Product Review - The Canon Selphy CP1300

I LOVE to print photos and I try my very best to always encourage everyone to print their images.

BUT…

The truth is, I hate printers. Especially photo printers. They never seem to live up to the hype or my expectations. And when I needed a small, compact, reliable photo printer for several events I was shooting, I became super critical and searched and read for days before making a decision. And then, I stressed about the printer I had picked…

The Canon Selphy CP1300 didn’t start off at the top of my list of printers I was interested in. In fact, I didn’t even know the thing existed when I started searching. But as I worked my way through available printers and features and thought about what I was needing, this little printer just kept rising to the top. And seriously, I tried to ignore it and dismiss it. But again and again, it just kept ending up in the top two or three printers I was considering.

The Selphy CP1300 is a very different printer than I have used in the past for photographs. For starters, it only prints 4x6 images. This might be a deal breaker for some, but it is ok for me because that’s all I was needing it for. But the biggest difference with this little printer is that it doesn’t use ink. That’s right, just google Canon Selphy CP1300 ink and you’ll discover that there is none. It uses colored film applied to paper in a four pass process to create you images. And that is the reason I decided to buy this printer!

Let’s talk about the details…

This printer is small. The compact size is nice for transport but you have some removable pieces that have to travel with you. The paper tray detaches and is a little awkward and bulky. It honestly just feels like something I might forget to grab one day. It attaches to the front of the printer pretty easily and in spite of its awkwardness, it does have a really great feature. Once removed, the paper tray actually closes to protect the paper you have loaded. So good job Canon. If you’re gonna make a PITA removable tray, you should at least make it so that it doubles as a paper holder.

You also have to carry something to power the device. There is an optional battery pack, which I did not spring for. The power supply is small enough that it isn’t a huge problem, but just make sure you don’t forget it if you take this printer on the road.

Setting the printer up was easy. Plug in the power supply, snap in the paper tray, and you’re ready to go! I did have to press the power button for what felt like a ridiculously long time before the Canon image appeared on the screen. Not gonna lie, I totally thought the thing was broken because it took so long to power up. The film cartridge loads in from the right side and the paper just slides into the tray. Just in case you didn’t read the instructions, the glossy side of the paper goes up!

Printing to the printer was even easier. Honestly the easiest print experience I have ever had. Using my MacBook Pro 13” M1, I was able to print from both Adobe Lightroom Classic and Capture1 with zero set-up and zero issues. Normally when I print photos, I use my Canon Pro-10 and there are always so many features and settings to adjust. Just having the ability to hit print and it print is pretty nice! We printed several test photos from my phone and iPad Pro and my wife printed several photos also from her devices. There were zero issues on any device. We just hit print and things printed! You can connect via Bluetooth, wifi, Canon Pictbridge or insert an SD card. This little printer has tons of connectivity options that work for almost every situation!

Printing is actually pretty fast. The Selphy CP1300 pulls the paper through and then passes back and forth 4 times. There’s a little color dot on the printer display that tells you what color (Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, and Clear Overcoat) is printing at the moment. The entire process takes around 60 seconds from the time you press the print button until you have a print. The best thing is that there is no wet ink to allow to dry or set. Once the image prints, its done!

Image Quality

So I’ve used some of these little sublimation printers before. The quality has always been less than good. I had a lot of reservations about buying this printer because of those past experiences. But I was completely shocked at how good the quality was when the first print came out. It looked good. Actually really good! The colors were vibrant and pretty true to accurate. We printed a lot of photos and were really impressed. The skin tones were almost always a little under saturated. Which was disappointing because the skin tones are really important. If you want to take the time to create a variant and over saturate the skin tones the image comes out ok. Don’t get me wrong, its not bad, just a little under saturated.

We also noticed something really strange. With vibrant blue colors, the prints lost LOTS of detail. But it only happened when you had various shades or vibrant blues together. It didn’t happen as noticeably with other colors. In fact, the level of detail and crispness was really good in almost all areas of the photograph. This is the first sublimation printer I have used that actually produces really good prints. I’ve been avoiding this type of printer for a while, but now I’m curious about trying out some higher end printers in this segment.

The Paper

The paper for this printer (Canon RP-108) comes in a pack that includes paper and cartridges. You get 108 prints per pack which makes this an affordable method of printing images. The paper is glossy and the finish is actually nice. The paper does have excess tabs on the end that the printer uses to pick up the paper and feed. They are perforated and tear off which is a little bit of a downside but ultimately I decided wasn’t a deal breaker. Buy some Canon RP108 paper and cartridges by clicking HERE!

The Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a printer to keep at home and print images from your phone or something you can take with you and make prints really easily on the fly, this printer is definitely for you. Its affordable, Amazon has them available all the time, the paper/cartridges are affordable too and you never have to worry about your ink trying up or needing to go get a yellow ink cartridge. I’ve put mine through the wringer and it is holding up just fine. I would definitely recommend as a great printer to have around!

Pick one up from Amazon for less that $130! Here’s a link so you can explore and read other reviews!

If you’re interested in checking out the Technical Specifications (aka the Tech Specs ), Here they are!

Printer Type - Compact Photo

PrinterPrinting MethodDye-Sublimation

Features Borderless/Bordered Printing, Brightness Correction, Canon PRINT app1, Color Adjustment, Cropping, Date Print, DPOF8, ID Photo Print, Index Print, Image Optimize (Brightness Correction, Scene Detection), Layout Print (Photo booth (2"x6") Size3, Fixed Size, 1-up/2-up/4-up/8-up/2-up Fixed Size/Index, Party Shuffle1, Shuffle), Mopria Device Printing9, My Colors, PictBridge/Wireless PictBridge10, Portrait Image Optimize, Reprinting, Smooth Skin, Wireless Printing4, Tilting 3.2" LCD Screen, Energy Star® Certified, 17 Language User Interface, Anti-theft Wire Lock Slot, Optional Battery Pack, Power Save, Red-Eye Correction

Print Speed (up to)Postcard Size 4" x 6" Photo5,11: Approx. 47 seconds (Borderless)
Card Size Photo5,11 : Approx. 39 secondsPrint Resolution (Up to)Color256 Levels Per Color (16.8 Million Colors)

OS Compatibility

Windows:12 Windows® 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows 7 SP1

Mac:13 Mac OS® X v10.10.x - macOS v10.12 (Sierra) 

Mobile Operating Systems:14 iOS®, Android™, Windows 10 Mobile, Amazon Fire devices15

Standard InterfacesWi-Fi® (Wireless LAN, 2.4 GHz, IEEE 802.11b/g)4
Memory Card Slot2
PictBridge (USB) & Wireless PictBridge (Wireless LAN)10
Hi-Speed USB (Cable not included)
USB Flash MemoryInk Droplet SizeDye Based InkPaper SizesPostcard (4.0" x 6.0")
L Size (3.5" x 4.7")
Card Size (2.1" x 3.4")
Square Label (2.1" x 2.1")Output Tray CapacityPaper Tray: 18 Sheets with Postcard Size Paper CassettePhysical Dimensions7.1" (W) x 5.4" (D) x 2.5" (H)Weight1.9 lbs.Warranty1-Year limited warranty with InstantExchange Program. 1-Year toll-free 100% U.S.-based technical phone support.16Software Included

WINDOWS12/MAC13
SELPHY CP1300 Compact Photo Printer Driver 

Direct Print Built In Card Reader Functions

Memory Card

SD™, SDHC™, SDXC ™, miniSD™, miniSDHC™, microSD™ ,microSDHC™ and microSDXC™ Memory Cards

Software

WINDOWS12/MAC13
SELPHY CP1300 Compact Photo Printer Driver

MOBILE APP (iOS/Android)
Canon PRINT app1

PRINT LONGEVITY

100 Years Print:

A special coating on each print that protects against splashes, spills, and fading for up to 100 years when stored in an album.

Don't Let Those Photos Die in the Cloud! FreePrints is Your Answer!

I can remember as a little boy, begging my mom to get our family photo albums to look through the images. There were pictures of me and my sister when we were babies, photos of my mom and dad when they were young and in high school. Pictures of family and friends, doing things like having parties, weddings, hanging out and fun at the lake. So many memories and so many stories. When we would got those albums down, mom and dad would share stories and memories and we listened and just absurd every word. Even now, I can look through those images and share the stories exactly as they were told to me.

Growing up, those old images in that album helped me to know who I was and where I came from. They become such an important part of my identity.

But now, everyone has gotten into the habit of NOT PRINTING any images. Even me, someone with a high end photographic printer stopped printing images. The truth is that its just a huge hassle!. Moving the pictures, loading the paper and the ink, ugh it was just too much work. Our pictures were taken and just sat on my cloud storage, never being looked at, just collecting digital dust.

But a few years ago I stumbled upon a really amazing app, one that I love and have been using for several years now. The app is call FreePrints and its available on both iOS and Android. It allows you upload images from your phone to the app and get 85 FREE 4x6 prints every month. You just have to pay for shipping. You can order more that 85 prints in a month, you just have to pay for them. You can also order other sizes, but you pay for those also. But the great thing is that its convenient and the price is really affordable!

Every month, I now sit down and place my order, wait a week and then load all of the images, which come printed with the date the image was taken on the back (an amazing feature btw) and load them into our photo albums. It is such a simple process, I honestly cannot recommend the app enough.

They also have a family of other apps that allow you to get all sorts of things printed. Its such a simple and affordable process, I couldn’t believe how easy it was.

FreePrints isn’t paying me anything to write this - its just an amazing app and ultimately, I want everyone to start printing their photos again. There’s just something about physical prints that convey more significance that just pixels on a screen. I know that they were so very important to me, and so many others.

For iOS users, CLICK HERE TO GET THE APP

Android Users, CLICK HERE TO GET THE APP

Finally - An Decent Album for your Polaroids

I got way to excited this week about something that most people wouldn’t even concern themselves with looking at.

But it solves a huge problem for me!

I posted in a previous blog post about the issue with Fuji Instax Mini photos piling up and having no where to put them. There are so many great albums on amazon for the Fuji Instax Mini photos, but there just aren’t much for the polaroids.

The Polaroid Large Photo Album

Well this week, I happened to notice that Polaroid has released some albums (check them out here). There’s a small album that only costs $11.99 and holds 40 images (which is 5 packs of film) and a large album that holds 160 photos (that’s like 20 packs of film) for only $19.99.

To be honest, I’ve just been sticking the photos back in the pack boxes and then putting those boxes back into bigger boxes. Its kind of this ridiculous Russian doll thing. But these albums will be awesome!

So mine are on order and I’m eagerly awaiting their arrival. If you love Polaroid’s stuff, like I do, check out all of their cameras and film types available on their Amazon story by CLICKING HERE - they’ve got so much cool stuff to browse and buy.

If you purchase one or both of these albums, let me know what you think of them!

Polaroid Instant Film - STOP SHAKING YOUR FILM!

When I was a kid, Polaroid was IT! They were THE BRAND of instant film and no one could compete. But like all really well established companies in the 1990’s, Polaroid just lost their direction and eventually would stop producing instant film all together in favor of producing really really crappy TV’s.

Without going into a really long history, a few guys bought a factory and the tools from polaroid and decided to try to preserve polaroid type film from completely disappearing. They named the venture the Impossible Project and began trying to recreate the Polaroid chemistry, which was a difficult task. I’ve been purchasing their film since the beginning and let me tell you, its come a really long way. Back then, it was not uncommon to get bad batches, frames with flaws, you couldn’t shoot in hot or cold temps at all. Couldn’t expose it to any sort of light immediately after exposure. It was a mess…. But it worked and it gave us all hope. Fast forward a few years and things are very much different!

The Impossible Project did some licensing and became Polaroid Originals and then, recently, just polaroid. The instant film has improved dramatically but its still finicky compared with the old school Polaroids.

This quick guide will help you with everything you need to know today to get started shooting Polaroid film!

The Cameras

Polaroid made a lot of cameras. And some of theme take different types of film. There was pull-apart film, integral film, spectra film, lots of different variants.. In order to know what kind of film you need, you need to start with getting the right camera!

Vintage Cameras

The best vintage camera you can get is the SX-70. They are sturdy, well build, and have a cool factor that you can’t get from any other Polaroid Camera. But, they are expensive. Even old worn out ones are expensive. If you’re gonna get a Polaroid SX-70, your best bet is to spend a little extra money and get a refurbished one. Mint, an amazing company that makes all sorts of stuff for polaroid, has a refurbished and upgraded model that I love! They upgrade all of the electronics and give this classic new life again! Check out this camera here!

Polaroid SX-70 - Updated by MiNT

If you can’t afford an SX-70, you’re in luck because Polaroid switch to manufacturing much more affordable models later on. The Polaroid 600 and subsequent 600 series cameras are cheap, affordable and easy to use. You can also get these refurbished from Polaroid! They are awesome and a lot of fun and super affordable. You can check out a refurbished 600 camera here!

Polaroid Refurbished 600 Camera

Modern Cameras

Polaroid has cranked their camera production back up and they have a lot of really great and affordable cameras with some modern features like Bluetooth connectivity and the ability to shoot a more modern film type. Polaroid also makes a photo printer that allows you to print the photos on your phone directly to polaroid film! I own a ton of these cameras and I haven’t been disappointed by any of them!

Buying Film

With all of these different options for cameras, it shouldn’t surprise you that there are a few options for film. Fortunately, the breakdown on films is really easy to understand!

Polaroid SX-70 Film

Polaroid SX-70 Film

Everything labeled SX-70 Film is just for the SX-70 camera. Some of the refurbished SX-70’s can actually shoot 600 type film, but when you purchase the camera it will tell you if it will take a different film type. I own an SX-70 and trust me, you can only shoot SX-70 film through it. The difference is the ISO of the film as the SX-70 is a much slower camera/film. You can pick up some film for your SX-70 HERE!

Polaroid 600 Film

Polaroid 600 Film

The Polaroid 600 film fits all classic/old 600 type cameras. This includes a really really broad range of models. Basically, if you own an old polaroid and it isn’t an SX-70, it takes the 600 film. You can pick up a pack of 600 film HERE!

Polaroid I-Type Film

Polaroid I-Type

And lastly, if you own any modern device from the OneStep2 to the Polaroid Lab, you’re gonna want to use I-Type film. The I-Type and 600 type film packs is the battery. The old cameras require batteries to be integrated into the film packs. Polaroid now makes the cameras with rechargable batteries which saves a lot of waste! You can use 600 type film in a new camera but you cannot use an I-Type film in a classic camera. It just won’t work because there’s no battery. You can pick up a pack of I-Type film HERE!

Final Thoughts

Modern Polaroid Instant Films are still a little quirky to use. After you expose the image (click the red button) you absolutely cannot expose the image to light. As the image is ejected from the camera body, put it into something dark and allow it to remain there until it is full developed! I’ve ruined a lot of images by allowing them to be exposed to sunlight. Ambient temperature is also a huge issue, especially for me down here in Texas. The heat is not good for the film. Neither is the cold. If you’re shooting in the cold, put the film in your pocket to help keep it warm. And if you’re shooting in the heat, get your shot to the AC or at least the shade as quickly as you can!

There are a lot of great Polaroid products out there. You can browse a broad selection of their products here! Take your time and browse and have a lot of fun!

And lastly - no matter what - DO NOT SHAKE YOUR POLAROID PICTURES!!! Lay them in a cool dark place and let them develop on their own. Shaking does not help!

If you have any questions or need some help - feel free to contact me at tony@shutterjunkies.org

Polaroid is all about fun and that spur of the moment, living and enjoying life. Make the most of every shot!

A Great Way to Add Value and Attract New Wedding Clients!

I’d only had my camera for about a month when a broke and desperate family member asked me to photograph their wedding. “Sure” I said, being eager for the experience. I took photos all day long, honestly most of them were terrible, but I loved every second of it. Weddings are amazing and magical events. Editing the photos is so much fun too, creating beautiful images for a couple at the start of their lives together. I decided that I LOVED WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY and that I should definitely try to do more of it.

But I was very soon to learn a hard lesson…

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY IS A TIGHT MARKET!

Let’s be honest, wedding photography is a tough market to get into. It isn’t really the photography that difficult, its attracting the clients. I spend more time marketing and beating the bushes than I do actually taking photos and its exhausting!

But in the middle of the pandemic, I learned a pretty valuable lesson. If you give a little, you will get a lot!

I was so desperate to keep business coming in, at least for future dates that I was willing to try anything. I started throwing in free shoots, or discounts. Those didn’t work. Still wasn’t getting much interest. One of my friends showed me a new product he had see and just out of pure desperation, I decided to give one away as part of a promotion to book clients. Which got me several bookings, even in the middle of the pandemic. In fact, I ended up booking MORE WEDDINGS than I had before the pandemic and a little $100 item was to thank for my success!

What Was I Giving Away That Made Such a Difference?

Its honestly so trivial I didn’t really think about it, but the brides and their families loved it. It was a simple little video guest book that I found on Amazon. I loaded up images and occasionally some video that I had taken on their engagement photo shoot and just let it play as people signed in.

The brides and their families ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. It cost me around $100 but that’s a drop in the bucket when you’re booking a $2500 wedding and have the possibility of upscale later!

If you’re a wedding photographer - check out this link below or head out and find something similar that could possibly entice your almost-clients into booking with you!

Check out our wedding photography packages and get more info by clicking here!

There's One MAJOR ISSUE with Fuji Instax Mini Film!!!

As a photographer, I had a this brilliant idea for my wedding. Every wedding has this guest book that people wait in line forever to sign. And after the wedding, all you end up with is a book of signatures. Not very exciting at all. But, my idea was brilliant. People were already going to wait in line, why not make what they were doing fun! Instead of signing a book, I had a couple of instant cameras on hand and tons of instant film and we had our wedding guests snap a photo and sign the picture.

Everyone LOVED it. They would snap their photos, sign their pictures, snap a pic of their instant pic, and drop them in the box. Our guests just talked and talked about how much fun it was. We were happy it was a huge hit. But, there was a problem we hadn’t thought about when I came up with this brilliant idea…

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH ALL THESE PHOTOS?!?!?!?!?

After our wedding, we put them all in a box. The box was shuffled from place to place in our house, we moved a few times and each time would ask “what’s in this box?” before we would open it and say “oh yeah…”. Of course we didn't want to throw them away but we really didn’t know what to do with them.

In the mean time, we were still snapping instant photos like crazy and there were mountains of these pictures piling up and filling up boxes in our house. We loved them, but being in a box made it difficult to ever pull them out and look at them and enjoy them.

This is the problem almost everyone has with instant film - we love the film, we love taking pictures, but we don’t really have a good place to store all of them.

WE NEEDED A SOLUTION!!! In a digital world, having tons of physical images became all of the sudden inconvenient. So we turned to an old school solution - photo albums!

Photo albums are an absolutely perfect way to safely store and display your instant photos. We’ve purchased several instant photo albums now and are absolutely loving them! We can set the albums out in a place that’s accessible without worrying that they will be damaged. We can actually organize the photos by date or event so that they tell a really beautiful visual story of our lives. Instant Photo Albums literally saved our photos!!!

Here’s a few recommendations on albums from my own experience!

The Ablus 288 Pocket Mini Photo Album

The Albus 288 Pocket Mini Photo Album

This was the first album we bought, honestly because it has decent reviews and it was cheap. But its actually a really great little photo album and since it holds 288 photos, it put a HUGE dent in a mountain of instax photos we had piled up! Its easy to use and very durable. It does have kinda a cheap looking translucent plastic cover. But you can see through it to get an idea of what’s in the album.

If you’re looking for something affordable and practical - THIS IS THE ALBUM FOR YOU!

Click Here to Check it Out

The Albus 64 Pocket Mini Photo Album

Another fantastic little album. We really like this one because it holds less photos and allows us to sort of create our own little visual story books! The only issues is that the pictures are laid out horizontally instead of vertically. But the best thing about this one is our little kids can handle it, flip it around a lot and not mess up the images.

Click Here to Check it Out

The Rhypez Desktop Photo Album

So this little album is great because we can actually put it out for people to see. I have one on my desk and love the fact that I can flip through it, change the pages from day to day. Its just a lot of fun! It doesn’t store a lot of images, but its great to load images in here just so that you can easily share them with others.

You can Pick One Up for Yourself by Clicking Here!

There are of course a lot of other options out there. These are just the three that we have used and really like! Amazon literally has a huge variety of albums and ways to sort, organize and display your Fuji Instax Images. Just don’t let them sit in a pile, get destroyed by kids or pets, or shove them in a box to never be looked at again. These images are of some of the most precious and candid moments of your life! Hold on to them, protect them, and fix the one major issue everyone has with Fuji Instax Images!

Click here to check all of the options Amazon has for Instax album!

Also don’t forget to follow us on instagram - @shutterjunkies

Prints or Digitals and Why You Should Care!

She wanted to meet at a local coffee shop she had heard great things about. But when we arrived, the inside seating was closed due to Covid. Fortunately, because this is Texas, there’s always a Whataburger near by. Before Covid, I met almost all of my clients in coffee shops. Now I meet them in Whataburger’s because there’s always one nearby and they are open.

Our first face-to-face meeting started off just the way they always do. She was already frazzled from the work of planning her wedding but as she showed me her ideas and we talked about her plans, everything was absolutely beautiful! As a photographer, I love all of the beautiful creative work that brides and their friends and families pour into weddings to make them very beautiful and also personal events. We chatted and the conversation naturally moved on to planning and organizing the photography, I mean after all, it was the reason we were both there!

At some point, usually about half-way through the discussion, the bride-to-be always asks “Now, am I going to get all of the digitals”

“STOP ASKING ABOUT DIGITALS!!!” I screamed at the bride as I flipped the table over in a fit of rage.

Well, not really. But there is an unhealthy obsession with digital images. Brides and families always want the digitals. But digitals aren’t really what brides should be worried about!

The truth is, digital downloads are not actually the best way to get your images, display your images, or preserve your images! Most brides are concerned with digital downloads first and printed images second, but that is actually BACKWARD!

“Ok,” you might be thinking, “so whats wrong with digitals?”

Everything actually. I could write a book on what’s wrong with receiving digital images as your final wedding product from your photographer. Let’s take a brief look at some of the issues

Long-Term Storage

You downloaded them from a gallery, or received a flash drive and then downloaded them to your hard drive and you assume they will be there forever. But hard drives crash, flash drives get lost, and your gallery expires eventually. Digital storage is prone to corruption and loss more so than I am personally comfortable with. Every digital image I have is backed up with triple redundancy because I don’t trust digital storage for the long term. It has failed me too many times. And losing all of your wedding photos because of a crashed hard drive is just tragic. After all, who wants to be showing your grand children screen shots of wedding photos from Facebook because you lost all of the images in a hard drive crash 30 years ago?

Quality

Most of the images you receive digital are compressed and not the full resolution. The high resolution images that us photographers take and store are really large. What you are downloading is not the best image. Its good don’t get me wrong, but its not the best.

Display

Most people’s digital images never get seen. They show up on social media memories every once in a while, but that’s it. You can print the images yourself, but the print quality isn’t usually that great. I guess your desktop wall paper is a good option for displaying them. But who wants icons all over you and your spouse?

Prints actually fix all of these issues!

First, photographic prints last for hundreds of years (when printed professionally). They do take up physical space, but so does the computer or hard drive you are going to store them on. Print quality is also significantly higher when professionally printed. You can select from a variety of papers and finishes as well, not to mention sizes and frames! Printing an image literally moves it from being pixels on a screen to being a work of art hanging on a wall or a preciously moment sitting on your desk. Plus you’re paying tons of money and it just seems silly to not get a physical product.

We feel so passionately about prints, we’ve changed the way we do business!

As a wedding photographer, I’m not just trying to sell you prints. I actually believe in the power of prints personally. I still use my cell phone to take photos, but in the process, I order a print of every image I take! For our personal family photos, I print every image I take! We have wonderful photo albums full of our story and we can sit down as a family and share those moments again and again together.

When you book with us, you will get prints first! And also digital copies but our main focus is to give you an amazing and beautiful collection of masterfully created images, printed on real photo paper in a lab by professionals, ensuring your moments will last for centuries. Digitals, are a great back-up and we aren’t try to keep them from our brides and families, but they shouldn’t be your main focus! Get the prints! Get the photo book or photo album! Get them framed and decorate your home with those precious and beautiful moments from the first real day of your committed lives together!

And please, when we meet, you can ask about the digitals, but don’t forget to ask about the prints!

Delegation - The Best Way to Have an Easy, Fun, and Amazing Wedding!!!

Your wedding day has been something you’ve dreamed about for a while, maybe your entire life. And as many couples approach their big day, your big day becomes something you begin to stress about more and more. Your fiancé isn’t much help (he can’t help it, guys just aren’t that good this sort of thing), your family may or may not be easy to get along with. There are so many decisions to make and so many people asking you questions it just becomes overwhelming. As a photographer, I hear brides say something that just breaks my heart at almost every wedding we shoot. “I just can’t wait for this day to be over, because I’m over it.” So how does the day of your dreams become a nightmare so quickly?

The answer is simple; brides try to take on too much. A wedding is a ridiculously difficult event to plan. Its a special day not just for you, but also for your family and guests and making sure that the day flows and is as beautiful and enjoyable as you want it to be is more than a full time job for one person. So how can you possibly get everything done and still enjoy the day? How can you make all of the arrangements, all of the phone calls, all of the negotiations and selections and still be sane? You have to learn to delegate.

Depending on your personality, delegation may not be the easiest thing for you to do. Some of you out there only feel comfortable if you are in total control. While some of you may be just relaxed and want to go with the flow. The good news is that delegation can work for every personality type!

The Pastor/Officiant

I know, I know, your cousin has been to church a few times and has offered to get internet ordained so he can do your ceremony. I’ve seen this done several times and let me tell you, it never goes well. Ever. Inexperienced officiants get nervous and often don’t have any idea how to craft a beautiful and timely ceremony. Find an experienced member of the clergy or officiant to handle your ceremony and things will go much more smoothly. And, you can tell them everything you want in the ceremony and they will take care of those details! They can also help a lot at the rehearsal to make sure things flow smoothly and that everyone knows where to go and what to do. Once you have a the right pastor or officiant, you can relax and let them do the work to make sure your ceremony goes smoothly!

The DJ

This is probably one of the most over-looked roles in the wedding. The DJ can literally make or break your reception. We’ve seen so many couples decided to save a little money and just play songs off of their iPhones. This has never, ever, ever worked. The DJ is a professional that understands both sound and how to move a party along. I’ve seen talented DJ’s take a reception to from lame to fame in a couple of songs. They keep the events moving and fill in the awkward gaps with music and fun. They also come prepared to handle different technical problems that can arise. One meeting with a professional DJ and you can get all of the details of your reception figured out, planned, and then you don’t have to worry about it again!

The Photographer

I know, your aunt just spent $600 on a new camera and has taken a few senior pictures for your cousins and now you can save a bundle by letting her shoot your wedding. But a photographer does a lot more than take pictures. Photographers can help you plan and organize to make sure you get amazing photos and capture every single moment. Its not just about snapping photos, its really more about telling your story and an experienced photographer can make sure that happens. You can communicate everything you’re wanting, send all those cute/romantic/beautiful picture ideas from Pinterest, and trust your photographer to make sure everything gets done. Also, the quality of lenses, cameras, and lighting that a professional has can make a huge difference. We have spent a lot more than $600 on our equipment (more like 20 times that amount) and the quality of image we can take is a lot higher that what you aunt can get!

The Wedding Planner

A professional and experienced wedding planner can make a huge difference in making everything come together. The decorations, the cakes, the flowers, the details, and coordination is honestly a full time job the day of the wedding and as a bride, you won’t have time to handle any of it. Instead of fretting and trying to solve problems while you’re getting ready, you can delegate that to the wedding planner and trust that things will get done right. Many wedding venues provide a wedding planner as part of their packages, or some offer a planner for a nominal fee. Definitely worth asking about when you are shopping for a wedding venue!

After spending a ton of on hiring other professionals, many people don’t have the money for a wedding planner. Often, they ask a family member or friend to fill the role. Unlike the DJ, photographer, and officiant, we’ve actually seen some novice wedding planners do a good job. You just have to make sure and someone with the right personality type. A good wedding planner is going to be someone that can pay ridiculously and almost absurd attention to even the smallest of details. Get someone obsessive and dedicated to doing the job right and they can help you so so much.

Conclusion

Weddings are just so much, its way more than one person can handle. Find professionals that can make sure everything about your day goes smoothly can make a huge difference. Family and friends can also be a big help. Make sure to include them as much as you need/feel comfortable. As your big day approaches, you should find yourself doing less and less and those you’ve delegated to doing more and more. You do the work of organizing and delegating up front and then your staff of friends, family, and paid professionals will handle all the details you’ve planned out!

Announcing Our New Online Film and Vintage Camera Store!

We cannot get enough of shooting photographs on film. It is truly a magical experience and requires so much more presence in the process. But if there’s one thing that’s been a huge headache when it comes to shooting film, its getting the supplies and equipment you need out here in rural east Texas. After years of ordering film online and waiting a few weeks to get it, or looking for a camera only to have to buy it from someone who wasn’t even sure if it worked, we’ve had enough and we wanted to find a solution that would help us as well as our community of growing film photographers here east of DFW.

Beginning Friday, April 24th, we will begin to offer select film stocks available for local pick-up or delivery through mail. Our selection of film will be limited at first but we will be growing our selection as quickly as we can develop the supply chain. Initially, we will be offering Kodak films but hope to grow to stock some more obscure and interesting film stocks. We are also expanding our developing services so that you can drop of your film and get it back the next day.

We are also offering vintage film cameras, that have been thoroughly inspected and tested to ensure everything is working properly. You can purchase your next film camera with confidence knowing that it will work properly instead of hoping what you bought on Facebook Marketplace works. We will be offering a wide range of cameras, from point and shoots to DSLR’s in 35 mm, medium format, and Polaroid formats. The selection will of course depend on availability, so check our online store often to see what we have in stock!

We are putting the final touches on our online store and website today and everything should be live tomorrow (Friday, April 24th).

Let’s Talk about Covid-19

There is no doubt that these are, in so many different ways, unprecedented times. We have all suffered major disruptions and have no idea when it all could end. It’s all just so physically, emotionally, and financially draining.

But Americans have always been resilient people and I believe that we will come through this pandemic and be better for it. We are taking precautions and following all guidelines, but we are still taking photos. To help out all of those seniors who are facing such huge disruptions and families that are facing some pretty serious financial situations, we will be waiving our session fee for any seniors that want to book a session from now until May 31st. This means you can get your photos taken for free, edited and uploaded to our gallery for free, and can decide later if you want to purchase any prints or digital copies.

We don’t want to let this situation stop you from honoring all of the hard work your seniors have put in over the years and even if there may not be a graduation ceremony, graduating is still something that should be celebrated!

Contact us to talking about booking your session today and stay healthy and happy out there!!!