Fayetteville Botanical Gardens Wedding Reception of Cory and Jacob

Hey everybody,

It's party time! Boom Kinetic rocked the Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville for Cory and Jacob's wedding. The guests had such a good time, as you're about to see. I totally recommend BK for your party, as they're sure to make your guests enjoy themselves!


I love the balance of light with the background sky here.

The girls had to get up with Boom Kinetic for some dancy-dance time.


Thanks for the photo bomb, Nic.




A glowstick leave was a fun way to end it... without burning the place down.

Thanks to Cory and Jacob for inviting me to their fun party. :)

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Fayetteville Botanical Gardens Wedding of Cory and Jacob

Hey everybody!

I have such a sweet and fun wedding to share with y'all today. The ceremony and reception took place at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, and was maticulously planned to perfection with the help of Amy and team at Details Wedding and Events. The flowers were done by Rose of Sharon, and I LOOOOOVED all the orchids, and the yummy grub was catered by Krutons! My body Nic from NILO got the nod for video (he photobombs me in tomorrow's post), and Boom Kinetic brought down the house with their always-entertaining performance.





First Dance time - the know how to dance!

Maybe my favorite moment of the day... when grandma was watching the father/daughter dance. Priceless moment!

Looks like the bride was enjoying it too.

Then, the bride's brother and sis wrote and performed a hilarious and heart-felt rap (yes... RAP) for the bride. It stole the show!

The Botanical Gardens looked gorgeous!

How SWEET is this moment?!


Come back tomorrow so I can share more from the rockin' party - seriously FUN shots!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Cory and Jacob's Botanical Gardens Wedding Details

Hey everybody,

There was such a great team of vendors on hand for Cory and Jacob's wedding at the Botanical Gardens Saturday. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a party, and every little detail was taken care of by our friends Amy and team at Details Weddings & Events. The soft color palette was super romantic, and the venue was in full bloom. Have a peek at our favorite wedding details from the day:




More from this beautiful wedding tomorrow, friends!

Talk to you soon,
Dale


{{{in other news... Today's Photo Tip of the Day is about "GENERATING LOYALTY WITH YOUR CLIENTS" If you're interested in the 2nd part of that series, sign up for my daily photo tips here.}}}

The Bobbi Shop InDesign Templates

Hey everybody!

Today's post is for all the photogs out there. Hi photog friends! I hope you use InDesign to layout your wedding albums. You know... InDesign... created as a layout program as opposed to Photoshop... which shouldn't be used for desktop publishing...

But if you are still using Photoshop, I won't hold it against you as long as you change your ways. Tonight! Cut 20 hours of work into two! Or better yet, use my friend Bobbi's templates and change 20 hours into 20 minutes! Seriously, her templates are so great, and if you don't know how to use InDesign, she includes a tutorial for you!



I've been using InDesign, literally, since it came out (and even before, when it was called PageMaker), so I know it well. And I still use The Bobbi Shop templates whenever I can! They're such a good investment for all the time you're going to save in your workflow. Okay. So click on the screen shot above and head on over!


Talk to you soon,
Dale

P.S. I get no money from Bobbi for doing this post! I just think she's rad and her templates kick tail.

Oh! One more thing... if you want to watch a video of me using InDesign, sign up for my Photo Tips of the Day by filling out the form in the column to the right. I'll be sending it out soon!

Brooke and Josh's Bentonville Engagement Portrait Session

Hey everybody!

One of my good buddies, Brooke from Art Feeds, is ENGAGED! I'm super happy for her and all the happiness she's experiencing throughout her engagement. She's seriously the nicest person I know, so I knew Josh would have to be great as well. And he is! We met up with them last rainy Wednesday.

When I asked if she wanted to reschedule due to rain, she said, "No way... let's do this!" Or something to that effect. Anyway, I love her enthusiasm in all things in life!

And the pictures are dreamy!!








Talk to you soon,
Dale

Austin Engagement Portraits at LBJ Wildflower Center

Hey everybody!

Though we couldn't photograph Candice's New Orleans wedding, they still wanted us to photograph their engagement - YAY! The Houston natives met us in Austin at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and we started shooting. And then I saw it: a big ol' cactus! Then, I had the following conversation with myself:

Me: "You've never shot an engagement shoot with a cactus."
Me: "I know! How cool would that be?!"
Me: "Yeah, but won't your couple think you're weird?"
Me: "Eh, maybe. But I can live with that."

The following is a result of that conversation. :)



Talk to you soon,
Dale

Ashlee's Austin Wedding Benny {photo} booth

Hey everybody!
Prepare for a laugh-y good time! Ashlee and Tiago are super silly, and so are their friends and family. Needless to say, we had some fun images to sort through!

{hey... I had to get the light set!} {and here's me with Kirra from DNA Events}









And then we shot some fun animations...




{also... mad props to Benny Bride Sherri for coming out and running the Benny Booth - you're the best, dear!!}

Talk to you soon,
Dale

More from Ashlee and Tiago's Austin Wedding

Hey everybody!

I have a couple more portraits, and some silly pics, that I just HAVE to share from Ashlee and Tiago's wedding in Austin. I was so happy to photograph their wedding b/c they are super duper fun! Look at these!




Talk to you soon,
Dale

NWAFW: Riffraff Runway Show Video

Hey everybody!

We're taking a quick break from Ashlee and Tiago's wedding week to show a super fun video I made for Riffraff's Fashion Week Runway show. I was running around like a madman trying to capture some video, while also shooting the images you've already seen, and then since I have all sorts of free time (hello Mr. Sarcasm!) I thought I'd whip up a video of the Fashion Show for you all to see! Also, you can buy these clothes at Riffraff (I think some are sold out, but head to facebook.com/riffrafffayetteville to see for yourself). I hope you enjoy it!

NWAFW_RIFFRAFF from Dale Benfield on Vimeo.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Wedding Portraits at Austin TX Capitol of Ashlee and Tiago

Hey everybody!

I have some super pretty portraits for you today taken at the Austin TX Capitol of my lovely friends Ashlee and Tiago! We've seen their wedding all week, now it's time for their lovely portrait session! Yay!!







Talk to you soon,
Dale

Austin TX Wedding of Ashlee and Tiago

Hey everybody!

My favorite part of Ashlee and Tiago's wedding was all the cultural traditions they brought together into their ceremony and reception. It was such a blast, and of course Mere and I think Ashlee and Tiago are about as sweet as honey, so all in all... pretty good day!



I love Tiago's reaction as he kisses his new bride. Priceless!


Maybe my favorite shot of the day! Mere and I had the honor of transporting the couple to the reception (this happens a lot, actually!). I quickly shot this before we headed off to shoot some portraits at the Austin capitol.


The couple had a big grand march that was SO fun to shoot! I was hanging out in the middle of it all, while Mere got the overview shots - fun!


And when the circle rushed in, I did too! Haha! It was so fun!


Oh! My other favorite part of the day... the dad had written a song for his daughter and then professionally recorded in Nashville and produced (by Taylor Swift's producer!) to dance to at the daddy daughter first dance. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? SO SWEET!!!


The groom and his mom had a pretty sweet dance too!


Don't mess with Texas... girls! Sassy!!





Mere had to show me up with this rockin' shot.




Perfect ending to a perfect day.


We still have some portraits and some Benny Booth photos to show! Keep coming back!

Talk to you soon,
Dale