pedram navid photography - spring 2015

WHAT’S INSIDE:

As time goes by: YO U R W E D D I N G T I M E L I N E

8 Sanity Soothers

Intricate Invitations:PA P I E R L A P I N

So engaging: I S A N E N G A G E M E N T S E S S I O N F O R YO U ?

Their Story: C A R O LY N & G E O R G E ’ S W E D D I N G

Photo albums:P R O D U C I N G YO U R OW N G R E AT E S T H I T S

W E D D I N G SPEDRAM NAVID PHOTOGRAPHY

Spring 2015complimentary

H U M B L E B E G I N N I N G SWEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY FOR A LIFETIME

I’ve been taking pictures as far back as I can remember. Those ancient days with mom’s automatic film camera, trying to figure out how 36 photos can fit into a cannister that tiny. Today I’m shooting weddings, pets, portraits, travel, videos, and anything else I can get my hands on.

It started the way it does for most photographers. As a hobbiest, I was in love with the craft. I would devour anything photography-related. I’d carry my gear everywhere, set a tripod up in the freezing cold on New Year’s Day on a lake in Sauble just to see what a time-lapse might look like. The result wasn’t even as important as the experience.

It wasn’t long until I realized that I need to find a way to make this hobby my profession. Well, I don’t regret it for a second.

I now get to spend my days working with Nicki, my partner and second-shooter. Every wedding is a new experience. Nothing is ever the same. Sure the formula might look similar, but the people, the sights, the sounds, the colours, the vibe -- it’s always unique. My goal is to capture the way it felt, so you can look at these photos years later and relive it all.

It isn’t easy by any means. It’s long hours, heavy work, sleepless nights in front of the computer editing. But it’s what I love. Nicki’s dad, a sports journalist, life coach, and man of many other hats has a catchphrase: “I made my vacation my vocation.”

Well, now I can say I’ve done the same.

Pedram Navid

O U R S T O R Y

PEDRAM NAVID PHOTOGRAPHY - 2

questions from brides

What makes your studio different from others? I’ve seen other photographers with lower prices, why should I book with

you?

There are generally two approaches to finding a wedding photographer. You can find what’s called a ‘shoot-and-burner’ or work with a full-service studio. Shoot-and-burners operate like a big-box department store. They survive by selling as many weddings to as many people as possible. They do this because they don’t offer a full end-to-end service to the couple. Instead, they show up for the wedding, copy the files from the camera, give them to you, and move on to the next client.

Our relationship with our clients lasts much longer and it starts before you even book us. We’re known for the honest conversations we have with clients during our free consultation session. Instead of a sales pitch, we sit down and listen to you and your plans for your wedding. We answer any questions you may have, and help figure out if we’re the right photographer for you. If not, we try and recommend you to one of our peers.

Once you book us with a deposit, we continuously keep in touch before your wedding and after. We offer a complementary 60-90 minute engagement session, where we get to know each other and get a chance to take photos of you as a couple without the distraction of friends and family. A month before the wedding, we reach out to you and talk over the wedding timeline and let you know if we see any issues. While we’ve shot countless weddings, this is probably the first one you are planning, and so we want to make sure we’re there for you every step of the way.

After the wedding, it’s not just a matter of giving you the files and moving on. We go through thousands of images, picking only the best. We colour-correct every single image we deliver. Once the images are ready, we invite you over for some wine and a slideshow, help you order any other prints and artwork you may want, and send you home with a magazine with your proofs and a template to fill out your album selections. Every step of the way, we’re there to answer any questions and guide you along.

Speaking of colour correction, what does that mean?

There are four stages an image can go through before being provided to you. Every step is a little different in what it produces. This question comes up so often we’ve answered it on page 10. Flip over to see what all this photo-speak really means.

Do I really need an album? Can’t I just have the photos on a USB?

Here’s a quick exercise. Try and find the oldest digital photo you have. I tried this myself and I could only go back a few years. Think your photos are safe on Facebook? Think again. Remember MySpace? A couple years ago they wiped all user content from the old MySpace.

Now think back to your oldest printed photo. It’s probably in an album somewhere, maybe a photo of your mom and dad as kids? Or even your grandmother when she was young. They could be over a hundred years old, and sure they may be a little worse for wear, but you know exactly where they are. Your hard drive could crash and they’d still be sitting there. Fifty years from now, your children might want to pull it up, and they’d be able to just like you can today.

We believe so strongly in albums that every single package we offer includes one. We offer a range of albums to suit every need and budget, from the simple yet elegant 10x10 coffee table book, to a luxurious 18x14 Italian-made full leather album.

Have a question? We’d love to hear from you and answer your question in a future issue of our studio magazine.

Please send your question to [email protected]


C AROLYN & GEORGESI’ve known Carolyn for years and when I found out she was getting married I didn’t hesitate to ask if I could shoot her wedding. She met Georges in Toronto but he was from France and so they decided to do the ceremony in Normandy instead of here in Toronto. An excuse to visit France and a chance to shoot a good friends wedding? Count me in.

We hung out in Paris for a few days, taking it all in. She was the expert, having visited a few times before, but to Nicki and I it was all new. Words really can’t prepare you for what Paris is like, and it’s nothing you can fully take in in just a few days. It’s also incredibly busy, with people absolutely everywhere, and so when it came to leave for the coast it was an incredible change in scenery.

We went from a city of millions, with tiny little houses, thousands of store fronts in every single direction with more and more people…to the quiet calm of Honfleur. It was a sleepy town, off the northern coast of France. A few tourists here and there but on the whole a sleepy little town. The actual wedding though would take place in Villerville, a short drive away. The only problem was getting the massive rental car out of the tiny little streets.

We made our way to Villerville, in a beautiful old stone church, hundreds of years old. The village was tiny and you could tell none of the locals were used to this much attention. People peered through their windows, little girls stopped our bride to tell her how beautiful she looked, and all around everyone seemed excited to have some excitement in their day.

After the ceremony, we walked around for my favourite part of the day: the creatives. In front of this building with broken windows I asked Carolyn and Georges to stand and they both looked a little unsure. From just looking at it didn’t seem classically pretty. But I saw more than just a building, I was looking at neutral colours, rectangles, balanced composition, and the right lighting (not too harsh, not too soft).

I posed them carefully, placing the bouquet just a little lower than where she naturally held it so her elbows weren’t quite so stiff. I asked George to take his hand and place it in his pocket, and had him look right at her. Then, to give the scene a little bit of push and pull, I asked Carolyn not to look at him, but right at the camera instead. A little Mona Lisa smile…and click.

Y O U R S T O R Y


G E T T I N G M A R R I E D W I T H O U T

B E I N G H A R R I E D

• Be sure to have a hair and makeup trial at least a month before your wedding. This will give you peace of mind to know exactly how you will look and give you the opportunity to change things in advance if necessary. Make sure to bring all jewelry to the trial to see how makeup shades work with the pieces.

• Have your florist deliver your flowers to where you are getting ready, not the ceremony venue. Since you never know when the mood will strike for a great photo, you’ll want your flowers there and ready to go.

• Find out what the rules for photographs are at the ceremony location. All venues are different, some restricting the location of photographs and even the times in which they are permitted.

• If possible, arrange to have your formal photographs taken before the ceremony. Getting this step out of the way early in the day frees up the rest of your time to spend with your guests. You will be able to go straight to cocktail hour and catch up with loved ones without stress. It’s a new age, so it’s no longer considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.

• Have food delivered to your getting ready location. It may be hectic, but take the time to have a bite before the wedding since it will be a while before you have the opportunity to nourish yourself during the reception.

• Prepare an emergency bridal kit with clear nail polish, mints, a sewing kit, stain treater, Visine, safety pins, bobby pins, pain reliever and mini deodorant.

• Allowing 50% more time for hair and makeup than you originally anticipated alleviates the number one reason wedding schedules end up running late. This will assure you have plenty of time for all the portraits you want to take before the wedding.

• Make sure you discuss a “rain plan” with your venue just in case Mother Nature doesn’t see sunshine in the cards.


Y O U R W E D D I N G

A W E D D I N G D AY P H O T O T I M E L I N E

A wedding is a whirlwind of events, gone in the blink of an eye. There’s little more important to a perfectly executed event than an organized timeline. If you are looking to effectively plan out your wedding day with your wedding coordinator or fiance, here’s a look at a typical 8-hour

wedding photo timeline from our point of view. We are here to help assist you in planning out your day so that you don’t miss a beat.

6 HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY

We’ve finished packing our bags and I’m now going over the wedding information form and having a meeting with Nicki to talk about the details of the day.


We leave for the wedding site with a well-portioned coffee for each of us. The bride’s hair and makeup should be well underway to leave plenty of time for family and couple photos.

3.5 HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY

I arrive at the prep site and take photos of the bride’s final touches for hair and makeup, along with her getting into her wedding dress. If the groom is at the same location, I will grab a few shots of him, while Nicki finishes up with the details.

2.5 HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY

We arrange the first look between the bride and groom. Nicki and I are on opposite sides of the meeting area to make sure we’re capturing the emotions of both the groom and bride. We also work on family portraits and get the bulk of them out of the way, knowing we can finish up at the reception.


With family formals out of the way, we whisk the couple away for creatives to a destination we had worked out earlier, usually with the bridal party. Here is where we get our big, bold, dramatic shots that define our style.

30 MINUTES BEFORE THE CEREMONY

We set out for the ceremony site. Here I coordinate with Nicki and set up any equipment we need during the ceremony. We take a last look around and find where the light is coming from to best document the ceremony. One of us might grab some empty shots of the ceremony venue while the other preps equipment.

30 MINUTES AFTER THE CEREMONY

We arrive at the reception site and I immediately begin photographing candid shots of arriving guests and continue into cocktail reception. Nicki is usually getting shots of the empty venue while guests mingle for cocktail hour. If there are any additional formal photographs desired we will take this time to finish them in plenty of time for the reception.

45 MINUTES AFTER THE CEREMONY

We enter the dining room before the guests arrive to photograph the cake and floral decor if they hadn’t opened up earlier. We also take time to prepare the same-day slideshow that will be up on a screen or laptop by dinner time.

1 HOUR AFTER THE CEREMONY

At this time we strictly document the reception candidly as it unfolds, including the first dances, toasts, dancing, and cake cutting. But don’t worry; we are always available for any photo request you may have throughout the evening. Just ask!

4 HOURS AFTER THE CEREMONY

We pack our equipment and prepare for our departure. But first, we will check with you to make sure there aren’t any further photos you would like or an overtime request. We may go outside for a night “time exposure” photograph of the both of you to showcase the beauty of your location at night.

Four weeks before your wedding we will touch base via phone

or e-mail to discuss your wedding day photo timeline. We’ll also

go over the wedding information form to make sure we have all

the details right and nothing has changed since we last spoke.

We bring this form with us on the wedding day and it’s our go-to

source for everything we’ll need to know.


T H E D I V A ’ S I N T H E D E T A I L STWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

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You’ll see a lot of sharp opinions on whether two photographers are better than one. Some swear by just the one. I’m on the opposite end of that argument. Every photographer has their biases. For me it’s big, dramatic images. Silhouettes against a sky, softly lit portraits with the town in the background. I get so caught up in the big picture I rarely stop to smell the roses. That’s where a second photographer comes in. Usually it’s Nicki, and she’s a stickler for the details. She’s also got an eye for girly things that I’m just too much of a guy at times to understand. While I’m out getting the big shots, she’s making sure every little detail, anything you spent time or money on, anything that makes the day uniquely you is captured. Without her my day would be a lot more painful. Just don’t let her know that, she’ll never let me live it down.

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FROM RAW TO DONEYou might think that once we click the shutter, the image is done. But that’s only the start of the process for your photos. With our pro-series DSLRs, the raw image that is taken once we click the shutter is a long ways from the final edit.

RAW IMAGESSince I love food I will use a cooking analogy. The first click of the shutter is the raw ingredients. The camera captures the light as it sees it and copies it to a file. It’s like going to do the grocery store and picking your meats, vegetables, and other ingredients. They might look tasty but it’s not ready to eat. (See Image 1)

COLOUR-CORRECTIONThe next step is colour-correction. This is when we take the raw ingredients and cook them. Right out of the camera colours are flat, neutral, and sometimes tinted too yellow or too blue. So we copy the file to our computer and feed it a recipe. We correct colours so they are balanced. We might increase the shadows, fix hot spots, add some contrast, rotate a touch so the horizon is perfectly straight. We do this to every single photo that is delivered to you. (See Image 2)

EDITINGNow your meal is ready to eat. But some meals warrant extra attention. Maybe you’re having special guests over. Or, in our case, they are going into an album. This is the editing phase. Here we do some light fixes on skin, hide flyaways, liven up the face, darken distracting images, maybe even convert some images to black and white. Every photo that goes into an album is edited by hand.

RETOUCHINGThe last step is reserved for photos that are going to be printed big enough that even the smallest details will make a big difference. This is where the chef puts his signature touch on an image. We might remove an entire bridge for a wall print you purchased, so nothing distracts us from the two of you. Every image printed larger than 8x10 goes through this extra step. (See Image 3)

Here we removed the ugly steel bar running through the frame, added some texture, reduced the redness on their faces from the snow, and cleaned up the image overall.

T H E P R O C E S S


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E C O C H I C KHelen is a graphic designer that creates gorgeous invitations and stationary. Her work is whimsical, with great attention to detail and beautiful typography.

Paper Lapin was born out of her frustration with being unable to find good eco-conscious items for her wedding day. Now she’s able to offer great products at a reasonable price. Based in Toronto, but available online through Etsy, her work really is something to be seen.

You can visit her website at http://papierlapin.com or find her on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/papierlapin.

You can also call: 416.707.8855 10am-8pm every day.

Pedram Navid Photography® for Papier Lapin -- invitations for Carolyn & Ge

V E N D O R S P O T L I G H T

Glowing Reviews

“Just got our wedding invitations & RSVPs yesterday and they’re gorgeous!! :)The paper is nice & thick, and the colors are soft & pleasing. I highly recommend Papier Lapin for all your paper needs.

It was a great experience working with Helen from beginning to end. We were able to really customize our invitation, including adding Chinese, changing the colors, and adding our own graphic. She was super patient while our parents made revision after revision, agonizing over the appropriate wording for our invites.”

-Lillian Gu, North Carolina, USA


We get it. We really do. It’s a balancing act trying to tirelessly plan a wedding. You’re being pulled in every which way. It’s no surprise then that more and more brides are opting for a bridal session.

It’s a chance to smooth out the timeline and give yourself more time with your guests. But what is a bridal session, and why would you want one?

In essence, it comes down to more time. A bridal session is an additional session dressed in your wedding apparel, with your wedding photographer. They can be shot before or after the wedding and give you a chance to get a little more life out of your wedding dress.

It also opens up the creative opportunities. Face it, your options are a little limited on the wedding day. As tempting as it is to be whisked away somewhere exotic and fun, you still

need to show up for the reception. With a bridal session, you get to live out that fantasy, if just for a little bit.

Your options are endless: you could pick a location that is really meaningful to the two of you. Maybe where you first met, or went to school together, or the town you grew up in. Or, you could do away with nostalgia and go somewhere you’ve always wanted to. Our Bridal Sessions include travel to almost anywhere in North America.

No catch. We’ll meet you in New York, Montreal, Chicago, Boston...if you have an idea, we’ll find a way to make it work.

B R E AT H E A B I T

B R I D A L S E S S I O N S

ALL ABOUT ALBUMS

Albums are evolving so quickly these days it’s almost impossible for most people to keep up. With more and more options, design decisions, photo selection and cover choices, it can get pretty overwhelming. That’s why we offer full-service album design, giv-ing you the option to make only the decisions you have time for. Some brides are involved every step of the way, down to the tiniest details. Others ask us to pre-design everything and only send the final version for approval before they make some small tweaks. Whatever you decide, rest assured we’re there every step of the way. To help with the confusion, here are some of the latest trends and what they mean to you.

Parent Albums Gone are the days where parent albums used to be flimsy cop-ies of the nice album the couple received. We’ve worked with our vendors to secure significant discounts on parent albums that are the same size and design as the original.

Designer BoxesOur top-end albums now come standard with a beautiful presenta-tion box, custom-designed with your choice of colours. The best part: even the box arrives in your choice of Italian leather.

Design Services We’ve seen it time and again. A couple gets a USB of images and plans to design their own album. Life gets in the way, and years later they still haven’t even started. Never worry about design; ev-ery package we offer includes full design services for each album purchased. We will meet with you after the wedding to discuss your favorite images and plan your special album.

Album Options All our albums come standard with 30 pages, easily upgradable if you need more. We have packages right for any budget, from 10x10 coffee table books to dramatic 18x14 full leather works of art. Covers are available in your choice of linen, leatherette, or leather.

considering an

Engagements are so engaging. Romance is in the air and the anticipation of a lifetime together comes to a crescendo in the rush during the weeks leading up to your wedding, causing you to wonder: Is an engagement shoot necessary? After all, your wedding pictures share the beginning of your life, right?

Shooting an engagement is important for several reasons. First, this time allows you to get comfortable in front of the camera with your photographer, figuring out how you work best together before the wedding. Next, you can showcase your personalities in a more

casual setting, while creating some fun captures for wall portraits, your wedding sign-in book, sign-in board and Thank You cards (shot early enough, we can also provide the images for your Save the Date cards and invitations). Images also add another dimension to your wedding album, chronicling the story from engagement to your wedding day.

Best of all, you can remember this special time forever away from the throngs of loved ones and friends. This is your time together.

E N G A G E M E N T S


• At the place he proposed: After all, what better way to capture an engagement than the place it all started!

• Doing your favorite activity: You both enjoy playing checkers. What better way to capture your personality than in the heat of game play, the agony of defeat, or the comedy of contemplating your next move?

• Where you first met each other: Whether your first meeting was a discussion at the library or fumbling for the door at the local coffee shop, going back to your beginnings is a marvelous memory. • Images with your pet: What better way to capture your new family than by including a beloved shared pet in your session?

• Your favorite skyline: Your city is beautiful at any time of the year, and the skyline shares where you live now, a beautiful location that might change with time.

• A downtown urban session: Fun and funky, pictures in alleyways or in otherwise undiscovered locations of your area make for a more intimate view of the city.

• An amusement park: Nothing says fun like the Tilt-A-Whirl to go with your whirlwind romance.

• A romantic beach: In the morning, evening or any time of day, the sea meets an endless sky for a feeling of forever.

• Vintage-styled, with old furniture and funky clothes: Bring out your nostalgic or avant garde side with some dramatic, edgy modern shots coupled with retro stylings.

• At your favorite, cute coffee shop: Quirky and cozy, local mom and pop shops are a great way to take a quick break to refuel and to catch some local, architectural shots with you in the process.

• Seasonal: Catch the nuances of the seasons, including everything from a winter wonderland, to leaves of fall, to flowers in spring, to the lush, green summers in nearby beautiful fields and forests.

Great engagement shoot ideas:


TORONTO | MONTREAL | SOUTHERN ONTARIO

416.358.0268

[email protected]

C O M P L I M E N TA R Y G U E S T B O O K

When you book our Signature Style Wedding Package, An $850 value

Please present this coupon at time of booking

EXPIRES 12/2015PEDRAM NAVID PHOTOGRAPHY

P E D R A M N A V I D P H O T O G R A P H Y

“ P E D R A M A N D N I C K I A R E E X T R E M E LY

K I N D A N D T A L E N T E D P E O P L E , A N D I

H I G H LY R E C O M M E N D P E D R A M N A V I D

P H O T O G R A P H Y T O C A P T U R E T H E

S P E C I A L M O M E N T S I N Y O U R L I F E . ”

- Carolyn Hill

pedram navid photography - spring 2015

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