Almost famous!

Check it out, Joanne Bartone and I are featured on Bludomain's blog!! Click here to read our profile.

Happy Holidays!!

I LOVE every minute of everything I do, and as such find it very difficult to really take any time away from my business. I live and breathe for weddings and my couples.

So for the first time this year, I will be unavailable... I will only answer emergency emails or phone calls, but like a photographer I admire once said, "is there ever really a wedding photography emergency?" LOL

I will return on January 2, 2007, and prepare yourself for what will be coming in the new year from Weddings by Heather. It's going to be AWESOME!!!!

Much love,
Heather

Military Weddings!!

Click here to read my original post regarding military weddings. I was overwhelmed with the stories I received, making it difficult to choose just one... so I chose two!!

Kathleen and Errol are both currently serving in Kuwait and will be getting married March 16, 2007 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Even though they are so far from home, I'm happy that they are together overseas.


Aidan and Michael are currently living apart, Aidan living in San Antonio serving the Air Force as a labor and delivery nurse and Michael living in Ohio serving the Air Force as a computer engineer. They will be getting married in Gibsonia on September 7, 2007.


I am looking forward to both weddings, and hope that I can provide the priceless memories that these couples so richly deserve.

I cannot thank everyone enough for sharing their lives with me, all of you are an inspiration!!

Heather Lahtinen - proud American and military wedding photographer

Episode 4

Click here to watch a very special tribute.

Fun, happy blogging will resume shortly. :)

ANTI - Part Deux

On the last day of the workshop we went to a super cool location to watch Doug, Chenin and John Michael work their magic with a bride and groom. It was an awesome time, but it was REALLY, REALLY cold!!

Meet my new friend Jake Morrow, he's a fab photographer in Memphis. Click the image to view the podcast.



The image below is courtesy of Jake, we were like kids exploring all of the cool stuff.






I love, LOVE birdcage veils. I'm actually thinking about buying one just to have... maybe I'll keep it in my car and one of my brides will wear it. :)

ANTI Workshop Review

Wow, I had the most awe-inspiring time last week in Austin... it's difficult to describe the experience of working with some of the most amazing wedding photographers in the country. I absolutely cannot wait until my next wedding, I have a million ideas!!

On the second day we divided into teams and were given challenge, along with a real bride to photograph. Tiffany was fabulous... not only gorgeous, but willing to do anything that we asked! We were told that we were allowed to trash her dress, and even though we had her laying on the ground and sitting on a tractor trailer tire, she didn't get very dirty at all. Let that be a lesson to future brides... she was literally laying in the dirt and her dress was fine!

Below is some of the video that I recorded from the first two days, I'll be posting more video within the next week.


















Check out Boutwell Blog for more images!!

The ANTI Workshop

I'll be in Austin, Texas the week of November 30th attending the much anticipated Anti Workshop.


The workshop, hosted by Doug & Chenin Boutwell and John Michael Cooper, is about pushing the boundaries, following your soul, and creating images that will redefine the wedding photography industry.

HELLO?? Read that paragraph again and check out their websites!!

I'm gonna come back with some kick-ass ideas and Pittsburgh wedding photography will never be the same!!!

Seriously, I'm always trying to improve my skills and keep my vision fresh for my clients, and attending this workshop is instrumental in the pursuit of that goal.

ps. I'll be taking my video camera. ;)

Amani & Patrick - Engagement

Had a great time on Saturday with Amani and Patrick at the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh Campus. They are both officers in the Army and recently finished their tours in Iraq.

You would never know by looking at her, but Amani was up almost all night on the red eye flight from California to Pittsburgh. I would have been a disaster.



Joanne Bartone was gracious enough to shoot with me, she took this shot of me workin' the light.

Below is the resulting image. Yep, I know that shooting close with a wide angle will give distortion (hence the looooong fingers), but I like it!

Joanne grabbed this shot, which will look fabulous in their custom designed guest book.





Joanne will be shooting Amani and Patrick's wedding on March 24th.

**History Lesson**
The Cathedral of Learning, a historic landmark, is the second-tallest education building in the world—42 stories and 535 feet tall.

Begun by Chancellor John Bowman in 1926 and dedicated in 1937, the building was realized with the help of contributions from men, women, and children throughout the region and the world. During the peak of the Depression, when funding for the project became especially challenging, school children were encouraged to contribute a dime to "buy a brick."

Trivia tidbit: The Cathedral of Learning has 2,529 windows.

Free wedding photography!!

While photographing a wedding last Saturday (Veterans Day), I noticed the headline on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I typically don't have time to watch the news or read the paper, so I didn't know that One Enchanted Evening in Wexford was giving away wedding gowns to brides or grooms who are serving in the military.


And then it hit me. I was inspired by the generosity of Linda and Pete Scolieri and would love to offer one military couple my services at no charge.

I have enormous respect for the military as my brother Donnie served with the Marines in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. He was tragically killed in a car accident when he was 26 and I would like to do this in honor of him. I miss him terribly and think of him every single day.

To be considered, you must have proof that either you or your fiance are in the military and have a confirmed 2007 wedding date.

It's probably a good idea to browse my blog and website to make sure that my style is a good fit for your wedding.

Please send an email to military@weddingsbyheather.com and include the following information.

1. Names of bride and groom
2. Contact information including telephone number
3. Date of wedding
4. Location of wedding
5. Your story (I love romance!)
6. Please attach a recent picture

Emails will be accepted until Friday December 1st.

I will choose the lucky couple and contact them directly. Of course the wedding date is subject to my availability.

The package will include 8 hours of coverage on your wedding day, the high resolution files for your personal use and an 8x8 Vision Art album. This package is normally priced at $4,100. Please contact me with any questions.

Simple Photo Minute

Check out this weeks episode of the SPM, you may recognize the photographer!


Dane Sanders and the Simple Photo Minute are based in beautiful southern California. Dane created Simple Photo Life to help photographers simplify their lives. You may not realize it, but when you are a wedding photographer you are also a digital artist, computer expert, web designer, salesman, customer service rep, business manager, courier, secretary, project manager, accountant... need I go on?

As a result, our lives can become overwhelmingly complicated. I was thrilled when I first heard of Dane's concept because I completely believe in the message he delivers. Love what you do and keep it simple.

Episode 3

In this very special (and very serious) episode, I discuss my hair adventure. After I arrived home I immediately washed it and attempted to style it myself. I must admit that I am struggling, but I have complete confidence in my ability to bounce back.


I go back and forth between being really excited with my new look and completely depressed at the loss of my hair.

Ronna & Richard

This weekend I had the pleasure to second shoot for the fabulous Joanne Bartone.

Her couple, Ronna and Richard, were married and held their reception at the Twentieth Century Club in Oakland. We had a great time and I loved Ronna's funky wedding gown!

M&K - Slideshow

Click here to see Maraleen and Kevin's slideshow.

Heather Lahtinen - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

Maraleen & Kevin

Maraleen and Kevin were married at Heinz Chapel in Oakland and held their reception at The Marriott City Center downtown.

It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day.

The most exciting part of the day for me was telling Maraleen that both Joanne Bartone and I would be shooting her wedding. As I talked about in my podcast, when she booked me she indicated that she would love to have both Joanne and I shoot her wedding, but that just wouldn't be possible. Because I like to make dreams come true, I contacted Joanne and asked her if she could shoot with me and she graciously accepted. Maraleen was thrilled, which makes me happier than words can describe.

Maraleen and Kevin met will they were both attending law school at The University of Pittsburgh. As such, it was only fitting that we shoot in the Cathedral of Learning. We had quite an audience when I had them laying on the floor (which was ironically much more dirty than outside).

Here is one of the resulting shots.



Love the details.


We went into the Polish classroom to shoot some images, I had no idea that it would be such an amazing location. I think Maraleen thought that I was crazy when I asked her to lay on the table.


But I knew it would be worth it, I love the light and the reflection.




The light in the room was just wicked awesome, image by Craig.


I was taking the shot above near the window, while Craig grabbed the image below.

Below is one of my favorite images from Joanne. For those of you that don't know, Joanne is not only a fabulous photographer, but she is a great person... very kind and generous. We really enjoy working together and may even join forces next year to create a very powerful and unique photography experience (stay tuned for more info).




Florist: Allison McGeary
Bakery: Jennuine Cakes
Entertainment: Scott Alexander

Weddings by Heather - Heinz Chapel Wedding Photographer

Episode 2

I will be out of town tomorrow for the Joe Buissink seminar, but I wanted to post the podcast that I recorded on my way to Maraleen and Kevin's wedding yesterday.

Image by Joanne Bartone.


That's a granola bar hanging out of my mouth, I like to grab a quick snack between the ceremony and reception. Joanne probably thought that she would embarrass me with this shot, but alas, it is very difficult to embarrass me.

My inspiration

Click the image below to watch the first episode of the Weddings by Heather podcast!!

**Disclaimer**
I am new to this, so I don't exactly have all the technical aspects worked out. And, as always, what you see is what you get when it comes to me. I didn't use a script, I didn't edit the video, and this is how I plan to conduct all of my podcasts, craziness and all!!

In this inaugural episode, I talk about one of my areas of inspiration (requires Quicktime player).

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween, here is Ella before her preschool Harvest Party.




She dressed up as Ariel (her favorite princess, remember when she sat with her in her grotto?), and I thought that it would be fun to use that spray paint stuff on her hair.

It turned out really well... until we went outside in the rain. I should have taken an 'after' picture because she had red EVERYWHERE by the time we returned home. I washed her hair five times and it's still pink. Luckily it came off of her skin.