We are looking for two fun lovebirds willing to let us tell their story + show off their style.

We want to pull out all of the stops and use some great vintage props in a few creative locations–preferably ones that are meaningful to you.

Let’s cut to the chase: we are offering an absolutely free stylized engagement session including online proofing, AND a disc with full rights to 15-20 of your digital images! No strings attached.

The only requirement is that you must live in or be willing to travel to the Twin Cities area and the session must take place before the end of 2010.

In case it sounds too good to be true, know that our intentions are pure. We’re benefiting too. This is our way of growing creatively, trying new things, hoping to spread the word about our new business, and crossing our fingers that you’ll like what you see.

To win:

Leave a brief comment below describing you + your fiance. Tell us what you love to do and where you love to be together. Share any ideas you may have or what you might bring to the photo shoot. Please also let us know how we can contact you.

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If you want to double or triple your chances of winning, leave additional comments indicating if you:

Become a facebook fan
Subscribe to our blog
AND/OR
Post a link to this giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook and help spread the word.

Please leave a separate comment for each action. Please be honest!
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This giveaway ends Thursday, September 9th. One lucky couple will be selected and announced on Friday, September 10th.
We can’t even wait!

So far 2010 has been a wonderful year of learning & growing for us.   We’ve learned that we really, truly enjoy working together as a husband-wife photography team. While we love photographing people of all ages and stages, we’ve found that we especially have a heart for weddings.  We’ve been blessed by opportunities to shoot several weddings together this year and our experience has only fueled our passion.  We’ve discovered that there are remarkable opportunities to capture timeless moments in a day filled with sweet emotions, beautiful attire, and your elegant, personal details.  As a married couple who have been there before, together, we realize that wedding days can be so fleeting.  Allow us to help put you at ease and help you remember your day with gorgeous images!

What you can expect working with us on your wedding day:

Jeff: will arrive armed with equipment, ready to rock and roll and optimize lighting in any venue.  As the more seasoned photographer, he will direct both formal and informal shots of your family and wedding party.  He will capture all of the classic shots, like you walking down the aisle, exchanging rings, and cutting your cake.  He will chit chat with your mom and shake hands with your dad.  If it weren’t for the big black camera around his neck, he’d probably fit right in with your guests, because when it comes to mingling, he’s downright sparkling.

Jessica: will show up and gush about how amazing your flowers are and who designed your dress.  (She is obsessed with details.) Then she will get to work, snap detail shots of your shiny things and shoes, and stick close as you transform into a beautiful bride.  At times she may help direct you, but mostly she’ll blend into the background and capture candid shots–like that look you give your dad right before you’re about to walk down the aisle, or the elated grins of you and your (husband!) on the flip side.

Both: will help you enjoy the day as perfectly as you planned it.  We will laugh and cry with you.  We will work hard to get to know you and capture your personality and spark as a couple.  We will work together effortlessly and comfortably, because that’s how the happily married operate.

We may even have such a great time that you’ll catch us snitching samples of your cake.  Just be warned.

Site: Florian Gardens.  Flowers: Brent Douglas.  Music: Midwest Entertainment.

“How does one make the most of poor lighting situations (like when you’re stuck working with dreadful indoor lighting)? Are there any tips you can give that will help get that naturally-lit glow, despite a complete lack of sunshine?”

Ah, one of the age-old questions.  As old as photography itself.  In other words, Bethany, you’re trying to avoid this?:

Bleh.  Agreed.  Direct on-camera flash gets the job done, no doubt, but only if you don’t mind your subjects looking flat and pasty.  Don’t get me wrong, snapshots aren’t meant to be works of art, so there’s nothing wrong with direct flash for everyday quickies.  But if and when you’re trying to transcend the quick snapshot, stay away from direct flash.  Far, far away!

Now granted, if you’re using a compact point-and-shoot, there’s usually not a whole lot you can do other than just give in and use the on-camera flash.  But if you have access to SLR equipment (or are thinking of buying such equipment, which is getting more affordable by the day), your range of options opens up considerably.  SLR in hand, the single best investment you can make to improve your indoor photography is a mountable strobe unit:

The biggest advantage of a strobe (such as the Nikon SB-600 used here) is that it allows for indirect flash.  By pointing the head of the strobe toward a wall or ceiling, you get soft, warm bounce light.  The rough shadows are lifted, the harsh glare is eliminated, and your subject looks all around much more appealing.  Of course, though, it’s not perfect–or rather, maybe it’s a little too perfect.  Far preferable to direct flash, but it can still look a bit unnatural.  Oftentimes it’ll be your best bet, and there are tons of tricks (if you have the time to set up your shot) that can allow you to get a less homogeneous look.  My favorite plan of attack, though, is to seek out and take full advantage of soft, ambient, non-overhead light, such as from a small table lamp:

As you can see, however, oftentimes this ambient light is a little too soft (or dim, rather).  Or at least in this particular case, it was too dim for our “little” camera, the Nikon D80.  In order to get the exposure, I had to max out the camera’s ISO (light sensitivity setting).  This allowed for a bright enough exposure, but it also introduced a ton of digital noise into the picture, so much so that it becomes really distracting (at least in my opinion).

If you have a lens with great low-light capabilities (such as the relatively inexpensive Nikon 50mm f1.8 that Graham is playing with–don’t try this at home!), you can widen your aperture (the size of the lens opening, which allows more light to enter the camera, thus brightening your exposure) and reduce your ISO proportionately, thus reducing the amount of digital noise.

Or, for a glimpse at the future of photography, here’s the same photo taken with our “big” camera, the Nikon D700.  [I say "future" because although this new camera technology is clearly already available, it will be a little while yet before it's widely affordable]:

As you can see, I used the same high ISO setting as I did with the D80, but here the digital noise is much softer and less pronounced.  I even think soft noise such as this is a nice aesthetic touch–for this photo in particular, and for journalistic photography in general.

Comparing the quality of light of this last photo to that of the others, this one is infinitely preferable to the direct-flash photo, and it has way more life and dimension than the bounce-flash photo.  Here’s the side-by-side comparison:

Moral of the story: seek ye first soft ambient light!

PS – As always, thanks to Graham for being a willing model (not that he’s ever had a choice), and in this case, thanks also to Graham for not dismembering our lens.