We met Jeff and Tyfanny (the photogs) and Barry and Steph (the video crew) at 3 pm in Old Town.
DH and I were pretty nervous.....we've never done anything like this and aren't used to being in the spotlight. I was totally excited, I've wanted to do this since the first time I found out about it! When I first started wedding planning there were similar shoots, called "the day after". Typically done by destination wedding brides in an exotic location, ie....the beach.
The Day After shoots are typically done the day after the wedding. It's a way to capture just the two of you in a more relaxed way. Most brides do some 'sexy' shots. Since my beginning days of photog blog stalking, I've seen these day after shoots gradually evolve into something else. The brides became more daring, wondering into the cities with their trains dragging behind......going under the water......etc....
Eventually this became known as "Trash the Dress". A controversial name, but I love it! Most brides don't really "trash" it, as the dresses usually clean up quite nicely.
Around this same time, TJ Studios and Fat Cat Productions, right here in Kansas, were coming up with the same concept. A unique way to capture some awesome shots, the Extreme Session.
There is now a website devoted to this concept. http://trashthedress.wordpress.com/
As I was stalking this blog one day, I noticed a list of photographers off to the side. OMG! There was actually a listing for Kansas! I immediately ran to check these people out. Well, not really physically running, just running online. What I found amazed me! I could not believe we had such talent right here where I lived!
Yes, I stereo-typed my area as not being creative. I didn't even try to find a local photog for my wedding, thinking they were all boring and did nothing but posed people shots.
You see, in my photog blog stalking, I really came to appreciate the un-posed and material shots. Once I realized we had local talent, I was really ashamed of myself.
I had already booked a photog in Mexico, so it was too late.
BUT! I could use them after the wedding, to trash my dress. We didn't do the day after shoot in Mexico. Instead we enjoyed our honeymoon and when we returned, I contacted these amazing people for a TTD session.
It took some convincing for DH. Apparently after one night of beer tasting, I showed him all these websites and informed him that we HAD to do this. I had already been e-mailing Tyff and knew the cost, so DH had no way to argue. I was very persuasive and would not let him go to bed, just showed him more and more TTD shots.....until he finally wore down.
Ok, back to last Monday. Here we are in a park in Old Town. Me in my dress, DH in a tux. He was NOT happy with me. You see, I would not let him wear his silk suit he bought for our wedding. I made him wear a tux. So, he was VERY hot. Oh well, life goes on......
Tyff, Jeff, Barry, and Steph are wonderful to work with. They put us in poses that didn't look like poses.....it took awhile for us to relax, but we finally did. Oh, and the ladies thought my shoes rocked! Which of course, they do, but we got a lot of shots of them! Which of course, I loved. And Steph wouldn't stop gushing over my veil! Well, that is until we actually trashed it......But hey, it's not like I was going to wear it again! (story later)
We started in the park, then wondered behind on old unoccupied building by the train tracks. Got some great shots there. Climbed up a fire escape ladder, laid down on the concrete, etc... A few trains went by, and one even waved to us. Probably wondering what these crazy people were doing. Then we went under the train bridge. It was crazy, cars driving by, peoples heads whipping around, horns honking.......
We found some more cool buildings, then found a shopping cart in a parking lot. Yes, they put me in the shopping cart. We had fun, until I felt my veil pulling. Yep, it got caught in the wheel. Everyone (except me) was so upset about this, that we didn't get any pictures........kinda ironic, we actually 'trash' something but don't have the shots. I seriously didn't care. I had no plans of ever using it, and only bought it because it was 1/2 off and I wanted some cool pictures of it blowing in the wind. I didn't get those shots on my wedding day (no wind) but we did get some that day. So, I was happy, the veil had served its purpose.
Next we went to eat at Old Chicago. This shooting thing is hard work! Then we headed to a lake for some sunset shots. This was another thing I didn't get at my wedding (no sun that night). Unfortunately, it was clouding over and the sun was gone for this shoot also. Oh well, we still got some amazing shots at the lake.
First off, they put us in this air thing. They didn't want us wet, yet. We started to drift away from the beach area, into the tree area. No worries! Steph and Barry hopped in the paddle boat to come rescue us. Except the paddle boat wouldn't steer right. They just went around in circles! All 4 of us ended up stuck by all the trees. Jeff and Tyff were back at shore, clicking away. We ended up having to walk through the brush, then in the water to get back to the beach area. I hope we have some cool shots of that!
Then it was time to get wet! The pictures will tell that story. When we left the lake, the owners came out to say good-bye. They had been watching, thinking it was all cool, until I ran INTO the water. They couldn't believe it! Too funny! We'll have to be sure they see these pictures......
Next we went back to Old Town. We ran through and danced in the fountains. Alot of people were around, probably thinking I was crazy. I heard one guy ask them if we were professional models! How crazy is that? I didn't hear our photogs response, but I wanted to yell, "No, we're just crazy in love!"
Then we heard a band playing outside at our favorite wine bar. So, we headed over for a dance. Got lots of clapping for that one!
Then back to Old Chicago (did I mention we had our first date there?) for some shots under a street light. We ended the night on their patio with a beer.
Here are the pictures:
http://www.tjstudios.com/blog/
and the slide show:
http://www.tjstudios.com/blog/debut/scott/
and the video blog (no video yet, it hasn't even been a week!)
http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2007/08/extreme-session-kick-off.html
I'm amazed I'm able to show these off so quickly! These guys are truly amazing!
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