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Monica and Brenton, September 16 2006

  • Oct. 2nd, 2006 at 8:44 AM
Luxography

I put up a couple of photos as a sneak peek into Monica ([info]strange) and Brenton's wedding in my Sep 18 2006 entry. Rather than doing my usual gallery of highlight photos, I thought I'd post a sample album I created with some of the photos from their wedding. Putting together an album allows me to consider groups of photos together, rather than as individual snapshots. This is not the first album I've done of course, but if people like looking at these, I'll post more in the future!

This is a black leather 8"x10" folio style album with rigid page board backing each photo spread. There is a thin (about 1/8" wide) gutter down the middle of each spread to accommodate the binding of the album, without having to crease the photo itself, which would result in discolouration of the print. Other than the first and last pages, the album is presented as double-page spreads, as I believe this is the only way to properly flow a story from beginning to end.

I showed M&B the album on Saturday at their Toronto after-wedding party, and it looks like everyone who was shown the album really enjoyed it, so I'm happy. :-) Click on the cut below to see each spread with the story behind the photos!


Page 1
I really like this as the opening page for the album. M&B are standing in a small gabled window on the upper floor of a Victorian-style house on the grounds of Fort Edmonton Park. The soft glowing light comes entirely from the window behind Brenton.


Pages 2 and 3
I met up with Monica and Dilva ([info]sali_mali) in their hotel room that morning. The E. coli spinach story was breaking news on TV that morning, Dilva had her novel "The Perfect Husband" with her, and Hershey's Kisses were in ample supply to keep energy levels up. I love Monica's skull & crossbones tuque! After gathering up a few necessities, we headed out (with Monica driving, map of Edmonton in hand) to the salon.


Pages 4 and 5
We met up with Monica's other bridesmaids at Tintura Hair & Body: Jen ([info]kelayrel), Heather ([info]nighthawk21) and Rachelle. The salon served bagels with cream cheese and OJ while the girls were busy being very girly. ;-)


Pages 6 and 7
Next stop, the men! We hung out at the home of one of Brenton's brothers, Jason. Brother Chris was there with friend Rob and Jay. In keeping with the western theme, Brenton bought all of his groomsmen real Stetsons, made from the shavings of actual beavers and buffalo... or something like that. The middle column of photos on the right is Jason showing Brenton how to do the two-step. Too funny. :-)


Pages 8 and 9
The guys all looked terrific in their formal attire, with the Stetsons as the perfect finishing touch. I wanted to do something different with the guys, so I just had them stand around on the porch of the Victorian house, cigarettes and all. It looks really fabulous in the album as a two-page spread!


Pages 10 and 11
We took many, many more photos with the girls alone, the girls and guys, and also with various family members... I would need an album double the size to show everything! The house had crazy wallpaper patterns in every room, like the one you see here.


Pages 12 and 13
M&B's ceremony took place inside a cute little chapel next to the house. The pews were filled to capacity, and I think we even had a few people standing at the back of the church! The bridesmaid dresses were all made by Sid ([info]todiefordesigns) at TDFD. The pastor performed a lovely native blessing on the couple as they stood wrapped in a blanket in front of the congregation.


Pages 14 and 15
The obligatory ring shots, taken back inside the church after everyone was sent off to the reception.


Pages 16 and 17
The light was fading fast, so we worked quickly on a few more shots at the church, and I grabbed a few more as we walked back along the railroad tracks towards Egge's Barn where the reception would be taking place. I love all the photos on this spread, despite the rain, mud and cold!


Pages 18 and 19
Party time! Again, I have so many photos during the reception that I could make a whole album out of them! The background photo, in case anyone was wondering, is the wedding cake that Jen made... it was covered with yummy black grapes, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. Mmmmmmm, so good!


Page 20
I knew as soon as I took this shot that it would be the final shot in album. I love how Brenton took off his hat and leaned in for a kiss, the two of them framed by the doorway to the chapel. It's the perfect tie-in to their opening portrait in the album.

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Comments

( 36 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]true_nexus wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 01:37 pm (UTC)
More a question on the software used to design than the design itself.
Is this designed using the program that I'm thinking we discussed in the past? :) I have yet to d/l and play with it but it does a better job than what I remember when I did play with it initially.

I like the shots (as usual) :) I'm sure Monica and Brenton are or will be equally happy with them :)

Cheers
nex
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:31 pm (UTC)
Yeah, it's that program (nobody must know!!!) I'm trying to keep more to the "simpler is better" rule for album layouts, and in that case, the final output will be largely the same no matter what software you use. I could have used Photoshop or InDesign or YSI or YPG or FotoFusion or whatever, and they are all capable of producing the output you see above.

The difference is in the mechanics of producing that output. For instance, in Photoshop, I could very easily create layers for each photo. Getting the exact spacing between photos, swapping photos between layers, rotating photos inside a layer (without rotating the layer itself), etc. are all possible too, but rather time-consuming and labour-intensive in Photoshop. With FF, you can do in seconds what might take minutes in Photoshop.

Oh crap, now everyone knows what I use. :)
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[info]wingscars wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 06:17 pm (UTC)
So the program is called FotoFusion?
I love the look. I'm thinking it would be ideal for some of the things I want to try.
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 07:55 pm (UTC)
The software is Lumapix FotoFusion. I have the Studio version, since you need that one to create multi-page layouts. Otherwise it's good for things like collages or single-page posters and stuff. You can replicate the exact same layout in Photoshop or InDesign or Quark or whatever, but you can probably do it faster with software like FF.
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[info]minxclothing wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 01:39 pm (UTC)
Those look great - I really like the way you put together the album :)
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:32 pm (UTC)
Thanks! I always struggle with the design of the pages. I've been known to sit and stare at a jumble of photos for five minutes, wondering how to lay them out on the page, what order to put them in, whether I should use a keyline around each one, etc., etc. Such is the pain of not having a graphic design background. ;-)
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[info]dilvsy wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 01:43 pm (UTC)
such gorgeous photos!!!!
And the album turned out amazing!!!!

You captured everything so perfectly

=)
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:36 pm (UTC)
We missed you at the party on Saturday! You'll have to see the album in person some day. :)
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[info]dilvsy wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:17 pm (UTC)
i know...it sucked that I had tickets for medieval times so many months ahead of time, or else i would ahve come
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:28 pm (UTC)
Ooooh, Medieval Times! I haven't been there in ages!!! Well, okay, it's only been a year or so... but still!
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[info]dilvsy wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:52 pm (UTC)
it was my first time...and, I got food poisoning *pout* Luckily, it wasn't too horrible, as I ate a bunch of crackers at 6am, after being up all night with tummy aches
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:54 pm (UTC)
And to think, if we really were in medieval times, you probably would have died a slow, agonizing death. But instead, modern medical science has enabled you to be here now, posting on LJ!
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[info]dilvsy wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:08 pm (UTC)
yup! they planned a head, knowing full well, that someday, a girl named Dilva would want to keep posting to her lj, despite being poisoned by medieval ribs
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[info]leftofcool wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 02:39 pm (UTC)
the first time i saw one of your online album thingies, i went, "wow, this guy's good!"

then with each one since, you've outdone yourself and just gotten better and better.

can't wait to see where you've gotten to by January... *grin*
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:38 pm (UTC)
Well, I have six more albums to do right now, plus a handful more weddings in 2006, so I'm hoping I might get a little faster/better at putting these things together by January. ;-)
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[info]andrasta wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 02:52 pm (UTC)
These look absolutely awesome! Kudos to you! :)
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:44 pm (UTC)
Thanks! It took all the creative juices from my poor little brain to come up with this one!!! ;-)
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[info]cyn wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:18 pm (UTC)
wow
you continually outdo yourself.
i'm dazzled by this collection.
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 03:24 pm (UTC)
Re: wow
Dazzled, you say! BTW, pick a day when we can get together (maybe during lunch?) and you can look at my package. I'll even let you touch it!
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[info]strange wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:15 pm (UTC)
May I repost these (with proper credit of course) in my LJ and other blog?
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:29 pm (UTC)
Yes, repost away, and feel free to link to this page if you want to point people to the story behind the photos.
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[info]strange wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:31 pm (UTC)
Absolutely!
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:35 pm (UTC)
Thanks, I appreciate it!
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(no subject) - [info] - Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:47 pm (UTC)
[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:05 pm (UTC)
Yes, spread the word far and wide. I don't think Monica minds, and I certainly appreciate it. :) Sure... pick a day next week and we can meet for lunch, perhaps? I'll bring ye olde laptoppe with the photos.
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(no subject) - [info] - Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:12 pm (UTC)
[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:23 pm (UTC)
Sure, how about next Tuesday, October 10? I can swing by the office at whatever time works for you (5-ish?), or we can meet somewhere later.
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(no subject) - [info] - Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:32 pm (UTC)
[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 05:50 pm (UTC)
Nope, after 6 pm is fine. I need an excuse to get out from in front of the computer and walk around outside anyway, so I can meet you anywhere. :)
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[info]kelayrel wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:49 pm (UTC)
Absolutely beautiful photos :) You did such a great job! I can't wait to see the rest of them.
(by the way... it's Jen, not Jenn. ;) )
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 04:52 pm (UTC)
Oh sorry... easily fixed. :) Block off a good chunk of time if you want to see all the rest, because there are over 900 of them. ;-)
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[info]kelayrel wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 06:00 pm (UTC)
Wow... that's a lot :) I'll make sure to pass off the kidlet next time Monica visits :)
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 07:46 pm (UTC)
Awwww... doesn't Claudia want to see the peeekchurz too? :)
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[info]kelayrel wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 10:17 pm (UTC)
Probably... but only for about three minutes or as long as it takes her to realize she isn't in any of them and there are no other babies ;) (she's very particular... but when she has a picture of herself, she'll carry it around and play with it for long periods of time. :) )
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[info]wingscars wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 06:12 pm (UTC)
My head is going to explode from how beautiful those pictures are. It's a good thing.

How much would something like that cost?..
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 07:52 pm (UTC)
An 8"x10" folio-style album with 20 sides like Monica's would be $1000. That would normally include design consultation time, the actual layout and production costs, plus various other overhead (like shipping of the album, web site hosting for the previews, etc.). Of course, you can go bigger or smaller depending on your tastes and budget.
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[info]firegrrl wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 06:15 pm (UTC)
Incredible!
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[info]luxography wrote:
Oct. 2nd, 2006 07:48 pm (UTC)
Thanks! Man, I wish I had time to make albums for everybody. BTW, love your new LJ icon, whee! :)
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[info]exquisiteoath wrote:
Oct. 4th, 2006 08:20 pm (UTC)
The gallery was wonderful... and so was having a chance to actually talk shop on Saturday night.

I'm definately going to be looking into TPMG.

Hope all is well with you,
C
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( 36 comments — Leave a comment )