{Wise Bride Luncheon and Workshop: THIS WEEKENDS MUST!}

Wise Brides have the best weddings.
And who would settle for less?

Especially when learning all the tricks are only a day of workshops & elegant lunch away!

The Florida Wise Bride Workshops & luncheon is the place to learn everything you need to know about hiring professionals for your wedding & the most efficient ways to insure that your wedding day runs smoothly and is everything you've imagined it to be.

The Wise Bride Workshop isn't your typical bridal show. You won't be walking around endlessly hoping to find answers. You will be seated comfortably and the answers will be brought to you by SW Florida's most sought after and nationally reknowned wedding experts.

The Summer 2009 Workshop will be held at the new, modern Holiday Inn Ft. Myers Airport @ Town Center. Throughout the workshop, you will hear expert advice on photography, videography, hair and make-up, cakes, wedding attire and wedding planning & decor. Industry experts presenting will include:

Creative Wedding Design, Kelly McWilliams, Weddings by Socialites
Making the Most of Your Photographer, Ashley Brockinton Photography
Cakes that Wow the Crowd, Karen Vazquez, Kakes by Karen
Styles of Photography, Krista Kowalczyk, Impressions Photography
Surviving the Elements: Make-Up & Hair that work, Kathy Cantu, RED Salon & Spa
Silhoutte Styling From Head to Toe, Tie the Knot Couture Bridal Salon
The New Boudoir: Sexy, Relaxed & Fun, Audrey Emerson, Audrey Snow Photography
Modern Wedding Videography, Rob Epple, AMC Video
The workshop includes a gourmet luncheon created by Chef Murray Young and dessert will be provided by the creative cake designer, Karen Vasquez of Kakes by Karen, a nationally acclaimed cake baker.

The Royal Palm ballroom of the brand new and GORGEOUS Holiday Inn Ft Myers at Gulf Coast Town Center will be designed for your wedding inspiration by wedding designer and planner Kelly McWilliams, who is the featured coordinator in the Summer 2009 issue of

Bride & Bloom magazine (flowers by Floral Artistry).



Not only will you be given invaluable secrets from these industry experts, but you also receive a swag bag and be entered into a drawing for incredible prizes including a $200 Gift Certificate to AMC Video, a Boudoir Session with Audrey Snow Photography, a $200 Gift Certificate to Tie the Knot Couture Bridal Salon, an Engagement Photo Session with Ashley Brockinton Photography, a Bridal Package from RED Salon & Spa, and Candy Buffet or Escort Card Tablescape (non-floral) from Weddings by Socialites, and a Gift Certificate from Kakes by Karen.



Tickets are limited and the event is expected to sell out.
Tickets will not be for sale the day of the event.


For more information, visit the Wise Bride Blog:
http://floridawisebride.blogspot.com

Wedding Featured in Florida Brides Blog!

This week, Ashley Brockinton Photography was thrilled to hear that the totally fabulous wedding blog, Florida Brides Blog, featured Jess and JB's dreamy Florida Keys wedding at the Coconut Cove Hotel. The Florida Brides blog is a great resource for brides to see florida weddings with a hip/chic/trendy edge and to get a bevy of stellar ideas!

Visit their blog at... http://floridabridesblog.com/

Ashley Brockintin Photography

A Hip and Chic Photography Boutique

Specializing in Wedding and Engagement Photography/Portraits for the Fashionista in LOVE!

Location: Bonita Springs, FL

Fort Myers, Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, SW Florida

{Allison & Jason: Engagement Pictures}

 Meet Allison and Jason.  Allison was my college room mate.  We were put together randomly our freshman year but stayed room mates all four years.  Allison thought me so much about relationships, love, and living with someone.  We had the most wonderful times in college together riding her tandem bike, "borrowing" golf carts to drive around the campus at night, running 2 miles and then stuffing down a pizza.... Since college our friendship has just grown.  I visited Allison in France a few years ago when she was living there and then she has come to visit me every time I had a baby.  She is the best person ever to travel with because she can both live it up the stylish glam way or stay in a smelly hostel with no showers and never complain. 

I remember talking to Allison on the phone right after she had met Jason:  "Ashley, I think he might be the one."  A few years later I get a phone call telling me they were engaged and I can't tell you how happy I was for her.  Last month I flew up to Fort Wayne to finally meet Jason and to help Allison with wedding stuff.  It makes me want to cry thinking of how wonderful Jason is and how perfect he is for Allison.  I am so beyond happy for my best friend.

So, I am both a bridesmaid and the wedding photographer.  I'm not worried at all about how this will work.  That is the beauty of being a husband and wife team with both of us being full time professional wedding photographers.  I'll do my thing and he'll do his and during the ceremony we'll just have Sam shoot. 

These engagement pictures were taken in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the wedding will be in Ohio at Lakeside on Lake Erie outside a beautiful Victorian hotel.  I CAN NOT wait!!!!  Congratulations Allison and Jason.  You are beautiful together and wow, do you make me look good! 

Wedding Photography, Engagement Pictures, Wedding Photographers-Oh My.

{Wedding Day Makeup for Photography}

You're wedding day look is probably the most important aesthetic piece of your wedding. After all you ARE the bride and this IS a wedding : > First stop when it comes to the wedding day look is always the dress. You spend hours drooling over wedding dresses on the internet and in magazines and then just as much time in the bridal boutiques. The next concern is usually the hair and then some where way down the line is the makeup.

The wedding dress, hair, and makeup should be seen as one complete piece and not separate elements. I often see pictures of brides that picked a killer dress and then let it go from that. They went to a stylist and got "wedding hair" and then makeup, well, just make me look natural and not to much. Well, I've got some news, you don't have to have "wedding hair." Instead of looking through wedding magazines for inspiration check out how the celebrities are styled on the red carpets. Look for dresses they are wearing with similar necklines and then check out their hair. My guess is that it isn't "wedding hair."

Your dress should match your hair and your hair and dress should match your makeup. If you are wearing a formal dress why would you where natural makeup? If you're dress is a lacey and vintage your hair and makeup should be too. If you have a glam gown go.... glam. Save natural makeup for the honeymoon. Most of us busy bees don't have time to wear a face full of makeup each day and we get used to the neutral essentials. Leave these at home on you're wedding day and be prepared to go BOLD. That's right, be prepared to go out of your comfort zone. I can promise you that you WILL NOT look like you have too much makeup on on your wedding day.

Now that we've covered the basics of putting together a tight look let's talk a little about wedding day makeup as it pertains to photography. What you see in person is MUCH different than what the camera picks up. Even if you think you are wearing a lot of makeup the camera will not. In the video below I started with a full face of natural looking makeup. On the video however I look like I just rolled out of bed. By the end of the video I'm ready to walk down the aisle (except for the fact that I'm already married, I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and it's 12am...).

Lastly, the whole "my fiance doesn't like me with makeup" thing shouldn't be a real decision maker. Your guy just loves you no mater what and what he's probably saying is, "you're my girl and I love you for you and.... I don't want you looking hot for other guys."

Wedding Day Makeup Tips for Gorgeous Wedding Photos

1. Hire a stylist you trust and trust them. Let them do what they think will look best on you. Some times giving them to many dos and don'ts will just confuse and overwhelm. Do, however, bring lots of photos of inspiration and you're dress. Let them help you pull your look together.

2. Matte makeup is good because it absorbs light and helps hide flaws and sweat.

3. Glitter=BAD. Light reflects off of it and it looks like there are little solar flares all over your face in pictures.

4. Go darker and heaver on eye liner and mascara. If you usually wear brown wear black. The more contrast there is between your eyelash line and the whites of your eyes the more your eyes will pop.

5. Don't be afraid of color on your eyes, but also don't feel pressured into color. If you want neutrals that's fine just go much more intense and sculpted.

6. LOVE false Eyelashes.

7. Use primer for skin and eyes to keep makeup sticking to your face.

8. No nude lips. Looks like you drowned and were resuscitated in pictures.

9. Define eyebrows. It makes your face look more structured and your eyes pop.

10. Stay away from tanning. God gave you a beautiful skin color that matches perfectly with your hair and eyes and personality. More importantly, too much tan makes you look orange next to everyone else in pictures.

11. Along the same lines as #10 go very light on the bronzer for pics. It looks muddy on camera. Pinks and peaches keep your face looking fresh and healthy.

Below are some of our former brides and models. In the pictures on the right they have their natural everyday makeup on. In person you would be able to tell they had a full face of makeup on but in the pictures (that were not contrived) you can't tell if they have makeup on at all. The pictures on the right were obviously professionally styled and... how great do they look? Notice how with each girl the dress dictates the style and then the hair and makeup match.

If you are not convinced yet on going bold then here is the best idea of all: on the day of your engagement shoot go and get your hair and makeup professional done. Go bolder than you feel comfortable with. You will not only get used to the hair and makeup but I can guarantee you that you will be amazed when the pictures come back.

Special thanks to the amazing stylist that styled these lovely ladies throughout the year: Jen King, Gracey Somers, and Heather Longshore. Call me or email me for stylist suggestions.

Makeup for Photography Part 1 Video

Wedding Makeup for Photography from ashley brockinton on Vimeo.

Makeup For Weddings Part 2 from ashley brockinton on Vimeo.

{Apples to Apples?: Photo Retouching}

Retouching-what does it mean from ashley brockinton on Vimeo.

There are a lot of terms that get thrown around in our industry: many of them have completely different meanings to different photographers.  Some of those terms include: second photographer, lighting assistant, photo re-touching, book/album, coffee table book and rights.  Today, we want to look at photo re-touching.

For us photo re-touching is a three step process that takes about 10-30 minutes or more per image. 

Step 1 - Basic lighting adjustments - color correction (white is white, skin tones are natural), cropping, overall exposure and highlight recovery (technical term meaning that with digital the whites sometimes get so white that you can't see any detail - this brings back that detail)

Step 2- We make you look great - skin re-touching is done here.  We also clean up any dirt or distracting areas in the photo that just take away from the overall feel.

Step 3 - Image is stylized.  Now we add the feel to the image - editorial, vintage, black and white, high contrast, etc. Now, it's a piece of art - ready for the album, blog, website or your wall - either Facebook or your home ;-)

One thing we find terribly important is CONSISTENCY.  Ask your potential photographer to see their last few weddings, a whole wedding that they recently shot AND check out their blog.  Beware of several things:

1. Really touched up, great images on the website and average images on the blog.

2. Website pics from workshops. We should all be pushing ourselves professionally but one of my pet peeves is when photogs post on their website pictures from a workshop because someone else arranged most of the variables - location, model, hair, makeup, lighting and maybe more. Look for images that don't look like they're from the area and just ask where they photographed; I encourage everyone to share these images but my personal feeling is that these should be put on blogs telling about how the workshop was and where it was, etc.

3. Is that your work or their work?  If you are looking into a studio that has multiple shooters and shoots multiple weddings, make sure you get to see the portfolio of the person who is shooting your wedding. Who does the re-touching; will they look like the albums you saw and the web galleries?

3. Online Galleries - they're almost always password protected.  We have the ability to hide our sites as well as password protect, BUT we choose NOT to unless asked because we want prospective brides to view the real deal; that's exactly what we delivered last week, last month, last year, etc.  If that's what you want, we can do that or better. Nearly all the weddings we've shot in the last 2 years are available or were available (they might have expired) online at www.ashleybrockintonclients.com - engagement sessions too!  These galleries contain un-retouched proof images so you can see our consistency IN camera.  To view consitency with our finished product check out our blogged weddings.

One last note: Professional printing makes a HUGE difference.  Our monitors are callibrated to our pro lab. The colors and the consistency are awesome!  This is so important because many clients are now receiving digital files and printing on their own.  Every printer is different.  Printing a digital negative file that has been fully re-touched and stylized on a drug-store printer is like buying the sports car of your dreams and never leaving the 35 mph roads in the suburbs.  Wow great car, but if you really want to enjoy it you've gotta get on the open road.

Keep an eye out on The Wise Bride Blog for this post and similar ones! http://www.floridawisebride.blogspot.com

Ashley Brockintin Photography

A Hip and Chic Photography Boutique

Specializing in Wedding and Engagement Photography/Portraits for the Fashionista in LOVE!

Location: Bonita Springs, FL

Fort Myers, Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, SW Florida