Albums - Leather Craftsmen!

Much could (and has) been written about the quality and history of Leather Craftsmen albums, so I won't get into that much detail here on the blog. But I will say that Leather Craftsmen has been manufacturing and selling wedding albums here in the U.S. since 1942. Their philosophy is simple: use the finest materials and skills honed from generations of bookbinding experience to make high quality wedding albums.

We are proud to offer two different models of Leather Craftsmen flush mount albums here at The Sweetest Days Photography. The 300 Flush Series Albums and the 3500 Flush Coffee Table Series Albums.

The time honored Leather Craftsmen 300 Series is the original wedding album from Leather Craftsmen and has been offered by them since all the way back to their beginning in 1942.  It features same size prints expertly hand mounted flush to the page and separated by a linen hinge. Several sizes can be bound in genuine leather covers or non-leather premium fabric alternatives.

 

Also with same size prints hand mounted flush to the page, the 3500 Series Flush Mount album comes in several sizes with several cover options. The difference with this contemporary album is that it features no linen hinge which provides full panoramic spreads that can either be split or folded.

While we have been offering Leather Craftsmen for quite some time, we are thrilled to showcase these models and re-introduce them to you!

So whether your choice is the Capri drop-in, or one of the Sequoia or Leather Craftsmen flush mount albums, we think you'll love the results and most importantly the QUALITY of your wedding album! Hey we didn't didn't do all that work at the Photo Plus expo for nothing, ya know!! ;)

So if you have been waiting to get your album on order, please give us a call or an email. We'll be glad to get your album design started and also send you more info and pricing for each of the products.

And that's not all! (But wait, there's more!) We still have a few more new products that we can't wait to tell you about!

Talk to you soon!

-Bruce

Free Air Guitar

Just a quick post. I found this and thought it was funny! It's a promotion run by a radio station in the UK. Very clever!

Wendy and William

We just love weddings (of course you know that already!) and we really love weddings on New Year's Eve, there's just something magical and fun about that night. This wedding was something special for me as it was the first time I was back in the church I got married in many, many years ago. (Let's just say we would probably "win" the Anniversary Dance at every wedding I've been at as a photographer!) And to add to the fun of the evening, my son decided to stay the entire evening shooting second camera with me!

Check out this countdown to our wedding clock that Wendy had, it's even better than a countdown to the New Year!



Gorgeous dress and flowers! She chose the Lighthouse Inn to get ready and I have to tell you, the room was like something out of a magazine. Four poster bed, antiques, armoire... beautiful. Of course they are just the nicest people there too, which really helps when you want to shoot photographs on the staircase and with the fireplaces.





One of my favorite shots... Wendy walking down the spectacular staircase to meet Will.



They chose to see each other before the ceremony so we could get some photographs outside before it got too dark. When I heard that, I had to set up a little "special moment" for them, where they would get to see each other for the first time with no one else around (except us, of course) and then get to share a little private time with each other.



Too cute!! (was she peeking?)



Gotta love those ring bearers!



Wendy arrives at the church.



Mom and daughter walking down the aisle.



Okay... one more of my absolute favorite shots of the evening... the swords!



Congratulations!!



Thanks so much for letting us be part of your day, it was great and we wish you all the best, talk to you soon!

Val

Technology!

So as you can see, Bruce has been working on getting our albums in order, it's all pretty exciting! We've completed album designs for some of our couples that have requested them and they are just awesome!! If you are interested in seeing your photographs digitally designed, just send us a note and we'll have something for you within about a week! That the great part of technology!

The not so great part is when you have to spend hours on the phone with tech support trying to fix a computer over and over again... that's what I've been doing and I can tell you, it's not fun and I just told the company I'm not doing it again. The tech was here yesterday and he can come back and fix it again today. Maybe if he wasn't in such a rush and was paying a bit more attention.... hmmm? (I know, enough complaining!!)

Okay... off to get some images uploaded from the awesome wedding we shot on New Year's Eve! Check back a little later and get a sneak peek!

Val

Albums - The WillowBook Sequoia Flush Mount Album!

The Sequoia is a "flush mount" album which is the most popular album style going these days. This classic album is characterized by a seamless center and storybook layout that evokes tradition and elegance.

Professional prints are carefully mounted flush to the page and can be square, vertical or horizontal, each in several sizes. This classic album in your choice of leather or for that extra bit of flair, try brushed aluminum!

All of your images are carefully mounted on durable hard-backed pages with a beautiful book-style binding.

A narrow binding seam allows us to design a variety of cross-page layouts, giving us the freedom to be as creative as we want (and as you'll let us!) with your album design.

A large selection of colors and fonts for imprinting text are available. You're sure to find a combination that fits perfectly!

Our customers wanted flush-mount and we listened! With everything this beautiful Sequoia album has going for it, you will not be disappointed!

Next up? The Leather Craftsmen collection right here at TSD!! Can ya stand it?!? ;)

Enjoy!

Bruce

Albums - The Capri!

Ok, as promised, it's time to start talking about wedding albums. Val and I attended the Photo Plus Expo in New York City back in October (it's an annual event for us!) with the main goal of determining who we were going to use as our primary album suppliers. It was TOUGH! There were so many vendors to choose from and so many incredible products, we spent hours walking around, taking notes, taking photographs, comparing prices and styles and QUALITY from the companies we were most interested in.

Then we took a much-needed hot dog break, compared notes and in a flurry of hot dog grease and splattered Gulden's mustard we cobbled together our Master Plan! (Insert maniacal laughter here...)

Our first candidate and the topic of today's post is the Capri drop-in album. This is the MacGyver of  wedding albums; versatile, durable, been around for many years and still getting the job done. This is also our most affordable album, but don't let that fool you. This is a very elegant and stylish wedding album that you'll love.

 

The drop-in (or slide in) style album works like this: photographic prints are made in the correct size to fit your requested album and slid into the album pages. The pages are sized to hold the images snug and there is even a little lip inside to trap the image so it can't unintentionally slide out. The drop-in style album allows us to be flexible with the design yet still keep things affordable.

Covers come in various materials including "Mooless" leather, various fabrics and of course leather. The front cover can have an opening to insert a cover image. Pages come in several color options and several gilding color options as well. There is a maximum of 35 pages for this album which is 70 sides.

So that's the Capri! Simple, affordable, yet elegant. This album will look wonderful on your bookshelf for years to come!

Coming next: the flush mount!

Enjoy!

Bruce

Making Music With Wine Bottles. And Roller Skates. Yep.

Ok so I said the next video post would be about wedding albums but I lied. I found this instead!

Michel Lauzière, "Master of the Unusual" plays the "Toreador Song" from the opera Carmen using wine bottles while roller skiing past them. Enjoy!

First Video Post!

Check it out! Sorry about the Steelers hat but here at TSD we bleed Black and Gold! GO STEELERS!!

FREE Wedding Photography Contest Announcement!

Yes, you read that right! As we have said here on the blog for the last few weeks, we have so much cool new stuff to tell you about (getting sick of hearing that yet?!) and I get the honor of telling you about one of  THE coolest things of all!

Val and I are thrilled to announce that for one lucky couple in 2008 we will be shooting your wedding for FREE! We wanted to do something to give back to all the folks that have supported us for so long now and, well to be honest we had heard of a few other photographers doing this sort of thing and we thought it sounded like a GREAT idea. So here's the deal:

We want you to email us the story of  a couple who, in your opinion, REALLY deserves free wedding photography for their wedding this year. If you like, you can even send in your own story!

Here's what we are looking for:

• A couple who has a wonderful story or who has overcome great odds
• The couple must be getting married somewhere within a reasonable driving distance of Connecticut (say the Northeast in general) and it must be for a date that we are available for
• The couple must be willing to have their story told here and/or on our web site (www.thesweetestdays.com)
• The couple must not be able to afford an extravagant wedding

And here is what we're NOT looking for:

• A couple who is having an expensive or extravagant wedding and is just looking to win something for free
• A false story
• Couples planning destination weddings

The winning couple will receive:

• Up to 7 hours of photography coverage with 2 photographers (Val and Bruce)
• 400 images presented in an online gallery for sharing
• 400 printed proof images in a proof album
• An 8 x 12, 20 page flush wedding album especially designed for them

Contest deadline for all entries is February 29, 2008. Please email your story to info@thesweetestdays.com and include a picture of the couple. The top three entries will be posted on our web site and/or blog and a decision on the winning story will be made by March 15^th, 2008.

So come on folks, get those typing fingers warmed up and ready to go! Inspire us, move us, make us laugh, make us cry, but just get those stories in!

We really want to pass along a special thank you (and some link love!) to Jessica Claire for her permission to use her idea as inspiration for our own contest. Hey when we see something we like, we go with it! She is an uber-talented, California-based wedding photographer who is running a similar contest right now. When I emailed and asked if we could "steal" her idea for our own contest her answer without even a hesitation? "Go for it!!" Thank you Jessica, you ROCK!!

Good luck everyone, we can't wait to read the stories!

~Bruce

To everyone!

How cool is this??

A "Sweet" New Year!! (It's just so 'us'!)