We are excited to finally share with you the results! Take a look!

We are in the process of re-naming our business to Puccini Photography, and it’s a change we feel really good about.

As some of you probably know, Puccini is my maiden name, and Maggie’s (mom’s) last name.

We’ve been looking for ways to “be a bigger part of our business” and to make our business more personal, and we think this is a great way.

So what else is changing?

About the biz?  Nothing at all.   We’ll be giving the same great photography, albums, prints and service to our clients we always have!

A couple details that will change:

• - PucciniPhoto.com will be our new “official” website (but don’t worry, if you have SurrealImageStudios.com bookmarked, we’ll have a landing page there with the new link for you).

• - Now you can email us at maggie@pucciniphoto.com and kristin@pucciniphoto.com (but don’t worry, if you email the old address…we’ll still get it)

We are so excited about this and are glad to finally let the cat out of the bag!

So when’s this change actually happening?

We are getting everything ready now, and we’re planning to make the big switch on the 26th!

Got questions? Concerns?  Not sure how it’s pronounced? (Hint: it sounds a lot like the last part of “Cappuccino”)  Call us and we’ll talk!    615-538-5933

We, Surreal Image Studios, are Maggie Puccini & Kristin Puccini Young. (Nice to meet you.) In late 2008, we started a process that would change our lives for good. Hopefully yours too.

With many years of photography experience (25+ for Maggie, 10 for Kristin) under our belts, we knew we could make a much more significant impact working together in photography. For a while, we weren’t sure what that would mean.

However, after a few family weddings of our own, we found that wedding photography had grown much closer to our hearts than any other. At that point our direction was clear and Surreal Image Studios was breathed into being.

Rarely do mothers and daughters get the opportunity to work together, let alone build a creative business together. We were lucky enough to bring our long time dream of creating a wedding photography boutique to life. And we feel pretty blessed.

We love your packages and your portfolio. Everything sounds fantastic, but tell me what sets you apart from all the other photographers out there?

For our past couples, the fact that we’re a mother-daughter photography team has really set us apart because it means that we’ve walked a mile in their shoes and know what it’s like to plan a huge event (like say, a wedding?) with no prior experience.  It’s stressful!  We know that brides and grooms will need more attention from us than any other type of client and because we understand that, we are ready to give our couples the TLC they need throughout the entire process.

Living the wedding experience ourselves taught us to photograph in a different way:

Our expertise is creating images of the bride the way the groom sees her on her wedding day, and images of the groom through the eyes of the bride. We want you both to fall in love with each other all over again every time you look at them. They will remind you of the love you feel for each other and allow you to relive the beauty of your day and the excitement of starting your new life together.

Every time we’ve gone through a wedding we’ve become friends with the couple in the process. We are sure the same will be true with you, so since we’re about to be friends you should know: we take really good care of our friends.

Since we’re a boutique studio (not an agency) we know every client by name and we also limit the number of couples we work with each year so that we are able to give you the special treatment you deserve.

Sounds wonderful, but it also sounds expensive. Are we going to be able to afford this?

Yes! We have wedding offerings starting at $2871, and of course, we also offer VIP packages that go up into the several thousands. We work with each and every bride to create packages that will fit their needs and their budgets.

As one of the few lasting elements of your wedding day, your wedding imagery is truly a long term investment in your family heritage. By “your family”…we mean the one you begin on your wedding day.

As a side note…Sometimes people kind of chuckle at the idea of your wedding photography being an investment, but when you talk to couples who either didn’t get wedding photos because “a friend” offered to do their photography as a gift and never came through, or they were lost through some family tragedy you realize how much more valuable they become over time.  A week after the wedding they are valuable and cherished memories, but years after, when time has gone by or loved ones who attended the wedding have passed on… those memories are really priceless and irreplacable.

Who do you work best with?

The couples who will have the most success with us are the one who can honestly say that their wedding photography is the most important thing to them about their wedding day, aside from the marriage itself.

We put a lot of love, talent, and hard work into giving our brides the best experience possible and sending them home with images they can really treasure.

We are laid back, easy going and (we think) pretty fun. Although we will have your photography planned to a ‘t’, we aren’t uptight people, we like to keep things light on the day of the wedding. People who want to foster a low stress wedding day environment will love working with us.

Our previous brides like our fun, relaxed sessions with beautiful and natural-yet-glamorous results. They have a good sense of humor and enjoy working with other people who do too.

The best indicator of who will be a great fit for us is our consultation – couples who like us and feel comfortable around us will have the best images because they are relaxed and at ease.

Who is not going to benefit as much from your services if they hire you?

Any brides who meet us and don’t feel like we’re a good personality fit won’t get the full benefit of our services, because they may not feel as comfortable. Though the images we create will still be correct in terms of lighting and composition, good chemistry between us is important for natural looking images.

No photographer is a perfect fit for everyone, we know this and want every bride to find someone who is right for them and their wedding day. Even if that means we don’t get to work together.

Will you have a second shooter?

Yes. Your wedding, and every wedding we do will always have two photographers : Kristin & Maggie.  If we need help, sometimes we’ll bring in an assistant or third shooter.

Do you have backup equipment?

Yes. It’s almost become an inside joke at this point – we are SO careful with our backup plans that our backups have backups, haha.   We carry backup cameras, batteries, flashes, backup everything.  If a wedding vendor you are considering does not have backup plans in place, for the sake of your wedding…run.

Will you work well with the other vendors I’ve hired?

Absolutely. We are very friendly and easy-going by nature, but we go out of our way to make sure things go smoothly for your wedding. We like to meet and/or talk to your other vendors, even if only briefly before the wedding to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Do you take credit cards? Can I get a payment plan?

Yes, we accept credit cards through Square and we can also create an invoice for you that you can pay online by credit card. We offer custom payment plans on request.

Do you have liability insurance?

Yes. You should find that most reputable wedding vendors do carry liability insurance. It’s a good thing for everybody involved. (We pay our taxes too! )

Do you take more than one wedding per day?

No. As we mentioned above, we limit the number of weddings we do and would never consider two weddings in one day. In fact, we probably wouldn’t consider two weddings in a weekend (it’s never come up).

Your images will be at their best when we’re at our best. We’re not willing to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity.

This sounds like everything we’ve been looking for, what’s next?

The next step is for you to email us to set up your time where we can chat over coffee with you about your wedding.

We encourage you to bring, your fiance’ and anyone else who will be involved in the decision making process.. It’s very informal (any else would be totally against our nature), and we don’t do high pressure, so just come planning to have a cup of coffee and talk about your wedding. We’ll bring book, album and print samples for you to “ooh & ahh” over and we will have contracts available when/if you are ready to hire us for your wedding.

The point of the meeting is just to figure out how we can best work together for your wedding.

Where can I get information from some of your other brides?

Right from the source: read our Bride Testimonials.

Can I get in touch with you to ask more questions?

We would love to hear from you! Contact us with any questions Like most southern gals, we’d like nothing better than to sit down and talk!

Upstairs in the loft overlooking the sanctuary Emily was happily getting ready for her First Look Session with Jonathan below. Her dress was a smooth, perfectly fitted sheath, which we found out later that she had designed and fabricated the dress herself (isn’t she amazing?). As if that was not impressive enough, she had sewn it on her grandmother’s antique sewing machine.

Inside the dimmed auditorium, Jonathan waited for his first look at Emily. As she glided down the aisle toward him, everything was quiet. It felt like everything else held it’s breath just for them. She raised her arms to her sides and twirled to show him the dress. They hugged, cried, talked and then prayed together. And it was just for them – no auditorium full of guests, just a private moment to connect with each other.

Soon after, the day resumed and the pace picked up. Locked arm-in-arm Emily’s mother and father walked her down the aisle. Then her father presided over the ceremony, giving her away to Jonathan, and also giving them words of love and wisdom to take into their new marriage.

Click the thumbnails below to see the full images.

The rest of the day was spent laughing, talking and reminiscing with friends and family. It was an intimate, fun and warm wedding day, in spite of the chilly weather.

 Brittany & Scott’s Traditional Church Wedding in Columbia, TN

After a couple of meetings with Brittany, we just loved her. And from talking to her, you wouldn’t have to wait a minute to find out how much she loved Scott. We didn’t meet Scott until the wedding day, but we felt like we’d already known him for years from the way Brittany talked about him. We heard all about how they met, how he took her on a four-wheelin’ ATV trip for a surprise proposal – so when the wedding day came around, it was no surprise that the two of them were the perfect fit for each other. Her laughing, bubbly personality was the perfect complement for his at-first-serious appearance. It wasn’t long before we found out that serious was only on the surface – he had a joke or tease for every (appropriate) occasion.

Their style for the wedding was warm and fun, yet traditional at the same time – family members sang and spoke in the ceremony, including Brittany’s brother, and Scott’s first glimpse of Brittany was as she came through the double doors at the end of the aisle.

 

 
As you might expect, rest of the reception was the usual hugs, well wishes and congratulations from friends and family.   

We hope you enjoy seeing a few of the photographs from the big day below.   If you were one of the guests at Brittany & Scott’s wedding, feel free to leave a comment below with some of your favorite memories from the day! 

Most brides only experience with wedding photography prior to their own wedding, is as a guest at someone else’s.

  So as a bride, how can you know what you need for what most people consider the most important day of their lives? 

I’d like to help you answer one of the biggest questions you’ll have to make about your wedding photography:  how much coverage do I need to get what I want?  

If what you want is thorough, complete wedding day coverage beginning with the emotional “Getting Ready” images that you see in magazines and finishing with your exit through a swirl of bubbles, then here’s how much time we feel would be ideal for each segment of your wedding day.  Only you know which parts are the most important for you and your fiance, and you can adjust the allotted time accordingly. 

Getting Ready/Preparation Photos : An hour and a half: 45 minutes each for the girls and 45 minutes for the guys. 

First Look/Couples portrait session:

An hour and a half: Adequate time for your private first look and time to take relaxed portraits around the premises of your venue.  Whether you choose to have a first look, or decide to keep it traditional, be sure to build in time for your portraits as a couple. I feel like this is the most important session of the wedding day – it was for me. 

Bridal Party: 

45 minutes for the bridal party to take a fun or formal group pictures at sites around the grounds of your venue.

Family Formals: 45 minutes. 

This should be adjusted depending on whether you have a large, or small extended family.

Ceremony:

1 hour for ceremonies that are planned to last about 30 minutes.   As guests arrive, this give the bride time to get out of sight and relax just before the ceremony. 

Reception:

As long as you want!  But count on at least 2.5 hours for Cake Cutting, First Dance, Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances, Bouquet toss, Garter toss.  Add another hour in for dinner or heavy hors d’ouevres. 

You can adjust these times up or down depending on your priorities, but we feel like this is a solid base timeline for any wedding day!

During this part of the session, we wanted to emphasize the beautiful color in the skies and rich detail in the environment, and add a little of a romantic film noir feel in some places – to do this, we brought in our off-camera-flashes to light Brittany from the sides while still capturing the environment as naturally as possible.

Photos like these are just one of the reasons we love doing bridal sessions!

We’ll be back soon with more from a different session!

Her elegant ivory gown was the perfect match for her personality – lovely, unique and marked by an unmistakable sweetness. Brittany and her entourage of five family members were at the church to greet us when we arrived.

We started off in the picturesque prayer garden of the St. Peter’s Episcopal church in Columbia, TN.

“Mom? With the veil, or without?” Brittany had asked.

“You’ll look beautiful either way. ” her mom responded. Mom was right, and this little exchange set the tone for the day.

Clearly the wedding was first-and-foremost about Brittany & Scott’s love for each other – but at the same time, the theme of love and support from family was present throughout our experience with them.

After a while without it, Her Mom and Aunt Mel helped pin her veil in place, smoothed the edges of her dress while Aunt Fran, her Dad and Uncle David looked on. Brittany smiled serenely and let us know she was ready to begin again with the veil.

We’ll be back before long with a few more of our favorite selections from Brittany’s bridal session at the Episcopal church in Columbia!

and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?

If a photography studio doesn’t blog for a year, did they take any photographs?

(Answer: Only if you are paying attention to their facebook page! )

For those of you who have been paying attention to what we put on Facebook, this may all feel a little familiar. However, since absolutely nothing from 2011 has been added to our blog, we’re going to do our best to share some of our sessions from 2011 over the next few weeks (before we’re on to 2012!).

He’s got 10 tiny fingers, 10 tinier toes.  Bright blue eyes, and chubby little legs you will fall in love with.

He was bundled in fuzzy blue blankets the first time I saw him.  Cuter than a button.  His momma and daddy had the nursery ready for him a good month before he was ready for them.  It is decorated in deep blue with boats, anchors and even more love than a new baby could hope for.  And then some.

I’m more than proud to introduce to you the very youngest member of the Young family, Baby Will, born Dec 7th, 2010.   My newest nephew.

Since pictures are worth 1000 words, I think these of Will say everything I need to! 

I love this picture - you can see how much he adores Momma!

Glad you’re finally here, little buddy   We all love you!

Until next time!

Kristin

Insider Information is our newest blog feature, where we tell you about some of the vendors that we’ve worked with.  Did they hold up under pressure?  What kind of service did they deliver?  Would we work with them again? You get to find out a little bit about others in the industry without having set foot in it.  That’s right, we’ve got your back. 

Who: By Heart & Hand

By Heart & Hand is a local boutique style Event Planning company.  In addition to planning and coordinating events, they specialize in couture paper goods (like invitations) and feathered items (like bouquets, fascinators etc.).  

When you call By Heart and Hand, you’ll get Meropi – she is the owner and event coordinator. 

What (service we witnessed being performed): Day-of-event coordination

 We recently worked a wedding where By Heart and Hand was handling the Day-of-event coordination.   For those who haven’t recently been on the “business end” of a wedding, Day-of-event coordinators are typically the people who make sure that things happen at the right times (you know, like make sure the groom is at the altar, that you are hidden away before everyone gets there, when to start walking etc).   

Not to freak you out, but most weddings have something go wrong , the weddings that “don’t have something go wrong” usually have someone in the background like Meropi, owner of By Heart and Hand making all of the issues transparent to the bridal party and guests.  That’s exactly what happened when we worked with them.

During the wedding we worked together some fairly extraordinary (bad) things took place and Meropi and her team at By Heart and Hand kept the day from going off the rails.   The mark of a true wedding professional is someone who can have bad things happen without the bride knowing – and true to form, the bride and bridal party were able to go on through the wedding day in relatively blissful ignorance. 

Here’s what happened: This wedding took place on the day the rain started – the rain that caused the “Flood of 2010″.  No joke.  There were tornado warnings (and huddling in the hallway), lengthy power outages all on a day when we were planning for an outdoor wedding.  So, in a matter of hours the morning before the ceremony, By Heart & Hand managed to pull together a fabulous indoor ceremony, reception and dance hall – in the same place.  And it was beautiful.  

On top of that, all the weather problems and flooding meant delays in the wedding day timeline.  Delays can be a big mess when it comes to weddings, because usually it will mean that something will have to be sacrificed in the schedule.  Honestly though- By Heart and Hand managed to pull it off (and she gets high marks from us for being able to do that).  It’s rare to have so many things “go wrong” in a day and still have the wedding come out “just right”.  I can safely say that they managed to turn what could have been a totally-out-of-everyone’s-hands disaster into a really lovely wedding. 

By Heart and Hand went above and beyond for this bride – as far as helping with table settings, tying chair bows and helping break down when the caterers staffing for breakdown fell through.  They did a great job, and we look forward to working with them again.  I definitely reccomend them to any bride looking for event coordination services, and while I haven’t worked with them on a wedding where they have been involved with more than the Day-of-event coordination, I would expect more of the same excellent service in complete wedding planning.

For your viewing pleasure, here are just a few of the details By Heart & Hand designed for Scott & Casey’s wedding:

The small-biz-owner (partner) portion of my brain knows I need to blog… (‘Cause while I’m no braggart, if I don’t tell you about the stuff I (we) do, then you have no idea. )Meanwhile,the rest of my brain is wrapped up in everyday life and you know, photography.

To further compound things I’m not really the self promoting type and when you get right down to it…blogging can get a little “Me Me Me”. However, I’ve decided to fight my nature and write a note to you, sweet Internet – But as a compromise (and now that I”m done whining ), my next post will be a story about one of the planners we’ve worked with and how much your wedding can be aided by having a skilled planner/coordinator/professional go-to person on your team.

Other than that (as I promised last January, after a year of pitiful blogging…) I’ll write soon.

Kristin

Five years ago, Michelle and Wes eloped.  Wes was close to being deployed overseas, so before Uncle Sam could keep them apart, they tied the knot.   In celebration of their five years of life, love and marriage together they decided to have the formal vow renewal wedding celebration that their whirlwind romance missed.  I couldn’t tell you now the exact promises they made in their vows, but I can tell you that their promises were made with hearts full of love that can come only from years of knowing and loving someone. 

Michelle planned a beautiful  outdoor wedding with pink & green details at the Phillips’ home in Goodlettsville.  If you happen to notice that the flowers in the landscaping match Michelle’s colors “just right”, that’s no coincidence!  They were chosen especially for her wedding. 

 As always with our brides, it was an honor and a truly wonderful experience to photograph.

I won’t say any more… the rest you should be able to see for yourself!

Until next time!

 Muse of the week:   Krystal

After being on a diet for a good while, there is nothing like junk food.  Yet still, even junk food pales in comparison to Krystal cheesburgers.  Fresh, hot, small, square burgers.  Almost as delicious as the freeze dried onions and single paper thin pickle is the ritual of leaving one empty Krystal box open and carefully folding each consecutive box and stacking them inside the first.  After extracting that last bit of American cheese, of course.  It may be an .89 burger to most, but on my brief sabbatical from my diet, it was definitely one of life’s minor joys.

Fuse of the Week: Highway 30 (the curviest road I’ve driven and survived)

This weekend I went to our yearly family reunion (on Mom’s side).  It was at Fall Creek Falls state park and in the interest of saving time on the way there, I followed my GPS through a back road we like to call the hurlin’ highway (Ok, we don’t actually call it that).  I was going 30mph on Highway 30 and it was officially the first time that, as the driver, I have ever been made carsick.  That’s right.  That’s my fuse of the week.  

 Tune in next week for another opinionated round of Muses & Fuses, and as always, feel free to chime in down in the comments section!

Until then!

 Muse of the week:   P90X

P90X (the workout program) I hate it…but I LOVE it. It is pleasure and pain rolled all into one and after my first five days of training, I can safely say I’m ready for the next 85 days of soreness because it is going to be…worth it!  After a couple of rounds of this, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go have a little “anytime photography” session myself.

I’ll keep you posted! 

Fuse of the Week: Faux Techno Babble on 24

Techno babble on 24.  Love the show and yes, I’m aware the show ended.  But for me (a netflix-er) it’s only begun, I’m on season four and have heard more techno-junk coming out of these guys than I previously thought possible.   As someone with a background in computer science…if I have to hear “Oh no, they’re going to corrupt the internet!”  or “Scramble the filter channels” or other similar nonsense… Well, I may just explode.

Tune in next week for another opinionated round of Muses & Fuses, and as always, feel free to chime in down in the comments section!

Until then!

It’s the biggest bridal expo in the Southeastern United States.  Let me rephrase that:  It’s your single best opportunity to meet every vendor you could possibly want for your wedding, all in one place.   

Needless to say, we’ll be there (Come see us!) We’ll have some of our favorite photos on display (in a new way you may not have seen before), as well as new albums, information and even a cute tote bag you’ll get when you sign up for our wedding photography tips newsletter (don’t worry if you’re already signed up…you can still have a bag)!      

Nashville Bridal Show - August 1st, 2010

It will be a day full of fun, bridal fashion, giveaways, vendors, demos, tastings, contests and of course, deals on the spot.  

Sound too intense?  Not if you are prepared, ladies.  Here’s a few tips on how to have a blast, sign up for everything and get what you need out of a bridal show. 

Bridal Show Preparedness and You:  A Field Guide

Before the Show

1. Spend less time writing your name and more time having fun.  Get some return address labels, and print your name, email address, postal address and phone number on them.  If you go to the show prepared, you can actually enjoy the show instead of focusing on that cramp in your writing hand. 

2. Know Thy Wedding:  Know what you are into. Take a few minutes and think about what you really want and need for your wedding.   Make a list.  Really, write it down. 

3. Know Thy Priorities:  What most important to you? Is it your decorations? Your photography? Videography?  Catering? Music? Take a minute to identify and budget accordingly so that what you really want is covered. 

4. Do the footwork: Take your list (from #2) and cruise over to Nashville Bridal Show Check out all the vendors who are going to be there who fit into your categories.   If you take the time to look at their websites, compare their work and know a little bit about each vendor you are  especially interested in you can actually get some amazing deals on the day of the show.  Really, if you know for sure you want to book with a show vendor ask if they have a show special.   Most do. 

5.  Prep your inbox.  Lots of vendors will be a lifetime resource for you.  Photography is an easy example (and obviously a personal favorite… haha ) because that’s something I know inside and out: You will spend several months getting to know your photographers during your engagement session, bridal session and your wedding.  You’ll have a good relationship with them.  Later in life when you are ready for anniversary portraits, maternity portraits or family portraits, your wedding photographers will be a great resource (plus you are already comfortable with them).  The same is true of a lot of other vendors.   There will be some however, whose services will mainly apply to your wedding (Wedding attire retailers, officiants, etc.) .  For those vendors you don’t want to hear from later (it’s up to you to decide who they are), you may want to get a My Bride Mail address.  It’s a temporary email address just for wedding related things.   Then after the wedding, you can go back to normal life and not receive updates about the latest and greatest in the wedding industry.    [As a side note: We'll never share your info, or flood your inbox with stuff.  It's as-advertised, useful tips and the occasional special offer.] 

Show Day

This is the fun part.  

1. Wear your comfy shoes. Yes, there’s a fashion show – but you aren’t in it.  Plan for concrete floors and limited seating.  Don’t miss out on a great time because your feet are killing you! 

2. Bring a camera.  Great ideas abound at the bridal show.  There are going to be vendors, people and ideas, layouts, poses, bouquets and more that you’ll want to remember – snap photos of the everything you don’t want to forget.  

3. Bring  a pen.  Most vendors have material to hand out to you.  An easy way to remember details you talked about with different vendors is to write notes about your conversation on their materials.   It’ll help you tie the faces you meet back to the names of the companies so you can look them up later. 

4. Bring your checkbook if you know there are certain things you would snatch up for the right price.  

5. Don’t be shy. Set up meetings.  You may not be into booking on the day of the show, but if there are vendors you want to find out more about use your face time to schedule a sit down meeting with them so you can really get details.  If you are really interested, you’re likely not going to get the extent of information you want in 5 minutes at a bridal show.   

6. No pressure. For real.  Do what makes you happy for your wedding and forget the rest.  Everything outside your relationship is ultimately No. Big. Deal. 

We’ll see you there in a few weeks! Hope you found these suggestions helpful (If you did, share with a friend!).  Want more info?  Drop us a note! 

Until next time!

Sarah & Josh chose to see each other before the wedding (which really gives us an opportunity to spend some time having fun and taking portraits), here is a glimpse of their very First Look! Once the two of them saw each other for the first time, they were the only ones in the room.  

 Sarah designed an asian themed wedding, with rich blues, deep pinks, yellows and even a few black accents.  She decorated with beautiful colored lanterns and had an amazing four tiered asian style cake!

There may have been a few sprinkles before the ceremony at the Wild Turkey Ranch, but Sarah and Josh took a lemony weather situation and made fabulous wedding lemonade. Seriously, yum. 

You can see their teasing and playfulness in the photos – they were just having a ball. 

Aren’t these ladies gorgeous? 

The guys had no trouble showing off for the camera. Really, it was awesome. 

Sarah walked down the aisle to “Happy” by Secrets in Stereo (if you are a true blog-stalker you may recognize this as the song from their engagement session video! We were thrilled they loved it so much!). 

It was a beautiful wedding and we wish Sarah & Josh the very best in their new life together!

Until next time!

Kristin

Now that she is Mrs. Matthews and has officially tied the knot, here are some of our favorites from our session with Sarah long ago.  I’m sure some of you have seen a few of these on our Facebook Page but as gorgeous as Sarah is, I bet even if you have you won’t mind seeing them again!

This one is so sassy – rawr.  Get. It. Girl.

That’s all I have for tonight, but I’ll be back soon with details about Sarah’s wedding day!

Until then!

I’m not going to go into detail (I really don’t have any, even if I wanted to). To give you a perspective on this, this was someone who was always kind to me in middle school, who I remember as a boy. He, his brother and I ran races on “field day” when we were little. I haven’t seen him in years, but I know now that he had a wife and two children. I have cried for his family and I pray they will have the strength to make it through. I can’t imagine that kind of pain.

It always seems so sudden and inexplicable when something like this happens; We are just flames that can be put out. For families and people who are left behind, things like this are sudden. To the person in that position, I wonder if it isn’t more like a putting a lid on a candle no one else can see – the flame growing smaller and smaller until it is just an ember. There is nothing that can change the path my friend took, and I also don’t believe anyone could have done anything differently and changed the outcome for him. I also believe there are very likely people we all know whose flames are going out in one way or another. Please don’t forget that your kindness, caring and listening ear may be the oxygen they need to keep burning.

This has drilled into my heart how tragically fragile our lives are and that there is no way to know how long you have with the people you love. I urge you to cherish the people you love and don’t overlook an opportunity to keep someone else’s flame burning.

Kristin

If you or someone you know needs to talk there are always people who care and will help – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255): Suicide hotline, 24/7 free and confidential, nationwide network of crisis centers.

And if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can call me (615-418-1041) and I’ll make sure we get you in touch with the right people to help you get through.

I’m sure you’ve been wondering about the “radio silence” for the past little while… well this is why!  I’ve been cookin’ up a new place for the Surreal Image Studios blog on the web.  

It’s a little more us, a little easier of an address to remember (SurrealImageStudios.com/Blog) and hopefully a little prettier.   We’ve got the design team on standby, so if there’s something you’d like to see on here that we haven’t got covered – let us know in the comments! 

Now that this is live on the web, I’ll be back before too long with some much more interesting content – Sarah & Josh’s wedding story.   If you haven’t already, be sure to check out a sampling of their wedding photos on our facebook page !

And, since you’ve waited so patiently (I’m assuming here.  I mean, no one was shouting about it, so you still get a reward!)  Here’s a photo from Sarah & Josh’s soon-to-be-blogged session.

It was supposed to be a sunny day, but when the rains came down (and boy did they come down) it didn’t stall out the elegant wedding they had planned.  The winds blew, we watched storm tracker, and even lost power for a little while, but nothing could de-rail this day.  As an observer, I felt a definite theme through the whole day…through everything, love conquers all. 

Take a look at the photos and see for yourself – it was a tender, beautiful ceremony and as always, Casey & Scott had special things planned to personalize their wedding. 

These heroes fight wars overseas away from their families; they come to our rescue in natural disasters when we are unable to help ourselves; they secure our coasts and our borders preventing invasion; they are the police who defend our cities and homes.   They all do these things without regard for their own safety.  They do it for you, because they would want someone to do it for their families if they couldn’t.  

So take this three day weekend with your family and let it be a celebration of what you have been given. Enjoy the grilled burgers, hot dogs and shopping but please remember to take a minute and savor the fact that by the grace of God and the bravery of our soldiers you are free to do so.

God Bless.
Kristin

Normally I post individual shots from the bridal session, but I have something a little different for you today.  (Allow me to explain) When we met with Casey and her mom to select prints to be displayed on the wedding day, they came up with the idea of having a bridal album to display at the reception. It was a huge hit.
We absolutely loved this idea, and it turned out to be something really special for her guests as well (I mean, how often have you been to the wedding where you get to see almost all of the Bridal photos? Exactly.).  We even had guests come to us and tell us they how much it meant to them to get to share that with her.  It was pretty cool.

You can see below what it looks like, but what makes it really impressive is how heavy and finely made it is.  That and you can’t smell the leather in the photos…you’ll have to just imagine that part.

SO…What I’m going to share today are the spreads from Casey’s bridal album.  That’s right folks…the whole album.  This album in particular was a panoramic, so photos could span two pages with no problem. All the photos you see below that are horizontal are actually a two page spread (my blog space just isn’t large enough to show you how huge they really are!).

Now with no further ado, please sit back and enjoy a bridal session with the beautiful Mrs. Payne.

 

I hope this post inspires you to take something like this – as simple as an album – and use it to make a special connection with your wedding guests!  That’s all I have for today folks, but I’ll be back next week with a bridal session from long ago (some of you Facebook-ers have already seen some sneak peeks!)

Until next time!
Kristin

More specifically, State Senator Diane Black.  During our photography session, it was overwhelmingly easy to forget the “State Senator” part in the midst of the joking, laughing and well…to use a word I’m making up, the “realness” of Diane.  Mom and I both left our portrait session with Diane feeling like we’d just spent an afternoon with a friend we’d known forever and had finally had a chance to catch up with.  Of course for anyone who knows Diane, this is no surprise – she really is the caring nurse, the public servant, and the champion of the people that the campaign materials say she is.  Maybe that’s why it was such a surprise (Because nothing comes as advertised anymore, right??)! Even if you aren’t in agreement with her political views, you’d have to have a heart made of ice not to like her as a person.   [Sidenote: If you want to see what I mean and meet her yourself Campaign office opening - Facebook Event]

To make things more interesting, let me tell you why we had the chance to meet Sen. Diane Black.  She’s running for Congress  (I know, I know, the page title gave it away) and needed some photography for her new campaign.  So don’t be surprised if you see some of the familiar stylings of Surreal Image Studios in her campaign materials.

Here are a few of my favorite images from our time together.

The best part was that they all sat and talked like old friends about everything – like they’d known each other for years (they hadn’t – that day was the first day they’d met!!). 
 

I really like this picture – Diane was in the middle of a story she was telling and happened to look right up at me and laugh about the story…which just made it that much funnier.

Finally, here’s one of my favorites – Part of Diane’s team was onsite with us and they let us talk them into posing together!   Here are Rebecca, Diane and Annie.

Diane – we wish you the best in your campaign and we’re glad to see someone as genuine and fired up as you in office!

That’s all for today!  I’ll be back sometime after next Saturday or so with the Bridal portrait session I’ve been dying to show you!
Until next time!
Kristin

It was also clear from our session how much in love they are.  We would catch Casey smiling at Scott while he talked to us.  We would catch Scott smiling at Casey while she would tell us something.  They both had suggestions for shots they wanted, and they posed like they’d lived a previous life as models.  It just worked.  Part of it may be that Casey is a woman who knows what she wants and Scott is a man who makes things happen.  She would suggest something (or we would) and Scott would make it happen: “Can’t get the shot she wants? I’ll just rip this branch off.”  Nothing is going to stop him from making her happy, and in return she adores him.  The two of them couldn’t be more perfect for each other.

You’ll see what I mean…take a look!

 Needless to say, we are very much looking forward to their wedding in May (and Casey’s bridals sooner, but we’ll keep that one under wraps until Scott gets to see her on the big day!)  Be sure to watch the video of the entire session, it really was fun.

We’ll be back to you sometime next week with a portrait session of someone you just might recognize. And if you don’t recognize her, then it will my pleasure to make your introduction!

Until next time!
Kristin

Honor. Discipline. Speed. Agility. Endurance. Perseverance. Guts.

If you are impressed by any of the above, then you need to meet the competition tournament team, Team Fierce at Vanatta’s Karate Institute. This group has what it takes.

We don’t often get the opportunity to do sports portraiture, but man, when we do we have some serious fun.
Vanatta’s Karate Institute is an amazing place. They have some of the most talented martial artists I’ve seen around, and their instructors are able to really connect with adults and kids both. All the students we met were all so polite and well disciplined (As a sidenote: I’ve never been called “ma’am” so many times in one day. It nearly sent me into another “I’m almost thirty” tailspin!! Haha). If you have ever thought about starting martial arts, there is no studio that I would recommend more highly. They are the best.

To give you a little background on all this…My family has been involved in martial arts since well before I was born, starting with my father. When each of “us kids” was old enough to walk…we got involved too. For as long as I can remember the Vanatta’s and their excellent studio have been friends of our family. For some of us, they’ve been our teachers (“Sensei” inside the dojo) and most recently, my middle brother (Brian, you’ll see him below) has been an instructor at their school. He’s also one of the coaches of their competition tournament team. So what I’m saying is we have some history. In a good way.

This tournament season, as a “good luck/kick some tail” gift and something to get everyone psyched, we decided to get creative and have some fun with the Vanatta’s Karate elite tournament team, Team Fierce.

These guys go up against other teams from around the nation during tournament season, starting with local, then regional and finally the national level tournaments. Below is a tiny showcase of the talented members of team fierce.

Next week be we’ll be back with a beautiful early spring Engagement Session!

Until then!
Kristin

Sometimes there is so much going on, it’s hard to take a minute to appreciate all of it.  I’ve been in that mode for the past few days, up until Valentine’s Day (nothing magical, just a coincidence).  Chase and I went out and spent the day together.  It was a totally random series of events – Ihop, Trees & Trends (I warned you about the random) and later dinner and a movie. 

We had the best time just putzing around town not really running errands, not really buying much, just kind of being together and taking it all in. 

Of course, the one thing I did find was a bunch of cheapo sunglasses at Trees & Trends ($2.50!), among which I found the Willy Wonkaest Sunglasses ever made!  See the image from my pocket-cam (my point and shoot) below.  Note the still-attached tag.  Well, no longer!  If you see someone driving down the road and think to yourself “Was that Willy Wonka?”, it probably wasn’t.  It was probably me.

The point is… the past weekend made me realize that sometime we need to slow down and just appreciate things.  Part two is a good example of enjoying the little things. 

Part Two: From the VRI (Very Random Information) department

I mentioned the other day that I found something interesting at the grocery… Well here goes!

I laughed out loud when I saw it.

I hope you’ve seen the movie Meet the Parents with Ben Stiller (otherwise, I’ll seem not only crazy, but unstable.  I’m actually neither, promise.).

Here’s the dialog from the scene I’m thinking of (A little setup… they are sitting at dinner as a family for the first time):

    Jack (Father): Greg, would you like some yams?
    Greg (Fiance): Thank you. Oh, yeah.
    Jack: You must’ve had vegetables fresher than that, growing up on a farm, Greg.
    Pam(Greg’s Fiance): Dad, uh, Greg grew up in Detroit.
    Jack: He told me he grew up on a farm
    Dina (Mother): Do they have many farms in Detroit?
    Greg: No, Dina, no, not a lot. In fact, Jack, I should clarify this.
          I didn’t actually grow up… on a farm per se. The house we grew up in was originally erected…
          in the early Dutch farm, colonial style. So that, plus we had a lot of pets-
    Jack: Which one did you milk then?
    Pam:  Dad!
    Jack: Honey, he said he pumped milk. What have you ever milked?
    Greg: A cat.
    Jack: A cat?
    Greg: I milked a cat once. You wanna hear a story? Sure.
          My sister had a cat, and the cat birthed a litter of kittens
          Must’ve been eight of them, and there was this one little runt…
          this little sweet little… little-engine-that-could runt…
          who wanted to get up there and couldn’t really get access to the– to the–
          to the– to the– to the teat.
    Jack: Teat?
    Pam:  Dad!
    Greg: I went in and just simply, you know, just–
          into a little saucer,
          then took the saucer and fed it to Geppetto– that’s what I named him.
    Dina: I had– I had no idea you could milk a cat.
    Greg: Oh, yeah, you can milk anything with nipples.
    Jack: …
          …
          … I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?

And of course, a little audio from the best part.

Well, all this to say…Greg Focker may actually have been telling the truth, because I actually found CAT MILK at Kroger.  As evidenced below. 

P.S.  This has not been photoshopped (other than cropping to eliminate my stove in the picture) this little jewel is straight from the shelf at my local Kroger.  Seriously, I bought it and fed it to my cat.

(FYI: For those concerned, this is not ACTUALLY milk from a cat…it’s supposed to be more digestively friendly… but that’s no fun.)

Ahhh.  Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.  We’ll be back to business here in a few days with some info on our newest sample albums!

Until Next Time
Kristin

That said our summer and fall (2010) dates are going fast, so make sure to get your wedding date locked in with us as soon as possible!

I’m off to take care of things around the house – I’ll be posting again soon (I found something fairly unusual at the store that I think you’ll get a kick out of…). 

Have a great night!
Kristin

We had SUCH a great time meeting couples all day.  It was a really cool to get to talk to so many excited brides! There is just a really positive happy energy surrounding so many people who are in love and planning weddings.

I am still in love with our main display – and don’t think I’m patting myself on the head here – it was the brainchild of our design consultant (Nashville interior designer), Megan Puccini.  She specializes in residental design and does a fabulous job, so when you get the wedding out of the way and are looking for a great designer… I will be happy to put you in touch!

In fact, just for fun…here’s one….embarassing as it may be.

Be sure to enjoy this little video before you leave…

Until Next Time!
Kristin
Surreal Image Studios

Over the last year, our Nashville wedding photography business has grown and through it we’ve made friends we would never have had, taken our knowledge and built so much more on top, we’ve grown closer to each other and we’ve really had a lot of fun. If it weren’t for one brave new year’s, we wouldn’t have come the distance we have.  Of course, we have a great journey ahead, that we hope will include many more great things for us and our families…don’t think I mean we’re done.  I just take it as proof that an idea (or a dream?) hatched at the beginning of one year can blossom into something bigger, that will carry on years past when it was first ventured. 

So, what I’m getting it is… If there is an idea in your head or (wait for it…) a dream in your heart, don’t hold back and wish for something to make it happen.  Take first steps towards that goal.  And if there isn’t something pressing on your consciousness that you need to take by the horns… then maybe look towards a smaller positive change you can make.  Maybe I won’t set a goal that will change my life this new year’s (I don’t have anything offhand to share in the goals department, other than the standard “lose weight, get healthy” goals…yet), but I can still take the things I have and work to make them better. 

That’s my thoughts for tonight folks… It’s worth what you paid for it

CHEERS to the new year ahead (and God bless us, every one)!

Until next time!
Kristin

P.S.  I’ve been on holiday, and you know that means I’ve been lazy about my blogging… so count on some photos from some of our awesome November/December shoots in the next few days (week?).