09 July 2012

Wedding and engagement albums: share yours!

I love wedding photography because I love weddings (and I love taking pictures).  Pretty simple, really. 

When I notice that some of my favorite bloggers are either engaged or married, I often ask them to share their stories on the Anna Delores blog (examples here, here, and here!).  I just adore these wedding and engagement stories, especially now that I'm really digging into wedding photography and all the excitement that comes with that.


To celebrate all of you and the love in your lives, often best visually-expressed by your engagement sessions or wedding photos, I've come up with a way to collect ALL your wedding stories (and a little reward for your participation!).  Keep reading.

At the end of this post, you'll find a link-up for posting YOUR engagement or wedding details from your own blog.  And if you haven't blogged about your own engagement photos or wedding day, why the heck not?  No time like the present.

As a "thank you" for sharing the love with me and my readers, each link-up entry (as long as it follows the wedding/engagement theme) will be automatically entered in a giveaway for a gorgeous, professionally-bound Blurb photography book featuring YOUR amazing engagement or wedding photographs.  This book will be 10x8" with a hardcover and dust jacket and up to 30 glorious, full-color pages.

 { wedding book example from Blurb }

Even if you already have a wedding album, have you SEEN Blurb books?  They are bookstore-quality, coffee-table-worthy archives and display your most treasured images beyond compare.  They're even offering a 15% discount for you to make your own book of wedding photos (so what are you waiting for?).

Even if you win this giveaway (and are thus saying to yourself, "self, I don't need a Blurb book, because Emily over at Anna Delores just GAVE me one"), you can use Blurb to create professionally-bound works of art for preserving family memories, remembering awesome vacations, and giving keepsake gifts.  Blurb has an "ideas" section on their website so you can create books for a variety of occasions, and they have resources for writers interested in publishing their memoirs, novels, and collections of poetry.  You can even create books from your Facebook and Instagram photos.  AND convert your completed Blurb books to e-book format.  They literally have something for everyone.

Not married yet?  You can use Blurb to make wedding guest books, too!  Use your engagement photos (or just photos of you and your soon-to-be spouse) for your wedding guests to sign and leave special messages, and BAM: awesome wedding keepsake for years to come.  I made this type of guest book for my friend Jenn's upcoming wedding and it is GORGEOUS (and Jenn loves it!).  See?  I TOLD you: something for everyone.  And 15% off any one of these options.  Major score, if you ask me.

I know I'm going ON and ON about Blurb, but seriously, they are amazing (and have I mentioned yet that they're the ones I use to give MY brides and grooms their albums as part of Anna Delores Photography weddings?). 

Okay, okay, here come the giveaway details: the winner will receive a one-of-a-kind Blurb photography book that I compile just for you.  The book will feature your photographs and be sent to your door compliments of yours truly -- like I said, it's my "thank you" gift to you for sharing your wedding on the Anna Delores blog!


:: TO ENTER ::
You must add your link (using the InLinkz submission form) to a blog post with plenty of images covering either your wedding or engagement session (and hey, make sure you have these in digital, high-res format to send for creation of your book if you win!).  You must also be a follower of the Anna Delores Photography photoblog to qualify for this giveaway.  Not a follower yet?  Hop on board via Hellocotton and/or Bloglovin'.

Oh!  And add the button to your wedding or engagement session blog post so your married and engaged bloggy friends can join in on the fun, too.


Anna Delores

:: EXTRA CREDIT :: (I always appreciate your extra love and attention!)
  1. Add the giveaway button to your blog post (see above to grab the code!)
  2. Follow the Anna Delores blog via GFC, Hello Cotton, and/or Bloglovin' (tell me how you follow)
  3. "Like" Anna Delores on Facebook (what's your Facebook user name?) 
  4. Post this giveaway to your Facebook page! (Leave a link!)
  5. Follow Anna Delores on Twitter: @annadeloresLA (What is your Twitter handle?)
  6. Tweet about the giveaway!  Feel free to steal this text: "Share your wedding or engagement to win a @blurbbooks photography album from @annadeloresLA! http://annadeloresphoto.blogspot.com"  Leave a link to your tweet!  You can repeat this entry once per day!
  7. Follow Anna Delores on Pinterest (What is your Pinterest username?)
  8. Pin a photo from this blog post (leave the link to your pin!)  
  9. Visit some of the other entries and tell me which engagement/wedding is your favorite!

:: DISCOUNT ::
Can't wait for the giveaway?  Blurb is offering a discount of 15% off any book, wedding or otherwise -- get some using coupon code BLURBBOOK15OFF now through August 31, 2012.

FINE PRINT :: One winner will receive a Blurb book measuring 10x8" landscape orientation with a dust jacket and up to 30 full-color pages of photography from their wedding or engagement.  Entrants must have access to high-resolution digital files of their engagement or wedding photographs to send to Anna Delores for completion of the book if selected as the winner.  The winner's images will be curated and arranged in a book but will not be edited or artistically altered in any way by Anna Delores Photography.  Please remember to credit your photographer and get appropriate permission to blog their photos if you are using his/her professional photography images. This giveaway has no cash value, may not be substituted, and is non-transferable.  This giveaway is hosted by Emily Reiter of Anna Delores Photography and is not explicitly endorsed or supported in any way by Blurb, Inc.  Linked up with Wedding Contests.


 

Giveaway winners!

Many congratulations to the winners of the recent giveaways hosted on the Anna Delores blog!


Ria will soon be enjoying her gorgeous sea glass ring from My Life in Lavender, while Courtney gets to enjoy an amazing $50 shopping spree at Shabby Apple!


Congrats again to the lovely ladies!  I hope you enjoy your goodies.


06 July 2012

wedding photography: engagement edition

First and foremost, happy Fourth of July!  I hope you ALL have the day off work and can take a moment to enjoy some delicious beer, BBQ, and fireworks shows.

Can I hammer y'all with MORE wedding imagery?  :)  I've been collecting inspirations from my favorite photographers, and they're just too lovely to keep to myself.

Today I'm sharing my favorite engagement session images.

For a recap of the most recent Anna Delores Photography e-session, click here.  Otherwise, enjoy the mini-gallery I'm curated below.  :)





{ Jessica Lee Thomas, who photographed my awesome friends above, Beth & Juan! }

Recap (with locations if you happen to be getting hitched soon and need an awesome photographer, though most of these folks "have cameras, will travel"!):

03 July 2012

Pinterest guest post from Kate!

Hi, readers of the Anna Delores blog!  I'm Kate.  I blog over at Stripes and Polka Dots, and I design at Katelyn Brooke Designs.

I've been a fan of Pinterest from the beginning.  I love it!  But lately I've stepped away from using it on my blog as much after that legal debate that happened a few months ago.  However, there are still some things that I use it for that I couldn't do without, so I thought it would be fun to share those with you guys today!  Here are my top 3 reasons why I couldn't live without Pinterest:

1. Color.  As a blog designer, I'm always putting together color schemes.  If I had to start from scratch with the entire color spectrum each time, it would be paralyzingly overwhelming.  There are so many colors and shades, I wouldn't know where to start!  Cue Pinterest.  I go to my color board every time and peruse the swatches that I've pinned.  I rarely use more than one color from a color palette, but just having a swatch there helps me narrow the scheme down tremendously.


2.  Food.  If I want to cook something new, Pinterest is where I go.  It's where all the recipes are, and the way it's laid out is perfect for perusing delicious pictures of new things to try.  I'm a very visual person, so I love scrolling though all the pictures instead of reading recipe titles!


3. Quotes.  Hands down, my favorite board to curate on Pinterest is called Beautiful Words, and it's where all of the beautiful quote graphics go.  There are so many on there, and I just love scrolling through there when I'm having a bad day.  So many wonderful thoughts all in one place!


What do you like the most about Pinterest?  I'd love to hear what you use it for!  And if you'd like to follow me, I'm always excited to find some new pinners to follow!

P.S.  Thanks for having me, Emily!!!

You are welcome back anytime, Kate!

 

02 July 2012

Mani Monday: Accent Nail and Ombre Fail

I set out this evening to achieve the ombre manicure look I've seen done with a cosmetic sponge and a lovely gradient of colors (like the ones demonstrated here and here). 



I was all stoked and ready to show y'all a cool tutorial for how to do it yourself.  Unfortunately, this is what I ended up with:


I can't quite figure out what I did wrong.  The colors were too light and even when I saturated the cosmetic sponge with color, it didn't seem to make a difference.

For those of you who have tried this method, HELP!  What did I do wrong?  Maybe I needed a base coat.  Maybe I didn't move quickly enough and the polish dried out.  Maybe the makeup sponge is the wrong material.  Maybe I should've dabbed it more.  Boo.  Reminds me of one of my favorite nail polish "epic fail" moments.

So I cleaned off the mess and went for my tried-and-true accent nail.  This time I went with a different color on my index finger instead of my ring finger (like I've done before) and used a matte cobalt with a vivid chartreuse.  I love this color combo and bought these two colors together on purpose so I could combine them.



Linking up with Heather and Heather!
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