Nakisha Coffey and Raymond King were married today, August 16th 2008, at the Marriott East in Memphis.

We had a wonderful time creating Nakisha’s bridal portraits at the Memorial Park several weeks before the wedding, and now the actual wedding day has finally arrived.

I will post more wedding photographs from the day when I’ve processed them, and I know that Nakisha & Raymond are so excited to see them too.

We wish them all the happiness in the world for many years to come.

Photography is a great profession to be in and I love it tremendously - nothing beats the reward of seeing one of my happy clients crying tears of joy over a newly-presented wedding book or family portrait. My clients are definitely like our extended family in this regard.

But one source of continual amusement is the amount of nonsense one reads all over the place about cameras in particular.  The internet abounds with reviews galore of cameras, lenses, media cards, you name it  - how this one is better than that, this lens is minutely sharper than another, or that megapixels should be treated like money - by getting as many as possible. The truth about that and other things related to photography can be found at Ken Rockwell’s interesting and very readable web site at http://www.kenrockwell.com/index.htm where you can read all you might ever want to know or even care about cameras and lenses.

Of particular interest are Ken’s amusing and often satirical essays on a variety of subjects.  Very enjoyable, entertaining and thought-provoking. If you like photography at all, then go read his site - but make sure you have at least 8 hours to devote to it as you might be there longer than you think

Great job, Ken, keep up the good work.

One of the fundamental philosophies of my photography business has always been to maintain the highest standard of quality in everything I do.

But what does that really mean? By what measure can the quality in my photography actually be assessed? What defines quality in a photograph?

These are not easy questions to answer, and everyone has their own opinion on this, but I think the answer lies in three parts:

1. The technological quality of the equipment used to capture the photographs I create. This is probably the smallest part of the equation. Although the equipment must be in good working order and reliable, the camera used to make the photograph is not anywhere near as important as the eye and the artistic vision behind it.

2. The quality of the raw materials used to produce the final products. On the quality scale this is quite important as it directly affects the look, feel and longevity of the finished product. I use only the best materials available. For example, the wedding books from GraphiStudio, or canvas wall portraits that are hand stretched and expertly finished. I also use prints only from professional printing labs that use the best photographic papers. Although the final products do have a quality feel to them, I feel that this still doesn’t quite capture the essence of “quality� when related to my work as a whole.

3. The third and overwhelmingly most important part of the equation is how my clients feel about the whole experience of working with Merrick Photography and the treasured heirlooms they receive in their wedding books and wall portraits. How well does the final product match their expectations?

The following hypothetical scenario can reveal something of the true answer…

Two clients happen to visit the studio at the same time to pick up their finished wall portraits, but somehow they end up unknowingly switching portraits and going home with the wrong one. When they get home, they each unwrap them to find a portrait of complete strangers. The result? Disappointment … When they finally do get their proper portrait, they are overjoyed and thrilled. Why do we see two opposite reactions from the same photograph? They are clearly both excellent portraits since the owners are thrilled with them. From the client’s point of view the quality of the work lies in what it says about them, what it says about their personality or the relationships of the people in the photograph. It isn’t about the size or even the finish, but something else more subtle than that.

The true quality of a photograph is really something unique and personal to each and every client. This is part of what makes being an artist and photographer so very rewarding, and why I enjoy my profession so much. It is also the source of my photography studio motto – “Images Inspired By You…�

At the end of the day, quality simply means providing my clients with products and services that both meet and exceed their expectations and desires. It means revealing and capturing something normally hidden from view – a relationship, the romance and love that exists within our families.

It also means going the extra mile on a wedding day to photograph as much of the atmosphere and romance of the wedding as possible. It means taking the time on a bridal portrait session to make the bride feel like a real princess in her gown.

In a nutshell - it simply means to pour your heart into everything you do.

Following the Mid-South Wedding Show in Germantown last month, it’s been a very busy time with enquiries and bookings streaming in for 2009. Some of the popular dates for next year are already booked up, with many brides unfortunately finding themselves unlucky.

If your wedding photographs are an important part of your planned wedding then the best advice I can give in finding your wedding photographer is: Start as early as possible, because all the good Memphis wedding photographers will be fully booked up for 2009 very soon.

The wedding photography section of this web site gives some great tips and secrets for selecting the right wedding photographer for your wedding day, and I would strongly encourage all future brides to call for a friendly chat to talk about the aspects of their wedding that are important and to learn more about the products and services that are right for them.

Call us TODAY at (901) 606-9105 to learn more.

While photographing Annie & Bobby Syriac’s wedding (more on that in a later post), on July 19th 2008, I was particularly impressed with the flowers provided for the wedding by Oakland Florist. So much so, that I decided to visit the store for myself to see some of the other work by the owners, Teresa Bourland and Phyllis Roy.

While there, I photographed many of the flower arrangements that had been personally made by Teresa or Phyllis – literally a photographer’s paradise!

 

I’ve posted some of the examples here for you to see:

Oakland Florist is conveniently located on Murrell Street in Oakland, behind Anna Renae’s tea room. The store is well laid out with wonderful arrangements and decorations. For local residents this means that a long trip into Memphis is no longer needed, when there is such a great florist in town. In fact, the readers of the Oakland News voted Oakland Florist to be the best florist in Oakland for 2008.

Teresa or Phyllis can be reached at Oakland Florist on (901) 466-1234.

Allen & Kellie hired me as their wedding photographer for 4th October 2008 several months ago, and we had a great time in April on their engagement photography session in downtown Memphis.

After seeing their engagement portraits, they ordered a canvas wall portrait of one of their favorite images, which I am sure will look fantastic on the wall of their new home.

 

 

Yesterday, I received a very nice thank you card from them in the mail, which I would like to share with you:

“Kellie and I would like to thank you for the great work you have done so far! We’re really looking forward to working with you on our wedding day. Keep up the good work and we know that the best is yet to come.”

In return, I would like to thank Kellie and Allen for the lovely comments, and I’m thrilled that they’re so pleased with everything so far. As anyone who knows me will agree, I’m passionately committed to ensuring that all my clients are happy and I look upon all them as members of my extended family.

Annie & Bobby Syriac were married on July 19th 2008 at the United Methodist Church on the town square in Collierville, TN.

The editing of the wedding photographs is well under way and they will soon get to see their beautiful wedding book, but here is a sneak peek of some of the flower details from the wedding.

 

 

 

The flowers were provided by Teresa and Phyllis, owners of Oakland Florist, and what a wonderful job they did! The church decorations, Annie’s bouquet and the boutinneres were all perfectly arranged and designed, as you can see from the two photographs displayed here.

Oakland Florist is a locally owned business and Teresa & Phyllis can be reached at (901) 466-1234.

I will post more photographs from this great wedding as soon as they are available.

Congratulations to Andrea & Jeremy Kee of Somerville, who were married on June 21st 2008 at the home of Andrea’s parents in Somerville. Now that they have seen the images from the wedding, I can now post some here.

The wedding was a wonderful evening event, in the beautiful grounds of Westfork, just as the sun was setting for the day. The garden was laid out with chairs and a wedding arch was set up to the west so that the setting sun would provide the perfect backdrop.

Every detail of this wedding was perfect - from the flowers to the reception, which was held in a new barn constructed specially for the event.

 

 We had so much fun photographing Andrea & Jeremy’s wedding, and it was an honor to be a part of their very special day, thank you.

Well, vacation time is over and it’s back to reality again after a good rest. This year we took the kids to New Smyrna Beach for our two-week vacation. The weather was great, and it was a treat to see the fireworks of July 4th lighting up the beach from Daytona all the way down to Cape Canaveral!

We caught up with old friends, played at the beach and relaxed by the pool. We also took a couple of trips to see St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US.

 

Rested and rejuvenated, I’m ready to get back to work on wedding books, producing portraits and preparing for the remainder of the busy wedding season.

I love to read, both for learning and relaxation, and “Pour Your Heart Into It” by Howard Schultz is the latest book I’ve read. I originally bought this as inspirational reading for Tim (he wants to go into business when he graduates), and I have to say that it really is one of the most interesting and inspirational books I’ve read about the entrepreneurial spirit.

Starbucks is one of my frequent haunts (as well as a great place to meet with prospective clients), and I now understand a lot more about how the company was founded and its guiding principles.

In many ways, Mr. Schultz’s philosophies echo my own. Although Merrick Photography is unlikely to become a national or international superstar, many of the fundamentals are similar, such as an unwavering attention to quality and detail. I treat my photographic artwork like Starbucks treats a finely-roasted coffee - something to be savored and appreciated more than a cup of instant. This is not meant to sound arrogant or anything, and I’m sure my clients and friends would agree, it’s simply that I believe firmly in giving only the very best in what I do - I get excited and enthused over a wonderful portrait and the romance of a wedding is the very life-blood of the images I create. To give anything less would be a disservice to my clients.

This is why I would never book two weddings, or even two portrait sessions, in the same day. To do that would require a sacrifice in quality that I am unprepared to make. I truly do try to pour my own heart into everything I do.

Whether you like Starbucks coffee or not, you will find this book to be an engaging, entertaining, inspiring read - well written with a firm human perspective.