Mini-Vaca pictures!

Hey everybody!

Vacation, just one week ago, already seems like it was last year. We've already had lots more shoots, traveled to a couple different states, put another 1000 miles on my car, etc. For that reason, I treasure vacation that much more.

I'm a firm believer that vacation with friends is so much better (a small shout out to Bradley and Meridith - our international traveler bffs). So, the fact that Jenessa, our best friend/wedding planner and Mark asked us to accompany them to the lake was a godsend in the middle of wedding season.

Here are a few highlights from the trip that was filled with good food, good stories, and scorpion attack. Yikes.

Talk to you soon,
Dale



Me with the hottest girl there...

Oh, wait... this was the hottest girl there... ;)


Our buddy Rachel fighting off the sun's evil rays...


J-Bai rustling in the wind ;)

Of course we had to get a foot shot

Save the Date! 2010 Benny Awards are set!!!

Hey everybody! If you are a current 2009 or 2010 bride/groom, follow these steps:
1) get out your dayplanner
2) flip to January 2010
3) grab a permanent marker
4) scribble "BENNY AWARDS - MUST ATTEND" on the 22nd!

If you came last year, you know that it was fun and fabulous, and had FREE drinks and desserts. The 2nd annual Benny Awards promises to again knock socks right off the feet, so plan on coming!

If you weren't one of the 65 attendees from last year, and want to know more about this fab party, don't worry... you'll know soon enough. Just know that you won't want to miss it!

To whet your appetite, check out a few posts and pictures from the 2009 Benny Awards:

Click here to see last year's winning images

Click here to hear what was said about last year's party




















Talk to you soon,
Dale

Rebekah and Caleb's engagement website

Hey everybody!
I haven't posted one of these in quite some time - not because I haven't done any... I've done PLENTY! I just forgot that I blog about these and wanted to remind y'all about them. We do these sites for free for any of our wedding couples who want to show off their engagement photos is a fun, creative way.
Rebekah and Caleb wanted theirs to match their save-the-date, which we were happy to do for them. Speaking of save-the-dates, , contact the amazingly talented paper-goddess, Amy Hannon, at Sincerely Yours if you're not having us do it. She is super ridiculously good.

Okay, that was some tangent I went off on...

Check out Rebekah and Caleb's website by clicking the picture below.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Little Rock Photography Workshop: only 5 spots left!

Hey everybody!

I've been getting LOTS of feedback about my recent workshop. The most-asked questions is if I am planning a follow-up workshop. The answer: not yet. However, my friend Becker asked me a few weeks ago if I could help him put on a workshop when he's in Arkansas (we're photographing a wedding here in AR, so he's flying in from CA). I obviously said yes and he has set the workshop for September 17th in Little Rock at the Capital Hotel (thanks to fellow photog Michael Juiliano for the hook-up!).

Photographers in the area: This inexpensive workshop is a must-attend! Marketing, shooting, and everything in between... this workshop is going to cover a LOT of ground! Click on the link to register

Also, you do NOT have to be a member of the [b]school to attend!


Lastly, stop wasting time! The spots are running out!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

P.S. Here's the actual info on [b]'s registration page:
September 17, 2009
Little Rock, Arkansas
10am-5pm
Lunch is included
Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops and their camera as they will have the opportunity to shoot.
In this one day workshop, Becker goes over pricing, branding & marketing, sales strategies, shooting tips, workflow and other business essentials to help you get ahead.

Beau's Senior Portraits in Fayetteville Arkansas - Part 2

Hey everybody!

Mere got totally jealous that I got to pick and put my favorites on the blog. So, here are hers!

Again, we only take a handful of senior sessions a semester. If you're a 2010 senior, contact us quickly to grab one of the spots!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Beau's Senior Portraits in Northwest Arkansas

Hey everybody!

Making the trip all the way from Columbia, Missouri, Beau had us shoot her senior pictures here in Fayetteville! Meredith and I were so excited when her mother contacted us and we were more than happy to oblige with a fun, fashion filled session!

What I loved most about this shoot was that Beau laughed at all my stupid jokes, so we were able to get really fun shots of her sweet personality. You'll notice this when I show you my favorites below.

We only take a handful of senior sessions a semester. If you're a 2010 senior, contact us quickly to grab one of the spots!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Photographers: Try Before You Buy!

Hey everybody!

Non-photographers, take the night off. Or, scroll down for some fun stuff.

Photographers! If you have ever asked me about equipment, I've probably told you to Try Before You Buy. It is such a smart lesson. There's no reason to spend 2000 dollars on a lens you don't like working with. Or Camera body that doesn't suit your needs. Etc.

Another tip: Stir creativity by trying a new lens! Joe Photo does this all the time when in a creative rut. I've done it in many occasions. Check out the tilt-shift I used for the Blend workshop shoot and Kelli and Wes' wedding. I am not going to spend a ton on a lens that has a very unique use like a tilt-shift lens. Instead I just rented one and had fun with it!

Here is where I rent. They're efficient, have a great selection of toys, and are one of those companies with a really fun personality (I love those). If you're going to rent from them, make sure to click the picture below or this link b/c it tells them Benfield Photography sent ya!



Have fun!


Talk to you soon,
Dale

Ellie's New 'Do

Hey everybody!

I think subconsciously Ellie is yearning to be one of our brides. Every week she likes to sit on my lap and have me show her the bride's pictures from the weekend before. And it's easy to see that the Southern Bump is strong and proud in our brides!

It is my firm belief that this lied at the very heart of her decision to have a bump. YES! You sorority girls and you southern brides who read this will be very VERY proud of my sweet Elizabeth. Even without the use of a bump-it, Meredith was able to rock a southern bump into being.

What is it they say... the bigger the bump, the closer to God? Yes, that's it. Enjoy a few pictures we just HAD to take!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

P.S. You like this story? "Tweet it" below!



Then, she wanted to shoot a couple "fun" ones...

Congrats to 7 more 2010 couples!!

Hey everybody!

Currently we have 15 weddings booked for 2010! We are only taking 20-25 weddings, so officially we only have 5 spots left! If you are recently engaged or know someone who is, send the our way quickly! We only take a select number of weddings so we can continue our insanely-quick 1 week turnaround time on wedding images! Yes, that's right. :)

I went through a booking spell recently and realized I don't have everybody on the blog yet! So, congrats to the following couples who are having 2010 weddings with Benfield Photography:

Rebekah Johnson and Caleb Bloyd - January 9 - this Bartlesville couple is planning a Little Rock wedding with us and also Jenessa Bailey! Whoop whoop!

Ashley Post and John Rausch- March 6 - I know, I know... this was supposed to be my Photography Convention in Vegas weekend. But if you would hear Ashley talk about how cool her wedding is going to be, you'd show up late too! Oh, another Jenessa wedding!

Marion Curtner and Clark Donat - April 10 - You should hear about all the cool ways Marion and Clark are incorporating tradition and family heirlooms into their wedding! The story is unreal! Also, we get to work with Jessica Kersey on this wedding, which will be a first for us. We're very excited!

Brooke Needham and Patrick Smith - May 1 - This couple is SUPER ARTSY! We met them recently for drinks in Little Rock and fell in INSTY-Love!

Brittany Lavy and Chase Priest - May 15 - Another FABULOUS wedding that will be perfected by J. Bailey Occasions. This one will definitely be super fancy!

Samantha Buckmaster and Alex Font- May 30 - While Meredith and I are in Memphis photographing Chelsea Rose and Seth Jewell's wedding, Lauren and Jessica will be photographing this wedding of a super fun couple! We're photographing their engagement session on bikes!

Cassie Schurman and Danny Ludwig - October 2 - I've known Cassie for years and years! As sometimes happens, she booked her photographer before anything else! I love that! Cassie is such a sweetie and I'm super excited to be photographing her wedding!

It's going to be a great year!
Talk to you soon,
Dale

And you've gone picture-less for days now... how about Rebekah and Caleb's save the date to tide you over!

We are normal after all!

Hey everybody!

Meredith and I (not to mention our wedding planner friend Jenessa) get to do something totally normal this weekend: take Saturday and Sunday off!! We had to physically write it into the calendar as to not schedule anything and the ink stuck! :)

We're heading to Jenessa's parent's lake house for some relaxing, regrouping, brain reformatting. Ha ha!

I'm actually typing this blog on Friday, because I don't even plan on getting on the internet while I'm there; SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!!

We'll be back Sunday night, hopefully completely refreshed. This is, after all, only our 4th weekend off (and first COMPLETELY off) of 2009.

So, let me say with the utmost giddiness, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Great wedding advice from Mindy Weiss

Hey everybody!

On twitter, I follow Project Wedding (http://twitter.com/ProjectWedding), which usually has some really good articles for upcoming brides who are planning their weddings. A recent post features an interview with famed celeb wedding planner, Mindy Weiss, who gives some great advice.

If you're planning to tie the knot, notice what she says about wedding photography - I tell brides this all the time:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PW: Where should you not cut corners?
Mindy: Photography. That is my favorite thing right now! That's the only thing you can take with you and it's the only thing left after the wedding. If that sucks ... you won't want to look at your memories. You will look at your photos and go, "I hate these pictures. I should have spent the money."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.projectwedding.com/wiki/show/star-wedding-planner-mindy-weiss-trends-tips-budgeting-for-your-big-day
Good stuff!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Shoot Your Kids Workshop: Feedback!

Hey everybody!

I love positive feedback! After the workshop we got lots of fun comments. Here are a couple of my favorites! Below are some of the images we got during the live shoot. Enjoy!

Hi Dale & Meredith,
I just wanted to send a quick note thanking you for the AMAZING workshop on Saturday.  My husband kept asking me how it went and I just kept saying, “my mind is officially blown!”  Not only did I have SO much fun, but I still can’t get over how much I learned.  I’ve been using my camera for about 9 months and learned more about the functions and capabilities of my camera in your one-day workshop than I EVER would have been able to figure out on my own.  I left on Saturday with a whole new appreciation for photography as well as a desire to keep learning.  I HOPE HOPE HOPE you’ll decide to do more workshops like this…..consider me signed up! 
Thanks again! 
Laura

--------------------------------------------------------

Dale and Meredith!

Thank you both for putting on that workshop. It was affordable, interesting, helpful and loads of fun! I loved seeing a live shoot and the photoshop/mpix tips were great! I think the conversation after the workshop was one of my favorite times. I loved listening to everyone and hearing ya'lls opinions on so many topics!

I mentioned how much I loved the workshop on my facebook status today and my old youth minister's wife (from Tulsa) commented about how jealous she is that I went. She is thinking about going to the b school workshop in Little Rock. (which looks awesome, by the way! I'd love to hear about all of the topics they have listed!)  Small world!!   

I love learning from your blog and would love to learn from you in person. If that is not an option, I would still love to keep in contact and continue to learn from you!

I love how open and helpful you both are! Thank you for being so wonderful! I hope you do another workshop soon and I hope I can come to it!

Thank you!
Lauren


Talk to you soon,
Dale