10 Ways to have the most wonderful wedding imaginable

 Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

Wedding Fun

                By dr Frank – www.frankkendralla.com

                www.kendrallaphotography.com

1. Relax – Your emotions will show in your pictures and to your guests.  Relax and enjoy your day!
2. Hire a professional wedding coordinator.  Put the pressure and stress on a professional who understands the inner workings of a wedding.  Their role is to take the burden of coordination off you and/or a family member or friend.
3. Hire a professional wedding photographer and ensure you get along well with your photographer.  You will spend many hours with them on your wedding day.  The expertise of a professional helps reduce the stress of the day.
4. Reception – special songs by a guest or two.  If you have family members who can sing (especially young family members), their singing a song to the bride and groom always brings tears and laughter to the guests. I will never forget when my granddaughter sang L.O.V.E. to her aunt (bride) during my youngest daughter’s wedding reception.  Tears of joy flowed throughout the reception hall.
5. Honor others during the reception.  If there is a guest that has a significant anniversary or birthday, dedicate a dance to them.  It always brings tears to my eyes when the bride and groom dedicate a dance to family members with 30, 40, 50, 60+ years of marriage.  I always cry when the couple brings a cake to a (great) grandparent for their birthday. 
6. Plan on the variable and ensure there is enough time for stuff to happen.  Please understand delays happen during the day.  Traffic delays cause bridal party members to arrive late and/or cause delays between the ceremony and reception hall.
7. Provide maps and directions for your guests.  Although many folks have GPS devices in their cars, smart phones, etc., a printed map is always handy.  I doubt that I will ever forget the time I was in an area with very limited GPS coverage and how valuable the printed map proved to be for the guests.
8. Emergency Kit – A small kit with needle, thread, pins, handy wipes, mints, etc for those emergency situations that seem to appear at the craziest time during a wedding.
9. Eat – Yes, many brides and bridesmaids refrain from eating but remember the day is long and the opportunity to eat is limited.  I always suggest keeping an energy or fruit bar in the ‘emergency kit’.  Although chocolate is enjoyable, it might not look great if it melts on a dress or is in your teeth for pictures.
10. Relax and enjoy your special day!  Permit others to help and honor you during your day!

Fun Wedding in Beaver County

10 Ways to have the most wonderful wedding imaginable

Keep in mind that the most important tip is to have fun, relax, and enjoy your day!

Member - 

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) 

10 Tips to have wonderful wedding images from your wedding photographer.

Easter Choir - Victory Family Church Celebrating the Resurrection of Christ

Victory Family Church

Easter at Victory Family Church

For more than ten years I have had the distinct honor of photographing events as a volunteer for Victory Family Church and every year my enthusiasm and excitement grows more and more.  There are many events that take place throughout the year celebrating holidays, baby dedications, water baptism but my favorite holiday of the year is Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The choir did an amazing job Saturday night (and I am positive they did the same for Sunday AM).  I never grow tired of hearing the Gospel of Christ preached.  The ultimate sacrifice for sin was paid but the resurrection is the victory over death and the grave. 1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  Many times last night I was moved to tears listening to the voices singing praises to the Lord and seeing the hands raised to Him.

Glowing Cross

As a photographer, light is very meaningful to me and last night the lighting and sound team did an amazing job accenting the singers and adding emotion through light and sound.  From my vantage points (as I moved about the church), the sound and light seemed to come alive as the light danced around the singers and sent accents throughout the crowd.  Moving about the church, I could see others moved to tears of joyous emotion as they worshiped the Lord and praised Him for salvation, healing, and life. 

Singing with lifted hands of Praise. 

 After the tremendous singing of praise, Pastor John preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Our Risen Saviour.  Throughout the message, my eyes and heart were filled with tears of joy and celebration!  They were celebrating the fact that we are not redeemed by our works but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Singing Praises with lifted hands

Today many families (including ours) will celebrate this amazing event with a meal of roasted lamb.  I find it amazing that this small simple animal represents and signifies an amazing truth.  When it is served, it is called by its name.  Lamb.  Unlike many other meats when served, its name is simple.  It does not have an over complicated name hiding its origin but it is served in a simple fashion.  Just like the Gospel of Christ - very simple.  Salvation through Christ is not over complicated nor is it filled with a special code.  Receive Him as your Saviour today! 

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

 

Pastor Peter Penrose

Matthew 28:6-7 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 

 

Victory Family Church Eggstravaganza - April 6 and 7

RC Cars visited in 2011

Eggstravaganza time again 

in Cranberry Twp - 

Bring the entire family to Eggstravaganza at 

Victory Family Church in Cranberry Twp, PA

When: Friday, April 6 & April 7
Time: 11 am to 2 pm
Cost: Free for all of the activities


Who is invited - everyone! 100,000 eggs to hunt, balloon artists, inflatable rides, puppet show, and much more.
  
There is plenty of fun to go around for everyone!  This event is free for all activities (food vendors accept cash)


More details at http://www.lifeatvictory.com/eggstravaganza/.

This is a fun filled event for the entire family! I photograph this event every year and enjoy seeing the kids run, slide (in the snow some years), and enjoy life!  However, more important come out watch an amazing puppet show which shares the love of Christ in a manner everyone can love, understand, and enjoy.

Last year we heard the tremendous story told by the trees and their friends:

Puppet Show

Many years I watch the show multiple times because I enjoy hearing the message taught, listening, to the kids giggle, laugh, and shout. 


Regardless of your age, stop by and watch the puppet show.  It is bring a smile to your face, a tear to your eye as it always tells a tremendous truth!


Tell your friends, neighbors, family, and folks you want to have as friends!

Eggstravaganza

The Gathering Place - Darlington Lake - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer - Uncorking A Cure for Cystic Fibrosis Wine Tasting Event

The Gathering Place - Darlington Lake - Uncorking A Cure for Cystic Fibrosis Wine Tasting Event

Gathering Place

I wanted to continue to show the beauty of this facility and discuss an upcoming event.  On Friday, August 26, 2011, The Gathering Place is hosting a Wine tasting benefit for Cystic Fibrosis.  The event is called "Uncorking A Cure for Cystic Fibrosis Wine Tasting Benefit".

7 pm - 10 pm - rain or shine - no refund

Event tickets are $25 -


If you are interested in obtaining a ticket, please contact The Gathering Place.  (Below is an excerpt from their Facebook post.)

UNCORKING A CURE!!! Tickets close to selling out! Please call or email for ticket purchase. 724.827.2833 gatheringplaceatdarlingtonlake​@yahoo.com

$25/ticket OR $100 for "Friends of Uncorking A Cure"= 2 tix/2 wine glases/name recognition in program. Friday, AUGUST 26, 7-10pm. Three PA wineries, beer tasting station, auctions, give-a-ways...ETC!!! Don't miss this wonderful fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis!!!!

Darlington Lake

We will be at this event displaying some of our wedding work and taking portraits along the lake for purchase.   In addition, if time permits, we will document some of the activities from the exciting day.  


Please stop by and visit us and you might win a prize or two too. :-D










The Gathering Place - Darlington Lake - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer - Uncorking A Cure for Cystic Fibrosis Wine Tasting Event

Reflections of OUR Love - Danica and Nichlas - Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

Danica and Nichlas were married on July 9, 2011 at the Memorial Park Presbyterian Church and their reception was at the Crowne Plaze in Moon twp, PA. 

This is one of two images that I shot in the area outside their reception.  One item that I always look for when finding a location for a reception portrait is a reflective surface.  I noticed this beautiful black piano when I was walking in the hallway early in the evening.  Immediately, I knew that I wanted a shot with the two love birds reflecting in the piano.

There are a few items within the image that caught my attention.
I liked the partial frame above their head from the curtains and the line below them from the piano.

The soft glow behind Danica immediately caught my attention as well as the reflection displayed in the surface.

The Crowne Plaze Hotel is located north west of Pittsburgh and close to the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Logan - New Born Baby Photography - Beaver County

Logan, welcome to the world!

I had the honor to photograph Logan a few days after he was born.  I plan to add a few images along with this show in the next few days.  Please check back for more new born images.

HDR - Trey Ratcliff from Stuck In Customs just released a new Photography, HDR, And Post-Processing Course

The Chadwick - Wedding Receptions HDR Image

Trey Ratcliff from Stuck In Customs just released a new Photography, HDR, And Post-Processing Course that I know you'll like.  There's over 11 hours of training on everything from composition to post-processing.  If you want to learn HDR, I recommend checking out Trey's course here.

I learned how to do HDR Photography from Trey Ratcliff of StuckInCustoms.com, and I have good news!  Trey just released a new Photography, HDR, And Post-Processing Course that will teach you everything you need to know.  Check it out here.

Every morning like clockwork, I can't wait to check out the new photo posted over at StuckInCustoms.com.  I saw that Trey has released a new Photography, HDR, And Post-Processing Course.  Over 11 hours of learning from Trey?  


Both of these images were shot as HDR images and I utilized the skills that I learned from Trey.  


After a recent wedding reception at The Chadwick, I set-up my tri-pod in the nearly empty parking lot and took a few images.  Both images are a combination of 5 images with the aperture set to f/8.  


"Geeky info"
Nikon D300
Tamron 17-50
f/8
5 Images

Pittsburgh Wedding Photography HDR image

High School Senior Portraits and Weddings by dr Frank

Seneca Valley Portraits

Black Hawk School District Portraits

Contact dr Frank to photograph your wedding, portraits, or special event.

Visit dr Frank's portfolio site for more fun, exciting, and colorful photographs of weddings in and around Pittsburgh, PA 

Specializing in Wedding and Portrait Photography

Beaver County, Pittsburgh, and surrounding communities.

Wedding Engagement Session - Stephanie & Steve - Buttermilk Falls - Beaver County Photographer

Stephanie and Steve
Wedding Engagement Session
Buttermilk Falls ~ Beaver County, PA
Northwest of Pittsburgh, PA

If you follow this blog you will notice a familiar setting.  Buttermilk Falls
I try to take photographs at this location in all four seasons since the look is similar but not the same.  In the winter, the falls are a large frozen mass.  In the spring, the water is flowing fast and furious with a tremendous roar making normal speech a challenge to be heard.  The amazing part about photographing in the spring over any other time of the year is the size of the falls and the look that can be created.

I love to look at images with a water falls that has the soft creamy look.  This effect is easily obtained by slowing down the shutter to 1/15 second or slower.  However, the challenge is when there are people in the photo and standing on slick mud on a hillside without a tri-pod.  I asked the couple to stand as still as possible and I crouched low and braced my arms on my body.  This enabled me to hand hold this shot at 1/15 second which created the dreamy look.

Buttermilk Falls Portraits

Wedding Engagement Buttermilk Falls

After spending at least thirty minutes around the falls, we decided it was time to go to the spot above the falls which presents a beautiful view of the falls and surrounding area.

Steve brought his Harley and I couldn't pass up grabbing a few shots of it when the sun was nearly gone.

Harley Davidson Beaver Falls

Silhouette with Parasol  

High School Senior Portraits and Weddings by dr Frank

Contact dr Frank to photograph your wedding, portraits, or special event.

Visit dr Frank's portfolio site for more fun, exciting, and colorful photographs of weddings in and around Pittsburgh, PA 

Specializing in Wedding and Portrait Photography

Beaver County, Pittsburgh, and surrounding communities.

HDR - Black and White - Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

Cranberry Portrait Photography

I took this image at Fun 4 All in Cranberry Twp, PA.  It is one of the most interesting buildings I ever saw on a miniature golf course.  It is a composite of five images combined in Nik Software - HDR efex pro and Silver efex pro 2.

Immediately when I saw the building, many different variations of a final image came to mind.  The sky was cloudy and a storm was fast approaching.  The storm sky creating a tremendous backdrop.  In my opinion, much better than a beautiful sunny day.  The strong contrasts in the sky created the perfect mood for the image.

I could have spent hours with different angles and views.  However, there was not enough time and I was able to get a few fun shots of this building.  Many ideas came to mind for portraits and different backdrops.  A fun shot would be to position a bride on the steps and let the contrasting background build the image or a high school senior in formal wear and a guitar.  So many different ideas come to mind.  As a photographer with the right setting, we are only limited by our imagination and time.



Shot detail:
5 images combined
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8
ISO 200
Lightroom and Nik Software
Manfrotto Tri pod
Nikon D300s

The second image is the same five images combined to create a different look.  This second look gives the appearance of an old photograph of a hillbilly home in the mountains.  I can imagine folks singing and dancing in the background.  A few different techniques were applied to create a completely different look.

HDR Photography by dr Frank

I learned HDR Photography from Trey Ratcliff, and you can too! 
Check out his new course here:
Click here to view more details

High School Senior Portraits and Weddings by dr Frank

Contact dr Frank to photograph your wedding, portraits, or special event.

Visit dr Frank's portfolio site for more fun, exciting, and colorful photographs of weddings in and around Pittsburgh, PA 

Specializing in Wedding and Portrait Photography

Beaver County, Pittsburgh, and surrounding communities.

Club at Shadow Lakes - Wedding Reception Photos - reflections

Club at Shadow Lakes Wedding Reception

 Club at Shadow Lakes - Wedding Reception - Bride & Groom First Dance

 
Every reception hall has certain characteristics that assist the photographer in creating unique images during a wedding reception or other event.  The Club at Shadow Lakes in Aliquippa, PA has a beautiful, reflective dance floor.  In the first photograph of the bride and groom's first dance, I utilized the special lighting by Uplighting specialist (DJ) Frank Gloor of Otto Productions to create a very unique and interesting photograph of the couple's first dance.

The unique blend of colors created a beautiful mirrored image of the couple as they danced in perfect harmony to their song.  As they looked into each other's eyes, I am sure they were not thinking about the beauty of the lighting or the reflections of the floor.  No doubt the groom was mesmerized by the beauty of his bride and gazed endlessly into her eyes.  Although the guest were talking in the background, their voices where muffled compared to the sound of each other's heart in their ears.

In the first photo, there was no flash or extra lighting used except what was provided by Otto Productions.  Notice how beautiful all of the colors look not only in the reflections in the floor but also along the windows and ceiling.

In the second photo, I utilized not only the lights from Otto Productions but we also back-lit the bride and groom utilizing a wireless flash and video lights. This lighting set-up created the glow and highlights surrounding the couple.

Wedding Reception First Dance

Uplighting Otto Productions

Club at Shadow Lakes Reflections

Geek stuff: Nikon D300 - Tamron 17-50 f/2.8

Book dr Frank to photograph your wedding.

www.kendralla.com
www.kendrallaphotography.com

Finding Vivian Maier - Street Photographer - Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

Many will recognize the name of Cartier Bresson as a street photographer but very few will recognize the name of Vivian Maier.  Until recently, her amazing collection of over 100k images were not seen publicly. In this amazing story of how she captured over 100k images in Chicago and around the world as an unknown street photographer is amazing.

A link to this information was sent to me by a friend and since reading the behind the scene story and admiring Vivian's work, I felt I must pass on this information.  It appears that Vivian accomplished what many photographers aspire to achieve.  "Capturing life as it happens."  There are some street photographers that talk to their subject prior to the photograph and others capture the photograph with little to no interaction.

This is not a story about her gear (although there is some discussion); it is a story of a woman who was an outstanding street photographer.

The sad part about this story is that Vivian died before her work was on public display and unfortunately never was able to participate in its public showing. There is a blog dedicated to her work which is linked on the side of this blog.  In addition, there is a documentary being made about her work and life.  Vivian was a nanny as her day job but it is apparent she was passionate about photography and capturing life as it unfolds.

Please take the time to review the video below as well as visit the blog which contains more images from her collection.



This link will take you to a good article on her too.

www.kendralla.com
www.frankkendralla.com

Holiday Photography Plans Pittsburgh Wedding and Portrait Photography

What a tremendous spring, summer, and fall we had for photography!  I apologize for the lack of posts here and the only reason is an excuse.  - Busy, Busy, Busy with weddings, portraits, and some personal items.

This will be a quick post but as we go into the winter, I plan to return to at least one post per week.

The holiday season is upon us and many photographs will be taken.  Take the time to capture the memories your family will want to hold and cherish.  However, do not forget a few important items.

1. Have fun! - Do not make taking pictures a chore or hindrance to your family events
2. Include YOU in the photographs
3. Print the photographs

Too often the images are posted on-line to Facebook and many other social networking sites.  However, they are never printed.  It almost appears to me that folks believe that these places will be around for our viewing pleasure 20-50 years from now.  Although there is a chance they will be around, I doubt that they will be in the same format that we see them now.

My concern is that many of these memories will be lost if they are not printed.  Please take the time to make prints.  My favorite print for this year is the thin wrap with satin metallic finish (other than albums and brag books - more on these items in the future).  Typically, I use Bay Photo for my prints (both professional and personal work) and ACI labs for my albums and brag books.

The second point is that WE (that take pictures) are not included in the images.  Take the time to have someone else get a photo of you or put your camera on a tripod and fire away.

Below is an image from a recent wedding engagement session.   The great looking background is the interior of a building at a local park.  I constantly look for new places to take portraits and I am amazed how many are available at local parks.  Do the same thing in your area.  As you drive around, notice the lighting, textures and other areas that might make a great family photo. 

I plan to post more over the next few months with ideas and tips for photographing your family at these locations.

The couple was lit with a combination of available side light (camera left) and some fill light from an off camera flash (SB800) through an umbrella mounted on a light stand (camera right).

For many of my portraits I am now using two different lenses.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 and the Nikon 85mm f/1.8.  The sharpness and speed of these two lenses have made them my favorite portrait lenses.

Typically, shots of more than one individual I am using the 35mm (unless I want the background to blur out and disappear) .  Recently, I did a group photo of over 15 individuals using the 35mm with great success.  I plan to discuss this great little lens in future posts.

Nik Software - HDR Efex - first impression - Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

This is not a full review of the software but it is my initial impression.  - Outstanding piece of software!  Download the trial today and play with it.  The software is well worth the fun time involved and is unlike any of the other HDR software products I attempted to use.  I tried nearly every HDR software on the market from Photomatix to Photoshop CS5's HDR blend mode.  None of them were very intuitive nor did they create a look that I wanted.  For most of my 'HDR' work, I used Topaz Adjust (until now) with good success. 

Over the weekend I had the privilege of photographing an engagement shoot in Seven Springs, PA.  The  weather was perfect and the sky was beautiful.  I could have spent all day photographing the scenery (and I am not a typical landscape photographer so this is not my normal photo routine)

The software works seamlessly with Lightroom and all of Nik's other plugins.  I used HDR Efex Pro with the complete collection and added a little touch where needed.  My first recommendation is to download the 15 day trial and watch the many free webinars hosted by Nik Software.

The first and third image is the inside of a beautiful living room owned by 'groom' to be.  Both images are made up of  a five image bracketed shot and processed using the 'realistic' preset.  I added control points on the windows, doors, and a few other places to bring out the outside scenery.

The second image is processed with some stronger controls taking it to the next level in viewing pleasure.  I loved the textures and overall look of the scene.  This image is 7 bracketed stops. Nikon D300 - tripod for stability. (standing on the side of the road wasn't very secure.  :-D )


If you own the collection, call Nik Software and inquire about their upgrade package deals.  HDR Efex pro might even be free, depending when you bought your collection.

So why is HDR important for indoor room photography?  In the past, when I would shoot these types of shots, there were always many challenges.

Lighting - something would get blown out in the scene and getting the windows to look 'natural' was almost impossible under 'normal' circumstances.

Either extreme dark or light spots would be present in the scene and it would be nearly impossible to correct. 

I plan to experiment more with indoor architectural type shots using accent lighting and other methods to enhance the scene. 

All of these were done on a tripod which makes for a nicer, crisper image.  Shoot with the lowest ISO possible and ensure you utilize either manual or aperture priority, keeping the aperture constant throughout the bracketed images.  Changing only the shutter speed or the exposure compensation.  Do not change the ISO or the aperture. 
Before you run the bracketed shots through HDR Efex, I adjusted the white balance and cropping to be the exact same for all 5-7 images.  This will help with the overall image. More of these type of shots to follow.

www.kendrallaphotography.com

Get out and enjoy the beauty of God's creation!

Mixing available light and strobes - Cory High School Senior Portraits

When photographing outdoors, it is critical to take into consideration the available light (ambient) even when using strobes.  In this photograph, I positioned Cory in the shade but utilized the fast setting sun that was behind him.  Since he was in the shade, if I didn't use an alternate light source to light his face, it would have been underexposed.  

There are multiple ways to obtain the proper exposure on the face (when back lit) and my favorite is to shoot in manual exposure.  Although it can seem very daunting at first; shooting in manual exposure isn't as difficult as it was many years ago.

In this case, I metered for the background but overexposed it slighting to eliminate some of the unattractive far background that couldn't be avoided from this angle.  In addition, I wanted the middle ground (barrel and part of the porch post) to be partially scene and not underexposed by too much.  (I was using the pole and side of the house to frame him too and I didn't want it to be too dark.)

Sean's mom held the strobe on a pole camera left.  I adjusted the output of the flash to light his face but not overexpose it.  I used the Nikon SB800 set to TTL and modified the light output of the flash from the commander mode in the camera.  This setting enabled me to dial down the flash output by 1 stop of light. 

The light from the sun acted as a hair light and gave some separation from the rest of the scene. 

If a helper isn't available, then a light stand is an option which works well normally.  (When using a light stand, I use my camera bag on one of the legs of the stand to keep it from falling over on uneven surfaces or in the case of a windy shooting environment.)

Get out and enjoy the fun of capturing God's creation!

www.kendralla.com

www.kendrallaphotography.com

The most important picture part 1 - Pittsburgh Wedding Photography

The most important picture is the one you take and is kept cherished for many generations. This is a picture of my mom and dad from over 50 years ago.  (This post is not to be morbid but is meant to encourage each of us to take photos, share photos, and understand their value and importance in the lives of generations to come.)

My mom died last week (Sept. 2, 2010) at the young age of 73 and this is one of hundreds of photos she kept from our family's history.  She kept photos from her childhood and of people that unfortunately, I will never know.  Sunday, I spent a few hours scanning and cleaning images of her life.  Why did it take so long?  Because I spent hours looking at and crying over each one cherishing their value.  The actual time it took to scan and clean the images (remove dust, scratches, etc) might have been 1/10th of the time I spent with the images.  I could not take my eyes off each image.  It is a part of my families history and I will do everything possible to preserve the images for my children, grandchildren, and future generations to come.  We have pictures from their wedding nearly 56 years ago and other images dating 65+ years ago. 

Although we have hundreds of images that my mom and others took and thousands that I took, I am looking for more.  Images that never were taken.  Images that I wish we  I insisted we take.  

My sister asked that I create a table top album of our parents lives.  Although it will be a daunting (not because of the work involved but because of the tears involved) task, it will be a work of love.  I encourage everyone that reads this post to understand the value of pictures that we take today for future generations.  No doubt when this image was taken, my parents like the image.  However, there is little doubt in my mind that this image was looked at for years by my parents (their wedding picture is still on their wall) and its value today is thousands times more than the few cents it cost to print this image over 50 years ago.

The walls, shelves, refrigerator door, and any other holding place, is filled with photographs of our lives.  It includes pictures of when my sister and I were growing up, my children, grandchildren, relatives, and people I don't know.  


Many of the images are 'poor' quality that were taken with a Polaroid with a harsh flash or instamatic camera and no flash.  However, there are many excellent images taken with better cameras and by professional photographers.  Regardless of the quality of the image, they are a treasured image and a part of my families heritage.


I am sure I learned the value of a photograph by observing the collection of images (but its complete value was manifested last week when my mom died) growing up and living in a household that took pictures not stop. 


When I cover a wedding or other significant event, I do everything possible to take pictures of everyone that wants or doesn't want their picture taken.  The value of the image might not be known until 50 years from now when their child or grandchild sits with the print in hand (yes print not digital file) and cries with tears of joy laughing at the outfit worn today.  They might sit and be thankful that someone took time to preserve a little piece of their families history by pressing the shutter, preserving a fraction of a second that will have value years into the future.


The value of a print is why I encourage families, couples, and everyone else to make/purchase prints and albums of their special day.  The wedding album isn't just an album but it is an heirloom that will have value thousands times its current value years from now.  

After I complete the album of my parents/grandparents, I will print a copy for each of our children.  Its value to them and their children (my grandchildren) will be priceless.  I can only image what will be said of the images 50-100 years from now when my grandchildren, great grandchildren, sit and look at the albums.  

I lost count of the times that I attempted to photograph someone but they didn't want their picture taken for one reason or another.  I get comments like, "I don't take good pictures".   That's okay.  I am taking the picture (is what I want to say) and the picture is for (fill in the blank - bride and groom, your mom, dad, sister, aunt, etc).  


I was talking to one of my wife's sisters over this past weekend and we both agreed on the same thing.  Regardless of what anyone else says, each family event will conclude with a group/family photo.  We will not care if the kids (big or little :-D ) don't want their photo taken.  There will be no one safe from the camera.  


For the funeral, I went through thousands I images that I took over the years and cried and laughed.  I looked at images of my father in law who died a few years ago.  I looked at images of my grandkids when they were just born or when my grandchildren were dedicated to the Lord.  I looked at images of my bride nearly 32 years ago and how young we were and marveled at my hair.  Where oh where did it go?  :-D


Mom, we will love you forever and a day!


What is the value of a picture?  In some cases, it is priceless. 

Lindsey and Andrew - Wedding Prep at Double Tree Hotel

Lindsey and Andrew were married on July 3, 2010.

I had a tremendous time photographing the time prior to the wedding ceremony of Lindsey and Andrew.  Everyone laughing and getting ready at the Double Tree Hotel in Moon Township.  The guys were on the same floor but the opposite end of the hotel compared to the ladies.  This made photographing them less like a sporting event.  :-D

The ceremony was held at St. Therese Catholic Church in Munhall, PA.  We made the trip around the city of Pittsburgh without any delays.  Although the city was preparing for the holiday weekend with boats in the water and temperatures rising near 100 degrees, the ladies were very comfortable in their limo bus.

This short multimedia show is the first of others made to cover the wedding day of Lindsey and Andrew.  All the ladies looked beautiful in their gowns and the guys wore some of the fanciest shoes ever.  Look for them in the shows and check out Andrew's shoes as he rested and waited.



Lindsey Andrew Wedding Prep from Frank Kendralla on Vimeo.

Check out more images at www.kendralla.com under weddings.  Part two of this series will include some of the images from the ceremony and the group photos we took on Mt. Washington with the city of Pittsburgh as a back drop.

James Centre - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers

James Centre - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

Recently, I had the privilege of photographing (documenting) a ten year anniversary celebration. The event was held at the James Centre in Pittsburgh. The evening started with family portraits of the couple and their two children. After the portraits the couple recommitted their lives together through a renewing of the vows. It was a beautiful ceremony followed with a first dance and toasts from many different friends and family. The D.J. gave an amazing toast and tribute to the couple followed by a tear jerking toast by their daughter. The toasts were followed by a beautiful dinner and an amazing looking cake.

Throughout the night, candid shots and portraits were taken to document the family’s event. Instead of a typical photo booth, we took portraits and images of folks enjoying themselves in different parts of the James Centre. No evening would be complete without dancing from all age groups. This evening was no different. The dancing ending with a fun filled ‘soul train’ dance. I have photographed and attended many events but this was one of the best ‘soul train’ endings ever. In fact, it looked like so much fun that I wanted to join in. However, if you ever saw me dance, you will know why I don’t dance and I stick to photography. It started with songs from the original soul train to modern songs that kept folks hopping, skipping, and dancing into the night.

James Centre - Pittsburgh PA Wedding Receptions

The evening was very similar to a wedding reception with the cutting of a beautiful cake. Guests had the opportunity to enjoy beautiful looking fruit, pastries, and other snacks while we completed the family portraits. The James Centre offers an impressive looking reception area with a nice dance floor and a “U” shaped balcony that has extra seating and photo opportunities. The west side of the facility is lined with windows that enabled beautiful lighting well into the evening. The James Centre is located minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and is very close to many photo opportunity areas including the West End Overlook, Mount Washington, Station Square, North Side, and many others.

Beautiful Pittsburgh Wedding Receptions

There is no doubt many Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers have shot and will photograph many fun filled events at the James Centre in Pittsburgh.  I am sure there are many brides who do not know this beautiful facility exists for their wedding reception or other event.

If you would like to contact me to photograph your Pittsburgh Wedding, please complete this contact form.

 
 
 
 
 

Capturing the beauty of your home town - Turn Around

When I visit Memphis, one location I enjoy photographing is the Crystal Grotto.  Located within the Memorial Park Cemetery. Yes, in a cemetery.  This image looks like something from a theme park but it is from a cemetery.  On this trip, I didn't have much time before it was dark and I was attempting to get a unique sunset.  However, the sun kept moving behind the clouds and I decided to turn around and I noticed this amazing looking scene.  Typically, I would put on a circular polarizer to bring in the clouds.  However, I did not have time and I exposed for the sky/clouds and underexposed the subject.  I wanted the clouds to accent this great looking scene.  Since I shoot in raw, I was able to bring up the exposure in the main part of the scene while keeping the detail of the beautiful sky.  

This type of scenery helps create very unique looking images when used as a base for portraits.  I can image a couple standing on the walk with the beautiful sky as the backdrop to an eerie scene.  Convert this scene to a black and white and the mood changes.  Darken the image more, place a subject near the door with a small amount of light on their face and the scene changes even more. 

I can image many different light and scene combinations for this one setting.  This image looks as if it is a very scary image from a horror film or children's adventure story.  My hint and suggestion for today.  Turn around and look at each scene in a different manner.  In this case, I was looking for a sunset but found unique lighting angles for this amazing setting.  When you see a beautiful sunset, turn around and look where the light is falling.  You might find an interesting view that you never noticed before.

In this final image, I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and turned around to see this beautiful twilight image.  Very little modification was done in the computer for this image.  The skies were amazing.

As always - get out and enjoy the beauty of life!