Best Reception Photos 2015

People, I will admit something to you. it is a sentiment not many other wedding photographers share with me... but I can no longer stay in the closet about this. 

I love photographing the reception. 

I unabashedly, wholeheartedly, LOVE the dance floor. 

I will shoot the shit out of a reception. 

in the beginning of my career I was scared sh*tless of photographing the reception- what with it's low light, it's crazy colored up-lighting that caused colorcasts, drunken guests knocking over flashes and bumping into my camera, groomsmen proposing to me on the dance floor.  but once i dialed in my lighting and figured out what worked for me stylistically and aesthetically I never looked back.  

Because i would DIE for real unabashed straight-from-the-heart emotion like this at all the other parts of the wedding day.  never ONCE have i had to say to someone at the reception "ok! now laugh! laugh like something is really funny! like you're having the best time of your life!" because, well, clearly they already are.  

and the father daughter dance? kills me every time.  tissues please. 

My goal is to make my clients tear up when they look at the first half of their wedding gallery from the ceremony, and then make them cry tears of laughter when they see their reception photos.  If i can do that, i've successfully documented the day. I've had clients before who have needed to order an entire SEPARATE WEDDING ALBUM of their reception dance floor photos because there were just too many to choose from. to this day, about 80% of my clients order multiple volumes of their wedding albums like these.  

So, i'm finally coming out of the closet and just admitting that I love the reception as much as anything during the wedding day- if not the most.  I have the best clients ever, and I'm so happy I get to celebrate with them. 

Photographers- Ive had so much interest in my reception lighting set up, and I'm finally completing the long-time goal of mine- to write a comprehensive tell-all e-book on how I light my weddings with film.  Yes, I shoot flash with film,  and LOVE it. IT IS A MYTH THAT FILM ISN'T GOOD IN LOW-LIGHT, and you should only use it with ample natural light. who perpetuated this malarky is beyond me.   on camera flash, off camera flash, and video lights are my go-to low-light resources with film.  It's been in the works for a long time, but i'm finally releasing my e-book on how I nail my low-light photography on film with flash.  If you want to be the first to know when I release it then enter your email in the form below.  

You dont have to be afraid of low-light with film, once you understand that ALL LIGHT can be GOOD LIGHT if you know how to use it to your advantage. 

An all Black and White wedding on film

There are times as an artist where sometimes you feel stuck. This year I ran into one of those road blocks. I found myself photographing all these beautiful wedding-day details with beautiful color film with it's pastel colors... and that's about all I felt I was doing. 

Where was the story? where were the real moments? what was happening during the wedding day while I was off photographing the dress (even though I knew there were going to be PLENTY of photos of the dress... actually on the bride... in just a few minutes). same thing with the shoes. and the jewelry. and the garter and the bouquet and the......  

you get the picture. 

What the heck was I doing?  I started questioning it.  

the words 'whimsy' 'ethereal' 'fanciful' 'decadent' 'magical' to describe weddings began to sound completely fake and contrived on my tongue. I actually stopped blogging completely, because I couldn't force myself to follow the industry trend. Forgive me, but I just didn't buy it anymore. I knew that weddings were deeper than that. that it wasn't all 'whimsy' and there was a more raw story to wedding days, but I was afraid to show it or frankly... do it... for fear that my clients would be unhappy that their wedding day photos depicted more than the perfectly stylized wedding day details we see on pinterest and blogs.  

What has happened is a weird cycle of events that have dug us deeper and deeper into the pinterest-wedding hole. You see, blogs want to feature wedding-day details (aka, color photos of the knick knacks, bouquets, centerpieces, invitations, etc) because these are the items that newly-engaged couples want to see for inspiration. Newly-engaged couples want fresh ideas that they can do or copy for THEIR wedding.  but, since you can't necessarily copy things like Emotion, Spontaneous Moments, and Connection with Loved Ones, blogs/magazines don't publish that because people planning their weddings can't copy that, so it won't sell.  I get it... I do.  However, an unintended consequence of this scenario is that the ONLY images that are published are color 'stylized' images of..... things.  And since that's what newly engaged couples see over and over and over in publications, pinterest and blogs, that too is what they envision for their wedding. Unfortunately, the story, the emotion, and the documentary photographs in black and white never see the light of day. And because clients don't automatically envision that as part of their wedding day photography, photographers, in turn, are afraid to include that for fear of their client not liking the 'un-pretty' images. We fear these sentences: "do you have that in color?"  "why is it so grainy?"  "i'm making a weird face in that one" "why would you take a photo of the dress being steamed?" "I want you to take the dress and hang it up on the tree out there across the street- even though it has absolutely nothing to do with the story of my wedding. i just think it would be pretty".  So we do these things.  because we are afraid to change the status quo. and because we are nice people and truthfully, above all, we just want to make people happy with our work... even if it means delivering work that we know deep down in our hearts is not as good as it SHOULD be and COULD HAVE BEEN. 

On a whim, I put out into the wedding universe that I wanted to photograph a wedding completely on Black and White, and completely photo-journalistically.  'who knows', I said, 'maybe it will be complete poo or maybe it will, actually be whimsical and magical. in the real truthful sense'.   

and if I'm being 100% real with you, I am a black and white photographer at my core.  i mean, can you get any more timeless and romantic than a solid black and white film image? 

I'll let you decide for yourself, but many thanks to Ryan Weeger for letting me tag along at his wedding and live out my all black and white film wedding fantasy.  here are a few images from the day.  

fall mini sessions in wisconsin- September 13th!

Fall is here, and Im scheduling Mini Sessions in Wisconsin... at CAMP WANDAWEGA! 

not familiar? check out my previous post on it's awesomeness. i've always wanted to do family sessions there, it is the most incredible place, full of gorgeous nooks and crannies. This year I wont be doing any full sessions*, just mini sessions to keep the price affordable for all and utilize this incredible space to it's fullest.  at 400.00 for a session,  this is a STEAL compared to my regular session prices, PLUS the incredible location of Wandawega totally makes this a once in a lifetime session. Camp Wandawega is just a one hour drive from Madison or 45 minutes from Milwaukee, and you've arrived at a vintage boy-scout camp on a beautiful lake, with charming vignettes everywhere you look. We will be shooting rain or shine, because you can not take a bad picture here. it's photography magic. what i wouldn't give for a session with me and my own kids here. 

Contact me at lexia@lexiafrank.com  or the form below to schedule your time slot- so excited to see you there! 

*i may have time for one or two full sessions off-site of camp wandawega on saturday sept 12 or thursday september 17th, on an extremely limited basis, so if you are interested, definitely contact me ASAP!