How did you get started in photography?

Ingrid had to take PHOTO 101 as a prerequisite for her BFA. Upon seeing her first black and white print magically appear in the developer tray, she immediately feel in love with photography. The next day she changed her fine art emphasis from painting to photography.

David helped assist Ingrid when Images by Ingrid was just beginning. He found a creative outlet for his unique eye of angles and composition. He enjoys capturing moments, shooting the must get traditional wedding pictures and the challenge of creating dramatic effects with off camera flash.

What did you do prior to this?

Ingrid went to school and worked in food and beverage. It took 8 years and three colleges in three states to get her BA in fine art.

David was a custom picture framer and currently is a bar/wine manager for a fine dining restaurant here in Vegas in which has  served for 13 years. He is also part of the 9% of the Vegas population who was born and raised here

How do you describe your style?

Documentary coverage is an entirely different approach to wedding photography. Ingrid believes her photographs represent much more that just a tired fad, but as documentarian,  it is her responsibility to capture each moment exactly as it happened. She does not intervene or interrupt  the moment already taking place.
She feels the mastery of this style is very easy to claim and advertise, but rarely is it achieved.

Her lighting preference is soft natural light. Her portraits of her couples reflect fun, happy moments at times and others a deeper revealing side. Her passion is to create an emotional response from the viewer through her images.

David is more a traditionalist. He enjoys capturing the must get images at weddings.  He is a master of off camera flash and captures the most amazing pictures of  the bride and groom with Vegas sunsets. He sees angles and photographs them differently then anyone else. Clients and venders love his detail shots of rings, food, locations,

If you didn’t do photography for a living what would you be doing instead?

Ingrid would be a life coach or chef/restaurateur. She has  created  the life of her dreams and would love to help others achieve their dream life too. Also, Ingrid is too good of a cook, this is why they have to go to the gym regularly. She feels with 14 years in F&B and cooking skills she could create an amazing  restaurant.

David would be wine & food critic. David has been in F&B for 13 years and is currently a bar manager during the week at a fine dining restaurant in Vegas. Ironically every time they go dining he is already playing the part.

What are some of your hobbies? Attending live sporting events, concerts, traveling, sailing dining out, spending quality time with family, plus any activities that create memories and experiences.

What is the craziest wedding experience you’ve ever had? For Ingrid and David each wedding is crazy, fun and unique.

A crazy wedding memory for Ingrid was a wedding at Lake Mead. The ceremony and reception was on an island in the middle of the lake. All the guests, food, décor, had to be boated to the location. The ceremony was under a beautifully decorated tent and the reception was held on top of the houseboats.  There were Hawaiian dancers, fire breathers, and a late night bon fire. Since night travel on the lake is dangerous all the guests and venders had to stay on the island and spend the night in houseboats. It was a blast.

David’s craziest wedding memory was a helicopter wedding to Grand Canyon. They were both terrified, and excited about the prospect. This was when helicopter crashes at the Grand Canyon seemed to be a monthly event. The plan was for Ingrid and David to fly with the couple to the Grand Canyon for the ceremony. Unfortunately, on the ride out, a thunderstorm came in and they had to turn back. It was defiantly an experience being airborne with thunder and lighting following you back to the airport. The best part was David and Ingrid met up with the couple the next day and once again flew to the Grand Canyon.

What is the best wedding experience you’ve ever had?

For David and Ingrid every wedding is the best experience. They love their couples and give their heart and soul at every wedding.

What is your inspiration? Ingrid’s and David inspiration is their clients and the fun, happy, and unexpected moments of the day.  Each wedding and couple is unique. To photograph the day with that important fact in mind is their inspiration.

Name an exotic location you’d like to visit soon. Tahiti, Greek Isles, Barcelona, Estonia, Serengeti, Thailand, Egypt, opening day at the new Marlins baseball bark in 2012, New Years eve in Times Square, 2012 Summer Olympics in London,  sail the Caribbean, race car driving lessons, drive the autobahn, wine tours in Italy and France,  and these are just to name a few.

Why do your clients choose you over some of your competitors?

The blend of documentary and traditional photography. Ingrid and David create timeless images, not fads of the moment.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer a bride and groom on their wedding day?

Hire professionals you are comfortable with, let them do their job, and just relax and enjoy your day.

Anything else interesting you’d like to share?

In 2012 Ingrid and David plan on taking the year to photograph outside of Vegas as much as possible. Their goal is to not only shooting weddings all over the world but visit and photograph past couples.  They hope to create a fine art series their 2012 adventures.

They love their job and hopefully it shows in their images.

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website * Email: juliet@greenorchidevents.com

To learn more about Ashley, check out her vendor spotlight interview here.
Website: www.ashleybartoletti.com
Blog: www.ashleybartoletti.com/blog
Twitter: @ashleybphoto

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website * Email: juliet@greenorchidevents.com

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Name: Steven Fogarty
Location: Las Vegas, NV and Park City, Utah
Company Name: FogartyWeddings
Number of Years in Business: 3 as a wedding photographer
Website: www.FogartyWeddings.com
Blog: www.Facebook.com/FogartyFOTO
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FogartyFOTO

How did you get started in wedding photography?

After a successful career in computers and email, I decided to learn from the masters how they make such gorgeous photos. Since then I’ve studied with some of the most amazing photographers alive, including: Joe McNally and Matthew Jordan Smith and Denis Reggie, the father of wedding photojournalism. They’ve all influenced my style tremendously.

What did you do prior to this?

For the U.S Congress in Washington, DC, I designed and managed the LAN email system that replaced their 20 year-old mainframe email system. I then accepted a position with Novell / WordPerfect, which brought me to Utah. With 3 friends I co-founded an Internet email business, that we sold in 1999. We just moved to Vegas a couple of weeks ago.

If you didn’t do photography for a living what would you be doing instead?

I’m kind of a history geek. One of my great pleasures is listening to educational tapes on very long drives and discussing history with friends. I would love to teach history.

What are some of your hobbies?

I love to snowboard really fast and steep with my peers, and to ski with my children. Scuba diving is the easiest way to leave the planet. And I love to read, mostly geeky history and policy stuff. I love wrestling with my 4 boys.

What is the craziest wedding experience you’ve ever had?

It was snowing really hard the morning of Courtney’s wedding in Aspen. She was distraught, tearfully wondering why her mountain-top wedding was to be ruined. We reminded her that these morning mountain storms are often very short and pass quickly. The clouds broke, her wedding was full of sunshine. Everyone was happy (and very relieved!) Her photos are gorgeous!

What is the best wedding experience you’ve ever had?

I loved photographing Rachael & Evan’s simple Salt Lake City wedding just before he shipped off for a one year tour of duty in Afghanistan. He is the crew chief on an Apache helicopter. Photographing Nicole & Travis at the Paiute Golf Resort was such a blast because Nicole didn’t stop smiling the whole day – it was clearly one of the happiest days of her life. And photographing Jane and Seth at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah was absolutely gorgeous on that stunning fall mountain day. Russians know how to party!

What is your inspiration?
While it sounds corny, I honestly believe that wedding photography is the most important, the most challenging, and the most rewarding photography I do. I am very grateful that in my work I am able to create things of such beauty that are so timelessly valuable to my brides.

Name an exotic location you’d like to visit soon.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel around the world more than once. Of the 17 countries I have visited, I still remember India for its rich, ancient culture, incredible cuisine, and extraordinary contrasts, like the 3 men walking arm-in-arm down the street, one shirtless and dressed in a traditional dhoti, one dressed in a western business suit, and the third wearing a fusion of the two. Emerging wealth juxtaposed next to striking poverty amid ancient culture, and sensory overload. I would love to return to India with my family.

Why do your clients choose you over some of your competitors?

My clients want strikingly beautiful portraits to hang on their walls, plus lots of discreet photojournalism (PJ) of the day’s real moments, informal photos that will bring back a flood of warm memories with every look. They want a photographer who records the party, without becoming the party. They want the kind of amazing portraits that few photographers can make and are Can’t-Look-Away-GAWJUS. They want traditional portraits of the wedding party. And they want lots of quiet real-moment PJ – the photos I consider the most important of the day.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer a bride and groom on their wedding day?

Don’t worry about the photography! Forget all of your cares for that one day, let the love and attention of everyone who has come so far to wish you well just sink in.

Anything else interesting you’d like to share?

Thank you Juliet for giving me and my family such a warm welcome to Las Vegas!

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website * Email: juliet@greenorchidevents.com

Chris and I photograph, write and layout all of the content for each of our client’s books. Because each couple has its own extraordinary story and each wedding is also extraordinary, all the work we do is completely custom. We don’t use any templates. And, we don’t have any formulas. We really mean it when we say to our clients, “The sky is the limit!”  Our books average between 98-110 pages, and include anywhere from 125-200 photographs. Books are available in a variety of dimensions, but since we shoot full frame, we rarely make a book smaller than 10×10. All of our books are printed on UV coated paper that will stand the test time.

Recently, we bound a book for a husband and wife who show world champion cutting horses, so we had the binding hand tooled in their favorite pattern by a saddler and we commissioned a silversmith to hand forge a decorated sterling silver heart. And, in July we had a client who wanted their book bound in platinum goat skin complete with a layer of 6 inches of fringe, cut from the same leather! Currently, we have a book in the works that will feature one of wedding calligrapher Laura Hooper’s dazzling maps.

Whether a client selects a photo wrap binding or a custom goat leather binding, or something else entirely different, we’ve designed our books to be heirlooms–to be read often and cherished even when read over and over again. It’s a challenge to describe our books because they really are so different from traditional wedding albums.

In addition to the three books each client receives, we always provide a disc of high resolution images and our clients also have the option to order fine art and additional prints and books from us at their convenience.

Their tagline may describe it best:

The perfect marriage of images and words.

Name: Natasha Chornesky
Location: Las Vegas and Los Angeles
Company Name: Write Shot
Number of Years in Business: 3
Website: www.writeshot.com
Blog: www.writeshot.com/blog
Twitter: @thewriteshot

How did you get started in photography; what did you do before:
Chris has been shooting for over 20 years, with both his photography and written work appearing in the New York Times, Newsweek and other national and international publications. Ever since before he was old enough to pronounce “photographer” he knew he wanted to be one. Taking a cue from his mother, who first put a camera in his hands, Chris started shooting before he was old enough to drive. Chris shot weddings in both Chicago and Long Island before moving to NYC, where his editorial work took off and he found a niche covering street life and professional boxing. At that time, he wrote, shot and edited several magazines, eventually earning national and international recognition. Chris loves uncovering and telling stories, so it’s no surprise that three years ago, he and Natasha joined forces to bring  in-depth real photojournalism coverage to the lives of families. Since then, the two have covered milestone events from birth to death, including weddings.  Chris continues to shoot professional boxing and he is currently involved in several non-fiction writing projects to be published in 2010.

After not having shot since high school, Natasha picked up a camera in earnest in her role as summer director and middle school principal at several independent schools, both in the southwest and on the east coast. Documenting the students lives for their families and for school catalogs, she rediscovered her passion. Understanding, through her work with over 1,000 families, the importance of knowing one’s roots and preserving family history, Natasha left academia 5 years ago, to pursue photography full-time. She teamed up with Chris to document individual and family life events. Weddings are her most favorite milestones to record.

How do we describe our style?
Real photojournalism. Our pictures tell stories and our writing shares the behind the scene details and subplots. Our books reflect the true movement, warmth and emotion of a wedding and the days and events leading up to it.

If we didn’t shoot, what would we do?
If Chris didn’t shoot, he’d shrivel up and that would be the end of him. If Natasha didn’t shoot, she might survive, but only in the company of the couple’s three dogs and horse.

What are some of our hobbies?
Chris, a voracious reader, names The Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole as well as anything by Hubert Selby, Jr. among his favorites. Chris has also seen and rated over 1,500 movies on netflix. Freaks and Nosferatu count among his favorites. He is not a fan of “chick flicks,” so Natasha indulges in them (along with popcorn, Snow Caps, Twizzlers and Junior Mints) when Chris is away, on assignment.  Natasha also loves hiking with the couple’s three dogs, Gorgo, Grendel and Seven and trail riding with Halligur, her Icelandic horse.

Craziest wedding experience?

We showed up at a family BBQ 2 days before the couple’s wedding day and the bride opened the door exclaiming, “My dog ate the ring! The ring I am supposed to get on Saturday!” All 35 people in attendance spent the evening following the dog around waiting for it to go to the bathroom. You’ll have to read the couple’s Complete Wedding Book to see what happened . . .

What is our inspiration?
We’re inspired by our belief that everyone’s life is extraordinary and that life events should be properly documented and preserved for future generations. It’s important for everyone to know their roots, from where they came, of what they are made. Most people are moving too fast to share their life events and what they value with their loved ones, so we assist them in doing so.

An exotic place we’d like to visit?
We’d love to go to Cuba—to capture the extraordinary lives of kids training in the local boxing gyms.

Why do our clients choose us?
We attract clients who value real photojournalism and who love a good story. They are looking for an heirloom and thinking about their future families. They believe their wedding is comprised of multiple elements, events and personalities—much more than just what happens on their wedding day, and they are looking for a way to document their entire story, their new beginning– for themselves and for their future children. They want a book with which they can curl up and read, enjoying their story, with its own intricate subplots and beautiful images, over and over and over again.

Our advice for brides and grooms on their wedding day?
Just be yourself. You’re surrounded by everyone who loves and adores you. Each one of these people already thinks you are perfect, just how you are. So, don’t worry about a thing. All your vendors and attendees will roll with whatever happens and whatever happens is part of your unique story. And, remember to be grateful for all that you have. You are blessed.

Our unbiased opinion on the two most important investments for your wedding day?

First, a planner. We don’t ever ask if our bride’s have a planner. We simply ask, “Who is your planner?” We’ve found that in the absence of a planner, day-of organization falls on the shoulders of the photographer. Do you really want your photographer running your wedding? And, of course—invest in a photographer you love. The images from your wedding will last your lifetime and be passed on to future generations, so don’t skimp. Don’t wait until “later” to order fine art prints and a book or album. Brides who wait, end up not doing it and/or so overwhelmed with the number of images on a disc that creating an album for themselves feels overwhelming, unmanageable and time consuming. Your images, your book and your prints are a lifetime investment, not just an expense.

Promo for TSL Photography from Terrence Lighten on Vimeo.

“Prior to the ceremony the wedding day is often a wonderful, chaotic frenzy, filled with slipping into the dress and any last minute final touches. But in the midst of all the hustle and bustle leading up to the ceremony, there are moments when time seems to slow down, if only for a minute, and it allows everything to be taken in. That is the significance behind this image. This photo was taken in the bridal salon just minutes before Daniela was about to walk down the aisle and greet her smiling husband-to-be. Her mom and bridesmaids were busy fastening up her dress. But there was a moment where everything stopped — and Daniela had this beautiful pensiveness about her, and I just had to capture it.”

To learn more about Suzi, check out her interview for The Vegas Wedding Planner here.

Name: Suzi & Terrence Lighten

Location: Vegas, Baby!

Company Name: TSL Photography & Lighten Films

Number of Years in Business: 3

Website: www.tslphotography.com and www.lightenfilms.com

Blog: www.tslphotography.com/blog and www.lightenfilms.com/blog

How did you get started in photography/cinematography? It’s kind of a funny but long story, but I’ll see if I can size it down a bit. When Terrence and I first met, we were both working at Costco part-time and attending college full time. I was on overload with 6 classes, majoring in Education with a minor in Photography. Terrence was studying to be a big-time Hollywood producer, majoring in Film Production. Truth be told, there tends to be a lot of “socializing” outside the workplace amongst co-workers at Costco. Although, Terrence and I were COMPLETE opposites and had 100% different perspectives on dating, Terrence tried to befriend me and invited me to one of his many Costco get-togethers. Long story short: Through much persuasion, and a few huge life-altering changes on Terrence’s behalf, we began dating, got engaged, married, and 4 months later photographed a friend’s wedding. The feedback we got on the photography was truly amazing! Everyone was floored and advised us to pursue wedding photography as a career. We incorporated cinematography into the mix to make sure Terrence’s incredible talents weren’t wasted, and voilà, here we are today!

If you didn’t do photo/video for a living what would you be doing instead? Well, I know Terrence would definitely be on a movie set somewhere, most likely directing one of the many film scripts he’s written, or helping behind the scenes in some other aspect to make movie magic happen! As for me, I would have to figure something else out that would allow me to be a stay-at-home mama and yet still be around people! We have two kids, and I love being at home with them. I would totally have to invent some sort of get-organized-and-make-your-life-easier habit that I could share with other moms…. ‘cause the good Lord knows I could sure use that myself! LOL!

What are some of your hobbies? Hobbies?! Ha – that’s a good one. In all honesty, Terrence and I have been so swamped with work and family, we haven’t had a whole lot of time for much else. But, when time permits, we enjoy picnicking in the park with our babies! Arielle is almost 6 months and Isaiah is 20 months (See, I told you we busy)! We also enjoy going to the movies. Terrence can practically recite the entire script by heart on the car ride home. Snuggling up on the couch watching CSI was a fave for us during both of our pregnancies. And for those of you who keep up with our blog already know that Terrence and I intend on going swing dancing more often… starting this weekend! E-mail me if you’d like to come hang with us!

What is the craziest wedding experience you’ve ever had? I’ve had some real doozies, but one wedding does stand out amongst the rest, actually. The bride who hired me *seemed* to be the shy, innocent, girl-next-door type. Alright, add some alcohol and a bunch of party animal guests, and before you know it, things were a tad bit out of control. Next thing I know, clothing’s flying across the dance floor, the bride was making out with another woman (which the groom seemed to be enjoying, I might add) and what was taking place on the dance floor really should have been taking place behind closed doors. Talk about crazy – wow!

What is the best wedding experience you’ve ever had? That’s a toughie! For us, we strive to make every wedding experience the best we’ve ever had. Through making connections with our clients and giving that extra bit of unexpected service, we really bond with our couples. After having laughed and cried through the vows and thank-the-Lord-they-booked-video-super-incredible speeches, at the end of the night, when the bride and groom get on the mic and personally thank us for a job well done – we’ve just experienced the best wedding ever… until the next one!

What is your inspiration? God! Yes, God is our inspiration. We just want to have a business that would please the Lord. That means having honesty, integrity, and good, wholesome relationships that lead to awesome referrals. When our clients know that they can trust us and are 100% in love with our work, they tell all of their best friends, their mailman, the clerk at the pet store – they tell everyone. The best form of advertising is free – and that’s why it’s so important to us to keep God the center of our business!

Name an exotic location you’d like to visit soon. Hawaii!!!

Why do your clients choose you over some of your competitors? We are remarkably different. Personality is key. And we’re all about going above and beyond the norm. Our clients see that during their initial consultation with us.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer a bride and groom on their wedding day? As much planning has gone into making this day the perfect day, don’t dwell on any of the details of the day. Leave that to your coordinator! (Juliet will have that all taken care of anyway!) Focus on one thing, and one thing only: marrying the love of your life. That is all that matters. Everything else will fall into place. Your photos and video will definitely reflect the pure, raw emotion of the day when you are grounded and left to focus on your love.

Anything else interesting you’d like to share? We just want to thank Juliet for wanting to feature an interview with us on her blog! Juliet is amazing and we highly recommend her so that you can focus on what matters most – showing up to marry the one you love and celebrating your joyful union!

Elena & Nick Highlight Video from Terrence Lighten on Vimeo.

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website * Email: juliet@greenorchidevents.com