A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Joni of Studio ESS Photography at the Cheesecake Factory for happy hour! I love meeting new vendors and especially ones that love what they do! Joni is sweet, artistic, and without a doubt loves her job! Get to know more about Joni, as she tells us more about Studio ESS Photography!

Mandi: How did you decide to get into photography?

Joni: I was always a creative kid. The older I got, I realized that I was most skilled at having an eye for style and composition, rather than creating a drawing or a painting. So when I picked up a camera, it became pretty apparent that it was the right tool for me to express my creative side. Plus it just sounds cool to say “I’m a photographer.”

Mandi: How would you describe your style?

Joni: At studio ESS, we (myself and my studio partner Sab) describe our style as artistic, lifestyle, and sometimes fashion inspired. A lot of buzz words are thrown around when discussing wedding photography. Lately it’s “photojournalistic”, which we do a lot of when shooting a wedding, but we definitely direct our subjects a little bit during the portrait sessions, which isn’t considered photojournalistic. We get the candid shots in during the portrait session, but we just like to make sure everybody is in a visually pleasing set up, so when it and if happens, it’s perfect! We also love to light, we use natural light for most of our shots, sure… but when we see a need for it, we often set up an off-camera flash, or a studio light that we bring on-location. 

Mandi: What would be your dream person/event to photograph?

Joni: Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, ideally dressed up as Green Man and on the set in Paddy’s Pub with the gang. It just sounds like a great time!

Mandi: What’s your favorite part of your job?

Joni: Creating works of art. I am in love with the creative aspect of my job. I am passionate about making images that people will still want to have on their wall 50 years from now. I really love meeting new people and getting to know them, but I enjoy photographing them even more.

Mandi: To you, what is key to creating a successful event?

Joni: I think they are a number of things that can make or break an event, especially a wedding. One is having realistic expectations. For the photographer, it’s much easier and more likely to get amazing images, when the client books the right amount of time realistically needed for their event. The setting is a big one. Little touches can make all the difference. Having a wedding planner (like Champagne for example… : ) I’m truly not trying to kiss up here, but when I walk onto a wedding site and am greeted by a wedding planner, I definitely breathe a little easier. Having one person who is the point of contact for every vendor is big in making sure things are communicated correctly, and that the day goes smoothly.

Mandi: What do you do when you’re not doing what you do?

Joni: Pretty normal stuff. Hanging out with my husband and dog. In the winter, both Sab and I enjoy snowboarding, in the summer camping, which doesn’t happen too often since it’s our busy time of year. Eating good food, enjoying good Oregon beer. The usual.

Mandi: What sets you apart from other photographers?

Joni: We are both formally trained and have been doing this for years. Besides experience and training, we have a very modern, fun and sometimes edgy style. We hold our standards high, so you can expect awesome photos from us, and we will deliver. Also, we are both great with people. We love our clients, we want to know their birthday’s, anniversaries, kid’s ages and their dog’s name. Our hope is that the wedding is just the beginning of our relationship with our clients. Often people get to know us and our work, and we become their photographers for life. That’s what we’re all about.

Mandi: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Joni: In addition to Wedding Photography, we specialize in Fashion Bridal Sessions, which is similar to a “Trash the Dress” session. We don’t call it that because there is no need for the bride to destroy, or even dirty her wedding dress for the session. Basically it’s a session that a bride and groom will book with us that isn’t held on their actual wedding day. The idea is to get killer photos in totally unexpected unique locations that they could never get on their actual wedding day simply because of time and location constraints. We spend a few hours going to a few awesome locations and setting up fashion styled lighting, all to get some truly one-of-a-kind works of art.

We’d love to be considered for your photographic needs. We don’t just take nice pictures, we create works of art. Check us out on the web @ http://studioESSphoto.com, keep up with us on our blog @ http://blog.studioessphoto.com, or on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/studioESSphoto. We’d love to hear from ya!

Mandi: Thank you, Joni for sharing more about Studio ESS photography with us! We look forward to working with you soon!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

Don’t forget the last day to get our 2010 pricing for your 2011 wedding is May 15th, 2010. Contact us to set up your complimentary, no obligation consultation!

We are so excited for this coming wedding season! It seems crazy that we’re already thinking about 2011! We are currently updating our pricing for 2011! If you are looking for a coordinator for your 2011 wedding [Day of, Full Service, etc], we are offering our 2010 pricing to 2011 clients that book us before May 15th, 2010!! Contact us to set up your complimentary, no obligation, consultation to learn more about Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination!

We are looking forward to meeting you!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

A couple of months ago Kim + Phil Photography approached me about helping with a stylized engagement shoot. We talked about a lot of different theme ideas and ended up with a very real theme… “Petrel & Jacob”. Petrel and Jacob are getting married on July 17th, 2010 in California and have a story that was perfect to tell through the images of a stylized shoot. [Every couple has a story and why not add a little something extra to your engagement session?]

Petrel owns The Wedding Cottage in Beaverton, Oregon [A great place to find invitations of all price points and everything wedding, except the dress!] and last November I was helping out at the store. When there weren’t clients in the store, all Petrel and I would talk about was our boyfriends and our hopes of a “soon” proposal. While I’m still waiting for “soon”, Jacob popped the question on the perfect date! I wouldn’t want to forget details of their proposal so I won’t go into too much detail, but the location that we chose to do the engagement session, Wallace Park, was the very place Jacob proposed! It is, also, one of their favorite places to spend a day off playing tennis! Jacob had made a book called “The Story of Petrel and Jacob” that he used in his proposal! We put together a picnic where they ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches [One of their favorite snacks! Their initials are “P” and “J”, and they joke about naming their first child a “B”, so they’ll be “PB&J”!], Saint Cupcake‘s [One of their favorite places to go!], champagne [Who doesn’t love bubbly!?], the calendar necklace [Jacob got this for Petrel to capture their wedding date!], The Team Jacob Shirt [A team that Petrel is always a part of! [A gift from Jacob! This guy is good!]], the dry erase board [Petrel and Jacob often write notes to each other on this board]. We added in a few items, but most of the major pieces represent Petrel and Jacob!

A huge thank you to:
Petrel & Jacob for being our theme! : )
Kim+Phil Photography for the beautiful photos!
Prost to the Host for the fun poms!
Face Body Beauty for doing Petrel’s gorgeous hair and make up!

Enjoy the photos!

It was so hard to pick the images to share, to see more, click here!
If you’d like help stylizing your engagement or other photo shoot, please contact us! We’d love to help you!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

Recently, I have been on a search for a pair of shoes for one of my brides. She wants something that is fairly simple and not too trendy. I came across these Manolo Blahniks that would be perfect for her! I have always been a fan of Manolo Blahnik, but what girl isn’t? This pair of heels are simple, elegant and have just a touch of sparkle. I love the detailed gathering around the toe. After I found these, I wanted to hunt for something less expensive to share with all of you. Zappos is a great place to find cute shoes without going broke. The shoes I found on there are by RSVP and priced at $89! What a great deal!

Splurge: Manolo Blahnik $715 at Bergdorf Goodman
Steal: RSVP $89 Zappos.com

Happy Shopping,

Amanda

How do you pick gifts for the special man in your life? I know that I’ve always had a hard time picking out the perfect gift. Darren always says, I want tools, gadgets, man stuff! I laugh because to a girl what does that even mean? So I’m supposed to go try and pick out a tool that he doesn’t have, would want and use? It’s hard work! All to possibly find out that he already has the very tool, you’ve spent so long trying to find, hidden in the garage. So when it comes to wedding gifts and tools don’t seem at all appropriate, I have the perfect idea for you! Melissa with Soul Mates Photo is holding a “Secret Session” on April 30th-May 2nd. What does that mean? You’ll have to hop over to the Soul Mates Blog and learn more! All I can say, is your other half will without a doubt- LOVE IT!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team