Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Blog

  • Introducing…The Facebooth!

    The other day, I was wondering about how to get even more great pictures of guests at my clients’ weddings…

    And then I had an idea!

    Introducing…the facebooth! A self-operated remote control photobooth-studio with professional camera gear and lighting, set up at your wedding reception!

    Your guests can hop in and strike a pose…

    …or toast to the bride and groom…

    …or you know, practice ideas for their album cover photo.

    Yeah it’s THAT cool.

    Current brides/grooms and future clients, please feel free to contact us to ask about the facebooth! (P.S. Yes, that first picture is what I really look like when I’m deep in thought.)

  • SSP Behind-the-Scenes: The Album Process

    This is the time of year where I’m spending a lot of time designing and ordering albums, so I thought it would be fun to share a quick little overview of my album process! After a wedding or a portrait session, I give my clients the opportunity to go through their images and to decide one of two ways to design their album. As a client you can either: 1.) select your own favorites for the album and I will incorporate those images into the design or 2.) I can hand-pick the details, portraits, and important moments to tell the story of your day or session. Once the images are selected, I create a timeless, uncluttered custom design and then present the design to you online.

    At this time, you can review the design and send me your notes on what changes you’d like to see – images swapped in and out, cropping, specific retouching, etc. I will implement the changes, and also do detailed retouching on each image. After your final review and approval, the order is submitted off to print and bind!  The timing for this part of the process depends on the type of album you select, but typically you can expect your album to arrive in 4-6 weeks. (During the holiday season it may take 6-8 weeks.)

    The albums are shipped directly to me first so that I can review them and make sure they’re absolutely perfect before sending them to you. Plus, I’ll be honest – this is the part of the whole job that makes me fall in love with photography all over again. I love seeing the final product in the form of a beautiful heirloom art piece! I think about future generations of family and friends enjoying the images of these memories, and I just…I don’t actually have words for it. At this point in the process, I secretly want to keep your album. After all, the moments of your wedding or portrait session sort of become my own memories, too, in a way. And for a split second, I don’t actually want to send the album to you!  😉  But I always do, I promise.

    And to end the post with an image or two, here is Lesley & Stephen’s beautiful wedding Custom Flush Mount Album that was lovingly shipped off to them earlier this week:

  • Oh Yeah…the 101 List!

    If you have been following my blog at any point in the past 2.5 years, you may recall that I made a list of 101 things that I wanted to complete in 1001 days. I started way back in April of 2008 and set a completion date of 12/31/2010. I promise I didn’t forget about the list or the looming deadline! But obviously I am now officially past the deadline for checking off all of the items on my 101 in 1001 list. It looks like I completed about 45 items, so not quite half, but I’m proud of the ones I did accomplish!

    What I realized a few months ago was that while there are several things on there that I still really want to tackle, a few of the items are no longer relevant or practical or interesting. Plus there are a TON of other things I want to add to the list. So, what I decided is that I’m going to start fresh and create an official bucket list. Only I don’t want to call it that because there’s sort of a sad reference-to-death connotation there, right? Instead, I’m calling it my Life List, and I’m in the process of creating it now. I’ve transferred the remaining 101 in 1001 items that I would still like to complete, and I’m working on adding several new items. As soon as it is updated, the list is going to live here on my blog, and I’ll share my experiences with you (with photos, of course!) as I cross the items off. Sound good? Does anyone else have a “bucket list” that they’re working on? Or did you complete a 101 list?

    And to pay homage to my original 101 in 1001 list, a collection of images of items that were checked off:

  • Candy Jar Reuse Ideas

    One of our favorite features at weddings the past few years have been the candy bars/buffets that couples set up for their guests. Everyone loves treats, and it’s also a great way to provide some colorful personalization for the wedding reception. It’s literally eye-candy! That and sugar rush + dance floor = all-night-FUN!

    There are tons of posts out there on tips for setting up the bar, but I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas on what you can do with your collection of candy jars after the reception. Of course you can always pass them along or sell them for another bride and groom to use, or you can (Captain Obvious) use them as candy jars, but here are some creative reuse ideas!

    1. Rainy Day Jar or Date Night Jar: Take turns with your new husband/wife writing down fun suggestions for a rainy day or a date night on small pieces of paper, and store them in the jar. Next time you need an idea for one of these occasions, draw randomly from the jar!

    2. Thanksgiving Thanks: For the month of November or even throughout the whole year if you’re both feeling ambitious, write down things you are thankful for on little slips of paper and put them in the jar. On Thanksgiving Day, take turns reading the thanks to each other. Aw!

    3. Office storage: I can’t think of a cuter way to store paper clips, rubber bands, or maybe even pens/pencils. Craft supplies would also make a really pretty display – think colorful ribbons, scrapbook embellishments, and markers.

    4. Memory Jar: Decorative jars in various sizes are perfect for corralling small mementos. I happen to collect movie ticket stubs, and I purchased two jars just for that reason. Some other small collections that can be displayed in the candy jars: fortune cookie paper fortunes, post cards, concert tickets (or any kind of tickets, really), seashells, etc. Here’s the original post about some of my jarred memories.

    So what did you do with the jars from your wedding? Did you find a creative use for them, or are they sitting in a storage closet?

  • New Products: Mini Books/Albums!

    I have a few new products to share with you! Cute, itty bitty products. First up are these fun accordion-style books. Available in wallet-size or 3×3 square, these sweet little Mini Accordion Books come in a set of three, and are perfect to give as gifts or to toss in your purse:

    Both sides of the accordion pages are printed with your favorite images from your portrait session or event.

    And in other teeny tiny product news, we also have these adorable Pocket Albums – a set of two mini 4×4 replicas of your main wedding album or portrait session album. These are also such a fun gift idea. Who doesn’t love miniature stuff? (Note: These can also be purchased without an album order as a simple one image per-page design.)

    Seriously, they can’t get any cuter unless you put them in their own tiny little pouches.

    Oh wait, they DO have their own tiny little pouches! This makes it super easy to just tuck it into a purse and go. So please do contact me for the details if you’d like to add these little pocket-sized goodies onto your package or if you’d like to purchase them with images from a previous session.