Sweet Water Photo Studios - Northern MN

"Fairy Princess photo shoot"

Today when my wife and I arrived at our late afternoon photo engagement, I knew that we were expecting to capture a surprise with three very young girls. What I didn't expect to see was the trasformation into Fairy Princess's.

As we were photographing these girls, I realized that someday they would, in fact be getting married. I truly hope that their first memories as Princess's will be be from today, and that their Wedding Photographer treats them as such!

I know that I will be treating our brides as Princess's from now on...

"Selecting a Wedding Photographer"

Ask about their experience. Number of years photographing Weddings, not flowers or wildlife or hockey games.

Ask about Professional Associations like PPA (Professional Photographers of America) or WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) both can be googled for more information.

Ask if they have a Shot List that they can share with you (ours is 2 full pages)

Ask if they require a Contract? Contracts Protect You, the customer from sudden changes or unexpected performance.

Ask how many people will be photographing my wedding? (we always use two) and sometimes have an assistant.

If you don't know what Ala Carte is ASK!

Ask about backup cameras, lights, flashes. (we use two cameras per photographer) we carry extra batteries, we have 3 sets of Studio lights, I was Submariner, I believe in emergency equipment!

"Destination Weddings - In Northern Minnesota"

Northern Minnesota offers some of the Very Best Destination spots that Newly Weds might want for peace and quite. Whether along the shores of Lake Superior and along highway 61 or maybe the "hustle" of Ely and the remote resorts around there, maybe the slow seductive resorts between Bigfork and Bemidji, MN. I believe you can find just the right spot that will keep you coming back for many years!

There are some that need the hustle and bustle of a town with population over 20,000. But Most of Northern Minnesota's beauty lies around towns that measure less than 5,000 people!

1/3 of Minnesota's population lives in 2/3's of the Northern part of the state. The north has the lakes, the rock outcroppings, the woods and the remote cabin settings that Newlyweds want...

So as long as your looking at Northern Minnesota, Give us a call! We travel to Northern Minnesota (from Duluth straight West and North to the border)

"Sweet Water Photo Studios - Northern Minnesota's Traveling Wedding Photographer's"

This Summer we added a studio building to our Home Studio. Many pictures can be seen on our website, www.sweetwaterphotoonline.com .

"Greetings from Imaging USA, 2009 in downtown Phoenix, AZ"

This year for our annual business training, Marie and I are attending the Professional Photographers of America (www.ppa.com) Convention in Phoenix, AZ. We took some time and drove from Northern Minnesota to Arizona via highways 35 & 40. Taking time along the way to relax and do some landscape photography in New Mexico and Arizonia.

While at Imaging USA, Jim and Marie have attended a 2 day business course, a 1 day shooting course taught by the members of the Board of Directors of PPA. We have also attended seminars entitled Bellies and Babies with "Sam" Puc', The Magic of Posing and Lighting - The Lost Art with The Legendary Hanson Fong, "A Labor of Love" by Anne Geddies (Think babies in flowers).

While at the show, Jim had the opportunity to have a personnal one on one session with Hanson Fong, OMG! Picture rto follow...

"Northern Minnesota Traveling Photographers"

Choosing a Wedding Photographer is much like choosing a new member of the family. You them to have all the access, yet you don't exactly know how much leeway to give them. A simple rule that my wife Marie and I follow, is to treat guests like family, then they will follow all the appropriate paths.

If you look through our website and see images that you like, this is great, but by all means if you have suggestions, bring them up, give us tear sheets from magazines, the web or your thoughts, we will follow them.

We live in the woods and cover half of Minnesota, Call us, we'll make your day our day!