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Stuff in the ‘engagement photos’ Category

What to ask when you interview Wedding Photographers

— 01/31/2017 by Monika Wertman —

What questions should you ask when you interview a wedding photographer?

couple car to back nuzzling

This week we will focus on what you should look for in a studio while you are looking at who will be the best fit for you.

Whether you found the list of photographers in front of you through a Google search, a bridal show or recommendations from friends, look over the studio’s website before you call to see if you like their style.

If you do, reach out to them either through email or a phone call and set up an appointment to talk to them. Whether they list a starting cost or not, whether the starting cost seems outside of your budget or not, set up an appointment. You never know what they include in their price until you talk to them, and you may be surprised to find that they include it all, making the cost a practical one.

When you meet with them, make sure that you and your fiancé both go if at all possible.

When meeting with a wedding photographer, pay attention to the following:

Is the photographer you are meeting with friendly and approachable?

 

If you meet them at their studio, what does the artwork hanging on the walls look like? Studios hang their best work on their walls.

 

Is the person you are meeting with at least one of the photography team or a sales person?

 

Do they listen to you and ask you questions, or do they launch right into the sales pitch.

 

What do they include in their price? Is it just a few hours and a CD, or are products such as an album included?

 

Do they shoot alone or do they use a team? If they use a team, do they charge extra for the second shooter?

 

Do they offer to help you plan your wedding day and work with your vendors, or will you sign with them and not see them until your wedding day?

 

Are they pushy and demand you sign now or you will loose them, or do they give you time to think?

first look with door in between

 

Feel free to take this list with you to help you remember what to look for when talking to photography studios.

 

In our next email, we will give you some tips on what questions to ask before you sign on the dotted line.

Why Wertman Photography for your Wedding Day

— 01/12/2017 by Monika Wertman —

Congratulations! You just got engaged!

So, why hire Wertman Photography for your wedding day?

Now that the initial excitement has settled it hits you that you have a wedding to plan. Like most women, you have likely been planning this event in your head since you were a little girl, but reality is just a wee bit more overwhelming than a little girl’s dreams.  Here at Wertman Photography we will help you feel less overwhelmed by taking the worry out of preserving your wedding day memories.

engaged couple

For your wedding day, three things are of the utmost importance. The groom, you have found him, your dress, that could still be a hurdle to overcome, and your wedding photographer. These three are on the top of the list for obvious reasons. The venue, the ceremony space, food and entertainment rank high as well, but let’s face it, everyone is going to remember what you looked like in your dress and if you and your fiancé looked happy. For the two of you, the ceremony, the venue and the party will be memories that will seem fleeting and a bit vague and that is why your photographer needs to rank right after your dress.

uptown bride

Your photographer is in charge of preserving those special moments your wedding day is made up of.

bride and groom

She is the one you will turn to to capture another moment you thought may not happen and as long as you hire the right person, she will have already captured that shot. A good wedding photographer will be everywhere the day of the wedding. We always hear: “Wow, I don’t even remember that we did this”, or ” Wow, we never made it over to that area, thanks so much for preserving this moment.”

bride and flower girl

Here at Wertman Photography we pride ourselves in becoming your best friend over the year in between you signing with us and your wedding day. We help you plan your day, create a time line for you, go over who is going to be in pictures both at the ceremony and at the reception and best of all, you can trust that we will create artwork for your walls that will stand the test of time.

bridal portrait

All of our wedding collections include an engagement session. We help you plan that session, from wardrobe, to location, season and styling. We will create artwork for your walls that will compliment your wedding day wall art and we give you many options from an engagement guestbook to safe the dates that will further aid in planning your wedding day.

love and engagement

All of our collections also include a beautiful leather album, sizes depend on your collection, but each album is crafted with care from the design to the finished product. We help you choose the images that will tell your wedding day story perfectly.

bride in archway

With Wertman Photography you will not only get all day coverage from two photographers, but a guiding hand in planning your big day. We believe that your photography needs to be in the best hands and that you should not have to worry about it, but trust that your story will be told and preserved for years to come.

rings

For information on all of the options included in the different wedding collections, please contact us at 301-693-3021 or email us at info@wertmanphotography.net. Consultations are always free and non-binding and we love to share what a great studio can do for you.

Thank you for a great year

— 12/23/2016 by Monika Wertman —

We had a great year working with so many of you!  It was fun and exciting and sometimes a bit more challenging than expected, and we got awesome images.

maternity rachel

Here is a quick look back over the last 12 months, highlighting some of our favorite shots from this year.

newborn baby boy

newborn

hands

This year we got to play with newborns, expecting moms, brides, fun seniors and awesome families.  Several of you were repeat clients and we love you for it!  Some of you were new to Wertman Photography.  We want to thank you for putting your trust in us!

bride , groom and best man couple

sisters

family interaction

composite senior girl sports  composite senior boy

business shots

dancer and flour dance from the wings

senior girl actress

senior girl artist

senior tuba player engaged couple

fun with couples

love

sisters fun at the museum

sleeping child

Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and fun time with your family and friends.

brother and sister

Enjoy the look back over the year and come join us again in 2017.

 

What to do to prepare for a successful Photo session

— 08/22/2016 by Monika Wertman —

What to do to prepare for a successful Photo session.

In this post we will focus on some of the things you as the client can do to ensure that your session with us will be successful and productive.

sisters

Whether you plan to book us for a family or senior session, a glamor/boudoir or a couple’s session or a newborn session, there are a few things that you as a client can do to prepare for your time with us and to ensure that you will not only have a great time during the session, but that your pictures will turn out great.  You will, of course, assume that we will do everything in our power to ensure these things as well, and we do, but you can help make it just a wee bit easier for us.

newborn

Here is how:

#1   Schedule a consultation with us prior to the date of your session.  We offer consultations with most of our sessions, in fact make them mandatory for some.  Even if you have booked a session for which we do not require a consultation, book one anyway.  During this time we will plan the where and when, what you should wear etc.  For a family session, this can be discussed over the phone if you are super busy, and with children, you are.  We understand this.  For a senior, boudoir, engagement or couples session, an in person consultation is best and highly recommended!

#2   If you plan on bringing your pet to the session, please inform us ahead of time so we are prepared with water for your pet and by having anything he may bounce into out of the way.

nursing school and pets

#3   Discuss your wardrobe with us.  This can be a simple discussion of color choices or be more involved such as what it is you are planning to wear and if you have questions on what form of clothing photographs better.  If you plan to wear formal wear, please let us know so we have the studio set up accordingly if we are shooting inside.  If we are planning on outdoors only, and we are dealing with high heels, please let us know, so our plan does not involve you climbing over rocky and potentially muddy surfaces.

couple

#4   If your session includes several clothing changes, organize them before you arrive.  Changing time will go more smoothly and take away less time from your session.  ( A few months back we had a family of 8 with three clothing changes, the mom was fantastically organized.  I have never seen anything go more smoothly!  It was impressive)

#5    We will most likely ask you this, but in case we do not, please let us know what ages your children are.  This applies to an in studio session as we’ll as an outdoors/lifestyle session.  We love working with littles, but want to know ahead of time so we are prepared with props and location choices that are age appropriate.

little girl

#6    Women and girls, please wear makeup, even if you generally don’t do anything more than mascara, do a bit more for your session, especially if it is a senior session, a professional headshot session or a glamor session. (we offer professional hair and make-up services starting at $85 if you are not sure what to do, and include these in all of our regular glamor and boudoir session) Wearing make-up ensures an even skin tone and guarantees fantastic results for you.  On this note, do not fret if a pimple pops up the day of your session.  We remove blemishes in post production.

glamor shot

#7   If it is a hot summer day and we are shooting outside only, please bring some water with you.  We always bring some, but it helps if our clients come prepared as well.

#8    Please arrive on time!!!!!!!  We set aside your session time plus 15 minutes.  If you run late, you eat into your session time, which gives us less time to create the images we want to create for you.  If we come to your home, please be ready for us.  We generally arrive 5-10 minutes early so we have time to set up.

family pictures

Wertman Photography has several shooting spaces within the studio, including a private dressing area.  When we go on location, we can bring a pop-up tent for clothing changes as well.  Together we will create great images that will stand the test of time and will preserve precious moments for you for years to come!

Celebrating Love

— 07/15/2016 by Monika Wertman —

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of helping a lovely couple celebrate their love for each other during their engagement session in Harrisburg, PA.  Sometimes engagement session can be a bit of a challenge as it takes the couple a little while to be comfortable in front of the camera.  I do my best to help them forget that I am recording their affection for each other, but the groom in particular often does not loosen up until we are about 20 minutes into the session.

engagement photo

These two were different and it was very easy to work with them, as they seemed to immediately forget I was there recording their every move.  I was able to capture sweet little moments as well as lots of laughter.  When I did insert some instructions, they were carried out quite naturally and as a result we got some great imagery.

engagement photo

We walked all over Harrisburg, starting at the water front and working our way to the government buildings that are surrounded by a beautiful park.

engagement photo

I love shooting in locations other than the studio’s hometown as it gives me the opportunity to incorporate architectural elements not found in Hagerstown.  Harrisburg has wonderful bridges, old buildings and great architecture that create a wonderful backdrop for any photoshoot, but lend themselves especially well to an engagement session.

engagement photo

The weather held out nicely for us as well that day, staying sunny with wonderful clouds in the sky.  The forecast that morning called for rain halfway through our scheduled session time, but we were lucky and the rain held off until after we were done.

engagement photo rings

At Wertman Photography we include engagement sessions in our wedding packages, as it is important to work with the couple before their wedding day and a pleasure to get to know them during the process.  During the engagement session we have time to explore what each of them likes, how they act in front of the camera and how we work together as a team to create good imagery.  For me, gaining this knowledge before the wedding day, makes it easier to prepare for the big day as the couple and I have gotten to know each other better.  It paves the way for great communication in the months leading up to the wedding.

engagement photo

Your wedding day can not be recreated, and this knowledge creates pressure for the couple, sometimes more so for the bride as so many things need to be prepared for and run smoothly.  Getting to know each other during the engagement session, laying the ground work for trust during that session, takes the pressure off my couples as they know that they will not need to worry about their photography coverage the day of their wedding.

engagement photo

When you first get engaged, you are on cloud nine, floating happily until your realize that you have a wedding to plan.  Let us help you take some of the pressure off and make us your trusted advisor for your photography.  Know that we have you covered!  Call us today to schedule your free consultation and let us show you why your first choice is Wertman Photography.  301-693-3021.

engagement photo

Weddings and Celebrating Love

— 05/02/2016 by Monika Wertman —

There is nothing we enjoy more than capturing love in any shape or form and one of our favorite things to shoot are weddings.  I wanted to play around with some ideas that had been hopping around in my head for a while and since during a wedding we are dealing with a time line and locations that are chosen by the bride and groom, we don’t always have time to get everything we want and need to be flexible as nature sometimes throws a kink into our wheels.  For that reason and because something new should not be tried out on clients, I organized a stylized wedding shoot with several local vendors and 5 fabulous models.

uptown bride

Maryland has fickle spring weather and we had been watching the weather with baited breath, praying that it would be nice the day of the shoot and it was.  In the morning we shot at Ava’s Lounge and the Ballroom at Schindel Rohrer in downtown Hagerstown whose owners Gary and Jennie are wonderful to work with.  I wanted to capture an uptown/lounge feel for images for a long time and Ava’s is perfect for that.  JB Bridals generously provided us with 6 gowns and 6 tux ensembles for the day and the first two gowns were perfect for what I had in mind for the lounge.

bride , groom and best man

Bella Salon and Spa sent us two of their most talented stylist and make-up artists, Lindsey and Bettina and they stayed with us all day, touching up and re-creating hair and make-up. TG designs added floral arrangements to our adventure and let us play with the bouquets all day.

bride and groom

The second half of the day was shot at Cortland Manor, at the time under management of Hempen Hill Barbecue and Josh is a gem to work with.  He had his team at the ready all day and even fed everyone lunch.  Being prepared by Hempen Hill, you can imagine that we did not lack a thing and that it was delicious.

rings

Carson jewelers let us play with fabulous bling all day as well.  You can imagine that I had a blast shopping for the gowns, tuxes and jewelry prior to the day and appreciate everything that everyone contributed to make our day successful.

two brides    bride and groom

We had a blast working with everyone and from the feedback I have gotten so far, the feeling was mutual.  I think the images speak for themselves and if you see something here that you would like to do at your wedding, please let us know.  The vendors mentioned within this post are our preferred vendors to work with for your special day, and since we had this experience, we know for sure that you will be pleased when you choose them for your next event or special day.

wertman photography stylized wedding shoot-24    bride and groom

Please vote on your favorite image in this post and you will be entered into a drawing for a 1 hour family session for up to 5 people.

It’s Bridal Season, win an Engagement Session

— 03/18/2016 by Monika Wertman —

This Sunday we will be at the inaugural bridal show at Frostburg State. The show will feature local venues, caterers, vendors and photographers. Wertman Photography will represent Hagerstown, MD and show off why it pays to hire a professional with years of bridal experience, an all inclusive wedding experiences as well as a fun, outgoing personality you want to spend time with and who will guide you through the jungle of wedding preparation.

bride and flower girl

Come join us this Sunday at Frostburg State for show only specials and a chance to get to know us better as we show you why we are the choice you should be making.

wedding day       bridal shoot

You cannot leave this day to chance.

engagement photos

 

Check out some images from some of our favorite brides from last year and come see us Sunday or book your free consultation now.

wertman photography engagement Jake and Meghan-13

 

Weddings small and large, we can handle them all and guide you to a blissful experience.

engagement

 

Nominate newly engaged couples on this blog to enter them into a drawing to win an engagement session, a $300 value. In order to be entered into the drawing, you will need to tag them on this thread and provide their full name. They can only win if we can contact them.

bridal session

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