married. and busted.

Ok, so. I have a bunch of lovely shots of a recent client of mine who was just featured in a local magazine, and I was just about to blog him when I realized that I missed February’s “Be the Bride”! Gah! Such bad manners.

Well, I’ve been doing taxes and organizing my office for the coming jobs, and I got so immersed in my paperwork that I didn’t get a chance to sit down and plan a BtB outside of the studio. (Although I love to shoot on location, the weather here in LA has been especially cold and we’ve had lots of rain, and the studio is…well, it’s right here! It’s so convenient to just walk into the other room and have all my lights, backdrops, and everything I need just there and waiting.)

So I got home this morning from errands and threw this together for you. This is an idea I’ve had for awhile; the only thing that’s kept me from shooting it is finding one of those mug shot letter boards. They are impossible to find! I called several prop houses and that got me nowhere; there’s nothing on eBay either. But I did come across this app for the iPad. It’s quite clever, but it is a little difficult to shoot the in studio all by myself because the screen can throw off some serious glare.

I think it’s a fabulous idea for wedding portraits, if you can find a message board or even ask two of your friends to bring their iPads to your wedding. You could do an entire series with the bride & groom and the bridal party. Your photographer could put them altogether in a sort of mug shot board, like the post office’s “Most Wanted” posters. I love that idea.

If you don’t have iPads, get a couple of chalkboards or go look at Staples and the other big office supply stores. You may be able to find a message board with letters; but I looked online and really couldn’t find anything. All you Etsy brides could probably come up with something in a snap. And you don’t have to be all mussed up to shoot these: I gave myself a sort of “dragged down the aisle” look, but getting shot with your cute hair and makeup and all that, and they could be really cute.

So there you have it: my February/March “Be the Bride: 2011.”

Married. And busted.