Every year around this time there is a big conference for photographers in Las Vegas called WPPI. We were there in 2010, and it was awesome. Deb took some photos during that trip, and if you haven’t seen them yet you can take a look here.

We skipped it last year, but this year I went (though Deb stayed at home… poor, poor Deb ) and I had a fantastic time! This time around I rented a car with a few of my friends and drove out to Red Rock Canyon and a dry lake bed to do some shooting. It was loads of fun, and I can’t wait to go back next year!

The first few images here are from a night where we walked around “Old Vegas” and the Fremont Street Experience.

This is Mike. Mike is awesome. This was shot in the entrance to the Plaza Hotel. The Plaza is the hotel that was used for the facade of “Biff’s Pleasure Paradise” in Back to the Future 2. Just a bit of trivia for you there..

These next few shots were taken in Red Rock Canyon. It’s quite an awesome area. All the rocks had these veins of dark red in them… it kind of looked like a giant rock formation made of uncooked bacon. Mmmmmmm…. bacon. {drool}

The next day, we woke up early so we could drive out to an old dry lake bed and take some photos as the sun was rising. This was incredibly awesome, but it wasn’t without it’s own challenges. In order to get to the lake bed, you had to drive along an incredibly bumpy dirt road. I wouldn’t even call it a road… It was more like a big path that had been made by other people trying to get to the lake bed. I had to drive pretty carefully in our rented Chevy Cobalt, as it’s not exactly an off-road vehicle. There was even one part where the road was very soft and sandy. I had to drive just fast enough so we wouldn’t get stuck in the sand, but not so fast that we’d bottom-out the car and lose the muffler. It was… an adventure

Deb and I try to be as environmentally friendly as we can be. We’re not driving cars powered by vegetable oil or anything (though I am eagerly awaiting my first all-electric car), but we are fairly conscious about what we do and how it’ll impact the environment. With the next wedding season coming up and all the awesome people we’re meeting for consultations, we’ve been thinking about all the different marketing materials we would normally have printed. It’s a lot of paper. Well… it’s the 21st century. I think it’s time for the future, don’t you?

For 2011, we have decided to have as little printed material as possible. Instead we will be using an iPad for pretty much everything that would be printed. For things such as price lists where you would normally take them home, we will instead send them to you via e-mail. We’ve been doing digital contracts for some time now, so this new strategy should eliminate the need for mass printing. There will be the odd occasion where we’ll have to have something printed, and in these situations we’ll be using recycled paper.

Do you think there are other ways for us to be green? Leave us a comment! We’d love to hear your suggestions

PS. “Being Green in Twenty Thirteen” sounded a lot better, however I didn’t think waiting 2 more years to be green would work… so… ya.

This brings up an excellent discussion point of how to keep your data (ie: your wedding photos) safe.  According to the series, computers and the like would only really last 100 years due to the exposure to the elements.  Typically DVDs don’t last very long.  Depending on who you ask, a disc can start to degrade in less than 5 years resulting in lost data.  Nick & I feel very strongly about using Archival Grade DVDs.  Photos, whether they be wedding or family or portraits, are very important to hold on to because they help people stay linked in to their background and remember important events.  Archival Grade DVDs are rated to last up to 100 years without degradation (of course, we haven’t tested this yet) which means that your investment is well protected.

There are other ways to help protect your favourite images as well.  Among other things, we have listed a few tips to help keep your DVD in tip-top shape.

Lastly, if you’re really into technical reading (I mean really, who isn’t!?) you can read all about the safe storage of CDs and DVDs here.

Meet The Usual Suspects. We had the pleasure of being supremely entertained by these guys at Maddie & Adam’s wedding back in August.  As soon as they started to play, everyone got onto the dance floor and stayed there until the end of the night!  You know those songs that you wait for at a wedding so you can get up and bust a move… well that’s all these guys played!  Hit after hit of toe-tappin’ music – so much so that I almost wanted to get out there myself!  They had such a great energy with each other and the crowd, which really added an extra little-something-special to the reception

So if you’re thinking about hiring a live band for your wedding, The Usual Suspects are a fantastic choice and well worth a listen!  Check out their sound here

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