The last time that I was in New Orleans was in 1997, for Mardi Gras, so this was quite a different trip. The days were sunny and a perfect 72 degrees. As you can imagine, we all walked a lot and photographed all of the little vignettes of the French Quarter, cemeteries, the trolley car and more.

Thanks to everyone who gave me great tips on where to eat and what to see while there. I even tried fried alligator! Thank you, Chris, for the extra photos of me….

The professional highlights of the trip were:
* Cheering as my good friends, Patrick Luke and Deb Woodard, received their Craftsman degrees. Many of you know Pat, as he is my super awesome Second Photographer/Assistant/Lighting Guru for some weddings.
* Cheering as friend, Dana Shaffer (of Fort Plain), received her Masters degree.
* Cheering as my biggest fan, Chris Kogut, received a Silver Grand Imaging Award for her International Print Competition successes.
* Attending classes about marketing my Certified Professional Photographer designation, and an intimate class by Allison Rodgers about running successful charity events.
* Mentoring several newly minted Professional Photographers.
* Finally figuring out how to make Twitter work for business/networking.
* Photographing the streets with other talented Photographers.
* Getting out of the trade show without buying ONE thing, yet made new connections for Greener Photography.

Congratulations to Chris, Pat, Deb & Dana on their hard work and recent awards! It was an honor to be there as your cheering section. Sitting in the awards ceremonies made me so proud to be a PPA member. Below right, we are using the Flashlight App on the iPhone to light Chris so I could take a picture! Fun!

Personal highlights of the trip:
* seeing a bicycle tricked out with Mardi Gras beads!
* strolling through an old cemetery near sunset
* walking every day
* having a latte and beignets at Cafe du Monde
* getting my Tarot cards read in Jackson Square
* making so many new friends
* walking around the streets with a beer!
* meeting a Photographer at the French Market who did a movie documentary about train hopping and their culture (Cure for the Crash). The soundtrack uses all hobo bands. I purchased the soundtrack and the movie and received a free photograph as a bonus! The soundtrack, “Listerine on Sundays” is amazingly good. Luckily, it is all music that I am really into right now.

Fun Fact: One of my past Portrait Clients, turned Professional Photographer…. Kiera Slye came to the convention with us to learn how to start and grow her business. She is sharp as a tack and will be very successful. We’ve met several times over the years, because I’ve known her Grandfather since I was 19 or 20. As I’ve been thankful for my early mentor, I’m happy to now be able to mentor someone else….

Cure for the Crash Trailer

Heather McKay, a Rochester NY photographer is one of those people that you just don’t ever forget.  I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at WPPI when we were doing some usability testing and customer feedback sessions on our new web galleries.  Before this I had only “met” her through Facebook but upon meeting her in person I felt as if we had known each other for years.

Heather started McKay’s Photography and said it took her, “years and years to finally fall into weddings.”  She has been a photographer since she was a child… she use to dress people up in silly costumes just to take their pictures for fun. Over the years she moved into Fine Art photography and swore off weddings.  “I wish I realized earlier that there are other people like me that don’t want the traditional wedding photos of the 70′s and 80′s,” said Heather.  It wasn’t until a friend of hers was getting married, and seeking wedding photographers that Heather started making the transition. Her friend’s wedding is where it all began!  As Heather says “My goal has always been to photograph wedding as a photojournalist and as a friend. To capture the essence of the person, as only a friend would know how.”

Now she is happily shooting weddings and meeting some amazing couples.

Want to learn more about Heather McKay and McKay’s Photography?  View her website, subscribe to her blog, like her on Facebook, add her to your LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.  Don’t forget to view her sample gallery and prepare to get inspired!

PS – Bring out that box of tissues – there is a moving story down there…  Seriously, get that box out, you are going to need it.

Describe your personal style.

A mixture of Eddie Bauer and Anthropology. Very functional, with a hint of modern trends. Someone recently described my work as artistically real.  I like that.

What photographers inspire you?

Sebastiao Salgado, Joe Buissink, Gary Isaacs, David Williams, Julia Margaret Cameron. Toronto is churning out some amazing wedding photographers right now.

What gear or gadgets can you not live without?

My Fuji S5 cameras, Aperture and my camera bag. I guess I like the underdogs.

I would buy 20 more Fuji S5s if I could.  Aperture is the key to my album and print sales. My camera bag, which is actually a high end diaper bag, is the BEST camera bag I’ve ever owned.

Name a person, place or thing you cannot live without.

Everything is temporary.

I guess my health. I’m really active and can’t imagine not being able to move my body.

How does your studio set itself apart from the multitude of new photographers out there?

By trying to invent the next trend, focusing on pure quality of image without gimmicks, quality time with each client and selling wedding albums.

I do lose weddings because I don’t provide the digital files with wedding coverage, however I think this is the biggest disservice to my clients and their eventual offspring. Not to mention photographer’s bottom lines. My customers are SO happy when they get their heirloom wedding album. It is one of those things that you don’t know you are missing out on until you go through the process.

What is the biggest challenge you have had in your business so far and how did you overcome it?

I have had just one nightmare couple. Just one in 9 years! They taught me SO much about what I needed to have in writing and how to be preemptive. I would not be nearly as successful (with super happy couples) had it not been for them.

All of my success with albums is due to the chaos these people brought into my life. Now, my couples cry tears of joy when I deliver their final wedding album and they send me thank you notes! I even got a thank you note from a bride’s Grandma this year!

It is hard to explain here how important the album process is. For my business and for my couples. If it wasn’t for this couple, I wouldn’t have the backbone I have today with my policies and procedures. You live and learn, right?

What is the most successful marketing strategy you have implemented in your business?

I was a very early adopter of Facebook and it brought me a lot of business before other photographers caught on. Now I try to get as creative with it as possible and make it as easy as possible for my past clients to refer my studio.

Recently, my blog comments were switched over to Facebook commenting instead of standard WordPress comments. This has increased the comments dramatically and I just read an article about Google’s new ranking system where interaction is now key. Staying on top, or ahead, of these changes is important for staying relevant and ahead of the curve.

How does DigiLabs Pro help your business?

Oh, in so many ways. I was soooooo unhappy with my previous gallery host and spent months searching for the replacement. There has been nothing but puppies and rainbows with DigiLabs Pro ever since. My print sales increased immediately upon transitioning.

Currently, the albums are super hot with my couples. We are totally digging the Marina line.  One Grandmother of a Bride offered to buy the couple a new coffee table to put the album on!

What I love is that DigiLabs handles their business like I do…. Just enough of what is hot & trendy with keeping things as simple as possible.

Tell me about one of your biggest disasters from a shoot.

Well, there are several mini disasters that happen each year, right? My first ‘real’ wedding (where they found me through advertising) was the biggest. From start to finish, curve balls were thrown at me. It taught me EXACTLY what my strength and weaknesses were.

One situation, that taught me a lot, was from 2009.  I was photographing a wedding in a giant art gallery, Artisan Works. This place is huge (50,000 square feet!) and the lighting changes every 4 feet. On camera flash is a must. Of course, all of my Nikon Speedlights started to malfunction. Walking the distance to my spare camera bag/batteries/flashes is a hike and the DJ is announcing important events on the other end of the main room. Meanwhile I’m frantically trying to trouble shoot the different flashes, batteries, charging batteries, etc. Luckily, my Qflash was working, so I just used that. This was stressful for several reasons, but mostly because I typically take several candid images of each guest. Not really an option at this wedding.

It was time to leave and I was feeling this itch to stick around because the bride and groom were exiting to sparklers. I sucked it up and stayed late. After the couple left, I quickly photographed the guests with sparklers. The last shot of the night is one that will stick with me, and the family, forever.  It is of a 13 year old boy and his brother with fistfuls of sparklers and huge grins on their faces.  Four days later the 13 year old was hit by a car and perished. This is the last image of him – and an image of pure joy. Had I not stayed late and finished what I perceive to be my job (getting images of guests), this family would not have this image to remember their son, full of life. This was a reminder that though the rings and shoes are nice, the guest list is the MOST important detail….

What word of advice can you give to other (seasoned or new) photographers?

I know you hear this all the time, but be yourself. Do as much research as possible on business, posing, lighting, composition, design, marketing and taxes. And then infuse your personality in there. People do want whatever it is that you are selling… you just need to find the right people. If you do your homework and get your ducks in a row, everything will work out just fine.

To view the original post, click here: http://blog.digilabspro.com/2011/08/03/photographer-of-the-month-mckays-photography/

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

McKay’s Photography stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud McKay’s Photography for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that McKay’s Photography is among the very best Rochester NY Wedding Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/mckays-photography-rochester/d11f7de324e80638.html.

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire.com, the nation’s leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Tonight, McKay’s Photography is sponsoring Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, in Little Theater 1 at 7:00 PM.

“They play ska, rock, punk and funk – they are Fishbone!  Defying easy labels, the members of this legendary band met in high school in Los Angeles and set out in 1979 to do their, decidedly, own thing. Along the way, they managed to influence musicians from Gwen Stefani of No Doubt to Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are all featured in the film.  To the amazement of everyone interviewed Fishbone never managed to make it big.”

http://film360365.com

Other highlights of this year’s festival are:

Julie Taymor: Susan B. Anthony Award

The 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival announces Oscar®-nominated and Tony Award®-winning director Julie Taymor is the 2011 recipient of its Susan B. Anthony Award. The ceremony will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 29 in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House, followed by a screening of her 2010 film The Tempest, which she directed and also wrote the adapted screenplay. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now.

Buddy Squires: Golden Lens Award for Cinematography, presented by Kodak

6:45 p.m. Thursday, April 28

Buddy Squires, whom many call “the visual poet,” is best known for photographing the films of Ken Burns and is a founding member of Florentine Films. He has earned several Oscar® nominations and Emmy® awards for cinematography, as well as for producing and directing, plus several additional leading cinematography honors. A program featuring Squires’ work will be screened followed the award presentation. The festival’s film roster includes a screening of Strangers No More (2010), the current Oscar® winner for Best Short Documentary, for which Squires served as cinematographer.

Movies I’m excited to see:

The Troll Hunter, The Lie, Rollout Cowboy, Second Story man, Adult shorts programs, The Tempest, Tracker, Windfall and Wrecked.

http://film360365.com

Brock Yates: Rochester Film Legacy Award

This is a new award established by the festival, to honor a filmmaker or film supporter based in the Rochester area whose passion and dedication embodies Rochester’s proud film legacy. Screenwriter Brock Yates, who resides in Wyoming in Wyoming County, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient. His film scripts include Smokey and the Bandit II and The Cannonball Run. This award was given during a sponsor’s reception in advance of the festival.

It is a truly monumental task attempting to put into words our appreciation towards and admiration for Heather McKay of McKay’s Photography.  To make the task a bit more manageable we will focus solely on our experience with Heather as our wedding album designer.  We must say though that we could rave for days about her professionalism and exceptional skill that were evident throughout all of our experiences with her.

One of the factors that makes Heather’s work stand head and shoulders above the rest is her ability to capture beautiful images with her camera.  Other photographers nowadays rely heavily on technology and Photoshop, while Heather is able to actually capture moments with her camera and not fabricate them later on.  She tastefully uses Photoshop to enhance her images, not to create the image.  No one wants to look at their wedding album and think “That’s not how I remember it!”  Nothing can take the place of natural talent, years of experience, and passion.  Heather possesses all of these things.  Nothing is more timeless than a beautiful photo.   Heather produces beautiful photos every time!  She has the rare ability to stay current while remaining timeless.

Heather worked closely with us while making our album to make sure that we were getting exactly what we wanted.  She shows her sensitivity to her clients’ economic situation by never trying to up-sell.  There were never any hidden charges.  Everything was completely upfront and honest.  It is reassuring to do business with someone who is so trustworthy and who truly has your best interest in mind.  She makes sure that the client feels comfortable and knows exactly what they will be getting for their money.

None of our meetings with Heather were constricted by a time limit.  She always allowed us to stay as long as we wanted to discuss our ideas and questions.  Most people today are all about making money and that means meeting with as many clients in as short a time frame as possible.  This is not the case at McKay’s Photography.  She cares about her clients and it shows by the amount of time she is willing to spend with them.  She truly listened to what we wanted and it was all reflected in the end product.  From specific pictures we wanted included, to the background color of pages, to the formatting of various pages; she managed to capture exactly what we wanted!  Even though she did all of the work, she made us feel like we were part of the process too.  Our Wedding Album reflects all of the things we love and admire about Heather’s work, yet she made it feel undeniably ours!  That is no easy task!

It goes without saying that we became misty eyed when Heather presented us with our completed album.  It is something that we will treasure forever.  The bride and groom would naturally be pleased with an album featuring themselves on their special day, but what would the tougher critics aka our parents think?  They were nothing short of amazed.  We heard a lot of “We have never seen anything like this!”  My mother said it is “Absolutely the most beautiful wedding album ever!”  In complete seriousness my Grandmother offered to buy us a new coffee table for the sole purpose of displaying our Wedding Album!  If those aren’t the words of a satisfied customer, I don’t know what is!

People who opt not to get an album and only receive the digital files of their wedding images are missing out on a truly breathtaking heirloom.  Heather told our story through her pictures and our album.  Going through each page brings back a flood of happy memories.  I put wedding pictures in my own small album immediately after the wedding.  When I look through that album I do not get the magical feelings that I get when I look at the masterpiece that Heather created.  She is nothing short of a magnificent artist.  She created our most valuable possession that will be treasured throughout our lives.  Some people are hesitant to spend significant amounts of money, but believe me when I say that it is a small price to pay for a priceless piece of art.  Heather’s work speaks for itself and it says all of the right things!  She has lifelong customers in us!

Brandon & Stefani Dilmore
Married May 22, 2010

s

** At McKay’s Photography, if a customer purchases a wedding album between January and April, they receive the digital files as a gift from the studio. (minimum $1000 purchase, completely ordered/designed/paid between Jan-April 30 to qualify)**

Since I have several such weddings, I’ll be re-posting their weddings here to really give them a massive shout out. For either starting a trend or for being totally ahead of the curve! These are all still some of my very favorite weddings that I have photographed. From the people in them, to my performance as a whole. I still look back on these images with pride in my work and as a reminder to get back to the purity that I once had.

This first installment of Vintage McKay’s Photography Weddings, comes from my infamous Cinema Wedding! All of my current customers has seen the giant album of this wedding and have marveled at all of the great ideas. From the Ice Cream bar instead of a cake to the vintage B&W photo booth guestbook to her birdcage veil and ostrich feather centerpieces. All of these things were extremely difficult to find and I’ll let Jodi chime in here about the process…

The wedding ceremony was at the historic Cinema Theater on Goodman Street and the wedding reception was at the historic German House in the South Wedge. This was at a time when most weddings were in churches and hotels. The only publicity the wedding received was an article in the Irondiquoit Post: http://www.mpnnow.com/lifestyle/x1819880821

Jodi was so cutting edge that we even did a boudior pregnancy session, before either of those things was popular.

Both the wedding and my images were geared around an old vintage hollywood wedding theme and I even shot film and used a Holga camera at times!

Here are a few images of their wedding day… from 2007!

13 Jan, 2011 - MomentVille.com, one of the worlds leading wedding websites, has just announced that McKay’s Photography has been selected for the 2011 Wedding Professional Hot List.

The annual Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes excellence within the wedding industry, as determined by reviews from tens of thousands of brides and grooms. McKay’s Photography was among the best reviewed vendors in their area in the past year.

“The Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes best of class wedding professionals.” said Geoff Evason, MomentVille’s CEO. “Highlighting the success of the top wedding professionals is an exciting way to spread the word and help newly engaged couples find the right professionals for their own weddings.”

About McKay’s Photography
Heather McKay treats each wedding as a unique event and her photography allows your individuality to shine through. As a Photo Journalist, she stays hidden and unobtrusive during sentimental moments, while keeping the atmosphere fun and energetic. Heather captures the world with an artist’s eye and professional candor.

About MomentVille
MomentVille.com offers engaged couples and wedding enthusiasts a one stop place for planning and sharing a wedding. Offering personal wedding websites, wedding planning tools, a gorgeous gallery of wedding pictures, a searchable list of reviewed wedding vendors, and lots of helpful and inspiring wedding content, MomentVille helps newlyweds with all aspects of their wedding. For more information contact media@momentville.com

Coach Pat Stark and the U of R will be sending out images from the event shortly, however if you or someone you know would like additional prints then the images will be online in a web gallery soon. Available will be a 10×15 framed print of the entire Track group, as well as additional 8x10s and other sizes including holiday cards. There are a lot of really good portraits of the Track alumni and those will be sent to Coach Hale.

Here are just a few of the images from the event….

A few neat things about these is that they are laser engraved, so there is no die setup charge. The wooden ones are neat-o because the logo looks burned in. They even have some bamboo cases for packaging and little cotton pouches. You may recall that I had offered some before, however the company I was using gave me defective drives. Not one of the purchased drives actually worked! So the timing on this contest couldn’t have been better for M.P. and Pexagon Tech!

On my customer’s end, these drives are much more convenient since you can:

• Reorganize the files however you would like (divide into folders, etc)
• Directly plug into your USB-able TV for a slide show
• Share the images across multiple computers for easy backup
• Portable
• Longer lasting than a DVD that is easily scratched

[chirp, chirp]

Haha, does anyone read this thing? Though I update it regularly, I don’t publish as much as I would like to. My desire is for this to be a resource, as well as a ‘hey look what I just did’ type of a BLOG. Obviously when I get super busy, that doesn’t exactly happen. I am proud that I do update about once a week though. It is like a running resume of sorts.

Recently, I realized that I haven’t been keeping track of my publicity and exhibitions like I should. In college and after, when I was doing Fine Art Photography, I kept a detailed list of all published work and gallery shows. For some reason, being self-employed, I don’t value that progress as much as I used to. A shame, this industry is so focused on the next job, the next wedding season, etc.

So, here it is… my promise to myself to start at least using this BLOG to more frequently give myself and my customers props for a job well done. Anytime my images are used elsewhere should be a moment for pause and a sigh and a pat on my/my customers back. I certainly would NOT be where I am, and churning out the quality work that I am, without my super awesome customers who let me do whatever I want, take chances, get silly with them, pose them, etc. etc. etc.

Though each and every job teaches me something new, and I am happy with the work I produce with all of my customers… it is actually very time consuming, difficult and a bit of luck to get published.

Enough rambling for one day. So sorry. Just wanted to give a shout out to The Green Bride Guide and Sean & Brittany Chilson for getting their wedding as a ‘Real Wedding’ feature on the The Green Bride Guide! Super cool.

http://www.greenbrideguide.com/realgreenweddings/adirondack-affection

What was your favorite resource for planning your wedding? Website? BLOG? Friends? What website did you visit most?

Heather McKay of McKay’s Photography in Rochester, NY has earned the Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) designation from the Professional Photographers of America Certification Commission.

McKay earned this designation after meeting rigorous requirements measuring her artistic and technical competence. The Professional Photographic Certification Commission currently recognizes less than 2,000 Certified Professional Photographers.

The Professional Photographic Certification Commission is the leading body for certifying imaging professionals. Certified Professional Photographer must complete a written examination, an image evaluation, and adhere to a stringent code of conduct. Certification must be renewed on a periodic basis, ensuring continuing confidence in the professionalism of Certified Professional Photographers.

For more information:
Heather L. McKay
585.244.4866
www.mckaysphotography.com

Here are the final images that were submitted to obtain certification. A VERY special “thank you” to all of my customers, not just the ones pictured. Without your love, support and business, I would not have the life that I do, the job that I love and the ability to continue to learn and grow and explore at each of your functions. Thank you for opening up to my lens, trusting me as a person and a business woman. You all make my images a success and in turn, myself a success!

Rochester, NY Wedding Photography Studio, McKay’s Photography, has been featured in Buffalo Spree Magazine’s Wedding Issue with Alison and Trevor at Hurd Orchards:

Greener Photography’s Spotlight on a Member:

and Professional Photographers of America‘s article on hiring a Professional Wedding Photographer!

There was also a Case Study about my studio’s use of Digilabs (for my web galleries, proofbooks, coffee table books, guestbooks, etc)...http://www.digilabspro.com/press/case-studies/heather-mckay.shtml

I am more than honored, amazed and grateful for all of the attention! I want to thank Dawn Sullivan for participating in the PPA article about why you should hire a Professional Wedding Photographer. As well as Alison Zero Jones, for not only having one heck of an eco-friendly and awesome wedding, but also for getting your wedding featured in the Buffalo Spree Magazine. Not only was our wedding the first featured, my images were on the Table of Contents, the title page for the Wedding section and clearly the largest article of the featured weddings.

The only one I didn’t mention was an article about my good friend’s coffee shop / photo studio in PA in the Professional Photographers Magazine by PPA. One of my images that was taken of their coffee made it into the magazine a few months back. Totally cool to see my work in print!

In addition to the products sold, Heather has been running her business with green practices in mind from the beginning. This year, however, McKay’s Photography will continue this path with more frequent use of electronic invoicing of clients as well as marketing and advertising initiatives.

Heather is very proud that McKay’s Photography was awarded the Leadership Circle of Membership with Greener Photography with having only done what came naturally and organically with the greater good in mind.

GreenerPhotography.org Core Values:

Photography is an art form that allows each of us to interpret the world around us. The nature of our tools and traditional materials makes photography a high-tech field; it is an energy-intensive activity. We believe that we can make our high-tech field more green by implementing environmentally-friendly practices, and encouraging suppliers to do the same. Here are Greener Photography’s four core values:

Preservation

Preservation conserves all of the resources that go into creating photographic images. It is the single best thing we can do to reduce the impact of our photographs.

Reduction

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. While we are trying to produce the most archival products in our industry, we will do so while using the least energy-intensive products available.

Local Production

Cruelty-Free

Animals and people are as much part of the eco-system as water, air, and trees. We do not see a difference between environmentally harmful products and those produced in harmful working conditions.

We expect our principles to grow as our community grows. We want to drive the industry standards for environmental awareness and pollution reduction. As a member of Greener Photography you are part of the solution

BASIC LEVEL examples are:
• Tracking your electric/gas energy expenditures.
• Setting your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher for cooling and 68 degrees or lower for heating.
• Offsetting your carbon footprint.
• Carpooling.
• Commuting less then 10 miles to your studio.

PREMIER LEVEL examples are:
• Purchasing renewable energy
• Controlling heating and cooling with natural methods
• Writing a policy to reduce water consumption
• Offering clearly marked recycling recepticles
• Purchasing refurbished items

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE LEVEL examples are:
• Using renewable energy
• Going at least 75% paperless
• Using electronic contracts
• Uploading files electronically to your lab
• Printing with pigment-based ink
• Giving back to your community
• Pooling resources.
• Participating in environmental efforts.
• Volunteering to Greener Photography
• Writing a community service plan.
• Obtaining your city’s local green certification.

Well, I decided to ride this upward wave and begin 12 week rolling study groups for the Certified Professional Photographers (CPP) exam given by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Between having a lot of new photographers in our group and a lot of seasoned professionals who haven’t taken the next step, I thought it was a great way for our members to set aside time to improve their craft and to get to know other GRPPsters better. There are currently only 4 CPPs within the Rochester area! I was in the first study group and was hoping to learn more about digital printing and file adjusting. After all, I did graduate from RIT right when digital and the internet were just coming out! Old school!

The twelve weeks began somewhere in November, which is really our busiest time of year in the wedding industry, however I carved out the time to meet once a week with 6 other Photographers. After all of this time has passed, we have all gotten really close and have bonded in ways you would never expect! The most exciting aspect is that we ALL took the exam at the annual Northeast Convention in Albany last weekend!

The exam was a little harder than I expected it to be, considering I knew almost everything in the study book and with all of my years of experience. That being said, it was an excellent exam! If I don’t pass, I’ll be really disappointed in myself for not knowing studio lighting a little better. That was my weakest area on the exam because there was a lot of gear listed and if I didn’t know what the gear was, then I didn’t know what it did for the different situations listed. Aside from that, I feel very confident. My years of color correcting at the photo lab certainly helped me ace parts of the exam. I am happy to say though that this exam is truly applicable to Professional Photographers and really sets us apart from the friend of a friend and Uncle Joes with a camera that are at every wedding and also shooting weddings at little or no cost to the Bride and Groom. It even sets apart the other Professional Photographers from the ones who haven’t studied for the exam. Each one of us in the study group learned a lot of new techniques and worked through some technical issues that we were pondering! I know two Photographers in my group who grew leaps and bounds as Photographers just through the course of this 12 weeks…. and we are still getting together to play and learn!

The next round of CPP study group members have already started and they have a leg up on us because they were right there at the Convention when we finished our exam! Now they know exactly what type of questions to think about and how the exam is worded and formatted. Our group had no idea what to expect, so we spent as much time learning the darkroom and negatives as we did with digital and lighting. Lucky them!

Anyway, it will take at least another week before I find out how I did on the exam and if all of my years of being a Photographer paid off! {fingers crossed}…. I PASSED THE WRITTEN EXAM! (4/12/10)

The next step is an image review. I have to submit 20 images from paying clients that represent my work and show my competency. They don’t have to be my best or most creative work. Here are a few images that I have in mind…

And the winner is…. Sean Chilson and Brittany Cronk at the Wild Center! Sean and Brittany will be married in July 2010 at the Wild Center near Tupper Lake and I am excited beyond words to be photographing their wedding day! Congratulations Sean and Brittany! These two have won 8 hours of wedding photography coverage for their wedding day in July by McKay’s Photography.

Here is a little bit about their wedding and why they were the winners:

* I was looking for a wedding in July or October that was eco-friendly and specifically offered vegetarian meal options!

Green Weddings at the Wild Center:

The Wild Center is committed to providing an environment friendly setting for your special day.  Therefore we:

• Recycle all appropriate materials such as bottles, cans, papers
• Use glasses, dishes and silverware in place of paper and plastic
• Provide composting rest rooms on grounds of the museum
• When necessary use compostable disposable plates
• Compost left over food
• Work with several caterers utilizing local and organic certified food in their menus
• Work with local breweries and identify organic wines for your use
• Provide the names of area florists who can provide local seasonal flowers and plants whenever possible
• Have natural landscaping and the ambiance of the museum to provide most of your decorations
• Provide linens from a supplier that uses Greenfield certified cleaning products
• Assist in the purchase of carbon offsets to support alternative energy

• LEEDS Silver Certification awarded in February 2008 – first  museum in New York to be awarded LEEDS Certification

Here is a little bit from Brittany about their wedding:

“I always enjoyed the Adirondacks growing up. Every summer my family would visit Tupper Lake. Because of my Adirondack experiences, I went to school at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry for environmental biology and studied in the summers at Cranberry Lake, NY. For my Master’s degree I conducted a research project on moss and did an internship at the Wild Center where I educated the public about moss. Sean had not been to the Adirondacks until we fell in love four and a half years ago and now it is our most frequented escape from the city. Sean now will incorporate naturally found Adirondack objects into some pieces of artwork. The Wild Center was an easy choice for the location of our wedding. The Wild Center is a non-profit organization that educates the public on the Adirondack ecosystem and sustainable, green practices.
The wedding ceremony will be held along side the pond behind the museum. Instead of purchasing store bought flowers, the bouquets will be made out of wild flowers and the location will not need decorating because it will be amongst the natural beauty of the Adirondacks. The reception will be held inside “The Great Hall” and guests will be encouraged to observe the museum exhibits.
The save the date’s and wedding invitations will be hand made by the bride and groom out of recycled paper. The wedding and bridesmaid dresses will be handmade out of organic cotton by a designer in NYC, Ryann, who’s focus is sustainable fashion (www.iloveryann.com). The caterer has not yet been determined, but the food chosen will be based on supplying local entrees, that will include vegetarian and gluten free options. Guests will receive a gift of a non-invasive tree sapling, which they can go home and plant in their yards and enjoy for years to come.
We have seen your photography and are simply blown away. You have made wedding photography an art and we would love to be focus of your lens.”

Due to the excitement that a Green Wedding was given such fanfare, Heather will give away 8 hours of Wedding Photography, valued at over $3,000, to one lucky couple in 2010!!

Share this with your friends and family as you just never know who is planning to go Green this year! For tips on what she’ll be looking for in the winning entry, find some of these old BLOG posts on being eco-friendly…. There will be one or two things specifically that she will be looking for in the winning entry.

Rules and Guidelines:

* Deadline to apply is February 1, 2010

* Winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day, 2010

* Must be a date that MP is not already booked

* Must be a wedding focusing on eco-friendly, green, sustainable practices

* Submit your names, email/phone/mailing info, wedding date, event location and a description of what exactly you are doing to have a Green Wedding event.

* Please be sure that you are in love with Heather’s work, and not only interested in a free photographer! These are images that you will have forever….

“We are excited to unveil WeddingWire Rated 2009, now in its third year.  With hundreds of thousands of reviews, WeddingWire has made it easy for engaged couples to find the nation’s very best wedding professionals,” according to Sonny Ganguly, WeddingWire’s Chief Marketing Officer.  “WeddingWire Rated is an excellent way for businesses to showcase their continued success in the wedding industry.”

McKay’s Photography has many reviews with an average of 5 out of 5 star rating, making us eligible to hold the Rated title on the WeddingWire Network.  Each review has been written by former clients and includes detailed ratings and insightful descriptions of their experiences with our services.  These reviews not only enhance credibility, but also help differentiate this business within the WeddingWire Network.

McKay’s Photography would like to thank all past brides and grooms for taking the time to review my services on WeddingWire.

If you are a past client of McKay’s Photography and have yet to provide me with your feedback, visit reviews.weddingwire.com and review our services today.