2009 Wedding Trends

As the old year departs and the new year begins, it’s time to check in on what wedding experts think will be hot this year. We’ve compiled some of the more interesting ones along with a link to their respective prognosticators:

Hot Color: Mimosa - according to Nina Calloway of About.com, Pantone 14-0848 TCX, or Mimosa, will be the bright, optimistic color of the year. While she does NOT recommend you use the color for an obnoxiously bright bridesmaid dress, she does offer other recommendations, Click HERE to see her blog post. 

Hot Wedding Dress Trend: A little leg and fashion-forward style: According to Bride.com and several other online resources, showing a little leg is in this year. While this may be too risque for the more conservative bunch, keeping an eye on fashion forward styles should not deter anyone. A comprehensive slideshow of styles is presented HERE.

Hot Photo Trend: The updated Photo Booth - according to The Knot, having your photographer provide you with options for renting a photo booth - complete with backdrops and props - is an up and coming trend. Click HERE to read more tips from The knot.

Hot “Green” Trend: Going Green and staying Green - This one is according to us. Although green wedding options have steadily grown in popularity over the last couple of years, the current economic downturn may seem like an easy time to “cop-out” on going green. It may seem that eco-friendly options are more expensive than conventional ones, but it’s been our experience that this is not true. Be it a green alternative to conventional items such as invitations, albums, flowers or dresses, prices are, many times, comparable.

So, remember to stay informed and stay green. Good luck.

wedding photographer and videographer - dynamic duo

Nikon D90

Stanley Kubrick got me into photography. Already a fan of his films, I saw a documentary on the man and his films where I learned that he started out as a photographer. A lengthy explanation ensued on how his photographic skills (”the eye of the photographer,” as the narrator said) led to Kubrick’s distinct visual style. That’s all I needed to hear - I, too, would become a photographer followed by my big movie idea (an artsy, edgy cross between Joe Vs. The Volcano and Spaceballs). 

Fifteen years later, I am nowhere closer to that movie I’ve always wanted to make, but something very interesting is happening in the camera industry - still cameras are taking video. It’s as if that movie is coming to me, now.

“Hey, dummy, my mom’s point-n-shoot has been doing that for ages,” you might say and you would be right. But, with 720p HD capabilities on the Nikon D90 and full HD capabilities on the new Canon 5D Mark II, you and your mom have never had it this good. Without going into why it’s taken these two companies this long to get video features into their dSLR cameras, it’s obvious that a shift is happening, here - photography and video are intertwining into a hybrid field. Look at Apple’s iphoto or web services like Animoto - they take still pictures and add motion to them to create something resembling a video. With the launch of these cameras, the shift seems to be complete. All this begs several questions:

• Is a still picture just plain boring, nowadays?
• Can a photographer be a videographer at the same wedding?
• Is this a fad?

Hello!

Welcome to our blog. We are Germein Photography and are green wedding photographers and wedding videographers living in California. Most of our weddings are located in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas but we’ve travel up to San Francisco and the Bay area as well. We hope this serves as a resource for brides by discussing wedding vendors that we love. We’ll talk about all our efforts going green too!

Germein and Jessica

Eco-friendly Photo Papers

There’s quite a bit of opportunity for photographers to go green.  A direct contribution can be made by choosing an environmentally friendly option from the currently available papers (for photos and matting). There are several sophisticated options available that will make you change your mind about being green. Some tree-free options are fiber paper, cotton rag, and bamboo. Because these options are tree free, they are naturally acid-free and lignin-free so your art prints will look good hundreds of years from now.

1. Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper
Fiber paper is usually a mix of fibers which can include cotton, hemp, and banana leaf. This is number one for us for our enlargements. Fiber paper gives art prints a distinguishing texture, weight, and remarkable surface quality.

2. Hahnemuhle Bamboo 290 Photographic Paper
This is the first fine art inkjet paper made from bamboo grass fibers. Bamboo is a great choice for photo paper if the bamboo forest is FSC certified (waiting for a reply from Hahnemuhle on this one). This paper has a beautiful warm tone since it’s naturally white. A bonus is that a portion of the revenue is donated in supporting environmental projects.

3. Crescent RagMat
Rag matboard is made from cotton fibers and has an extremely soft texture. RagMat is the only matboard guaranteed safe next to prints and it meets museum conservation standards. The only other more green option for matboard is recycled matboard, but it’s not recommended for preservation. We love the look and feel of RagMat so much that we print our business cards on it!

Click here for the “Green in Print” pdf published by The Nature Conservancy.