DWF.  WTF?

For those of you not in the know, DWF is the Digital Wedding Forum.  DWF is an absolutely fantastic resource for wedding and portrait photographers.  Without having come across it about 4 1/2 years ago, our business most certainly wouldn’t be where it is today, and we wouldn’t have met so many people that we now are privileged to call our close friends.

In addition to being a fantastic forum, they host an annual conference that is going to be in Nashville next year!  One of the highlights of the convention are always the mentor sessions, where you can make a donation to charity, and spend an hour with people at the top of the industry and learn more than you ever thought you could in such a short time.  We won a mentoring session with Jerry Ghionis around three years ago and were absolutely blown away, and it was transformational for us.

Last year, we were asked to contribute to the mentor sessions for the first time, and we really enjoyed being a part of it.  Melissa Tirado asked us to be a part of them again this year, and we donated three sessions.  Shortly thereafter, DWF announced that they would be auctioning off a few longer sessions, and around the same time Melissa emailed us to tell us that our three sessions had sold out nearly instantaneously.  So we volunteered our time for one of the auctions, and those are taking place this week.  We are honored to be among the other photographers on the list. Jerry Ghionis, Mike Fulton, Jim Garner, Kevin Kubota, David Beckstead, Cliff Mautner, Huy, Alt-F, Ray Prevost, Chuck Arlund, The Bebbs, and… Sean and Melanie McLellan.

If you are a DWF member, our auction is happening tomorrow (Dec 8th) at 12:00 noon EST.  If you aren’t a DWF member, WHY NOT?

Here is a link to the thread where the auction will be taking place, along with details about some goodies we’re throwing in with our session:

http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334172

Daniel Lane, a photographer who we mentored at the convention last year just wrote something amazing on that thread, and I feel compelled to post it, here.

“Sean and Mel were my first mentor session ever. (DWFC 2009) After a few moments of chatting with them, it was clear, these two were a true pro team. I can say that not a single moment of our 30 minutes was wasted. They went directly into backing a dump truck of knowledge up to my feeble little brain and unloaded.

Marketing idea after marketing idea flowed across the table. If I had a question, they had an answer. I scribbled down a number of the ideas they handed out and I still have that list today. (I have had success with those ideas I’ve implemented. I’ve got more time this year to devote to the rest of the list.)

If you’re lucky enough to win this one, bring a digital recorder or a stenographer, because Sean and Mel will have more ideas and plans than you can write.

—Daniel Lane”

Thank you SO much for your kind words, Daniel.  We’re so happy to have made such an impact, and that’s what it’s all about.

All proceeds go to charity–so what are you waiting for?  Get over there and bid!  We’ll see you at the convention, next month!

“Would you like another delicious cheesesteak, for free, sir?”

“Um, yes”

As we walked down the streets of New York City, David recounted the story of the easiest decision of his entire life…

New York City.  I’ve been to New York several times before.  Not real New York, though–always just at the airport on the way to somewhere else.  I have to say that our first real visit was fantastic.  We had a wonderful time exploring the city the day before and the day after our shoot.  And we had a blast with David and Omaira, photographing all over the city well into the night.  Can’t wait to see you guys again at your wedding in Texas next year!

Super excited about these images–and here is a sneak peak of what’s to come:

engagement_session_new_york_city

This one is going to make a phenomenal canvas!

new_york_city_fire_escape_photo

Thank you SO much to all of you who voted in our boy/girl prediction contest! We counted a total of nearly 400 votes, with 52% guessing girl, and 48% guessing boy.

We had our ultrasound today, and the best news is: So far everything looks great!

Now, on to the fun stuff. Here’s a 30 second clip from our 2D and 4D ultrasounds!

So, who wins the $10 iTunes gift certificate for guessing correctly? It turns out that 52% of you…

Were WRONG!–It’s a boy!!

And that brings us to our winners: Garrett & Joy Nudd! $10 iTunes gift certificate headed your way this week!

Thanks again to everybody for voting–you just raised $400 for March of Dimes! And more so, thank you all for all the kind comments, thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. We appreciate it more than you know!