Aaron Dieppa

I photographed Kristen and Kevin’s wedding a year and a half ago. They just recently decided to order a photo album which I had printed and bound by Leather Craftsmen. Lan went with me on Saturday to deliver the album since he was my 2nd shooter for their wedding.

I delivered two albums this weekend actually. Album delivery is my favorite part of the wedding photography process. I love seeing the looks on their faces as they watch the story of their wedding unfold in front of them all over again. It makes me feel great!

I always try to hand deliver my client’s albums to them at their doorstep, with a bottle of my favorite champagne, a box of chocolates and a hand-written card conveying my appreciation. Last impressions are just as important as first impressions. Building a relationship with your clients is a lot like building any other relationship. It’s easy to put a ton of effort into it up front and then slowly put less and less effort forth as time progresses. It’s a lot harder, however, to continue that effort throughout the duration of the relationship. But let me tell you…IT IS SO WORTH IT! Kristen and Kevin have become really good friends of mine!

Hmmm…maybe I should give my fiancee some roses… If you’re reading this Barbara, I LOVE YOU!!!

Kerry Garrison, an Orange County photographer and creator of Camera Dojo was hanging out at the FastTrack Blogger’s Lounge looking really comfortable on one of the Lovesacs so I had to interview him about it.

Kerry Garrison Photography

Camera Dojo Blog

There were a few companies at the tradeshow this year that really stood out to me. Finao Albums was definitely one of them. Their albums are absolutely stunning. If options are what you’re looking for then Finao Albums may be the company for you. They have SO many options available it’s truly limitless. I personally like the idea of giving my clients choices. Some might say this can be overwhelming for them, but I just don’t let it get that way to begin with. It should be a fun process, that we can do together. Some brides know exactly what they are looking for and having lots of options makes it easier for me to custom tailor a book for my clients that can fit with the style of their wedding. And for the couples that are having trouble deciding I guide them with suggestions about what I think will look good. As the tradeshow was coming to an end I had a chance to run over to the Finao booth and talk with Christine about her company and look at some of the albums with her. Check out the video:

Finao Albums

Dane Sanders and The Bui Brothers did a phenomenal job putting together the Fast Track Blogger’s Lounge at WPPI this year. It was definitely a hit! The lounge was equipped with comfortable bean bags provided by Lovesac, free wifi provided by WPPI, and even snacks and refreshments. Photographers seemed to really enjoy having a place to go where they could kickback, surf the web, and blog straight from the tradeshow floor. This year WPPI was held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the convention center there was pretty far away from the hotel rooms making the lounge a perfect solution for photographers who needed to take a break without having to walk 15 minutes to there room. I had a great time hanging out there myself and really enjoyed interviewing photographers for THE BIG PICTURE. Thank you Dane, Lan and Vu for letting me be a part of it!

I had such a huge response from people at WPPI about THE BIG PICTURE it really made me feel good about what I’m doing. I’ll be honest it was kind of difficult for me at first because I didn’t know how many people out there were really watching. But SO many people came up to me this year and said such nice things about my show. I didn’t get to have all of them on the show but here is one clip that definitely stood out. A photographer by the name of Riz Crescini flew all the way from Japan to WPPI! And I was so honored because not only did he recognize me, but he said he watches the show regularly!! How cool is that!?! It made me feel great! Thanks Riz! Check out his blog everyone!

Riz Crescini