Nontraditional, Offbeat and Alternative Wedding Photographers » Lara Swanson Photographer in VA, MD, and Washington DC

Kiija and Brent did an amazing job tying stunning colors and details into the already-gorgeous backdrop of Shenandoah National Park. Don’t forget to check out their slideshow!

I snuck a peek inside someone’s trunk and found these gorgeous welcome bags that tied in with the pommanders created by the women in the wedding:

The cake, the infamous orange cookies, and the cake topper:

Check out how close the wedding was to the Appalachian Trail! We also stopped at an overlook to get a feel for the wedding’s setting:

Okay, I just had to post this. Terissa caught this awesome shot of Brent gazing at Kiija as she came down the aisle, and I caught her parents’ loving eyes as well:

I mean, come on. Offbeat setting, saturated colors, tons of loved ones, and a little sun flare – does it get better than this?

These are my two favorite portraits from the afternoon:

Oh and there was another soon-to-be-wedded couple at the wedding, Kiija’s sister Gwynne and future brother-in-law Chris!

I’m in love with this ring shot. The little specks of dirt, the peeling skin – just alternative and awesome

Remember the other day when I posted about disposable cameras and the pros and cons of having them at your wedding for your guests? I then received an email from Andy Drake, CEO and Founder of SeeYouThen!. He explained to me that SeeYouThen is a “wedding photos website and we were created with the very “pros” of the disposable camera without the “cons”.” I was intrigued, and I asked him a couple more questions.

Q. Are you guys “green”? Do you have any green initiatives? In what ways is the product green?

• Digital images are transported and exchanged electronically, no printing required or expected. We’re not a “print service” where the majority if not all digital photosharing services are geared toward you printing images on paper and ink. We don’t capture and hold the high-res files captive so that you’ll have to make digital prints.
• We distribute and exchange high-res photos to “all your guests” electronically and they can purchase DVD’s or USB Sticks. Goes straight from the camera to SeeYouThen! then back to people’s hard drives for prosperity and longevity.
• In contrast, “photo booths” are all about printing (waste a ton of paper)
• A wedding website can be extremely convenient and help support not sending out a multitude of paper products. When you signup the site automatically creates a “Save the Date” Page as the landing page (no need to send them in hard copy).
• Our members have used the site to collect people’s emails and mailing address as well. As they register, each participating guest can enter their email address and mailing address, this can be exported by the member. All information on the “web pages” can be a complete replacement for hard copy invitations, including RSVP

Q. Lots of my clients are nontraditional – how frou-frou, white-wedding is your service?

• Check out our themes: http://members.seeyouthen.com/themes-page/viewall.html Have you seen any wedding websites that you can theme out your website with “Red Hot” or “Iguana”? We struggle with the “fluffy” and “frilly” too so we created themes that can be changed throughout the year
• You might start off with a “Red Hot” Engagement Party Theme. As you get closer, you change the theme to more match your color schemes (more fluffy). One bride had their wedding in Cancun (Beach Theme), Then they had their reception back home and they changed the theme to suit a more traditional wedding, You can change them on the fly (CSS driven, just by selecting a new one and hitting save)

And he said that they’re working on incorporating much more inclusive language into the website. Andy said that his users “average 700 photos extra” from using his site. Impressive. Check out their website to see all of the services they offer: http://www.seeyouthen.com/

Although there’s a lot to be said for traditional studio photography, I’m not really a part of that scene. So when Anya emailed and was totally cool with the fact that my newborn photography style is outdoors or on-location, I knew it was a perfect match! She was looking for something nontraditional, so we went to hang out in a garden in Old Town Alexandria.

Check out that smile!

I love this series. I think it looks like he’s playing piano.

Isn’t Anya beautiful?

Seriously, I have the best second shooters around. I don’t know how I got so lucky. The ones that make it past the rigorous interviewing and training process (read: fire pit gauntlet) really know how to augment my shooting style and the way I work; it’s crazy how well we all work together.

As an added perk, they’re pretty good at washing my car.

Kiija and Brent could not have picked a more gorgeous day for their wedding in Shenandoah Valley this past weekend. This is the second wedding in a row where we’ve been surrounded by trees – what a wonderful and nontraditional way to go! Their bright spirits and laughter throughout the day kept the party going. You’ll see in the below slideshow that whenever their guests wanted to them to kiss, instead of clinking their glasses, they had to stand up and sing a song – EVERY table did it multiple times! Really amazing. Check out the slideshow!

We’ve got so many things in the works right now – improvements to my packages, my albums, my website… there’s been no time to post about the fact that I’m almost booked up for 2009! So if you’re thinking about booking, please contact us ASAP.

Also, I need a few beta testers of the new website. Any takers? Shoot me an email!

Lastly, I’ve gotten a couple of great comments from people looking to be guest bloggers, and I want to remind everyone that guest blogging is ALWAYS open! If you have a wedding-related or photography-related topic you’d like to write about, please let me know. For those looking to advertise their products, please know that I’ve got a questionnaire about your business practices that will need to be filled out before we discuss a guest post.

I will have a few off-topic posts coming up… namely in preparation for Pitbull Awareness Day. :)

I’m a geek. You may have noticed. So when my slideshow software company told me they were offering iPod video downloads in addition to the standard “buy this show on DVD” option, I was totally stoked.

When you receive your “teaser” slideshow after your major event from me, you’ll notice the “purchase DVD” option. They package up a gorgeous DVD for you of the slideshow – it’s a really great way to share with friends and family, or give as a gift (I know many brides who have done just that!). This currently costs $59 (plus S&H).

Now you can purchase the MPEG-4 iPod Video for $44! How cool is that?! Say you want to put the slideshow on your iPod so you can easily share it with your coworkers, friends, family… it makes it so much easier to show it around. And say you’re like me, bored on the Metro on the way to work – you’ll just want to watch it again and again and again and again!

Last but not least, if you want to show the slideshow on your Facebook profile, just add the ShowIt Web Application to your profile, then use the URL I sent to you (typically http://www.laraswansonphoto.com/YourName). Voila! If you’re my friend on Facebook (add me if you’re not!) you’ll see all of the slideshows I’ve already posted. Best of all, it’s FREE!