Hudson Valley Wedding

Hudson Valley Wedding -Tips to Shake Wedding Day Jitters

One of the biggest difficulties that brides and grooms face on the day of the wedding is being very fidgety and nervous. In the past, plenty of Hudson Valley wedding couples regretted feeling this way because it got in the way of the wedding day and unfortunetly those sentiments get picked up by the camera. On occasion, some brides are so nervous that they couldn’t even smile and look happy for the camera. Although being nervous on the day of your Hudson Valley wedding is quite normal, everything could be even more beautiful if you are able to relax and simply enjoy this special moment in your life.

Here are some fantastic tips to help you relax on your wedding day

Have a reliable wedding coordinator or planner. If you have an on-the-day coordinator or planner who will take charge of everything and ensure that all goes according to plan, you can at least stop worrying about problems that may arise or suppliers who may not deliver on pre-agreed arrangements. You also do not have to put it upon your shoulders to take note of all the details. Your planner is sure to have a checklist, and assistants too, who can double-check everything that is needed. He or she is also there to resolve unforeseen problems.

Hire a good Hudson Valley photographer. Couples and most especially the brides tend to worry so much about how they would look in the pictures. If you have a great wedding photographer, you can at least be assured that the photos will turn out well. You also do not have to fret about the possibility that photographers will miss out on some important events or activities.

Get a good sleep the night before. On the eve right before your special Hudson Valley wedding, be sure to sleep early for your beauty rest. This will also make your skin glow and will give you a better mood too in the morning.

Eat a hearty breakfast in the morning of your wedding. Do not proceed on an empty stomach. You need not stuff yourself because you might just run the risk of needing to rush to the bathroom later on or the risk of not fitting into the tight bodice of your gown. Just be sure to eat enough to last you until your next snack or meal.

Book a morning spa. Pampering yourself through a massage or a foot spa with pedicure on the morning of your wedding will surely help you start the day right with a more relaxed feeling which can help calm you all throughout the day.

Try some simple exercises. Perhaps you wake up filled with nervous sensations, which will prevent you from enjoying the day you have been waiting for and which may even prevent you from going through with the actual ceremony. Surely some jumping jacks and stretching exercises in the morning can help you shake off that nervousness.

Try sipping some wine. It has been proven that a glass of champagne can actually calm down your stressed out nerves. This can certainly help, but do not overdo it or you may end up ruining your own Hudson Valley wedding. A CT photographer saw that happen once.

Pop in a small piece (or several) of chocolate. Stop for a while to savor the wonderful taste of your favorite chocolate. This type of sweets has been proven to help boost a person’s mood.

Remind yourself about all the reasons you want to marry the person you love. Along with this, think happy thoughts and surely you will begin to relax.

Hudson Valley Wedding -Tips to Shake Wedding Day Jitters

Hudson Valley Guide for Professional Photographers

Hudson Valley Guide for Professional Photographers

These pdf documents are professional documents intended for professional photographers in and around the Hudson Valley area that are looking to improve their craft and knowledge of photography.  The links below are to pdf documents taken from the American Society of Media Photographers handbook. Read them.  Enjoy them. Share what you learn.

How to price your photography

Strategic Plan, 2 pages

Property Release Template for Photographers

Model Release For Photographers, Adult Template

Courtesy of Hudson Valley Wedding Photographer, steven planck

Hudson Valley Guide for Professional Photographers

Local Search Engine Optimization

Local Search Engine Optimization – Hudson Valley, NY

Although Professional Photographer by trade, I’ve made great strides in learning more than just the basics of local Search Engine Optimization out of a necessity to keep my business ahead of or in line with my competitions SEO. I had to learn what local SEO meant and how SEO worked so that my message and my products weren’t getting lost in cyberspace, so that I was easily accessible and so that I could, essentially, take back control of my advertising dollars and my time.

What I know today about how local SEO works took me over a year to learn and understand and believe me, learning SEO wasn’t easy.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011 from 5 – 8pm in the Studio located at 400 Market Industrial Park Suite #32, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, I’m going to hold an entry level / beginners class for those interested in learning the basics of Search Engine Optimization, local SEO.  This SEO course will be a three hour course and the price is set at $150.  Class size for this course is limited to 12 people.

What you learn in this class WILL improve your page ranking or I’ll give you your money back.

To register for this SEO course, leave a comment, email me at info@blueskyphotographyny.com or call me directly at (845) 473-7192 and ask for Steve.

Anthonys Pier 9

Anthonys Pier 9, also known as Pier 9 and Pier Nine, a wedding reception caterer in New Windsor New York, hosted this Ulster County New York wedding for Maggie and Lucas on July 15, 2011. Wedding Photography by Hudson Valley Wedding Photographer Steven Planck.  Wedding Video by Majestic Hudson River Photographer Steven Planck of Blue Sky Photography of Wappingers Fall.

   

Would you like to replay the video or share the link to it with your friends?

PHOTOGRAPHY SEO

As a small business owner, I’m constantly trying to reinvent the answer to questions like How To Reach Customers, How to Reach Local Customers, How do I Get More Customers, How to Promote a Business, How to Use Social Media and How to use Social Media for Networking Business, all the while keeping a close eye on my bottom line, because I’ve never believed that advertising had to cost a fortune and now I know it doesn’t!

Through non traditional advertising outlets like the Internet and social media services I’ve managed to promote my businesses and services to hundreds of local and national customers.  In fact,  85 percent of my customers are finding me on the Internet and I’m spending little to no money to do it.  Amazing right?  Well, no. Not really!  I had to spend an entire year learning about  SEO, indexing, tags, headings, H1, titles, page names, meta data, track backs, ping backs, the do’s and don’ts of correct linking, pass through, page rank, page authority, white hat, black hat, proxy servers, proper SEO, illegal SEO, web site grading, open source page code, etc, etc, etc.  I spent an average of 30 hours a week, every week, researching SEO and SEO promotion, SEO Strategy, small business SEO, the basics of SEO, SEO for Photographers, local SEO company, local SEO and what the SEO experts were saying and doing.  So, no.  It wasn’t exactly easy and I don’t think learning SEO is for everyone, but I think the results are.  SEO works and it’s the reason why my businesses appear on more page one search results on Google than any of my competitors, maybe all of my competitors combined.

If knowledge is power than understanding SEO is a key.  I’ve done all the work and the results speak for themselves.

If you’d like to be on page one of Goolge, ok, give me $5000 and I’ll do it for you, but for most that’s out of the question.  Too expensive.  So I’m offering these small business SEO classes.

SEO for WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

There are 3 different levels of SEO web site development to anyone who’s interested, photographer and non photographers alike.

lever 1 – $750 runs continuously. You call me and I’ll be there.

This is a basic course designed for those who know nothing about web site coding, SEO, web sites in general, blogs, social media, linking or posts. It is for those that don’t have a lot of time to devote to learning SEO technique and for those that want someone to do all the work for them.  In this class we will analyze your business, identify who your target audience is, then identify where and how your current online presence is and isn’t reaching your desired audience. I’ll teach you the necessary tools to properly analyze your web site and then help you correct where you went wrong and make the proper changes for the successful future development of such. Level 1 will focus on titling, spiders, crawl time, indexing, key words, and H1. We do not guarantee 1st page placement in level 1 as we will be analyzing your web site with you, suggesting minor ways in which to improve your online presence and then making those changes for you. Chances are you will jump 5-7 pages ahead of your competitors with the minor changes we make.

lever 2 – $2400

Want to be on the first page of Google for a search result, but not interested in learning how to do it.  First page results are guaranteed.

lever 3 – $5000, three day course

Level three SEO optimization course if for those that are as uneducated about SEO as those taking the level one course, the difference is that they want me to teach them.  They want the power that this knowledge gives them and they want to be taught how to do it on their own.  We’ll spend three days together reinventing your online presence where I’ll show you every trick I know.  First page Google results are guaranteed, but PLEASE NOTE, there is a confidentiality agreement that you must sign if you take this course with me that says you agree not to talk about or show anyone else this proprietary information.

Hudson Valley Weddings at the Villa Borghese

Hudson Valley Weddings

In the last ten years I’ve spent many hours traveling on the road up and down the East Coast as a professional wedding photographer, following the bride and groom, driving from one location to another.  From NYC to Boston, Philadelphia to Connecticut, it seems like I’ve been in every catering hall New York State has to offer, but I gotta be perfectly honest with you, when it comes to hosting Hudson Valley Weddings there are others, but as caterers since 1970, there are few that have the catering experience that the Villa Borghese does.  Many thanks to Paul, Stan, Karen and the staff at the Villa Borghese for giving everything you had towards making Carly and Nicholas’s wedding day as perfect as it was.  I know how hard you all work.

The morning of the big day, I caught up with Carly and her brides maids at the primeire wedding prep location for a bride in the Hudson Valley, Wappingers area, Davide Salon where Carly, her mom and the brides maids were getting the royal treatment.  Between the normal wedding day morning jitters and nervous laughter, pedicures, manicures, hair appointments and make up, they were sipping Champagne and kicking back in the spacious loft like atmosphere that Davide has to offer.  I definetly had a great time there. I love the pictures and I can’t wait to go back.

To view Carly’s and Nick’s wedding video teaser, click here.  Hudson Valley Weddings

Carly, Nicholas, what can I say.  You two shared one of the most important days of your lives together with me and I thank you for your trust and support.  I really do have the best clients.  Please stay in touch and feel free to share this with your friends and family.  All my best, thanks again.  Steven Planck.

Wedding Date: May 27, 2011

Hair and Make-up: by Angela Rossomando at DAVIDE SALON (845) 296-1873

Reception Site: Villa Borghese

Florist: Gloria VanVoorhis

Wedding Photography & Video: Blue Sky Photography

Music and Entertainment: Turning Point Entertainment

Villa Borghese

Wedding Photography at Sunset Tutorial

At one time or another we’ve all had clients that’ve asked us to photograph them at sunset.  The “golden hour” as photographers usually refer to it, is that first and last hour of sunset on each day.  Often the most majestic and breathtaking light that we see during the course of a day, it is in fact only a “golden 30 minutes” at best, but who’s counting.  It’s during these times of day that the kelvin scale reaches it’s coolest / lowest point, usually around 1000 to 2000 degrees Kelvin, at which time we’ll see those familiar colors of sunset, reds, oranges and yellows.

It’s at this point, just as the sky turns pink and the sun’s almost kissing the horizon line that our clients’s come up to us and ask for a sunset photo, which leads me to the topic of this blog entry.  What I’m about to show you is how I’ve chosen to do sunset photography over the past eight years and that is to say that first off, tell your clients it’s not time yet.  Assure them that you’ll be watching and when it’s time you’ll come get them.

I start by letting the sun set below the horizon line.  That’s right!  That big beautiful sun that everyone’s staring at, I let it settle below the horizon line before I begin photography.  My interpretation of that moment, when the sun’s setting, is two fold in that I feel it’s an action not best expressed in a single still photo nor are the colors corrected located in the sky.

My second reason for photographing couples after sunset is that I don’t want to include the sun in the photograph.  I don’t want the sun to become the subject of the photograph, so I don’t include it. Let’s look at the examples I’ve posted below.

Notice in figure #1 I start with all the lights turned completely off, because my first goal is to properly expose the night’s sky and the bridge behind the bride and groom, who by the way, had the New York Bridge Authority turn those bridge lights that specific color just for them on their wedding day.  Had I been trying to take this photo earlier in the evening, the bridge lights wouldn’t have been turned on, nor would I had been able to balance my exposures for all of these elements. Waiting is the only option.  Also notice that the bride and groom are standing in complete darkness, because without this, this photograph is impossible to take. The slow shutter speed would lead to image blur and thus my speed lights have to be the only source of illumination on the subject.

Figure #2 shows a properly exposed background, plus the addition of a key light, in this case a QT4D mounted on a monopod, fired remotely by a Pocket Wizard. Figure #5 shows a close up of that same image.  Notice the high contract ratio between the highlights and shadows.  It’s not flattering at all.

The last light I’ll add is my fill light, mounted off camera just above my lens as seen in figure #3.

THE TECHNICALS

Camera: Canon 5D Mounted on a tripod

Lens Choice: 50mm

Aperture: 2.8

Shutter Speed: 1/15

ISO: 1000

Externals: Canon 550 Speed light, QT4D, monopod, Pocket Wizards

Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel Wedding

I’m so fortunate to be working with couples who have such a great energy about them.  Honest to God, I have the best clients.

I met Kristin and her bridal party at her house in Poughkeepsie where this photo was taken and although you might think they were already drinking by the looks of it, I’m pretty sure this photo was before the toasts.  LOVE. LOVE. LOVE  the energy.  From there we headed over to Locust Grove, a historic Hudson Valley site of Samuel F. B. Morse home located off Route 9 where we staged Daniel’s first look at Kristin in her wedding dress, because the couple really wanted to have all of their wedding photographs finished before the ceremony.  I think it was a great idea.

P.s. Guys, I love the choice of Converse Sneakers and the shoes instead of the traditional attire. It’s a great personal touch.  LOVE IT.

Kristin, Daniel, you two shared one of the most important days of your life with me and I thank you for that trust.  All my best.  Family and friends feel free to post any comments you wish to the new couple.

Wedding Date: May 6, 2011

Hair and Make-up: Salon 52 Hair Studios, inc.

Reception Site: Locust Grove – The Samuel F.B. Morse Historic Site

Marriage Officiant: The Right Reverend, Stuart B. Chernoff (845) 750 – 9888

Wedding Photography: Blue Sky Photography

Music and Entertainment: DJ Domenic Entertainment

4.29.11 Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel Wedding of Alex and Rick

Those of us that are familiar with the Bonura Hospitality Group, who own and manage The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel in Poughkeepsie, NY, which recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation, know first hand of the kind and quality of service they offer to their guests.  From the decor to the wait staff, the experience is extraordinary according to the reviews on Project Wedding and WeddingWire and as a professional wedding photographer myself, now celebrating my eighth year in business, who’s personally photographed over a hundred weddings at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, I agree completely.

On the morning of her wedding, I found Alex, Jean (her mom) and the rest of Alex’s entourage telling stories, dancing and drinking champagne whilst laughing the morning away and resting comfortably with Beth Rango the owner of Soul Therapy in Fishkill, NY who provided hair and make-up services for the girls.  After I left Soul Therapy I went I went to meet Rich, his family and the groomsmen at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel where we took the majority of his wedding photos prior to the ceremony, thus ensuring that he and Alex wouldn’t miss the cocktail hour, because their photos would’ve been done already.  This is something I recommend to a lot of couples, especially when they are having their ceremony and reception at the same venue.  It’s simple.  It works and it helps get them to where they really wanna be, which is making memories with their friends and family.

I have my favorite spots at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, some of which are here and I gotta say, great shots Rich, thanks for the energy.  This is definitely one of my favorite wedding photos from the day.  Alex and Rich choose to have an indoor ceremony at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel. After which, they and their guests enjoyed great music and entertainment till midnight, courtesy of none other than the voice of the Hudson Valley Renegads and 101.5 WPDH personality, Rick Zolzer from Zolz Entertainment.  Awesome job Rick.  You kept the dance floor packed till well after midnight.

Wedding Date: April 29, 2011

Hair and Make-up: Soul Therapy

Reception Site: The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel

Wedding Photography: Blue Sky Photography

Music and Entertainment: Zolz Entertainment