Designing Your Costo Album :: Rule of Opposites

"I'm going to make a Costco book with our engagement pictures and use it as a guestbook at the wedding. Any suggestions???" 

Kaitlyn and I were sitting on her couch flipping through the digital pages of her not-yet-printed Costco guestbook. "How does it look?" she asked me. Her images were super cute but I noticed one thing we could do to make the whole presentation much stronger.... 

You know when you're scrolling through images (usually someone else's) and somewhere along the line you feel like your eyeballs glaze over, you feel bored and the images all start to kinda look the same? That's what we're trying to avoid.

When side-by-side images are too similar they blend together and lose their impact but when images are constantly contrasting one another, each image stands out boldly and keeps your attention! This is called the Rule of Opposites.

Rule of Opposites :: When two images are presented together, make sure that something about them is different/opposite. If one picture is a close-up, make the other picture is a full-body shot. If one picture is colour, make the other black & white. etc... Sometimes you need to make multiple elements different.

EXAMPLE ONE: Amy's wedding dress. 

The first pair of photos: two different angles of the dress but they were taken at the same distance from camera, both are B&W, same composition with the dress in the middle and railings leading off the page. 

How to improve? Keep your favourite image, replace the other. This new image is "opposite" because it's in colour, it a close up and the focus is on the flowers. It's still fits though because it includes the dress.

EXAMPLE TWO: Rhiannon.  

The first pair of photos: although the poses are different, they aren't different enough. The composition is also more or less the same with her filling up the page and her head is in the top right 3rd. Which photo catches your eye? Or which one stands out more? Probably neither because your eye blends between them both.

How to improve? I kept the left image and replaced the right image with a close-up face shot. I didn't want to make one of them B&W because I love the soft colours in both of them. Now that we're focused on her face in the right picture we can focus more easily on the wider scene that we see in the left picture. Both of them stand their own ground.

EXAMPLE 3: Sebastian's Socks.

The first pair of photos: basically the same shot but from different angles.

How to improve? Zoom up to change the composition! I simply snapped a closer look at his socks.  Now it's easier to look at these images together and because I drew attention to his socks you'll be more aware of them and other details in the wider picture. 

Here's a third suggestion... Sometimes, you don't want to replace a photo — you want to include them both. Just add the "opposite" photo in the middle to break up the "same-ness" of the first two images.

EXAMPLE 4: Beautiful Melissa.

The first pair of images is half way there. We're rockin' the colour and B&W opposites but Melissa's pose is pretty much the same. Which one shall we focus on?! Ahhh! 

How to improve? I prefer the B&W image on the right so I kept it and replaced the left image with a completely different picture. The bold colours contrast. Melissa is look away whereas her bridesmaids, Kristine & Katie, are looking at the camera. This also helps us process the pair of images because we are drawn in by the bridesmaid's eye contact and then we can drift over the check out Melissa.

I use the "Rule of Opposites" all the time when designing albums and blog posts. I learned it from the great Matthew Jordan Smith via creativeLIVE. The concept is simple and once you understand it you are destined for image-presentation-greatness for the rest of your life!!

Home Sweet Home :: Flowers & Chickens

We sat on the tarmac in Amsterdam for 2 1/2 hours! Normally that would make me melt in my seat but I was having such a lovely conversation with my neighbour that I didn't even notice. The plane people forgot that I was vegan/vegetarian so I just picked around my ham sandwich — trying to eat the bits furthest away from the meat — and I'll admit I gobbled down the chocolate chip cookies! Yummers!!

[View from my parent's living room out over our deck — I love it here!]

My mom & sweet little grandma picked me up from SeaTac Airport and drove me home past all the big green trees, big lakes and mountain views — I couldn't be happier. I just love it here! My mom & I talked for about 48 hours straight (not including sleeping time) and it's been so lovely to not have our conversations interrupted by Skype static.Day one we went hiking with one of our doggies, Hamish, up to Twin Falls. Half way up the mountain we stopped to sit on a bench and I just stared up at the leaves and beautiful tree trunks — I felt so at peace it was beautiful!

Day two we visited a farm, did some grocery shopping and changed my name! (I hadn't changed my maiden to married name in the US yet) Changing my name was soo easy but when we were waiting at the court house we watched some prisoners in chains walk by and we couldn't help but wonder what they had done. Kinda scary. 

I've also had a chance to just relax and enjoy being home...

[Beautiful Lilies in my mom's garden :D]

[Mom's lilies a la Ansel Adam :P]

Today I'm getting my teeth cleaned and repaired (I managed to get a little chip in my front tooth somehow), hanging out with my beautiful best friend/bride Sophie, watering the neighbours plants and having a dinner party with family friends (which include another couple whose wedding I'm shooting in November!) 

[They really are this vibrant and beautiful! I LOVE FLOWERS!]

I've finally met my mom's chickens! They're only 6 weeks old :D

I felt hot yesterday for the first time in EVER. I was getting sunburned in the car — amazing.

The sunshine is pouring in through the dining room window right now :D Bring it on!

Go have a fun day my friends! It's Friday!!!!!!!!

Scottish Highland Wedding :: Amy & Pete

"Have you seen my cuff links?" said Pete, showing off his arms to my camera. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw them, "Perfect!" Back in May when I met Pete & Amy for their engagement shoot I had been warned about Pete's love of Land Rovers and "The Great Outdoors!!" It really was perfect that on his wedding day Pete was fastening on Land Rover logo cufflinks and milling about outside the quaint Fortingall church (which just so happens to be surrounded by some pretty great outdoors-iness). Thirty minutes away, in a wooden countryside house, Amy was surrounded by her sisters. They were in a beautiful attic-like room with sunlight flooding in through the bright skylights. The room was a pool of calm, no music, just the sound of the birds chirping, distant tractors ploughing, occasional bursts of hairspray, and wedding planners bustling about downstairs. Then we heard the gravel crunching as a car entered the driveway. The flowers were being delivered!

The staircase leading up to the girl's room had these beautiful perfectly white bannisters, which reminded me of The Sims (ha! I love The Sims by the way.) From the bottom of the stairs, as my camera pointed up towards Amy's dress, I could hear the women laughing at the top of the house and downstairs through a door I could see the men in their kilts, eating sandwiches.

The Fortingall church filled up quickly as guests started to arrive in their finest, welcomed by Scottish bagpipes. Amy & Pete had told me about their ceremony venue with such excitement and now standing there in person, beneath that high, rounded, wooden ceiling, I finally understood their enthusiasm for this venue. The ceiling had been constructed by a boat-builder and as I stood there staring up at it, I realised how each beam caught the light that poured in from the church windows. 

Putting away their phones :P, Pete and his men step away for a private moment to bless the day before Amy's Land Rover chariot arrived.

Amy's big sisters, Katie & Louise, were amazing maids-of-honour — helping Amy prepare for her wedding day and taking care of her from beginning to end, fluffing the dress, umphing the hair, sewing the ripped dress (yes, Amy's dressed ripped in the evening when she was dancing but Amy's so chillaxed she didn't blink an eye) and wrapping her up into big hugs all day long.

For months before their wedding Amy had said I can pretty much do what ever I wanted photography wise but please please please, could I make sure that I captured Pete's reaction when she walked up the aisle. I always try and capture the groom's face but knowing how much this moment meant to Amy I felt a bit of extra pressure. I probably took about 50 photos within 15 seconds as she turned the corner to walk up the aisle. Thankfully...we got that one she was hoping for, and what a fab reaction!!!! Pete was seriously excited to she the love of his life walking towards him knowing that in a matter of minutes, they would finally be husband and wife.

I love these two so much. I've never seen two people so excited to kiss. All day long, I kept asking them to kiss and not once did they fail to disappoint —  consistent excitement to show their love for one another. It's just so refreshing to be around them.

After the ceremony we ran away from the crowds and drove to Kenmore Beach for some private portraits.  

We were trying to think of all the different fun games you can play on the beach. Skimming stones was definitely my favourite! 

When we returned to join the guests the bagpipes started up again and we processed along the country lane that connected the church to the village hall. Of course, Pete & Amy realised this was the purrfect moment to update their Facebook status with a quick self-portrait... 

Charge!!!!!!!! Nothing quite so much fun as the groomsmen shot. It's one of my favourite parts of the day because when it comes down to, guys just want to play and have fun :P

The beautiful Fortingall village hall... Every table was named after a different type of tractor!

 While I was busy taking this picture of the beautiful wooden ceiling I suddenly heard Amy shout "Hey Chamonix, you're missing some amazing dancing!" so I whirled around to find the whole family doing the can-can and jazz fingers!!! Amazing :P

And then came the ceilidh dancing — quite possibly my favourite thing about Scotland. This was my first experience of a ceilidh without a caller. We were up in the Highlands after all, so everyone knew what they were doing and just jumped straight into having a great time. This beautiful woman dancing in the image below was awarded best dressed guest (by me) — her purple summer dress was just so quirky cute with her sparkly silver heels = LOVE!

I loved Amy & Pete's Love Line. They had a string suspended all the way across the back wall of the village hall. By the end of the night it was sagging beneath all the little love notes that were held up by those adorable mini clothes pins. Oh and like I said...these two love kissing!!!

The evening ended with one of the coolest drum performances I've ever seen (not that have seen that many drum performances lol). Pete & his band have promised each other that they would perform at all of their weddings and Pete's number came up first. I saw people carrying in the drums and then I tripped over something. When I looked down I realised there were a few pairs of men's shoes & kilt socks lying on the ground. I turned around to see Pete and his band members, barefoot in their kilts.  Amy was so right when she finished of her bride's speech saying "I love Pete because he's just so cool."  Barefoot drummer in a kilt — that's pretty cool. The bagpipes started to play and we all gathered round in anticipation. A whistle blew. BOOM!!!! They started and they were AMAZING.

After Amy & Pete's engagement session I felt so rejuvenated because I'd spend three hours surrounded by their love which runs deep but remains light-hearted. Photographing their wedding was such a joy — it reminded me why I love being a wedding photographer. Their family and friends were so welcoming and friendly...watching the bride getting ready was so exciting...the scenery was stunning and I got to spend more time with the bride & groom than anybody did — it's makes me so happy :) 

Thank you Amy & Pete for inviting me to your special day. I can't wait for your one-year anniversary photo shoot that we'll hopefully be able to do in California!! :D

To see more images from Pete & Amy's wedding check out their slideshow below: