Black Tie Photography, LLC

Blog moved to new location

2009-10-07T21:56:00.004-05:00

Hey all! We have designed a new blog connected right to our website! the new blog address is www.blacktiefoto.com/blog

This blog will stay active for another week or so then will be coming down. Please visit us at the new blog and leave some comments!

Thanks,

The Black Tie Guys

Jim and Tiffany Joling...A Wedding.

2009-09-21T20:57:00.023-05:00

What would you do if it were 80+ degrees outside, not a cloud in the sky, and the middle of September???....Get married of course! And that is exactly what Jim and Tiff did.

These two kids decided to tie the knot on September 20th, 2009. They were Married at Fireman's Memorial in Wisconsin Rapids. The reception would follow at the beautiful Hotel Mead.

The great thing about this couple, is they absolutely loved being in front of the camera! You'd think they had modeled before. We got plenty of outtakes from photos, because they were laughing so much!!

They are naturals in front of the camera , and they are truly in Love.

So. thank you Jim and Tiff for letting us take part in your special day! Hopefully you enjoy a few of the teaser shots.

Oh, and I decided to pick some of the not so obvious choices for photos! A little bit of a grab bag.

Black Tie Guys.

Emily & Andy a.k.a Adam 09-12-09 Madison Wedding

2009-09-13T14:10:00.006-05:00

Our first wedding in Madison went off without a hitch. Beautiful weather, great locations, awesome couple... what more could we ask for!? Andy and Emily tied the knot in a great church full of stained glass windows and tons of natural light pouring in! There wasn't a dry eye in the house, including the bride and groom! From there we stopped off at a quaint little park just outside of downtown where Andy had proposed to Emily. You could see the playback of that day in their eyes as we walked around the park. It was awesome!

We finished the night at the reception site where Emily, after a few attempts, serenaded Andy with a song! ( She kept laughing about 2 lines in from nervousness! lol ) She did a great job and Andy was having a tough time keeping his composure while he watched his beautiful new wife sing him a song! All in all it was a great wedding and we are really glad we got to share those intimate moments with you guys! We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors!

With love....

The Beautiful & Talented Ms. Abby

2009-09-09T20:38:00.007-05:00

What to say about Ms. Abby? I have known Abby for a while now and she is actually one of our assistants. Beautiful and an extremely talented bag carrying, light stand set er up er! :) We hit a few locations with Abby. For her shoot I really wanted to concentrate on her gorgeous blue eyes. While the photos turned out great, Abby is not one for being in front of the camera! You can't tell here though! So Abby, thanks for choosing Black Tie for your senior portraits! I would've hated firing you if you hadn't! :p

Presenting Ms. Abby.....

Nick & Tara Wedding 8-29-09

2009-08-30T15:17:00.005-05:00

Nick and Tara tied the knot on a rainy August Saturday! While rain was in the forecast, the love these two have for each other made it feel like a warm summers day. Nothing was going to stop Nick from marrying the girl of his dreams! Not falling through a floor into a basement, not spraining his fingers, not even shattering some vertebra in a recent accident! So while Tara was busy finalizing the wedding plans, Nick was trying to reenact as many episodes of Tool Time as he could before the big day it seems. :P But regardless of it all, the day was beautiful, and the Black Tie Guys thank you for letting us share in the love you too have! So good luck, and Tara.. or should I call you Mrs. Taylor... please keep Nick away from power tools... at least until the life insurance policy clears.... :P

Much love from us to you.....

Amanda & Ryan E-Session 8-23-09

2009-08-26T20:26:00.006-05:00

Amanda and Ryan are not your typical couple! Laid back and live for the moment seems more their style! They came all the way from Osalaska for their e-session! After numerous reschedules due to a number of things we finally hooked up, and I had a blast working with them! If their e-session was just a glimpse of what the wedding will be like, then I am REALLY looking forward to the big day! :) So here is your teaser guys! Hope you enjoy! :)

Carlos and Courtney - A Wedding

2009-08-24T14:04:00.015-05:00

August 22nd, 2009.

The setting... The Beautiful Sentry World in Stevens Point, WI.

So, the Black Tie Guys got a little taste of these two on their engagement shoot a few months ago, and were expecting to have fun at this wedding... but we had NO IDEA what we were in for!

We did everything from racing golf carts, to break dancing, and everything in between! I don't think Sentry World knew what was in store for them either.

So, Carlos and Courtney, please tell your friends and family we had a great time and were honored to be a part of your big day!

Enough chit chat, enjoy the teasers...

Introducing the Newmans 8-15-09

2009-08-16T12:03:00.008-05:00

What can we say about John and Shannon! They had a beautiful traditional wedding, and that's as far as tradition went with this young fun couple.

When in "Greece" do as the Greeks do, and that they did, from bull riding to the hilarious "how we met" stories. John and Shannon are not only the love of each others lives, it was clear through out the evening that they are each others best friends.

While no one can know how long people will be debating if Shannon will now be referred to as "Newman 2" or "N2" we all know their love will continue on without end.

Congratulations to both John and Shannon and your fairy tale ending.

Good Golly Ms. Molly- 8-12-09

2009-08-12T21:37:00.004-05:00

We had a great day shooting Molly's senior portraits today! Battling the blistering heat Molly put up with me dragging her all over town! Waited patiently while I setup and took down lights, and even helped carry some of the gear! What a trooper! With Molly I mixed it up with different lighting styles. Hopefully by now everyone has noticed that we don't do the typical and extremely over-used skin smoothing and plain boring backgrounds. So here are just a few of the many shots we took today! The last shot sum's Molly up completely! :) Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave some comments for her...

David & Valerie 8-1-09

2009-08-02T20:08:00.015-05:00

David & Valerie. I have never met a person in my life that smiles as much as Valerie. You could see both her and David were truly happy on what became a beautiful day in August.

David and Valerie were married at a very historic location known as Point Basse. The house you see behind them in one of the pictures was built in the 1840's. Everything about this location was simply breathtaking. Both of you are amazing, and very lucky to have found each other.

Thanks for letting us be part of your special day!

Dereck & Amy 8-1-09

2009-08-02T12:42:00.006-05:00

Dereck and Amy picked a beautiful venue for their ceremony and reception. The beautiful Pine Ridge Lodge in Wautoma, WI. Surrounded by friends and family the two love birds exchanged their vows in a small and romantic outdoor ceremony. So a big congrats go out to Dereck & Amy and we hope you guys live a long and happy life together! Now enjoy some shots of the love birds on their special day!

Carlos and Courtney - E-Session

2009-07-27T22:05:00.011-05:00

7-22-09

So, if you take two people who are totally laid back, have great smiles, and love kissing.... you will have Carlos and Courtney.

We toured the scenic downtown area in Wisconsin Rapids and came out with some pretty sweet results.

These two lovebirds are engaged to be married this August and we're looking forward to the wedding!

See you in August!

Adam Chojnacki

2009-07-27T21:35:00.013-05:00

Well i can cross off another line in my "Do these before i die" list.
*Lean inside of a $43,000 Yamaha Mini Grand Piano = CHECK!

Adam Chojnacki.... 7/15/2009

What can i say about this guy?? Where to start is more like it. This young man has more musical talent in one hair on his head, than i do in my entire body! He can sing, he can play piano, and later he was jammin on the guitar. Unreal! It was such a fun shoot because there was always music playing, it just happened to be REALLY GOOD MUSIC, and it was LIVE to boot!

This kid WILL go places, and we had the ability to shoot him....pictures that is.

Hey Adam, don't forget us when you hit it big time!

So without any hesitation... Enjoy Adam.

P.S. If you listen closely, you may hear some of his music on our website. Track 2 on the music player!

Nikki and Adam

2009-07-27T21:04:00.016-05:00

June 29th. The forecast was screaming "downpour" and the clouds were looking like they were ready to let loose. You could almost smell the rain in the air.....

Fortunately we had the good luck of 2 EMT's from Delafield, WI.....And what a beautiful day it turned out to be!

Nikki and Adam were married at the Wild Horse in Wisconsin Rapids, and what a cool wedding it was. I had never been to the Wild Horse, but WOW! They did such a great job decorating it! The hair, the dresses, the people. Needless to say it was a fun day. Especially when a certain family member was chugging mouth wash! ;)

As far as couples go, this couple definitely has "it." They were so natural in front of the camera, and always kissing. I am going to venture a guess, and say "they are in looooove"

Thanks for the memories Nikki and Adam!

Sparta Wedding- Landon and Holly

2009-06-08T12:26:00.008-05:00

Landon and Holly's wedding was a spectacle to say the least! We started off with them and their guests Friday on Private tour of the Mississippi River in La Crosse on a beautiful paddle boat. Later we moved over to Nell's Restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, which was also a stunning place. After that Luke and I headed back to our hotel to check in...which is a blog post in itself!

Saturday came and we headed over to shoot the ladies getting their hair and make-up done. Metropolis Hair Studio was the location, which was awesome! A very hip and urban studio with cool colors and brick walls.

The reception took place at Justin Trails in Sparta. Yet another beautiful location, but rain hindered most attempts to use its natural beauty. Thankful the rain died down long enough for us to get a few group shots before it started up again. So with out any further delays, here are just a handful of shots from the event in reverse..just to mix it up a bit! :)

Rapids Wedding- Dana and Bob

2009-05-31T07:56:00.004-05:00

Some quick edits from Dana and Bob's wedding on May 30. Congrats to the both of you! It was a great day for them ( our mishaps at the bottom ) with great weather and a beautiful location...the Stevens Point Country Club. So enjoy the teaser shots Dana and Bob! :)

As I said above...the wedding went perfect...our day didn't! First, the shutter in one of our camera's decided to give out on Friday night during an engagement session. While we have extra camera's, we still borrowed a body from a friend. Next, 3/4 way through the wedding day our main flash fries out! :( We have extra flash too, so we are still good! So what else could go wrong? Nothing....AT the wedding at least... On our way home from the reception we make a quick stop in point. When we walk back out of the store one of the cars tires is sitting on the rim, with a huge nail stick out of it. Why not! So needless to say it was a fun, but expensive wedding for us! LOL

Rapids Wedding- Greg and Stepanie

2009-05-26T00:46:00.006-05:00

Here are some teaser shots from Greg and Stephanie's wedding on May 23 in no specific order. Good luck to the both of you and we wish you the best on your new path in life! Thanks again for choosing us! :)

Rapids Kickers....

2009-05-22T15:10:00.004-05:00

We are slowly going through all the shots we took this past Sunday of the Wisconsin Rapids Kickers. We did it a bit different then other photographers in the past with the lighting and shooting style. So here are a few shots from the day....

We had an absolute blast shooting it and we really hope we made it fun and exciting for all the players! So thank you to all the parents for choosing Black Tie Photography to capture the teams this year! :)

A big thanks to all the Black Tie peeps for doing such a great job too! So thanks to Matt Meyer, Steve Williams, Nicole Babcock, and Abby Johnson! Much love to you guys from Luke and I! :)

Proud To Announce..... :)

2009-05-11T23:40:00.004-05:00

The arrival of my son Jasper! Born 5-11-09 at 5:31pm. Weighing in at 7 pounds and 12 ounces and 18 1/4 inches long. More photos to follow....

Some Sample Shots of Materials

2009-03-31T20:30:00.009-05:00

I was debating whether to post shots of every swatch or just a handful of random ones from the 13 collections we will be offering. I have decided to just show a handful and if you want to see the rest you will just have to set up a meeting! :) We have a total of 122 swatches between the 13 collections. Now add in that you can mix and match many of them in many different ways, you have a lot to choose from!

More cover options are available outside of our current collections like printed metal and clear Plexiglas just to name a couple. So what follows are some shots of some of the swatches... 1 or 2 from each collect....Enjoy! ;)

Middle Earth Collection: 2 tone Fabrics

Brocade Collection: Fine Silk w/ Patterns

Haute Color Collection: Fine Silk w/ subtle toned stripes

Garbo Collection: Man-made faux suede leather

Happy Cow Collection: Man-made PVC free faux leathers

Eclectic Looks Collection: Same as Happy Cow but with wild colors and patterns

Tricycle Alley Collection: Top grain European leather with a finish

Colours Collection: High end, full grain protected aniline leather

Accents Collection: Top grain protected aniline leather w/ embossed textures

Basics Collection:High end top grain protected leather

All That Jazz Collection: Rendition of hand-wiped leather w/ an aged look

Urban Legends Collection: Real patent leather's and genuine suede's

Zumanity Collection: Natural leathers that are embossed or stenciled with faux furs

This is just a small sample of what we offer. Full collections are a must see! So if you want a one-of-a-kind wedding album...you know who to talk too! ;)

Another Album Teaser.....

2009-03-29T15:54:00.005-05:00

Well, I thought I would toss a couple of teaser shots of our new album cover collections from Finao..... More to follow shortly..... :) Click the pic for a larger view. Collection includes everything from silk, leather, to man-made eco friendly materials and more....

Fun Pics and a new album line-up teaser... ;)

2009-03-21T19:53:00.006-05:00

Well I was pretty bored after work just cleaning the house so I decided to go take a few pics since the weather is so nice.... I always seem to gravitate towards taking pictures of myself while spinning. Not sure why but they usually turn out pretty cool. Photo's were all taken with our Infra Red convert DSLR. Makes for some cool colors and can put a nice twist on a boring scene...

Click the photo's to see a larger version...

In real news....

We received our new cover swatches for our brand new album line up for 2010! The album that comes with some of the packages will be just the standard leather album....But... you will get to pick from a handful of colors instead of plain black or brown...colors like reds, and yellows! :)

And... for those of you that want a fully custom never been seen before album, we will offer upgraded albums and you will get to design the cover. Total cover options and materials you can chose from.... a few hundred combination's should do just fine...but we have way more then that! Stay tuned for more news and shots of the new swatches.... :)

More of Cannon....

2009-03-15T09:21:00.004-05:00

We had planned on posting more a bit sooner but between work, the business, the new baby, and all the doctor appointments for my son that's due in May, we have been swamped! So here are a few more of Cannon that Luke or I have taken over the last few weeks....enjoy! :)

$100 Print Credit Coupon on Google

2009-02-26T09:28:00.004-06:00

We recently posted a coupon on our Google business page that is good for an additional $100 print credit towards any Wedding Package. It expires June 21, 2009... On my 30th Birthday and Luke and I's first Father's Day. The coupon is for new clients only and cannot be added to one of our additional specials we run randomly for a week or two. To redeem the coupon, you must book before June 21, 2009 and present us with the coupon at the time of the contract signing. If you have any questions feel free to contact us though our website.

-Rob-

Happy Birthday Cannon Jacob Babcock!

2009-02-18T10:19:00.004-06:00

Black Tie Photography is proud to announce the arrival of our newest family member.... Cannon Jacob Babcock born 2/17/2009 @ 5:25 pm. Weighing 8 pounds and 7 oz and 21.5 inches long! So a big congrats to Luke and his wife Nicole! More pictures to follow in the next week or so....!

Valentines Day Special!

2009-02-01T20:08:00.003-06:00

Ending February 14 at midnight!

To celebrate the special day, we are going to upgrade the St. Andrews package to a $600.00 print credit! That is an extra $100.00 for you to order more photo's or put towards an additional album! In addition, we are adding a free 8 Gb iPod Nano ( you choose the color ) loaded with at least 200 photo's from your wedding!

We are also upgrading the Grantchester to a whooping $900.00 print credit! $200 additional dollars for you to spend! We are also upgrading the free iPod Touch to a 16 Gb loaded with at least 200 photo's and.....you will recieve a $25 iTunes gift card to get you started with songs and video's!

You must place the 50% retainer by 11:59 pm Feb. 14 in order to recieve this insane special! Please contact us if you have any questions.

-The Black Tie Guys-

Package Special and other news....

2009-01-20T16:59:00.005-06:00

For a limited time ( ending 1/31/09 at 12:00pm ) if you book a Hanover or higher package we will up the print credit by $100.00 for free! That's a lot of extra prints to cherish over the years. Book now as the season is filling up very quickly!

In other news......

We are proud to announce that the Wisconsin Rapids Soccer Association has chosen Black Tie Photography to shoot all the team's and individuals this year! They had many studio's to choose from, but our high caliber talent, high quality prints, and outstanding value could not be matched! Are we bragging? Yes, Yes we are! ;)

Traffic and more.....

2009-01-07T13:32:00.004-06:00

Well, after reviewing the traffic of our old boring html site compared to the new flash site, we are up over 700%! So thanks to everyone that has hit our site!

We are also getting a lot of questions about our albums. So to clarify things, the album price includes the prints! And we highly recommend getting an album for 3 reasons:

Reason #1
I don't know about you, but I rather enjoy flipping through albums of my family and friends when I was a kid. Even better, flipping through my parents or grandparents albums! While viewing them online, or on the computer is nice, Nothing beats sitting around with friends and family looking at an actual print. Honestly, when is the last time you crowded around your computer with a bunch of people and looked at photos?

Reason #2
Technology has drastically changed in the printing process. The inks and paper used today will out last even someone born today! The printer we use prints with ink and paper designed to look the same 100+ years from now as the day it was printed.

Reason #3
Applies to both reasons above. Technology! How much has it changed in the last 20 years!? Remember beta? Atari? The original windows or apple operating system? While a cd of your images is great at the moment, you think you will be able to open a cd-rom disc in 20 years? Doubt it! Or even a dvd? They have almost compeletly phased out 3.5 floppy disks. VHS is on its way out, and Blue-Ray is making short work of dvd's. In another 20 years cd-roms and dvd's will be a thing of the past. Where will the prints be? Looking brand new in your album. No fuss or hassle to view them. Just some food for thought....

On another note, Luke recently did a family shoot and one picture really caught my eye! A very good example of our artsitic style and use of off camera lighting! Nice work as usual Mr. Babcock...

New Website Is Done! :)

2008-12-05T19:31:00.008-06:00

To celebrate the new website, we are running a special starting tonight and ending Dec 19, 2008 @ the stroke of midnight..... 10% off all wedding packages! We are very excited and hope you enjoy the new site. If you have any questions or comments please contact us through the site.

We will also be updating the blog more often with news, pictures, and specials. So visit often to follow our progress. :)

Website update and new gear....

2008-11-27T12:03:00.008-06:00

We are in the final stages of bring you a new flash based website. After looking at what internet connection people are using to visit our site, we found the 95% of the people are using DSL or faster. So we decided to drop the boring html site and go with a very clean and user friendly flash site. Some of the new features the site will have a password protect proofing section....with a cart! So you log in, add the photo's you want printed to the cart, select quantities and size's, pay via paypal, then just wait for us to contact you when they come in! Or, for example, if Uncle Bob from Florida wants some photo's printed, he has the option to have them shipped directly to him for exact shipping costs! So that will be one less thing you have to worry about doing, cause we will do it for you! :)

Buy doing this, it makes the entire ordering process quicker, easier, and more cost effective for both parties! While we own a business to make money, we have actually dropped our prices quite a bit as it saves us hours of time on every order! So why should we charge you for a service that will no longer be needed... do you agree? :)

In other News.....
We final got our Infrared camera converted. Check out our IR gallery to view some photo's of the neat things it does to landscapes and people. We are working on a process using a DSLR and the converted DSLR in which we take the same exact photo using both camera's. This allows us to use the color IR photo as the background, while leaving the people in full color. As soon you will start seeing it used during your photo shoots!

10% off discount and more!

2008-10-19T00:08:00.005-05:00

We are currently running a 10% off any package thru the 31st of October! So book now and save hundreds! At the same time we are running a deal for your entire event (8 hrs max) for only $900.00. That includes all images with 3 color edits burned to a cd or dvd and includes a print release!

Want a free engagement session? All you have to do is refer us to a friend who books us for their wedding and we will add an engagement session to your package and no additional cost! (normally $400) Your friend will get an engagement session for half price and a free 11x14 print of their choice!

So hurry up and book your wedding now so you dont miss out on all the free services and discounts!

Still Alive!

2008-03-24T21:16:00.003-05:00

We have been very busy working on new lighting techniques with some new gear we just bought. Going to be making some changes to the website and adding a bunch of content next month. We still have openings for weddings and are currently running a 20% off special through the end of April...so book now before you miss out on a great deal!

Portfolio page now up

2008-01-01T09:29:00.001-06:00

Finally got around to adding a few galleries to the portfolio page. Still need to add more photos but some is better then none. All galleries were built using simpleviewer which is a flash based plugin. So make sure you have Flash 7 or higher if you want to view the photos. Have a good New Year everyone!

Webite coming along!

2007-12-16T21:22:00.001-06:00

I've been working hard on putting up a website. So far all the pages are up, but still need content. The contact page does work, so feel free to send us an email with your thoughts.
Thanks,
Rob

Welcome to Black Tie Photography

2007-09-16T19:57:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our new blog! We are excited to finally be on the web! We are a new studio based out of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. We are currently building a website for your convenience in viewing our work. The new site address is www.blacktiefoto.com. Please check back often to view feature wedding shots and news.