Ok, remember forever ago when I told you about Austin wedding photographer Whitney Lee's bridal portrait contest? Remember that?

Well, not only do I want to share the photos of the winner of that contest, but I want to let you know about ANOTHER offbeat contest that Whitney's sponsoring — this one's for a free Halloween engagement session.

So first, lets bask in the photos of Kaci, the bride-to-be who won Whitney's last Offbeat contest…

Continue reading "Enter to win a free Halloween engagement shoot from Austin's Whitney Lee Photography" →

I LOVE THIS. What better gift for your zombie betrothed than a hand-painted zombie portrait of the two of you by artist Rob Sacchetto, author/illustrator of The Zombie Handbook: How to identify the living dead and survive the coming zombie apocalypse.

The photo above shows a before & after of one Offbeat Bride-reading couple. On the left: their lovely wedding portrait. On the right? ZOMBIFICATION.

The process is pretty simple: you send Rob a clear, high resolution jpeg of you and your beloved (or your bridesmaid, or your groomsmen, or your mother-in-law), and he'll works his illustrative magic. This is definitely a, uh, one-of-a-kind gift.

Special Offbeat Wedding Packages:

• Bride and Groom couple's portrait $160
• Maid of Honor and Best Man singles portrait $80 each
• Each additional portrait order $60 for single, $140 for couples
• Group of six (head and shoulder shot) 20" x 30" $480
• Group of six (full body shot) 20" x 30" $520

Send Rob your photo today — and yes, they do rush orders!

Oh and PS: If you're into Zombies, obviously you should snag a copy of Rob's new book, The Zombie Handbook.

New York wedding photographer Jody Ake takes antique wedding portraits unlike any I've ever seen.

Jody uses an old-school camera process called wet collodion, which involves coating a glass plate with hand-mixed goo and then exposing the plate while it's is still wet. The resulting "ambrotype" is a negative image on glass that's then backed with black velvet. BLACK VELVET, PEOPLE!

Jody explains, "When people come in for their portrait they soon realize that this is not a normal photo shoot. I use a huge studio view camera that's about 100 years old. I have to prepare each glass plate right before I expose it and I have to develop it immediately." Jody's clients receive their one-of-a-kind ambrotypes to keep.

To see more of Jody's antique wedding portraits and get the scoop on a discounts for offbeat brides, keep reading…

Continue reading "Antique wedding photography from Jody Ake" →