Well, this weekend was a whirlwind weekend! We had a wedding Saturday- Ashley and Josh! What a lot of fun, and such a beautiful location- Cypress Chateau, www.cypresschateau.com in Tomball. Ashley and Josh are a great couple. We have really enjoyed getting to know them over the past few months. Congratulations!!!!
Sunday morning we were off to an engagement session with Chris and Latisha. They are currently living in Oklahoma, but Chris is a diehard LSU fan, so we took some pictures of the two of them with Chris in his LSU jersey. Latisha and Steve, my husband, are not morning people, so 6:30 came mighty early. We had a great time downtown though! I have realized that I really must drive in the morning if we are to follow the rules of the road! Steve can drive at night, but from now on, I drive in the morning:) We went all over downtown, and then ventured off to Minute Maid Park, and then finally ending at the graffiti wall. Definitely an adventure, and Chris and Latisha were great sports! Dr. Murphey seemed to enjoy the trip as well.
Then, Sunday afternoon we took pictures with Tony and April, who are boxing fans. We are working on a great poster for the two of them. We took some really neat pictures in the studio, and then were off to the great outodoors. We went to Paul Hopkins Park, and then Victory Lakes- what a great location, and then back to the studio to finish the evening off.
I will have pictures in the next couple of days to post! My computer is not cooperating with the upload at this moment, but I will get them up in the next few days.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Inspiration...
For months, and years, well, actually since I can remember, I have looked at other photographers' work, read other photographers' books and websites, and well, just been inspired by others. Today I came to a realization, it is okay to do that, but the inspiration has to come from within. We went to the "graffiti wall" in Houston- it's at the corner of Elgin and Crawford. I was so excited. I had read a lot about what other's thought of it, and one person stated that I would not be disappointed. Well, I was disappointed. I had imagined in my head what you see on movies or rock videos. It was not that at all. It was some really neat looking graffiti that someone had tagged! How ironic!!! So, the graffiti wall came down off my inspiration board- but it was replaced. It was replaced by my own inspiration. Our own graffiti wall- a graffiti wall that means something to the client! We made our own graffiti on an open wall and then took pictures by it! Well, we didn't actually spray paint the wall, but we used adobe photoshop and using a picture that means something to Chris, we made our own wall of fame! I will post the picture in a couple of days, and maybe you can be inspired by our work- or maybe come up with your own inspiration!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Magek Photography MySpace and FaceBook
We have a MySpace and Facebook account. If you search for either Maggie Burk, or Magek Photography, you should find us. The email for both is sburk@magekphoto.com I'm so new to those that I have my kids helping me. So, if you want to be our friend, just let us know. We would love to have you!!!!
Wedding Day Tips
Steve and I have been busy taking pictures and preparing for wedding, engagement sessions, and bridal sessions. We are loving every minute of it!!!! As we have been doing all of this, we have been talking about a few things that we should tell our brides, and for that matter, all brides. So, I thought I would share it here.
Tip #2- Make a list of pictures that you want to make sure are taken at your wedding, but not a list of the standard pictures. Any photographer who has ever been to a wedding is going to automatically take pictures of the bride with her bridal party, the groom with his party, the entire party, etc.... What the photographer won't know are things like Aunt May and Uncle Bob are coming from California and I want a picture with just them. We do family pictures, and will ask you about any groupings, but if you have a list of those groupings, we can go down the list and don't have to add any stress to you about coming up with those groupings on the spot. We just did a wedding and at the end of the night, the father of the groom said, I wish I had gotten a picture with all of my brothers. That would have been so easy to do, if we had known. There are no "do overs" so if you think about it, and can't decide if we should or not, let us take the picture. It doesn't have to be one you include in your album or in your prints, but you may not have the chance to take it again. Two weeks after the wedding is not the time to say, I wish we had taken.... Let us take it at the wedding or at the reception.
Tip #3- Tell your friends and family members you want them in your pictures. Lots of times they don't know and they leave to go to the reception or wander off. If they know you want them in a picture, it makes the pictures go much faster. We had a bride once give each group a card that had a list of who she wanted in the picture. She made it one person's job to gather all of those people and at the reception, come to us to take the picture. That took the pressure off of her to gather everyone. As the couple went to the tables to greet everyone, the person gathered the group and we took the picture.
Tip #4- Tell us about what makes your wedding special to you. Are you borrowing a necklace or earrings from you grandmother, is your something blue a handkerchief that your mother made, or dad has never worn a tux before... those things that make it YOUR wedding. Share that with us so we can unobtrusively get those pictures.
Tip #5- Never surprise the photographer!!! There was not suppose to be any dancing, but Dad has arranged for a dance with his daughter as a surprise- please let us know. We are always ready to take pictures, but we may be taking pictures of your guests, or the decorations, or out of place somehow, and we miss the surprise on your face when it first happens. We can keep a secret, so please share the surprise moments with us before they happen.
Tip #4- Steve is a fantastic digital editor! He can fix just about anything other than worry on your face. If you look at a picture, and think, oh that would be a great picture if only.... doesn't matter what the if only is, share it with us. Chances are Steve can fix it.
Well, since this post is so long, I will stop for now, but add more tips as time goes along. Feel free to share any tips that you have found to be helpful!
Tip #1- Do not let the photographer add stress to your day!!!! All of our packages are unlimited time on your wedding day. We don't do that because we want to be different, we do that because I believe it through and through, down to the core of my being!!!! I do that because of my sister. We attended my sister's wedding to be a part of the wedding and enjoy everything. Our kids were in the wedding. We were not suppose to take any pictures- our cameras were banned. After the wedding, and about 2 hours into the reception- we had eaten, she had done her first dance, and maybe even the father-daughter dance, the photographer tapped her on the shoulder, bag packed, and said thank you, your wedding was beautiful. Your pictures will be posted in a few weeks. My sister almost started to cry. My mother had to write the photographer a check to get him to stay. As if a wedding is not stressful enough, he added more stress to her day. Totally unprofessional, and just flat wrong!!! We will never do that, ever! All of our packages are unlimited time so you never have to rush or feel stress because of us! Enjoy your day. It is a once in a lifetime experience.
Tip #2- Make a list of pictures that you want to make sure are taken at your wedding, but not a list of the standard pictures. Any photographer who has ever been to a wedding is going to automatically take pictures of the bride with her bridal party, the groom with his party, the entire party, etc.... What the photographer won't know are things like Aunt May and Uncle Bob are coming from California and I want a picture with just them. We do family pictures, and will ask you about any groupings, but if you have a list of those groupings, we can go down the list and don't have to add any stress to you about coming up with those groupings on the spot. We just did a wedding and at the end of the night, the father of the groom said, I wish I had gotten a picture with all of my brothers. That would have been so easy to do, if we had known. There are no "do overs" so if you think about it, and can't decide if we should or not, let us take the picture. It doesn't have to be one you include in your album or in your prints, but you may not have the chance to take it again. Two weeks after the wedding is not the time to say, I wish we had taken.... Let us take it at the wedding or at the reception.
Tip #3- Tell your friends and family members you want them in your pictures. Lots of times they don't know and they leave to go to the reception or wander off. If they know you want them in a picture, it makes the pictures go much faster. We had a bride once give each group a card that had a list of who she wanted in the picture. She made it one person's job to gather all of those people and at the reception, come to us to take the picture. That took the pressure off of her to gather everyone. As the couple went to the tables to greet everyone, the person gathered the group and we took the picture.
Tip #4- Tell us about what makes your wedding special to you. Are you borrowing a necklace or earrings from you grandmother, is your something blue a handkerchief that your mother made, or dad has never worn a tux before... those things that make it YOUR wedding. Share that with us so we can unobtrusively get those pictures.
Tip #5- Never surprise the photographer!!! There was not suppose to be any dancing, but Dad has arranged for a dance with his daughter as a surprise- please let us know. We are always ready to take pictures, but we may be taking pictures of your guests, or the decorations, or out of place somehow, and we miss the surprise on your face when it first happens. We can keep a secret, so please share the surprise moments with us before they happen.
Tip #4- Steve is a fantastic digital editor! He can fix just about anything other than worry on your face. If you look at a picture, and think, oh that would be a great picture if only.... doesn't matter what the if only is, share it with us. Chances are Steve can fix it.
Well, since this post is so long, I will stop for now, but add more tips as time goes along. Feel free to share any tips that you have found to be helpful!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Albums
Flush mount albums are the coolest way to display your wedding pictures!!!! I wish I had one of my wedding. When I pull out my personal wedding pictures to look at them, first I have to get over the fact that I just don't have very many. We got married 19 years ago, we were young, couldn't afford much, and then I didn't take care of the negatives!!! Poor planning on my part, so now I have poor quality pictures. I tease Steve all the time that we should get "remarried" so I can have great pictures! LOL!!!! What I wouldn't give to have digital pictures of my wedding (yes, I know I could scan them, but the quality is poor to start with, so it would take a lot of time and effort which I would rather give to my family and our customers). Anyway, after I get over the fact that the pictures aren't so great, I have to peal them out of the "magnetic" album being ever so careful as to not tear them. My album is just an album. The pictures are there, but it is definitely not something I want to leave on my coffee table to show friends.
The albums that we design now are wonderful. They are a piece of art work, and the best part is that you are the star of the show. It shows off your wedding and all the details that went into it. It's not a picture, or even an album, it's a storybook!
Every album I design is different. I don't use templates because every wedding is different. There is no mass production of a storybook album. Every detail must be done individually with care taken to the details. You have to know the wedding couple and what is important to them, designing the album to showcase those most important moments, and then finally getting it printed and bound by the right company who will take as much care as we do.
Take a look at our albums. Let us know what you think. I have a lot of fun designing them. We have several posted to the wedding albums page, http://www.getmyprints.net/ and several posted on the couples' link to their wedding gallery.
The albums that we design now are wonderful. They are a piece of art work, and the best part is that you are the star of the show. It shows off your wedding and all the details that went into it. It's not a picture, or even an album, it's a storybook!
Every album I design is different. I don't use templates because every wedding is different. There is no mass production of a storybook album. Every detail must be done individually with care taken to the details. You have to know the wedding couple and what is important to them, designing the album to showcase those most important moments, and then finally getting it printed and bound by the right company who will take as much care as we do.
Take a look at our albums. Let us know what you think. I have a lot of fun designing them. We have several posted to the wedding albums page, http://www.getmyprints.net/ and several posted on the couples' link to their wedding gallery.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Ashley's bridal session
Yesterday we went to Tomball to do Ashley's bridal session. We had just done Ashley and Josh's engagement session a couple of weeks ago and had a lot of fun, so Steve and I were really looking forward to the bridal session. We took the pictures across the street from her family's house. There was a little dock out onto a small lake. The day was beautiful, and Ashley looked absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. Once again, we had a lot of fun. Ashley is a natural!!!! Her pictures are beautiful. Sorry, I can't show them until after their wedding on the 23rd of February!!!! I can't wait for Josh and Ashley's wedding- it is going to be a lot of fun I am sure, which will make for one of a kind amazing pictures!
Here they are!!!!
Here are a few pictures from Josh and Ashley's engagement session. To view the rest of the pictures, go to http://www.magekphoto.com/engagement_sessions.htm
Here they are!!!!
Here are a few pictures from Josh and Ashley's engagement session. To view the rest of the pictures, go to http://www.magekphoto.com/engagement_sessions.htm
Saturday, February 9, 2008
San Antonio
Last weekend we were in San Antonio. We were there to take bridal and engagement pictures. Brian and Jennifer were a great couple, and Brian was a great sport. He is a football fan, and we took engagement pictures on Super Bowl Sunday!!!! He must really love Jennifer! We went to the McNay Museum for both sets of pictures. It is a beautiful location, but it always helps to have the right couple, and Brian and Jennifer were great. Jennifer says Brian doesn't smile much for pictures, but he sure did smile a lot for the engagement pictures. Guess that is another sign that he is truly in love with Jennifer. Steve and I are looking forward to there wedding in Poth, Texas.
We also made it a family trip. All of us went and enjoyed great food and a lot of fun. My kids loved the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and of course all the great food!
I will get a few pictures posted later today so you can see all of our fun!!!!
We also made it a family trip. All of us went and enjoyed great food and a lot of fun. My kids loved the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and of course all the great food!
I will get a few pictures posted later today so you can see all of our fun!!!!
Welcome to Magek Photography
Hello everyone,
We are really new to the blogs. I have posted blogs before to some of our advertising companies, but never really did it for our own website, so here goes. I am going to try to post at least a couple of times a week so everyone can see what we are doing.
A little about us...
Magek Photography is a family photography passion and business. It is myself, Maggie, and my husband, Steve, along with our four children. Kim also works with us. She is a friend who we like to think of as part of our family. Our kids are still young enough to be home, but a couple of them are old enough to help with the business. You may even see our son or daughter at a wedding with us. They have a great eye!!!!
We are located in Dickinson, Texas, a small community just south of Houston. We travel all over the state of Texas, but also go to Louisianna, Arkansas, and even Oklahoma. We are definitely open to traveling to other locations!!!!
We have been shooting weddings full time for the past 4-5 years, and love every minute of it, which is why I say it is our passion, not just our business. You can view our website, http://www.magekphoto.com/ and see hundreds of examples of our work. We believe in showing you everything, not just the highlights.
We also shoot portrait sessions and events, but our focus to date has really been weddings, bridal sessions, and engagement sessions. We have not promoted our other sessions and really have only done them for referrals or previous customers.
My goal with this blog to post some pictures and let you know what we are doing each week, so check back often.
Have a great weekend!!!
Maggie
We are really new to the blogs. I have posted blogs before to some of our advertising companies, but never really did it for our own website, so here goes. I am going to try to post at least a couple of times a week so everyone can see what we are doing.
A little about us...
Magek Photography is a family photography passion and business. It is myself, Maggie, and my husband, Steve, along with our four children. Kim also works with us. She is a friend who we like to think of as part of our family. Our kids are still young enough to be home, but a couple of them are old enough to help with the business. You may even see our son or daughter at a wedding with us. They have a great eye!!!!
We are located in Dickinson, Texas, a small community just south of Houston. We travel all over the state of Texas, but also go to Louisianna, Arkansas, and even Oklahoma. We are definitely open to traveling to other locations!!!!
We have been shooting weddings full time for the past 4-5 years, and love every minute of it, which is why I say it is our passion, not just our business. You can view our website, http://www.magekphoto.com/ and see hundreds of examples of our work. We believe in showing you everything, not just the highlights.
We also shoot portrait sessions and events, but our focus to date has really been weddings, bridal sessions, and engagement sessions. We have not promoted our other sessions and really have only done them for referrals or previous customers.
My goal with this blog to post some pictures and let you know what we are doing each week, so check back often.
Have a great weekend!!!
Maggie
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