Photographs are gussied up with cool backgrounds and colorful hues by adjusted saturation, and then smoothed over in a thick layer of Barbie doll skin retouch, to the point where all that is left is a cartoon drawing with the same color hair.  What you will want to look back on is not how perfect the edited picture is, but the look in your child’s eyes and the one sided smile they’ve been wearing since they were born.  What is important is their favorite pair of ripped jeans or that worn basketball jersey.  Their disfigured teddy bear or their 4^th place accomplishment.  Their old dog or their collection of bottle caps.  What you will want to see in 10 years are the raw, unaltered images that clearly represent who he or she was in their 18^th year of living.

At Bello Romance Photography, not only does extreme time and effort go into making your pictures photographically excellent, but the real subject in front of the camera shines through.  What makes a person different is the most important thing that could be displayed in a photograph, especially in senior photography.

So when you realize how much you might want to get a moment in time of this metamorphosis in your child’s life, decide well and don’t forget what’s really important.  And that my friends is the secret.

At least two whole aisles of your local department store are cluttered with creams, powders, and palettes that make up the face of the everyday woman.  To a man, these aisles may seem a little over the top considering how many different kinds of brands, descriptions, and colors there are for the same general product.  To a woman, it is still difficult to seek out the exact product needed to decrease the look of wrinkles, not look cakey, fit your skin tone, and above all else, looks like it’s not there at all.

Well ladies, read all the product descriptions you want, but there is a solution that is not found in the department stores.  The Mary Kay beauty supply line has been making itself available to the market through the sales of everyday women like you, selling the products as a representative for years.  Those pink Mary Kay Cadillac’s don’t come from just any car dealer.

The other day in the studio, our great friend Pam Rowley came for a small visit and gave me the opportunity to try Mary Kay makeup.  We started off with simple skin and lip care products, like a cleanser and oil-free tinted moisturizer, and a smoothing cream for the lips, followed by a lip balm.  This was making a smooth and healthy canvas on which to work the Mary Kay magic.  It evened out my skin tones, as well as smoothed and softened my skin in general.  It was light and easy, and I could have stopped the makeup session there.

However, the session would have been wasted if I did not explore all of the opportunities Mary Kay offered.  I decided between a neutral look and a dramatic look.  I chose dramatic.  Pam explored her arsenal of colors and shades, and decided on a navy blue eye shadow paired with deep blue eyeliner.  After feathering on a mineral coat of ivory foundation and a pink shade of blush on my cheeks, the work on the eyes began.  In the end, slicking on the black mascara and color lipstick put the period on the end of the sentence.  And it only took me five minutes to do all of this.

The before and after pictures speak for themselves, but in truth, what really made the session worthwhile was Pam Rowley herself.  After thirty years of experience in using the Mary Kay makeup line, Pam is the golden card in the Mary Kay experience.  She knew the best route to take in the application process, chose a matching palette and above all else, kept the session smooth and timely with a great personality and years of know-how to back her up.  What started off as the Mary Kay experience soon became the Pam Rowley experience.