Ivan Apfel Photography Blog

Featured – The Knotty Bride (Katie & Ryan’s 60′s Era Engagement Sessions)

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 04:57:33 +0000

I am so excited that our two engagement sessions are featured on The Knotty Bride. If you haven’t been to The Knotty Bride, then you should. It is one of the few wedding blogs that I really enjoy and respect. They take the time to speak not only to brides, but also industry experts within each field. This allows them to really bring you articles, tips and advice that is a balance of experiences from couples like yourself and facts from experts in the wedding industry. Plus their mascot, Bambino, is almost as cute as our own Baby Z (who has had a bit of an attitude of late so we are currently calling him “Senior ZZ”). You can visit The Knotty Bride by CLICKING HERE. And you can view our awesome Feature by CLICKING HERE or on the image below.

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Professional Bride & Groom Albums & Why You Want One

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:08:50 +0000

I know many of you have been reading wedding blogs making recommendations to only get the disc of images from your photographer and then making your own album. Well, let me give you some idea as to why this might not be the thing to do. First, our albums are VERY different than the ones you get from consumer album makers such as Shutterfly and Blurb. I could go on forever about the differences but for now I will discuss the three major issues. The first is the paper. Consumer book makers use either normal magazine weight paper or a heavier press paper. But they are still just paper. Professional albums are printed on actual archival photo paper. Often times they are then flush mounted to a single ply archival board which makes them sturdier and longer lasting. Next, Printing Methods. Consumer book makers use a four color printing process which is the same as magazines and newspapers. When you look close you can actually see a dot pattern. Professional Album Makers use a giclee six to eight color printing process. This is the same process that fine art galleries and museums use because it has the same look and longevity of traditional photographic prints. To put it simply, consumer books and albums will begin to fade or change colors in about 10 to 15 years while professional albums will last 100+ years. Finally, binding. Consumer book makers use library binding style that are then glued into the cover which is less durable. This also creates an album that can not allow for layflat pages or images going across the middle of the spread (left and right page). Professional album makers use a layflat binding method that is then sewn to the cover. This allows for a album that lays flat when open as well as panoramic spread (where an image can go smoothly across the left and right pages. All these allow for an actual heirloom items that will still look as good when you show them to your grandchildren.

Now, there are different album makers and each photographer uses the one that meets their needs best. These needs are a combination of quality and cost. Obviously the higher the quality, the higher the cost. For me, quality if an absolute must so in the past year* I went from a great album maker to a mind-blowing album maker. Let me show you what happens when you receive the custom designed album through Ivan Apfel Photography.

First you receive a nice large box ( in person pick-up or optional shipping to your home)

When you open it you see a box nicely protected by recycled cardboard packing

This is the sturdy box you will keep your album in.

Inside you will get your first glance at your beautiful album

Just like with the packing, the protective wrap is made of 100% recycled material

I love the little detail they put in their standard packaging.

Finally you remove the wrapping and get your first look at your album cover. You can choose from any of 40 luxury leathers, or...

…or you can option to have a Custom Image Canvas Wrap

As you can see, these are not cheap magazine weight sheets of paper

Here you can see how the pages are bound together and then sewn into the sturdy hardcover.

The paper used as well as the creasing process allows for full panorama spreads with no crease color changes.

Unlike Consumer book makers where the pages lays like a magazine, our albums lay open completely flat.

All so that you get to spend the rest of your life looking at beautiful images from your amazing wedding.

So…..ready to order your very own album?

*please note, this album is included with all weddings booked after July 2011. If you booked before then and have not received your album, you can upgrade from the older albums to the newer album. Call us today to arrange.

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Melissa & Moises Wedding – Coral Gables Country Club Wedding Photography

Ivan Apfel Photography — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:44:25 +0000

OK, seriously?!? We had nothing but beautiful weather for months and the whole week it was getting cooler. Saturday was on schedule to be an amazingly beautiful day for Melissa and Moises’ wedding. I am on the expressway heading to Melissa’s place to shoot her getting ready and then it happened….. “tap”….then another “tap” followed by a machine gun of “taps”. Next thing you know the cars and roadway in front of me was nothing but gray with scattered blinking hazard lights. As Melissa finished getting her stunning dress on we looked at the foot of water covering the streets, joking about how rain on your wedding day is good luck, we couldn’t help but wonder where we were going to shoot the portrait session.

Miraculously the skies cleared just in time for her to step out of her limo and into the chapel. And what started out as a possible miserable start to a wedding suddenly turned into an amazing event. Once again proving that all you need for a perfect wedding is family, friends and a couple whose love for one another can make you forget about the rain…….well, an endless supply of Mojitos didn’t hurt either.

Ceremony: Wayside Baptist Church
Reception: Coral Gables Country Club
Cake: Elegant Temptations

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Juddie & David’s West Palm Beach Wedding

Ivan Apfel Photography — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:59:17 +0000

Congratulations to Juddie and David. I sort of got the impression that they were sports lovers when we did our first engagement session together over a year ago and they chose to do it at the training stadium for both the Marlins and Cardinals. But I never knew how big a sports fans they were till their wedding. From the Baseball Ticket Table Name Cards to the grand entrance attire, their love of sports was, well, obvious. Thanks to Teresa of Simply Couture Weddings for making it all come together.

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Two New Specials: “The First Look” and the “Win-Win”

Ivan Apfel Photography — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:37:14 +0000

“The First Look” Special

Many of you have seen some of the really wonderful “First Look” images on my blog. They really do add that something special to the images of your amazing day as do all the bride and groom portraits that immediately follow. But to do it all properly, you need at least 2 hours. I believe in the First Look and pre-wedding portraits so much that until further notice, if you agree to a First Look and pre-wedding Portrait, I will add two extra hours to your wedding coverage at NO CHARGE.

Here is the deal though, we must start the session two hours prior to leaving for the ceremony. That’s it. As long as we start the session two hours before needing to leave for the Ceremony you will not have to pay for the additional two hours of coverage.

But what if you have already booked me for 8 hour coverage? Don’t worry, you are still eligible. As long as we have NOT shot your wedding as of March 9th, 2012 then you are eligible for this special.

“Win-Win” Referral Special

I love referred clients. Why? Because all of my past clients have been awesome so the friends and family they refer tend to be just as awesome. So, to say thanks…. if you refer a family or friend and they book a “Just The Basics” wedding between now (March 9th, 2012) through the end of 2012, you receive a $299.00 Print Credit. What if I didn’t shoot your wedding or portrait session? Then you can use the credit for a Portrait Session Fee.

Oh that’s right…..that’s only one “Win”. The second “Win” is that your family or friend who just booked me also gets a $299.00 print credit to use when ordering prints from their Engagement Session or Wedding Day.

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Basic Retouch vs. Full Retouch

Ivan Apfel Photography — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:54:34 +0000

As a bride and not a professional wedding photographer I am sure you are totally confused by what is meant when you see all these different photographers saying “Basic Retouch” and “Full Retouch”. Well, the first thing you should understand is that even amongst professional photographers, there is no standard definition for “fully retouched”. For some it means they apply a preset plugin layer to all the images. Which plugin depends on day, night, inside, outside, beach, forest, etc. For others it could mean basic color balancing and contrast correction. For others still it might mean a full custom retouch. You may also see some say “Artistic Retouch”. Often these mean that they add a very dramatic flair to the images. In my packages you have two types. The first is “Basic Retouch”, the second is “Full Retouch”. My Basic Retouches involve only color balancing and contrast correction while my Full Retouch will include tone and color adjustments in specific parts of the image, skin retouching, removal of undesired items such as power lines or tourists wearing Speedos in the background, etc. The level of Full Retouch depends on the image. My goal is to make that image look as wonderful as possible. Sometimes this might include creating the images the way it should be seen versus the way it really was (in these images they look unretouched until compared to the original). In others the retouch might add a more dramatic flair such as darkening the sky, intensifying the colors in the background while keeping skin natural, etc. These will still look realistic but with that added “wow” factor.

So which do you get? All final images have the Basic Retouching done to them. So everyone will receive these. The only images that get the “Full Retouching” are images that appear in the blog, are used in the website, or have been print ordered. Clients who order an album in their package will receive all the Basic Retouch images while those ordering an Album will receive all the Basic Retouch Images as well as all the Full Retouched images used on the blog and the album.

For a better idea of what the difference between my Basic Retouches and Full Retouches is, see the animated image below:

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Spoiler – Melissa & Moses’s Engagement Session – Key Biscayne

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:58:53 +0000

Had a great engagement session at sunrise yesterday with Melissa and Moses. There was this great breeze all day. While I am sure Melissa was loosing her patience with her hair blowing into her face non-stop, I loved the sense of energy it added to the images. What do you think?

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These Three + Plus the Ultimate Job = Why I am the Luckiest Man Alive

Ivan Apfel Photography — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:16:43 +0000

Everyday I come home to the best three people in the world. They always come to greet me with a hug and a smile. Z and Will are always laughing, smiling, playful and for about 30 minutes before bed, snugly. Ana is loving, funny, sweet, understanding and supportive. Like she says, our family is “all about the love”. They are who inspire me. They make everyday better than one day before. They are why I am the luckiest man alive.

Shot this evening right before bed time

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Senia & Javier’s Wedding – The New Rusty Pelican – Miami Wedding Photography

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:42:31 +0000

This was one of those weddings that you just found yourself smiling the whole time. Senia and Javier were all laughs and smiles and so into each other that it made it easy to create incredible, romantic, moment in time images. Congrats again to this amazing couple.

Location: The Newly Redone Rusty Pelican
Wedding Planner: Mariel Ruiz with Events By Mariel
Treats: Donut Divas
Special Performance: Belly Dance by Virginia

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Portraits Revisited……..Stephanie

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:06:28 +0000

From time to time I like to go back to previous portraits and see how I could do them a little differently. My most recent one is of Stephanie’s wedding day portraits at Viscaya.

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