Chris + Stephanie: Pickerington, Ohio Wedding

When I asked Stephanie last Friday about her story with Chris she laughed and a huge, contagious smile took over, "I still remember the first time I saw him in 5th grade. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt".  As she and her bridesmaids sat in her parents' kitchen getting ready for the big day, Stephanie told me the story of how her 5th grade crush turned into a high school boyfriend, then a fond memory when they went their seperate ways in college. Social media allowed them to rekindle their friendship a few years later and their faith in God (and a little help from friends and a bible study) stoked the flames into the romance we celebrated on Friday.

When Stephanie met with me in December to talk about wedding photography she asked for candids. She and Chris moved to North Carolina two days after the ceremony and she wanted to make sure that I captured everyone being their truest selves, enjoying the day with friends and family before she moved away. So I took nothing but candids the whole day and focused all my energy on suspending the littlest moments in time in a way that Stephanie and Chris could cherish forever. Like Stephanie's reaction when she spotted Chris standing outside the church while she was getting ready...

The first time they called each other "husband" and "wife"...

And of course their first dance...

Stephanie and Chris- thank you so much for allowing Blake and I to tag along with you on your wedding day. I wish I had the words to describe the feeling of love and excitement that filled the air during your ceremony. It's not often that Blake and I spend the entire car ride home talking about how visibly in love the bride and groom were and how beautiful the wedding was. Your love for each other and your families was contagious and we wish you the best of luck in your future together. There isn't a cuter and better matched couple in the world. Congratulations.

Keep smiling!
Kaylina

To see even more pictures from Chris and Stephanie's wedding, check out the slideshow below:

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Jenna + Tyler: Engagement Session Westerville, Ohio

I met Jenna and Tyler at Inniswoods Metro Gardens in Westerville on Saturday for an engagement shoot. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a shoot- the sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and we apparently weren't the only ones that noticed.

The place was PACKED with people and probably had a ratio of one camera to every three people there. There were huge groups of kids getting their pictures before prom, maternity sessions, engagement sessions, family sessions, and a woman who was posing in a field surrounded by about 30 pairs of Air Jordans in the form of a heart. Not sure what to call that.

So when Tyler and Jenna arrived I was a little nervous that we would feel crowded or rushed, but the park was so large that we were able to find a few spots all to ourselves. Jenna and Tyler were nervous for different reasons, being that most people hate getting their pictures taken, I completely understood. I did my best to make the session as painless as possible and soon they were laughing and not completely miserable. I'll call it a victory.

Jenna and Tyler are so cute together and I loved spending the evening with them wandering around the park. I am very excited for their wedding at the end of May. I promised them that the wedding would be a lot more candids and barely any posed pictures, so I hope they're excited too.

Keep smiling!
Kaylina

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These pictures are for me.

I wish I could capture a fraction of this moment. This feeling of a gorgeous day after an unbearable winter. Getting out of work early to come home and sit on the floor next to my fiancé in front of an open screen door watching my cats stare at the world outside of it. It's simple, but it's perfect.

I have my camera in hand but it doesn't do it justice. It doesn't capture the warmth of the sun on my skin. Or the soft sound of music coming from Blake's laptop near by. I take about 20 pictures before I give up. I'm disappointed in myself. Not for the inability to capture this moment, I'm disappointed because my first reaction is to share it, to caption it, to add a cute hashtag. I want to take a picture to show to all of my "friends" on social media, not so I can relive this moment in the future.


That's when I realize that my pictures aren't lacking anything. When I look at these pictures I feel the sun and I can hear that song. I can relive this moment through these pictures. Maybe my friends and followers won't get the same feeling from my pictures but that's okay. 

Because I was present in this moment and these pictures are for me.

Keep smiling,
Kaylina

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Creating a Wedding Timeline

A few days ago I had a bride contact me about her wedding timeline and I knew I had met my soul bride. She had everything planned down to the minute, categorized by who was in charge of the event, and ordered by what part of the wedding it fell in to. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'm a spread sheet kind of girl, but I understand not everyone is. I also understand that wedding timelines are something a lot of brides struggle with so I thought I'd offer my humble advice on the subject.

I like to start with the basics and work backwards. So put down the basics...

5:00pm Ceremony
7:00pm Food is served
10:00pm Reception ends

From there I would figure out your priorities, and as a wedding photographer, photography is mine so I would figure out how many hours of coverage I have with the photographer and add that in. I currently offer 10 hours of coverage in my package so let's use that. Working backwards from the 10pm reception ending time, I would begin at Noon.

12:00pm Photography coverage starts


A lot of brides want me there for the hair and make-up so they would talk to their stylists and see how long they expect the appointments to take. If they need to start earlier than noon to fit the entire bridal party in, then I tell the bride to go last and start her appointment at noon.

12:00pm Photography coverage starts, Bride's hair and make-up appointment

This is where people start to think they have more time than they do. They look at the 5 hour gap between the Bride's hair and make-up and the ceremony and they think they should shorten it. Don't. Let me show you just on the photography side what we'll be doing for the rest of the day...

For those of you saying, "I'm not going to do a first look or a hidden session so I don't need all that time" please don't shorten the timeline for that. If the bride and groom are not planning on seeing each other before the wedding then that means that those bridal party photos at 4 will be broken up into just the bride with her girls and the groom with his guys. This translates to me running between the two groups, which is not a problem, but it takes time. So I would start girls group pictures at 3:30pm and guys at 4:00pm.

Keep in mind that not having a first look means that we will need to do the combined bridal party shots during the family pictures time (add 10 minutes to that slot) and the small 15 minute portrait session after the ceremony for the bride and groom will also need to be extended to at least 30 minutes. Meaning that you either need to serve food later or you lose out on reception details. What normally ends up happening though, is the bride and groom feel so pressured to feed their hungry guests that they cut their portrait session down to 5 minutes and end up with almost no pictures of just them. Which is the worst thing I can think of.

This schedule also makes the assumption that the ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, and photography opportunities are in the same location (or within walking distance). If that is not the case, please plan accordingly. Also keep in mind that while your venues might be gorgeous and you want to take pictures there, there will be guests milling around about a half hour before the ceremony begins and after so photo opportunities at the venue might not exist. You should scout out a few locations within walking distance or a 5 minute car ride that can serve as great photo-ops for the bridal party and bride and groom's pictures after the ceremony.

Hopefully this outline of a wedding day will help you pin down your schedule and give you some peace of mind. As a said, schedules are intimidating, I even used an outline from one of my favorite photographers, Jasmine Star, and tweaked it for the clients that I normally see. So feel free to steal this one or change it to fit your needs!

Keep smiling!
Kaylina

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The Real Questions to Ask your Wedding Photographer

If you've read my blog before, you might have noticed something: I'm a big fan of Pinterest. If you check my Pinterest page you'll see that it might border on "addiction". I have not one, but four boards, dedicated to weddings. Everything from wedding photography that inspires me, to decor ideas, to info graphics on how to properly plan a wedding.

The other day I found a pin linking to a Buzzfeed article titled "These Diagrams are Everything You Need to Plan Your Wedding". While I found most of the info graphics interesting and helpful, I had to laugh when I got about halfway down the list and found two related to choosing your wedding photographer. You can see them below.

 

I think it is important to get an answer to the questions mentioned above and to have an idea of what sort of photos the photographer will be capturing throughout the day. But what scares me about these graphics is that I get an overwhelming feeling that the relationship between the bride and the photographer is nothing more than a business transaction.

My "meetings" with clients are not business meetings, they're get togethers that allow me a chance to get to know the couple, their style, and how I can best serve them. I want to establish a friendship with my clients so that my services are less about an exchange of goods and more about capturing the love and emotion of their special day in a way they can cherish forever. 

I have no problems talking about how many weddings I've done, the kind of camera and lighting I use, or how many pictures the bride will receive after the wedding, but what I really want to establish in our first meeting is that the couple and myself are a good fit. That we'll get along. Because a wedding can be a little awkward when you have a complete stranger with a camera following you all day instead of someone you trust and shares common interests with you. 

So I would encourage any bride out there looking for a wedding photographer to not only get the answers to these questions, but to dig a little deeper. Are you a huge Netflix person? Then find out what the photographer likes to watch on TV. Love animals? Does your photographer have any pets? Yes, these answers might have nothing to do with their skills as a wedding photographer, but it will make the day more enjoyable as this person spends hours with you and your closets friends and family.

And please, if you don't trust your photographer enough to capture "the couple's first kiss" without having writing it on a list, find another photographer.

Keep smiling!

Kaylina

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Limiting my focus...

I launched my new website a little over a month ago and several people have noticed something missing... I no longer have a gallery dedicated to family, baby, or senior portraits. I'd like to take a quick moment to talk about the new direction I've decided to take Kaylina Norton Photography.

I started a full-time job in August. As much as I love doing photography, I'm not a point in my life right now to be able to be a full-time photographer.  Taking on a full-time job gave me both an option and a restriction at once: I did not need to accept every shoot that I was offered to me for monetary reasons and I no longer had the time to shoot them all anyway. So I decided to narrow the focus of my business on the shoots I felt were the best fit for me, not necessarily my most profitable shoots.

I have decided to focus my business on couples and senior portraits. An odd combination, I realize, but they are the shoots I enjoy the most and feel most closely represent my style and skills. I absolutely love getting to know the love stories of the couples I get to know through their engagements and weddings, and the personalities of the high school seniors I have the honor of capturing at such an important time in their lives.

It's not that I don't like getting to know the families and babies that I've had the pleasure of shooting in the past, I just feel that my skills are better aimed towards older subjects. I honestly feel more comfortable referring inquiries and clients to other local photographers who specialize in those areas. And that's what I've been doing for the past couple months as I've received inquiries about doing family and baby portraits.

I want to thank each and every client I've had over the past few years who helped my business grow. Especially those who did trust me enough to capture your family's and children's special moments- you allowed me to hone my skills and learn more about myself and my style and your trust in me means the world to me. I will miss the cheesy smiles, sticky hands, and sugar rushes, but I'm sure I'll change my mind in a few years when I have an adorable mess of my own.

As a temporary goodbye, here are some of my favorite pictures of little ones...

Keep smiling,
Kaylina

Special note: I no longer have examples of senior portraits on my website, but you can find galleries on my Facebook page if you're interested!

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Photos for the future

I have to admit, I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. Personally, I love using it as a way to connect with my friends and family visually, seeing what they're up to without long winded statuses or game invites. As a photographer, I hate it. Not because it has inspired everyone and their mother to become fledgling food photographers, but because it has made filters the new "it" fad.

Over the years of meeting with brides and talking about wedding photography, our conversations always seem to touch on one topic: style. I'm not talking clothes or interior design, but editing style. Currently there's a lot of styles out there in the wedding photography industry. And I don't want to talk badly about anyone else's style because I understand that personal preferences are just that- personal, but I do want to take a minute to talk about my editing style and why I haven't started using filters.

I believe that wedding pictures are priceless. 50 years later, they'll be dragged out, and dusted off to bring smiles to the faces of those that were there and those that weren't even born yet. My parents recently celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary and I found myself pouring through their wedding album one night sitting indian style on the floor. Their pictures were simple and what I like to call "classic". They hadn't been overly processed (maybe because that wasn't possible in the early 80s), they were just real.

That's the style that I try to achieve with every wedding I edit. I edit all of my pictures very minimally with 50 years down the road in mind. I correct lighting and colors when necessary, but try not to mess with much else. I don't bump up the vibrance, or decrease the contrast, and I never apply filters. Because, I believe, in 50 years pictures that haven't been edited as much are going to stand the test of time and those with filters will look like a fad that coming generations just won't understand (much like the concept of lacquering a composite photo to a tree stump is a foreign concept to us now).

So I leave the filters to my Instagram feed, because my pictures of my cats and my Panera lunches don't need to stand the test of time. They're just for fun, for now.

Keep smiling!
Kaylina

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