Congratulations to Patience and Jack!

I'm pleased to announce Patience and Jack, one of my wedded couples, are now the proud parents of their first child! Daughter Isabel was born a healthy 8 pounds 6oz. I photographed Patience and Jack's wedding at about the same time last year and had plans to complete some maternity photos for the couple as well, but illness and the busy holiday season prevented that. Now I hope to have the joy of shooting some newborn and family portraits of the newest Reuter family member. I am honored to be able to capture such wonderful and intimate moments in the lifetime of one family and look forward to memorializing more.

Get Connected: Wedding vendor features my photos on their website!

I got a great call yesterday! Elisabeth Montoya, owner of the Bella Sera Event Center in Brighton, will feature several of my shots from Patience and Jack's wedding on its newly designed website! Three photographer assistants and I shot the couple's wedding at the center in January. I blogged about how fantastic the Bella Sera was, virtually overflowing with great shot opportunities to showcase a wedding and reception. The wedding was amazing and was very easy to shoot because of its wealth of unforgettable characters and special moments. From traditional African dances to adorable flower girls, this wedding had it all!









Elisabeth would like to feature a collage of her favorite images from the wedding on her site, which is in the process of being redeveloped. She chose 58 photos, including her personal favs as well as others she believed best represented the couples story and showcased the event center. Several of her favs are shown here in this blog post. It's not clear how many of those will appear on the website once her developer gets ahold of them, but my photos coupled with my business logo, links and contact information will be a great marketing tool to hopefully help me secure more weddings at Bella Sera.











Even though the center only has two preferred photography vendors, Elisabeth's referrals of other photographers she's worked well with is exactly the kind of reassurances taxed brides- and husbands-to-be rely on when they need help choosing vendors. Elisabeth's knows what photographic styles will fit with her clients' needs. Plus, her large photo album showcasing 12x12 prints of different photographers' work from various events held at the center helps get even more business for the vendors she partners with. Referrals continue to be my studio's best source of advertising and securing new clients. Elisabeth's willingness to help my studio as well as other wedding vendors' businesses grow is amazing and truly sincere. It's connections like these that help businesses thrive. Thank you Elisabeth for this wonderful opportunity for my studio and thank you Heather, Susan and Jamie for your fantastic work! Couldn't have done it with out you fabulous ladies!

Get the Job Done: Patience and Jack's Wedding

Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

My wedding photography presentation last night with Patience and Jack was one of my enjoyable and successful ones yet! Their pleasure with the photos was infectious, and I didn't realize how much tension I was internalizing until I walked away from their home knowing they were were not only happy clients but becoming good friends too! This blog post contains some of their favorite images.


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Jamie Cotten and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Heather M. Smith-Matthews and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

Unbeknown to Patience and Jack, I used their wedding photos to try out a new way of building anticipation to my final presentation. Everything I've read so far about how photos should be presented to clients says photographers should never show their work until the final presentation in hopes of increasing impulse sales of either more prints or albums. However, I've found that editing and uploading new photos to a gallery every day for my clients not only lets them know where I am in the process, but makes it an enjoyable way for re-experiencing their event.


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Susan Hill Baggett, Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Susan Hill Baggett and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

Patience told me that she and Jack looked forward to spending time viewing new pictures just about every evening, almost like a couple's ritual. And her friends found themselves checking out the photos at work or at home whenever "they got bored," Patience said.

"They would be disappointed if new pictures weren't uploaded. I told them they really needed to get a life," Patience said.

Maybe I did miss out on the surprise element of increase sales. But Patience and Jack said they would have gone crazy if they weren't able to see the pictures ahead of time, if only to stem worries they had about the quality of the photos.


Photo by Jamie Cotten and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Susan Hill Baggett and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

Patience said her wedding guests all remarked how well I and my assistants worked together, and our top to bottom coverage made her guests "feel like movie stars." The only drawback I have found to working with three other assistants is the tremendous amount of photos that were taken! We each shot about 1,000 images. I took my photography instructor Efrain Cruz's advice and immediately downloaded their raw images to my Epson viewer. Efrain says it's the only way to know the true work ability of a photographer to see what they are getting in camera before the images are post-processed and use that information to decide whether to work with them again.


Photo by Heather M. Smith-Matthews and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Heather M. Smith-Matthews and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Heather M. Smith-Matthews and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Heather, Susan and Jamie did a phenomenal job! But having that many assistants and that many photos to edit took me a month to finish! Because it took longer to get the final product to my client than originally agreed upon, I gave Patience and Jack a free DVD of all of their edited images sized as 4x6 (retail value $150). Next time, I will tell my client that it will take a month before turnaround since I have a full-time job and so many assistants willing to work for me. The end result is amazing coverage of moments that Patience and Jack weren't even aware were happening...a true photographic retelling of their special day. And they even ordered several more photo books for their parents as well as an additional DVD, so I think I still was blessed to make a little more money than the final payment. Definitely the best of both worlds.


Photo by Jamie Cotten and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo by Jamie Cotten and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

As part of their contract, Patience will receive a free bridal portrait session. But I and her new husband have been trying to convince her that a boudoir session would be better! She's so cute and sexy that she could totally work a boudoir session!


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler


Photo and Post Processing by Sheba Wheeler

An Aside: Major catching up to do...

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy...so busy that I had to use every extra minute or hour of the day I had handy to finish editing Patience and Jack's wonderful wedding images, drive to Texas for my brother's wedding, and attend my first photo meet-up -- this one being a high key Valentine's themed shot.

Here's some quick sneak peaks of upcoming posts to let you know what I've been up too:

Patience and Jack's Wedding








High Key Valentines Day Meet-up with Bill Murphy