Jeff Mason Wedding and Portrait Photographer

When a bride calls Jeff Mason Photography inquiring about wedding photography one of the first things I ask her is if they are considering a engagement photo session.  Engagement photo sessions are meant to be fun, relaxed and casual.  It’s a good time to get pictures of the couple just being themselves and showing their love for one another.  Another benefit of the engagement session is that the couple and I get to know each other and they get a chance to become comfortable with me and being in front of my camera.  This is important because on their wedding day, one of the biggest days in their lives, I am going to be right there with them.  After the engagement photo session I’m not just some guy with a camera in their faces, I’m a friend.

One of the most popular products from the engagement session is our Wedding Guest Signature Book.  This book goes beyond the typical guest book.  Not only does it have 20 pages of awesome pictures from the engagement session but I put questions on the pages that prompt the guests to write more than just their names.  Questions such as “When did you know that Rachel and Gordon were in Love”, or “Give us an idea for a date night”.  I have seen some really fun responses from guests.  These are books that the bride and groom can read and get enjoyment from for years to come.

Here is one of the books that I created for Rachel+Gorden who are going to be married on March 21.

Karyn and Alex were married March 29 at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort in Florida.  They live in Manhattan and made the trip down here with about 60 of their family and friends for a destination wedding on our wonderful beach.  It’s obvious that they are loved by many since guests came from as far away as Seattle, TX, TN, and upstate NY.

The weather was a bit sketchy in the morning but by the time the ceremony started it was nothing but blue skys and sunshine!  Here is a video with a few of my favorite pics from the day.  Congratulations, you guys!  -Jeff

I always seem to be able to find some “supposed” reason why I can’t take a few minutes to update my blog. In December I’m going to do another Blog-a-Day for the entire month. I did this a few months ago. I wasn’t perfect, I missed a few days, but it was fun and kept things rolling.

At the moment I’m flying back to Tampa from Boston. I had some business there with a client for my consulting business. Boston was COLD this week but then I understand Tampa was too.

I have one wedding remaining this year. I shot 18 weddings this year. These were either my own or shooting second for friends. I also shot a couple of weddings for Bella Pictures. I’m hoping to have about as many weddings in 2009 but I really don’t want any more than that. A goal for ‘09 is to greatly increase the number of high school seniors photographed.

I am in the process of developing my wedding pricing for next year. Instead of focusing on Collections I am going to give brides more options to build photography packages a la carte. I’ll be adding fun new products so check my website in the Info area under Weddings in the coming weeks.

Occasionally I photography weddings for Bella Pictures…like Kristen and Mark’s this past weekend.  I started talking to Kristen on the phone a little over a month ago. I could tell right away that we were going to get along great and that it was going to be a fun wedding.  When I shoot for Bella I don’t get to personally meet the brides ahead of time so I try to get to know as much as I can about the bride and groom during our phone conversations.  

Kristen and Mark met several years back while they were on a house boating trip with several other friends, in fact there were two large house boats.  They didn’t really meet each other until the last day.  Mark dropped all of his CDs and as Kristen helped him pick them up they realized that they had the same taste in music.   Well, it was a good start but it wasn’t until several years and a couple of states later that friends again brought them together.  This time it was for good.  Their wedding was on Clearwater Beach at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort.  

It was great to meet you and your families.  Have an awesome time in Jamaica, mon.  Let me hear how it was when you get back.

Here is a fun little slideshow…see the images in more detail below.