The Finished Product

My niece came over for Sunday dinner recently, and while she was here she asked how long my husband and I had been married.   I was excited to say 15 years.  Then I took a big breath.  Yes it had been 15 years.   It seems to have flown by, and while marriage in itself is hard and trying, it is the ups and downs that make time seem to fly even faster.  My children were amazed it had been that long, for them 15 years is forever, and they asked about our wedding day.  I smiled and grabbed the old photo album.   My mother-in-law insisted we get a nice album of our wedding day and at the time I was hesitant.   I wasn’t sure where I was going to put it and felt a little vain having all those pictures of myself, even though I was gorgeous on my wedding day.   I know I am going to regret putting this in writing but, I am glad I listened to my mother-in-law.   I felt glowing, showing my wedding day to my  children and relatives.  It sparked a flame of remembrance of the feelings I felt for my husband on that special day.   I really was in love and the pictures proved it.  I had perfect pictures of my grandparents who have now passed on, smiling and happy.    Oh the memories it brought back.  There in that album was the story of the best day of my life preserved in a elegant way that even someone who wasn’t there that day could see and appreciate.  I am so glad I invested in a product that would finish off a wonderful memory.

One of things I stress to my friends is to get the album, save the memories.   A new trend in the wedding industry right now is to hand a disk to the bride, and the bride hands the photographer a check and the day is over.   While this might seem like a money saver, it is in the end a bad deal.   What happens to that disk after the wedding is over?  Well the bride puts the pictures on her computer, and emails them to cousins, aunts, grandparents, and friends.  They then love the pictures and oo and ahh and then delete them and move on with their lives.   On the computer they last longer, well until the next hard-drive melt down or computer glitz.  Not to mention viruses love bridal pictures.   And the handy disk that they were originally stored on?   Where oh where did I put that again?  Seriously though, discs even with their advances, are only really good for a few years before the images start to corrupt.   The only sure way to store your pictures archivally is to print them.   What  a better way to preserve the memories then to print and display them in an album instead of printing them all as 4-5′s and storing them in a shoe box under the bed.    With technology there are many ways to show more than one image to create not just a page in an album but the story in a way that is professional.   It will make your day seem like one out of a story book.

I love Hallmark commercials, they always make me cry.  My husband thinks I just cry to bug him.   I always laugh though, at the part where they look on the back to see if it is a Hallmark card.  It is a symbol that the person sending the card sent the very best because they care.   A finished picture is much the same.   Have you ever turned your picture over to see what is on the back?  When I was younger learning to cross-stitch patterns, my mom used to tell me that  you could tell a project was done with love by the way it was treated on the back.  She would tell me if you could recognize the picture on the back it was because all the loose ends were carefully tucked in place so that nothing came undone.  She would say, ” If you are going to take the time to make a work of art, take the time to do it your best.”   A finished portrait should be finished on the back as well.  Even if your guests aren’t peeking at the back when they look at it, you are assure that there are no nails or screws poking threw at the wall.   Also there is something to hang it on.   As a master procrastinator I can tell you there is nothing worse than finally getting to hang that picture and then not being able to because there isn’t a hanger on the picture.   At MarDel Photography  every measure is taken to make sure when you receive your work of art it is finished to every detail, ready for you to share with those you love.  Make sure when you choose a photographer  you look at the details of the finished work.

Creativity

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art, a novel, a joke, etc.) that has some kind of value.  This  is Wikipedia’s definition.  While this is a broad definition of creativity you can definitely find creativity in many places.  Two examples are:  My preschooler’s drawing and  The Sistine Chapel.  While both are creative  one is in a whole different category than the other.  Both new and creative and of worth to someone. 
But can they really be put in the same category?   When looking for a photographer to capture the memories and important events in your life this is definitely an important element.  There is a stigma assigned to more experienced photographers that they aren’t as creative.  There is a belief that to experience something new and exciting, one must pick a photographer who has new ideas, or someone who isn’t influenced by education.  But my experience has been that the opposite is true.  When viewing the work of new photographers and experienced photographers who are trained and certified, you can compare them just like the comparison of the preschool drawing and the Sistine Chapel .   The inexperienced photographers work has  value there,  often the subject (you or the memory), and you look wonderful.  But the lighting, and technical composition lack somewhat.  Now you may be thinking “I am no Sistine Chapel,” or “what can you expect with such a model”  But I can assure that a real artist sees beyond the limitations of the canvas, bringing together light, texture, background, subject and emotion, to create a master piece that you will want to hang on your wall and share will friends and neighbors.  I Hope you enjoy the samples of the creative works of arts that we have created at MarDel Photography & Design.

I Never Knew I looked Like that !

Look at the sky and the colors in the background. (please click on to make bigger)

Recently I walked down the hall and as I did I glanced in a full length mirror.  To my astonishment I looked 10 pounds heavier.   I was very much upset by this and complained to my husband who smiled and said,  “you look the same as you did yesterday.”  I wasn’t happy with that explanation but realized that my clothes still fit the same, I just wasn’t use to looking at my self that way.

Notice the size difference in her arm and body. (please click on to make bigger)

Photography can be cruel sometimes because it offers us what we truly look like and sometimes highlight the areas that we in our minds have tried to block out.   Weight, acne, yellowing of teeth, double chins, dandruff, etc.   Little things about ourselves that people who see us, or even ourselves overlook everyday.   This is one reason we specialize in retouching our images.   As we help people look their best we edit the images so that they look more like the “me” they are use to.   We can also do head-swaps on the difficult subjects if needs be.  We want the photographs to look as natural so that one cant tell that these changes have ever been made.   We can take 50 pounds off of you but if you don’t look like yourself no one will recognize you !

before and after face retouching (please click on to make bigger)

A trend in photography right now is to do a family sitting and give away a CD at the end with the images of that sitting.   A big disadvantage to doing this is that you wouldn’t be able to get the full affect of what the image could be.   Here are some examples of a retouched image and the difference it makes in the final product.  Which one would you want hanging in your living room.  Also a CD doesn’t look very good on your wall.  You have to print the image in order to enjoy it fully.   If sharing your image on the internet and Facebook is what you are looking for, we are happy to help you do that. Enjoy these photos and see if you can see what changes we made to make them better !

Take nice fall colors and make them look amazing, even in late fall. (please click on to make bigger)

What Makes the perfect Portrait

The main reason we started this blog was to educate and share ideas with our clients, and friends, and any one who wanted to learn about how we make great photography, (art).  We invite any and all people to enjoy and comment on our posts.   Our work speaks for itself, and  we know what makes a good portrait and how to reproduce works of art on a day to day basis.   We thought we would start by sharing our knowledge through our posts.   The first series we want to share with you is 12 Essential Elements Of the Perfect Portrait.     The Twelve elements we will talk about are: Retouching, Creativity, Technical Excellence, What to Wear, The Finished Product, Posing, What Season is Best, Lighting, Style, Story Telling, Photographers, and Customer Service.  We know our clients come to us because they are spending time and money to make their portrait one they will treasure and hand down for generations.  We hope these posts will help them.

Introduction

MarDel Photography

We are a photography studio in Sandy Utah(Salt Lake County)  dedicated to preserving memories with the art of photography.     Our professional, award-winning photographers love capturing irreplaceable moments in your life.   Families are growing and changing faster than you think.  Preserve your memories, feelings and family history in a beautiful way  by taking the time to have portraits taken.   We specialize in wedding photography, and capturing your wedding day in a creative and professional way. (You wont catch us in flip-flops!).  Our  Senior portraits are creative and specialized to the individual, capturing their spirit of independence before going off to college.  We also specialize in photographing pets and children.  Some say that they are one and the same, both are a special part of our lives.   Wether you want your portrait taken in the studio, or on location, we have the knowledge and resources to help you.  We love spending time capturing your memories and hope that you will share your experiences of those times with us.  Through this blog we hope to share valuable expertise that we have learned over the years as well as our beautiful works of art. Please comment on your experience with us, and share your ideas   as well.