I had the privilege of shooting the e-session of Andrea and Trevor on Columbus Day weekend. Trevor flew into town for the long weekend from Chicago to visit Andrea at BC as she’s here for the next year in a post-grad program. They wanted something with the feeling of Boston as they are getting married next summer in Mankato, Minnesota and it was important for them to document their time in the city. We started at the ICA and then wandered through the Boston Public Gardens before ending on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay. We could not have asked for a better day and things were moving along so fast that we lost track of time and what turned into a 2.5 hour session wound up being 4 hours! When you lose track of time you know you’re having a good time.
Here are some over wedding photography and planning related sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Mark Andrew Photography!

Junebug Weddings
Well Wed Magazine
Weddings Unveiled
Kiss The Groom
The Moment Junkie

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On the second day of Inspire Boston we all wearily trudged into our first session of the day at 9 AM. Blam, Eric Laurits hits us right up the head with an inspiring video that made me think about my entire vision as a wedding photographer (He has the video on his FB page).

Then the second BLAM. A slide with seven questions that make us question who we are. I don’t mean who we are as a wedding photographers. I MEAN who we are as a human being.

1. How would you define personal vision?
2. How do you articulate personal vision?
3. Where does personal vision come from? Is it ingrained or acquired?
4. How do you go about taking personal vision and putting it into practice?
5. How has your personal vision changed over your lifetime?
6. Have you ever compromised your personal vision?
7. Have you ever questioned the authenticity of your personal vision?

I mean! WOW! Those are questions that rock us to our core. I had scribbled down my answers and then took some time this weekend to reflect and write out my answers in a quite place. It was a gut wrenching experience and I looked at it from the angle of being several things in one person. I’m not just a wedding photographer, I’m a husband, dad, son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend and I needed to write out my statement so it incorporated all these facets. I also wanted to be real and attainable. I didn’t want it to sound like some corporate bullshit mission/vision statement. I won’t share it here, but if you’re an interested friend I’d be glad to e-mail it to you so I can have someone keep me on the path if I get off track. I sent Eric my personal vision today and I know he’ll hold me accountable if I get off the path.
Here are some over wedding photography and planning related sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Mark Andrew Photography!

A Practical Wedding
100 Layer Cake Blog
NY Times – How to Take Great Wedding Photos
Elizabeth Anne Designs Blog
The Wedding Chicks

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I wanted to do something to force myself out of my comfort zone and research shows that people that have goals written out accomplish significantly more. The one thing I have promised myself is that I will do more personal projects such as my post Katrina work in New Orleans. My B&W portfolio and Katrina Portfolio Website is one of my proudest accomplishments as a photographer. The images above are from another mino-portfolio of 12 portraits. So, why post this work when I’m talking about a 101 list? Well, when I did this project I had written goals and it’s one of the reasons why it was so personally successful for me.

Here are some over wedding photography and planning related sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Mark Andrew Photography!

NY Times – Unique Save The Date Announcements
Snippet and Ink
New York Times Wedding Resources
Once Wed
http://www.utterlyengaged.com/

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