The Ultimate Bride Resource Guides

Anti-Bride Guide: Tying the Knot Outside of the Box
by Carolyn Gerin and Stephanie Rosenbaum

Yeah, you know the whole idea stresses you out. So here’s a good little book about doing things your way. It’s a handy planner and resource guide that will keep you on track with tabbed chapters and pockets for stuffing brochures and clippings. I used it, and it was a real gem. There’s also lots of tips that you wouldn’t even think about until it’s too late. Carolyn and Stephanie have additional titles as well…

Anti-Bride Wedding Planner: Hip Tools and Tips for Getting Hitched
Anti-Bride Etiquette Guide: The Rules – And How to Bend Them

A must have for anybody planning a wedding.

Grab The Anti-Bride Guide on Amazon

RAINN continues to help victims.

We were happy to have RAINN utilize our photography talents for their recent on-line campaigns, especially for their myspace account. The photograph of a woman holding an umbrella, sheltering herself from harsh words, has made a huge impact on some people.

View the RAINN Myspace Page by clicking here. Be sure to send them a donation.

Some of the comments posted about our photograph…

“wonderful. this has the power to open up people’s eyes and let them become aware to what’s going on”

“These words should be made into an umbrella for your gift store… and in the CIRCLE in the center of it, should be the words “HOPE, STRENGTH, COURAGE= SURVIVOR… BECAUSE OF RAINN.ORG” ………….. just a thought…. as I NEED a new umbrella, but wanted one that made an IMPACT and had HOPED you all had one listed in your RAINN store!!! =)”

“I just read this in its entirety..and..wow. Thank you for all that you do.”

“I had seen this picture on all the RAINN sites (website, Myspace, Facebook), but I just now actually read all the words on it. I like this a lot.”

-we are very honored to be a small part of such a wonderful organization.

Question for Michael #1

Q: I’m just starting out in photography. How do you create all of that texture work on your pictures?

A: Lots of layers and experimentation in Adobe Photoshop. Sometimes I’ll have 16 separate layers by the time I’m ready to flatten the image.

I’d suggest grabbing a photo disk of patterns or textures, you can also purchase some on istockphoto.com for cheap. from there you just add each texture or pattern, one at a time, experiment with the opacity and such (dissolve, darken, lighten). Knowing what to remove using different erasers helps, too. The layers will begin to mesh and create interesting patters within themselves.

Eventually you’ll get the hang of it. Sometimes it helps to look at other collage pieces, just to get an idea of how shapes, colors and textures will play together. There really is no science to the process, which is what makes it so unique.

Hope that helps!

– Michael Foster

Question for Michael #1

Q: I’m just starting out in photography. How do you create all of that texture work on your pictures?

A: Lots of layers and experimentation in Adobe Photoshop. Sometimes I’ll have 16 separate layers by the time I’m ready to flatten the image.

I’d suggest grabbing a photo disk of patterns or textures, you can also purchase some on istockphoto.com for cheap. from there you just add each texture or pattern, one at a time, experiment with the opacity and such (dissolve, darken, lighten). Knowing what to remove using different erasers helps, too. The layers will begin to mesh and create interesting patters within themselves.

Eventually you’ll get the hang of it. Sometimes it helps to look at other collage pieces, just to get an idea of how shapes, colors and textures will play together. There really is no science to the process, which is what makes it so unique.

Hope that helps!

– Michael Foster

Life is a Series of Surprises…

We never really intended to be wedding photographers, we just kinda fell into it.

My husband and I were married in 2002, in a historic movie Theater in St. Charles, Illinois. While in the process of planning our wedding, so many people were estatic hearing about our wedding ideas… that a couple brides to be, eagerly asked us to document their wedding. At the time, I was a freelance photographer for several local newspapers, along with working at a local photography studio. Michael was working for a design firm as an art director. At the time Boojazz was a website featuring our photography, artwork and Michael’s design, with no real direction other than , “Hey! Look at us! Here we are!”

We photographed a handful of weddings that year. The couples were very happy with their photographs and we realized that we were really good at it. With a little more training and experience… the following year we doubled our bookings. In 2004, we were working at Boojazz fulltime. We never had to advertise, word of mouth spread fast and that year we again doubled the business and booked over twenty weddings.

We set ourselves out to be the opposite of many photography studios, the cynical ones looking for a crazy big paycheck with no personal service. In Chicago we made a great name for ourselves, and we’re excited about the possibilities here in Seattle.

Jaime Foster
Boojazz Studios
425.577.3936