Lancaster Wedding Portrait Photographer Miville Photography

Chickie’s Fun

Michael Miville — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:27:37 +0000

I met up at Chickie’s Rock Park in Lancaster County for a few engagement photos for Ashleen and Brian. I’ll be photographing their wedding in November and wanted to get with them to have some fun and create some beautiful pics of them before the big day. The great thing about Chickie’s Rock Park is that there are so many little locations and a few big sweeping ones. It overlooks the Susquehanna river and is great for some sweeping views. We had a great time just walking around the park and I ended up climbing a tree with a giant hornets nest. Luckily they didn’t mind me hanging out in their tree. It was fun, thanks for such a great time guys.

Totally Lancaster Co.

Grrrr

Overlooking the Susquehanna

Please note the same brown shoes, thank you.

Phillies Phanatics

Michael Miville — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:55:47 +0000

I love Philadelphia, especially when one of my couples wants to do something fun. Ya know, like taking some time to get photos in the Phillies stadium. That’s just what I did with Lizzie and Bill for their engagement photos. We also took a little time to get some photos in downtown Philly before having some lunch and heading back. It was a great time and they were up for any fun tricks I could think up. It helps that I’ve known Lizzie for probably 10 years, and Bill for probably around 5-6 years.

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day when we went down to the Phillies stadium. The sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I pulled out the ring flash for some really cool photos and did everything but keeping it simple while we were in the ballpark. They even had shirts made to look like jerseys with Mr. and Mrs. on the back. If you look close you may even see their wedding date. We only had an hour in the stadium, so I had to work fast. Luckily, I had Jana, one of my students from our York Gobo workshop help me out. I really couldn’t have done it without her. We then moved to the dugout and ended up taking a few pics in the stands.

After the ballpark, we headed to center city Philly and South St. to walk down to Penn’s Landing. Here’s where I kept it simple, no lights, just fun and relaxed portraits. We walked around some streets and then then crossed the bridge down to the Delaware River waterfront. We made our way back and decided to stop for some lunch at Downey’s on South St. An Irish pub that’s been a Philadelphia staple for a long time. It was a special session and not something I’ll forget anytime soon.

If you’d like to see more photos from this session, head over to my Facebook page.

Phillies Phans

Phuture Mr. and Mrs.

On deck to be married

A little bit of phun

Love these ring shots

Yep, that’s I-95 in the background

Coming through

Mmmm, Downey’s

Tutorial – Watermarking in Adobe Lightroom 3

Michael Miville — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:44:07 +0000

This week I take the watermark we made last week in Adobe Photoshop and use it in Adobe Lightroom 3 with the new watermarking feature. It’s great to be able to post your watermark on vertical and horizontal images. Watermarking is great for people to start becoming familiar with your brand and also to keep people from stealing your photos online.

Lightroom 3 Watermarking Tutorial from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

Wedding in the Gardens

Michael Miville — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:04:42 +0000

I’ve been photographing quite a few weddings at Lauxmont Farms in the York area for Katy Trefry Photography this year. This was one was earlier this year and I’ve wanted to get it on the blog sooner, but I’m glad to finally put it up on the blog. Congrats to Cindy and David.

Lauxmont Farms is such a beautiful location, and when you have a great looking couple like this, it’s tough to take a bad photograph. The girls started off in the bridal house. I then went up to snap a few of the guys at the pool house. The wedding was magical as the bridesmaids were followed by the bride down the steps to the Sunken Gardens. After a beautiful ceremony, it was off in a horse and carriage that took them down to the reception location. It was a wonderful day and I was so happy to photograph it.

If you enjoy these, check out more from this wedding over on my Facebook page.

Such a stunning bride

A little prayer before hand

A beautiful set of rings

The Sunken Gardens

Sealed…

Amazing looking couple!

A little down time

Dancin’ the night away

Cake time

Watermarking your images

Michael Miville — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:30:39 +0000

Today, using Adobe Photoshop CS5, I show how to create a watermark PNG file with a few effects. Watermarking your images for online posting is a great idea to protect from theft and to give a brand to your photography. That way people will start to recognize your photography style even without the logo. I give a bunch of tips, key commands and ways to make a transparent logo. I use the PNG format to be able to make use of the transparent version of the file that I’d like to add onto my photos for watermarking on the web. Enjoy.

Creating a Watermark in Photoshop CS5 from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

On the lake

Michael Miville — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:09:19 +0000

The Field family, living near the Speedwell Forge lake in Lancaster, had me to their home for some family portraits. Kelly, the oldest daughter, got together with her sister Kiersten so I could create a gift, from them, for their parents anniversary. When I got there I found out that their mom Debbie had guessed what was going on before hand and was thrilled with the gift they were having done. Being able to go down to the lake was awesome and it was just a beautiful day for photographs. We even managed to incorporate their dogs into a few of the photos. They are family members too and were so well behaved. It was a fun time and I’m glad I could create some photos for such a special occasion for them.

To see more photos from this session, check out my Facebook page.

Kelly in Purple and Kiersten in Red

One of the pups on the bridge

Mom could pass for another sister

Diggety Dog!

A simply beautiful location!

The Shot

Michael Miville — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:42:27 +0000

I know, I’ve been talking about “the shot” that I took a few weeks back. But I’ve been very busy and I’m now getting some time to talk about it. I also wanted to have it shown for the first time publicly at our new space, the Candy Factory, in downtown Lancaster. Basically, my wife Melissa, owner of Stylish Occasions, put together an awesome faux wedding photo session at the Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster, PA.

I found out about a week before the shoot that Amy, our “bride” for the day, was the owner and teacher of Premiere Danse studio. So, after thinking about what I could do with that info, I drew a little thumbnail of something that popped into my head. It was a bride jumping in a flowing fashion over a cake. But how would I pull that off? I thought about a few lighting scenarios including thoughts about how the cake would need lit as well. After considering everything, I knew that I would need my big dog Alien Bee light for some added power. There was just no other way to stop the motion of a full deal jump.

Jump ahead to the shoot itself. The day started with Amy getting a little trim of her hair, then some make up. We added in a groom, some cake, a limo, an awesome location and flowers. Voilá, we had all the makings of a wedding day. I started with a few simple photos in the ballroom of the Cork Factory. I lit the couple in the first set with a hair light, camera right. A main light, above. A reflector, below. And a light through a soft box, off camera left to light the cake. After a few more locations in the ballroom, we made our way to a room in the hotel. Then outside for a few rainy shots with the limo.

After all of that was done, I decided it was time to try this jumping shot. I set up a light off camera right behind the cake and bride to light a little of the cake and give some separation off the back of the bride. I had another flash off camera left and behind through a soft box pointed directly at the cake. Then I had my main light (the Alien Bee) camera left above the bride to get enough light above her when she jumped. I had someone stand in to check the light. Then I had her do a test jump to see how she moved through the frame. Then I snapped one off and was so close on the first shot. The second shot was pretty close as well. On the third shot I thought I clipped her toe in the frame as she moved through so fast, but then when the preview came up after a second I knew I nailed it. So, without further ado here are few photos along with an awesome video put together by my man Noah Stoner of the behind the scenes. He did such an awesome job and was all over the place. Then skip to the bottom to see “The Shot”.

Setup: Melissa Miville and Katie Slauch from Stylish Occasions
Location: Jill Fanning and the Cork Factory Hotel
Cake: Megan and Scott Smith from Monkey & Me Sweets
Dress: In White Bridal Boutique
Linens: Special Occasions & Queen St. Linens
Flowers: By Splints and Daisies
Make-Up: Patricia Solis of Elegant Xpressions
Hair: Dianna Allen
Limo: Kevin Bippus from Expressions Limousines
Video: Noah Stoner

See more photos from this session at my Facebook Fan Page.

Awesome Video by Noah Stoner

MiVille Photography Behind The Scenes from noah stoner on Vimeo.

A little trim

Make up time

Kevin’s limo is awesome!

The Monkey & Me Sweets team

Melissa adding some finishing touches

The Happy Couple

The bride and her cake

Is the phone attached to you?

Naughty time in the bedroom

Clean up time

Alone time in the limo

Leap of Faith

Our New Home

Michael Miville — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:01:05 +0000

Today is the Grand Opening in downtown Lancaster of our new office space, The Candy Factory. I’m so happy that our businesses have gotten to a point where office space has become necessary. It’s very exciting and scary at the same time. I will have some landscape photography showing inside as well as a photo, which may be one of my best ever, that I took the other week at our faux bridal shoot. I haven’t revealed the photo anywhere. So, if you’ve got a little time tonight, you should come say hi and check out our new space. It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful night to walk around downtown Lancaster on a First Friday. We hope to see you out.

The location is 323 N. Queen St., Lancaster, PA 17603.

Candy, candy candy!

300 Block of North Queen

The space before anyone moved in.

Cool seating area

Mel testing our new chair and desk

Photoshop Tutorial – Black and White Conversion

Michael Miville — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:52:29 +0000

Today we use a few Adobe Photoshop techniques to go from a blah color image to an awesome Black and White conversion. There are several tips explained to get the most out of your image and to get some great depth in your converted black and white. Don’t just get stuck using the Grayscale conversion, it gives you no control over your image. I outline several ways to convert and even an extra tip at the end about using one technique to do a black and white with a pop of color. Enjoy and I hope you’ll leave some feedback. Cheers!

Go from this BLAH color image

To this powerful Black and White image

Adobe Photoshop B&W Conversions from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

Hot, Hot, Hot!!

Michael Miville — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:00:43 +0000

What can I say about the Lancaster wedding of Emily and Adam other than it’s tough to remember what went on besides the heat. Whether we were at the ceremony in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster or the reception in the Hamilton Ballroom at Wheatland Place, it was tough to escape the heat and humidity that was beating down upon us. However, everyone stayed hydrated and this awesome couple are now happily married and I couldn’t be happier for them.

You may remember Emily and Adam from their Get To Know You session a few weeks back. I’ve know Emily for a few years working at Clipper, and Adam is my friend Jody’s brother. Not only did Jody refer me to photograph this wedding, she also hooked them up. Starting the day out at Emily’s parents house with the girls, I then moved on to Adam’s parents house for a few pics and eventually to the church. Things were going well other than the heat. Even the church was the best it could be in such temperatures. However, the limo ride for the girls was a bit warm as the air conditioning wasn’t working in the limo. After the ceremony the bridesmaids got in the limo to take some stuff out while I was photographing the family, when the limo driver decided he needed to try and take the limo around the city to get the AC working. Well after waiting 10 minutes for them to come back for pics and the AC still not working, I needed to get things back on track. We went into Lancaster city for a few quick photos on Duke St. and then it was off to the reception.

The reception was wonderful through the whole night and everyone had a great time with Greg from Impressions Entertainment running the show. A few intro’s followed by the first dance and some hilarious toasts. After dinner and the couple sharing some cake, it was time for parent dances and some fun throughout the rest of the night. Greg kept everyone on the floor the entire night and this crowd was full of people having a great time. They are such an awesome couple and I am so happy I could be a part of this day.

Be sure to check out more awesome pics from this wedding on my Facebook Fan Page.