Gorgeous Green

Here at balance, we are big fans of the Green Bride Guide. Author Kate Harrison and her staff of dedicated writers and designers do a terrific job making eco-friendly wedding/event options accessible and affordable to everyone. We had the pleasure of meeting Kate at last winter's Mid-Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase and she even autographed my copy of her book!

Well, as it turns out, one of the bloggers at the GBG is a fan of balance, too!

We were super excited recently to be included in Stephanie's blog about vintage birdcage veils. She used the images below, which were shot last year. All those incredible hairstyles were by Ashley Riddle, of Up Do's for I Do's fame, and the veils all came from our fave Ellicott City vintage shop, Retropolitan.

And then we were asked to submit a photo of the week, too, to be included on the cover of the website. Woo-hoo! This week's theme was beach weddings. Below are happy couple Derrick and Heather, who got married in Costa Rica! Heather's dress was gently used and her flowers were picked by the roadside. Supa green!

Thanks Stephanie & everyone at the Green Bride Guide for including balance on your site!

~ Rissa

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

We're taking our show back on the road, and we will be at the T.Rose International Bridal Show this weekend at the Pikesville Hilton, 1726 Reisterstown Rd., Baltimore MD 21208, from noon to 4pm.

Brides can meet all sorts of wedding pros (including balance!), attend planning seminars, watch a bridal fashion show, sample delish cake and other goodies and enter to win a free honeymoon!

Tickets are $7.50 in advance and $10 at the door. Visit the T. Rose Management website for details or to buy your tickets!

See you there!

~Rissa

May Eternal

Sometimes it doesn't really feel like all that long ago when Nathaniel and I were high school seniors, preparing for our individual graduations, ready to take on the world.

I mean, it was a good bit ago. More than 15 years. Gosh - where does the time go?

Still, so many things about May seem eternal. And graduates are one of them. All over you see cards and gifts for grads - and picture frames with one of two things - the cheesy shot where you are shaking the hand of your principal or dean, clutching your dipoma. Yes we both have those photos too - the ones you buy from the school or college as a 5x7 and hope you aren't blinking as you reach for the diploma. I'm not even sure where mine are... maybe at my parents' house someplace...

Or the other ultimate high school photo - your senior picture, which was likely taken the summer or fall before your senior year.

I am so ancient - my senior photos were nothing at all like the totally cool senior photos people get now. I had a black velvet drape on and one pose/one shot. It was not cute. These were the days of film photos - there was no magical Photoshop to erase blemishes or stray hairs.

Things improved a little in the five years until it was time for Nathaniel to have his senior photos... just look at these beauties. We have this little number proudly on display in the office. My favorite waivers between the shot of him in overalls posing with the large "98" and the all-white suit. And the marble-texture folio is also a fabulous thing! : )

Things really have improved since then. Thank goodness. Nowadays senior photos look more like fashion pictures than painful, stilted studio shots. And do they even make those big corny dates for seniors to pose on anymore? I hope not!

Last week, Nathaniel's cousin Jesse graduated from high school. It's crazy - I remember when I was taller than Jesse. It just doesn't seem that long ago and now Jesse is six feet tall and a high school grad, getting ready to start college this fall in Tennessee.

Anyhow... as I sit here typing this blog, our assistant Jacqueline is getting ready to leave for the day - heading to her little brother Sam's high school graduation in Howard County. Hopefully Sam keeps his eyes open when he shakes hands with the principal tonight for that photo op. : )

One day, not too long from now - I hope Jesse and Sam can look back and remember their senior year and graduation as one of those awesome milestones and truly cherish the memory. And hopefully, they also have some silly senior photos and hand-shake shots to mark the occasion.

Congrats to all the grads of 2010 - we wish you all your dreams come true ~

Rissa

Getting some Ink

There is little we can compare to the honor of being trusted to document someone's wedding day. It is beyond simply flattering - it is like begin trusted to be part of someone's family for a very, very important event. Not much comes close to this kind of compliment from a client or a friend - it makes all of our clients our friends.

One thing that is even more exciting, though, is when our couples love their images so much, they want to share them with the whole world. Or at least the magazine-reading public. That's just what Ashley & Decker did with their October 2009 wedding.

Ashley & Decker were married on Decker's family farm in Franklin, TN during a beautiful fall day. The couple had a southern-style farm wedding, complete with floral arrangements in ball jars, homemade benches as ceremony pews and a live country band providing the entertainment. The bride's something blue was the blue stitching on her cowboy boots under a J. Crew gown.

Their vision caught the eye of editors at At Home Tennessee magazine - and a two page feature was published in February 2010! We loved the big portrait of Ashley & Decker walking on the path near the farm, especially.

Congrats again to you both, and thanks for loving your pictures enough to share them with the whole world!

~ Rissa

We were heading down the road...

and we saw the whole world roll out before us. Literally.

It was the World Guy and he was passing through Maryland.

World Guy's name is Erik Bendl. He and his dog, Nice (who was very nice, I must say), were walking through Maryland earlier this month and we crossed paths with him on the way to a shoot. Erik has walked over a thousand miles for the cause of diabetes awareness and this year he is traveling through the northeastern states. His walk began around Earth Day in Washington DC, where his large Earth Ball was a popular attraction. He's heading north now, towards Maine.

We enjoyed stopping to chat with Erik and Nice. They were both great and Erik shared a lot of his personal experience with us from his journeys across America. He has seen miles and miles of our beautiful land on foot - experiencing places and people in a way few of us ever will.

To make it even more incredible - Erik also blogs from his walks daily - typing it all up on a Blackberry. All I can say is wow- typing on those tiny keys makes him worthy of a medal or something! Nevermind the incredible feat of walking thousands of miles to raise awareness about diabetes and exercise.

You can visit Erik online at his blog, or friend him on Facebook to follow his adventures, learn more about his cause or just see if he will be crossing paths with you - so you can visit with him too.

Erik and Nice - we wish you safe travels! It was great to meet you and I hope your journey is a successful one!

~Rissa

Charming

In a world that is overwhelmed with images, it can be challenging sometimes to keep the photos you love best close to you to enjoy. So, why not just wear them?

For several years we searched for an artist who made photo jewelry. We found a few, but no one whose work really resonated with the pictures we created. We were searching for someone special, who we could collaborate with, who our vision meshed with. And along came Lori. She is an artist based in Canada and the minute I saw her charms, I knew it was going to be a perfect match.

Lori makes photo charms in a process using thin pieces of polymer clay. Each charm is individually hand-crafted and one of kind. They are lightweight and easy to change from one necklace to another.

Here are some of the pieces she has done for us...

This piece is a square charm, about 1 inch by 1 inch, on a pink ribbon necklace. The photo - adorable 10 month old Brooke. Modeled by our fab assistant Brittany.

A charm bracelet!!! Tell the entire story of your wedding or family with a full set of photo charms. These small charms are all under one inch, with some in rectangle and square shapes and some in color and others in black & white. They are shown on a vintage link chain with a variety of metal heart charms. The bracelet has 9 photo charms and 4 heart charms, showing the stunning wedding of Amy & Bryan; modeled again by Brittany.

A rectangular charm featuring an elegant bridal portrait of Rebecca from her destination wedding in New Orleans. Shown on a black cord necklace; modeled by Brittany.

Sometimes a simple picture of a beautiful subject, like flowers or a bouquet is a perfect charm. Shown on a vintage link chain, displayed again by Brittany.

A quiet moment from Justin and Gretchen's Costa Rica wedding looks gorgeous and sentimental on this charm. Shown on a sterling silver rope chain; modeled by Brittany.

And our other terrific models - Miss Brooke Taylor - checking out her mom Ashley's new circular charm - featuring a photo of Brooke Taylor! We loved how great Ashley looked showing off her new charm with her daughter on it. Looks like Brooke Taylor liked it, too!

We are super jazzed to be offering these unique artisan-made charms to you, our clients. You now have a whole new option, a new way to keep your pictures close to your heart and with you always. This is way beyond wallet photos! It's absolutely charming! (Sorry, I had to say it!: )

~ Rissa

Saving the Earth=Business as Usual

Some things about making your business - and your life - greener are really easy.

As traditional light bulbs burn out, replace them with compact fluorescent. Recycle paper, glass, metals. Buy recycled paper products for office & home. Use recycled paper business cards. Compost food waste. Use cloth bags at the grocery store & for other shopping. This is all good stuff - and everyone knows it. Hopefully everyone does it, this is the easy stuff that makes a big difference for us all.But what about when you begin to get into other more job-specific areas to photography... like the cases you deliver discs in to clients? That's a little trickier.

Oddly, client often have strong opinions about CD/DVD cases. We have tried different things over the years and some have been more popular than others. One or two clients have called to tell us that even though they loved their pictures, they didn't like the disc case it came in. A few others have called to tell us they loved their disc cases. Go figure. So we try, try again and hope everyone likes the cases their photos discs arrive in.

And now, we are going to green our CD cases. Hopefully everyone likes the new lines as much as we do... Introducing the better, greener CD cases!

First, we want to show off the new disc cases we will be using for our brides and grooms. These are stunners.

These incredible CD/DVD cases are handcrafted by a company called Loktah using organic paper and beads, harvested from sustainable sources. The covers of each case are coated in beeswax to preserve the quality of the the handmade paper and Loktah products are all archival quality. We love these new cases for our wedding clients. They are an elegant and green way to store your memories of your perfect day. (As a sidenote: the Loktah cases were

photographed by our new assistant, Jacqueline! Great work!)

Not getting married? No worries - we have other eco-friendly cases for you!

We are also trying out a few other new disc delivery cases and envelopes. 100% recycled paper hard-side envelopes and plastic cases will be delivered to headshot, commercial and family/pet clients. They aren't as glam as the cases we got for the wedding clients, but hey - you only get married once. The paper and plastic cases are durable and can be reused by you - our clients - after you have safely stored your discs. So share the love and get loads of use out of your new green case as you share photos, files and music with friends and family.

A little flashier.. little sexier - disc delivery for my boudoir clients. Boudoir pictures will be delivered in bi-metal cases - which means you can recycle them if you don't want/need to reuse them. But they are so sleek - they look super cool. Why not find another use for them - like holding small jewelry or even on your desk for paperclips?

We are always on the lookout for new and awesome green products... if you see a better disc delivery case in your eco-travels, please tell us. We want to know!

A friend recently told us about a 20-disc CD case and matching 36-print photo album made of recycled aluminum with a recycled rubber closure. Super fun - you have to check it out! What a great way to store prints and discs.

And hey - while we are talking green (it is Earth Day today, after all) - we'd love to share a few of our favorite green office supply companies with you... use them at your workplace, too! Help save the Earth, doing business as usual.

Greenline Paper Company, fast service, great products for the office, like mailers, pens, etc.

Greenerprinter, incredibly professional- reasonable prices on recycled paper biz cards

Green House Framing, stunning handmade frames from recycled materials

Sustainable Websites, power your website with wind energy

CD Recycling Center, dispose of old discs responsibly

Rapid Refill, reuse ink cartridges and save landfill space

Looking for more green options for your home or business? Check out Green America or Treehugger. They really have it all. Planning a green wedding or special event? Be sure to visit Green Bride Guide, of course! And then swing by Eco-Beautiful Weddings, a new e-zine.

Happy Earth Day, everyone ~

Rissa