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Randy's Fine Art Photography

Welcome to my blog! I'm thrilled you've decided to take the time to visit.

I'm a wedding and event photographer serving Sacramento, San Francisco, and all of Northern California.

I will be posting pictures from weddings, events, and other areas I shoot, including unique areas such as kite and pole photography, nature, etc.

I'd love to hear everyone's comments both good and bad.

I will do my best to update this blog on a regular basis. I know if I don't my wife will kick my arse from here to Sunday.

I hope you enjoy!

Randy Miramontez - Randy's Fine Art Photography

Wedding Gift Registry

Monday, February 1, 2010 Posted in Wedding Photographs

The Perfect Gift…

Let’s face it some couples don’t want blenders, or toaster ovens for their wedding gift. Many couples open a wedding registry at their favorite store such as Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, and even Target. Couples happily go through the process of scanning in their favorite items only to find out that many of the items they selected are not items they really need,  but the happy couple wants to provide their guests with a number of options, so they end up scanning “stuff” they really don’t need, or want.

A great alternative is to open a wedding registry through your wedding photographer. Your family, friends, and guests can contact the photographer directly and deposit funds into your account for future purchases such as a beautiful wedding album.

Wedding albums and canvas prints can be costly. A good quality album generally starts at around $400 or $500. You may also want to get an album for your parents, or maybe a miniature version for the bridesmaids. A wedding registry is the perfect way to accomplish this!

Wedding photographers can be expensive to begin with, so why not start a gift registry to help pay for the cost of the photographer along with an album or two. You know you won’t be exchanging the album for a microwave. :-)

At Randy’s Fine Art we offer gift registries and creative ways to meet your needs, or should we say your budget? Thanks for stopping by!

Sample Album Page

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Randy’s Fine Art Photography wins 2010 Bride’s Choice Award!

Friday, January 22, 2010 Posted in Wedding Photographs

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 19, 2010

– Roseville, CA  – January 20, 2010 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Randy’s Fine Art Photography has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Photographer!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Randy’s Fine Art Photography  is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Randy’s Fine Art Photography is among the very best wedding photographer within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. Randy’s Fine Art Photography would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit us at http://randysfineart.com or visit us at our WeddingWire Storefront at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/randys-fine-art-photograp ... .

About Randy’s Fine Art Photography
Randy’s Fine Art Photography is a wedding and family photographer located in Northern California. Randy’s goal is to capture life as it happens, each photograph telling a story. Utilizing both in-camera composition and post-processing techniques Randy is able to capture the emotion, intimacy, and insanity of life in every picture. His style is considered "photojournalistic" by many, but he believes that every situation demands it's own style, whether it be traditional, photojournalistic, or artistic.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com

Just a fun couple and family!

I couldn't have done it without couples like Karen and Raymond!

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Boutonniere’s

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Posted in Wedding Photographs

The word boutonniere comes from the French.  The British simply called them button hole flowers. Traditionally, the flower was placed in the button hole of the man’s suit or tuxedo on the pocket side. Today many suits don’t have a button hole to use for the boutonniere which is why most men pin them on. 

There are a number of reason that I could find as to why men started wearing boutonnieres. Some of those reasons are to ward off disease, evil spirits, and bad smells.

Boutonnieres used to be pretty common place. So common that some suits had hidden vases built into the suit. Of course today boutonnieres are mainly used at proms, special events, and of course weddings.

There are some couples who are turning to square pocket hankerchiefs rather than using flowers. Having both a hankerchief and bouttoniere would be too busy, but hey it’s all up to the happy couple.

To all you couples out there thinking about using something other than boutonnieres, please don’t. As a wedding photographer I really enjoying getting photographs of the men getting them pinned on. It’s like they can’t believe this is happening! Whatever you decide. . . just have fun on your special day!

I don't think guys like frilly things hanging on their jackets.

I don't think guys like frilly things hanging on their jackets.

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Indian Engagement Ceremony

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

One of the most important social events in the Indian culture is the Engagement Ritual or Ceremony.  An Indian wedding is a very elaborate affair and can last for days, or even weeks with many different stages culminating in the wedding ceremony itself. However, one of the most important rituals leading to the ceremony is the engagement ceremony.

Engagement ceremonies are celebrated in the same manner with some variations according to the community and family traditions. The engagement party is traditionally held at the Bride’s parent’s house or a hall. Both sides of the family gather to celebrate and exchange gifts, sweets and good wishes. A formal ring ceremony is performed and then each other’s families are introduced to the other.

It’s fascinating to see the bond between families and how much the ritual means to each other. It’s also quite a colorful event with some great food!

At Randy’s Fine Art Photography we offer cultural packages to fit any culture. We can take our traditional packages and split them over days, or weeks. Our goal is to capture your wedding whether it spans one day or one month!

The Beginning of an Indian Wedding

The Beginning of an Indian Wedding

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Wedding Photographers – Why are they so expensive?

Thursday, November 19, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

This is the number one question Brides ask me.

Why is a wedding photographer so expensive? You show up take some photographs for a few hours and that’s it.

My job starts before a contract is even signed and ends a week or two after the wedding. Before the contract is signed there are meetings with the Bride and Groom, sometimes multiple meetings if parents are involved, or if the Bride and Groom can’t meet together. In most cases I meet with the Bride and Groom closer to their location rather than in my studio.

On the wedding day, I arrive early to scout the venue for locations to photograph formal portraits, shots of the couple, etc. Once the photographs are taken it’s on to “post-processing”. This involves culling through 1000 to 2000+ photographs and choosing just the right images.

Then the real work begins. I touch every single photograph that goes to the Bride and Groom. This can be anywhere from a few hundred photo’s to over 1,000. This includes enhancing colors, skin, etc. I also add special touches to many of the photographs to give them a unique look to match the setting, or the picture. This is where a Wedding Photographers style will truly standout among other photographers.

 Bottom-line. . . you get what you pay for. Here’s one couples story from the UK.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/8293069.stm

I’d like to believe this is a rare occurrence, but I’ve heard too many of these stories from other Brides. While the couple fought back and won they will never have the opportunity to capture those once in a lifetime moments of their special day. 

Whatever you do, don’t skimp on the photographer. At the end of the day it’s your photographs that will be the most important part of your wedding day. 

Sacramento Wedding Photographer

Sacramento Wedding Photographer

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Happy People!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

Way back in the beginning people asked if I was a wedding photographer. My response was always a resounding no. That all changed when my daughter was married. I told her I could shoot some of the wedding and reception and it ended up being fun.

I had heard horror stories about “bridezilla” and how much stress there is shooting a wedding from a number of photographer friends both in Sacramento and around the San Francisco Bay Area, but I found it to be fun. Since then I’ve been doing weddings and love it. There are so many happy people around I find it exhilarating.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of hard work. The bulk of my work is after the wedding and post processing the pictures. Regardless being a Sacramento wedding photographer is a blast. Since I’m in Sacramento I’m centerally located and can pretty much cover all of Northern California with relative ease.

The reward is meeting up with really nice people who are just looking to have some fun. The couple below were really fun. While all the action was going on around them they waved me down to take this photograph. I later took a number of photo’s of them together and gave them my favorite!

Just after the ceremony!

Just after the ceremony!

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Boutonneire’s

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

The word boutonniere comes from the French.  The British simply called them button hole flowers. Traditionally, the flower was placed in the button hole of the man’s suit or tuxedo on the pocket side. Today many suits don’t have a button hole to use for the boutonniere which is why most men pin them on. 

There are a number of reasons that I could find as to why men started wearing boutonnieres. Some of those reasons are to ward off disease, evil spirits, and bad smells.

Boutonnieres used to be pretty common place. So common that some suits had hidden vases built into the suit. Of course today boutonnieres are mainly used at proms, special events, and of course weddings.

There are some couples who are turning to square pocket handkerchiefsrather than using flowers. Having both a handkerchief and boutonniere would be too busy, but hey it’s all up to the happy couple. 

To all you couples out there thinking about using something other than boutonnieres, please don’t. As a wedding photographer I really enjoying getting photographs of the men getting them pinned on. It’s like they can’t believe this is happening! Whatever you decide. . . just have fun on your special day!

 

Wedding photogaphy - preparing for the ceremony

Wedding photogaphy - preparing for the ceremony

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Enter to WIN a Free Engagement Session!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

One lucky winner will win a free engagement session up to 2 hours just by filling in our form at http://randysfineart.com click on contest. A winner will be drawn on January 4th (you know, give myself time to recover from New Years!).

I’m looking forward to next year being our biggest year yet!

Brenda and Steve - Engagement Session
Brenda and Steve – Engagement Session

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Candles and More Candles

Friday, October 30, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

Don’t under estimate the power of candles at any event, especially your reception.  They offer a wonderful glow on your tables, they look great around your cake, you name it they’re simply the perfect addition to your reception.

Some friends of mine just happen to make the best ever candle decorations and more. Check them out at http://www.wicksncandlesticks.com/store/index.php . You won’t be disappointed.

And as a wedding photographer neither will I. Candles add that perfect look to any photograph. Take the below picture of a well used table. While it’s a mess, the candles really make it look pretty cool.

After dinner glow

After dinner glow

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Think outside the box

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Posted in Wedding Photographs

While your wedding photographer has the experience needed to photograph your wedding, don’t rely on them to think the way you do. I do find some photographers are better at reading people and understanding what they want when it comes to photographs after the ceremony. However, they may fall short of your expectations.

Talk to your wedding photographer before hand to determine what some good photographs might be. Below is an example of what I suggested, but believe it or not, this is a pretty standard photograph of the bridal party going nuts. Think about other ways to take unique photographs of your bridal party. For example, do all the Bridesmaids or Groomsmen have something in common say a hobby or sport? If the Groomsmen are into skateboarding they could all be skateboarding along side the Groom, or just be hanging out with their boards. Same goes for the bridesmaids. Into shopping bring shopping bags from your favorite store for each to hold.  It may take some effort on such a hectic day, but the payout is well worth it.

Wedding Photography

Wedding Photography

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