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Wertman Photography News

A fun couple’s session at the C&O Canal at Williamsport

— 07/09/2015 by Monika Wertman —

Lately we have had several couples come through the studio and while most of them have been engagement pictures, I had a session with one couple who do not fall into that category. In this case, the session was a Valentines present from him to her and it just took us a while to find the perfect date to execute the session.

 

Gabe and Melissa are a lovely couple who were up for an adventure. We set out to our local stretch at the C&O Canal in Williamsport, MD and because they were both open to ideas that pushed the typical location a little, we found a few spots to create pictures at that I had not previously been able to utilize.

 

One such spot was on top of a taller base of a bridge. Gabe gave Melissa a leg up, then jumped up behind her and Voila, we had a background that looked urban enough to rival any inner city location.

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We also found a wall covered in lots of ivy, lending a romantic feel to the image that was also different than what I had utilized before with other clients in the same general location.wertman photography Gabe and Melissa-4

 

After a quick clothing change I asked if they minded crossing the water basin for me and upon an enthusiastic “we don’t mind at all” I gave them instructions as to what I wanted them to do, as the distance was too far to give the instructions once they were in place. This situation led to some wonderful impromptu images that look fun, relaxed and non-posed.

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Now it was time to head in the opposite direction and explore what we may find as we were heading down the path leading into the wooded area of the canal. We found little hidden clearings, spots where the sun peeked through the trees just enough to light Melissa’s dress in a romantic way and gnarly tree trunks that made wonderful props.

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The samples within this post illustrate some of the locations described above. Here at Wertman Photography we love to discover new spots, even if we have been to the general location before and each time we take a client to that area, something new happens, as each client is inclined to a different adventure.

 

Please check out our galleries, in particular the wedding gallery, as we are busy with weddings and are updating that gallery as our couples come in to choose their images.

 

Please vote on your favorite image in this post by leaving a comment below, leaving your contact information and sharing your comment on facebook. You may win a 1 hour family session for up to 5 people, a $150 value, by doing so. The winner will be announced July 20 on our facebook page.

 

 

A Bridal Session in the Park

— 06/18/2015 by Monika Wertman —

Last Saturday I helped preserve memories for a special couple on their wedding day.  While the wedding is still in post production, I also captured the bride in question three weeks before the wedding in some wonderful moments during her bridal session, a service included in our middle wedding collection.  For that session, Kristen was pampered by my make-up artist and stylist, got to try out her wedding look and play dress-up in her gown for the afternoon.  It had rained for days and the morning of our session, so, being conscious of the vulnerability of her gown, I carefully placed a plastic table cloth under my bride and arranged her gown on top of it, to keep it pristine for the wedding day.  With the help of two assistants and Kristen’s maid of honor we utilized the sunlight we received just in time for our session and bounced light onto our bride using only natural light for this session.

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I wanted a few studio portraits as well, and two versions are shown here.  Please leave us a comment on which one of the studio portraits you like better.  They are the same capture, but are processed slightly differently.  Both my bride and I can not decide which one we like better.  Your vote will enter you in a drawing, please continue reading to find out more.

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Originally we were going to shoot in fields of grass and tree groves, but with the rain making the earth soft and the grass still holding moisture on the blades, we re-grouped and decided to go to one of the local parks and use the sidewalks in said parks in order to not harm the dress and shoes.  As is often the case, the change in plans led to wonderful opportunities for images we would not have had at the original location and great results.  The only thing we battled the day of Kristen’s bridal session were little tiny flying bugs that found netting on a skirt to be a wonderful place to fly under.  This strange occurrence took also place on Kristen and Brooks’ wedding day when we went outside for our early evening photos.

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Please feel free to explore our other galleries, especially portraits and weddings as we just added new imagery to both.  If a wedding is in your near future, you just got engaged or want to renew your vows, we can help and will be happy to discuss options with you.  Please share this post on Facebook and comment on it when share it by voting on your favorite of the two versions of the studio portrait by commenting either with “black and white” or “sepia”, leaving your email address and name and be entered into a drawing for a 60 minute family session for up to 5 people, a $150 value.  The drawing will be held on June 30, 2015.

Shooting at the Beach

— 06/05/2015 by Monika Wertman —

In the middle of May I had the pleasure to work with some fabulous models in Miami on the beach. It was a very fun experience and very intense. Not only did we have fantastic models to work with, but had a wardrobe stylist from Vogue and a hair and make-up stylist from Vogue as well. We worked in sweltering heat and humidity and did so for 7 plus hours.

 

It was very rewarding in many ways. The exposure to that level of prep work on the part of the behind the scenes stylists and the composure of the set directions lead to some wonderful imagery. It was fun to work with models who did not need much direction and to have the freedom to direct them to do things I do not often get the chance to do with my clients.

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I was exposed to different lighting techniques, like manipulating sunlight instead of overpowering it with strobes, creating shade and bouncing light back onto my subjects, that I have already implemented with one of my brides and intend to use with my seniors this summer. It takes a team of four to accomplish this feat, but is well worth it as you can see from the images within this post.

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The take-away is that you may hire me to work with you on any beach of your choice, if travel is required, additional fees apply, but here in Maryland we have a few lakes these techniques can be used at, and in fact, this technique is handy in various situations.

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Please feel free to go to some of the galleries such as the portrait/portfolio gallery, new images reside within, the engagement/wedding gallery, new images are present here as well, and check into the boudoir/glamor gallery as well, new images from Miami are in there as well. Please browse our site to your heart’s content, as you never know where new imagery is hiding and may just trigger the need to book a session with us.

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Charles & Michelle’s Wedding Story

— 04/02/2015 by Monika Wertman —

When you think wedding, you usually think of a long engagement, a wedding planned with every detail in place, a big dress, a fancy venue and lots of guests. Most of the weddings we help our brides with fall somewhere onto that spectrum and always have at least one year in between the bride and groom signing our contract and us capturing their special day. This past December I had the pleasure to meet a couple who did things a bit differently.

Michelle and Charles had been engaged for a little while and while planning a big party with both of their families in the coming summer, you see, Charles is in the Service and stationed pretty far from Michelle’s home, the actual wedding was a rather spontaneous endeavor, executed in the courthouse with no plans to capture and record the moment.

I received a phone call on a Friday morning from Charles’ mother, asking if I was available to get a few shots of the family and the bride and groom at my studio after the courthouse ceremony. It just so happened that they caught me on an editing day, which meant that I could say: “yes, when do you need me?” The answer was that they were about to leave and would 45 minutes from now work for me? I told them that this would be fine and why didn’t I meet them at the courthouse to get a few shots outside.

I arrived just as everyone disembarked from their cars and followed the wedding party inside, caught all of the important moments, got a few more outside of the courthouse and finally met the families back at the studio for more.

Michelle and Charles are a lovely, fun couple who turned out to love their photos, the very ones they thought they did not need. Just the other night Michelle contacted me to show me where she hung their canvas print of the two of them in front of the courthouse, and to tell me that she had discovered that she needed just a few more prints to finish the display on her wall.

I decided to share this story to show that photography is important on your special day, whether that day is big or small, whether you are planning a big bash or are eloping. When you browse our site and come across pricing, we list a wedding collection starting cost. This starting cost considers the big planners, the year-long engagement with time for engagement pictures and a glamor session for the bride and the day long celebration of two people uniting in love. If you are planning a small 1 or 2 hour affair, call us and we can tailor a collection for you that fits your needs.

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Wertman Photography Launches New Website & Blog

— 04/01/2015 by Monika Wertman —

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It is here!   We are so excited to share our new website with you. Wertman Photography has been in business for over 5 years and many exciting things are happening in 2015.

We are growing in many ways including our space at the studio, which doubled in February of this year. We now have three distinct shooting spaces available and a private dressing room to make glamor and boudoir sessions even more fun and private than they were before.

We learned that we would be able to expand our physical space at the end of the summer of 2014 and decided that other changes were also necessary. Our website needed some serious TLC and after seeing work our web designer had done for other photographers, we decided that Visual Lure would be a great fit for us. Justen designed a site that is not only gorgeous but really took our vision and our love for art deco to the next level. If you have not done so yet, please browse the entire site and enjoy not only the richness of the design and the ease of the functionality, but also our portfolios to understand who we are as a photographic studio.

When we opened our doors in 2009 we knew that we would give our clients a great experience during any session and that we would produce imagery that our clients would be proud to hang on their walls. Today, five and a half years into the photography business, we continue to provide you, our clients with a great experience and great images, and we offer products you may have never thought about. We continue to innovate and add more products and specialized services to our studio. You are treated with special care and every session you book with us is tailored to your needs.

This year we have revamped our High School Senior sessions to include up to three locations and clothing changes and hair and make-up for the girls. The offered collections can accommodate any budget and print collections include many exciting products.

Our Glamor and Boudoir sessions are also redesigned to include some great products when purchased as a collection and can also be booked as stand alones you can add to, including make-up and hair.

We love weddings and engagements, as you can see in our wedding portfolio and offer all-inclusive collections with plenty of time and great options built right in.

As our new site highlights, here at Wertman Photography we love timeless design and elegance with a modern twist our clients desire. Please read more on the about us page where you can find some client review and testimonials.

We want to thank Justen at Visual Lure for creating a great new website for us and hope that all of you enjoy it as much as we do.

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