2nd Annual Cut-A-Thon at Arcadya

Now here is a fun event! Sunday, October 9th, Arcadya Salon and Spa will host it's second annual Cut-A-Thon . . . donated $10 towards each of these services to benefit Families in Transition before winter sets in!

~Haircuts

~Chair massages

~Express pedicures

~Express manicures

~Brow waxing

(We highly recommend stopping by for a chair massage . . . especially if you're a bit tired from attending the Red Cross Gala the night before!).

Families in Transition is dedicated to assisting homeless individuals and families achieve stability and break the cycle of homelessness. Thanks, Arcadya, for this terrific event. Don't forget to stop by to show your support! You can also participate in the silent auction and giveaways to support this community resource.

Happy 100th birthday, Aunt Rachel!

We LOVE this recent WMUR story of Jeff's great-aunt Rachel taking a spin at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for her 100th birthday. Jeff and his family recently spent some time taking portraits of Rachel and her children to commemorate the occasion.

In honor of her 100th birthday, I thought we'd show you some of her portraits from a few weeks ago . . . we think they capture her cheerful disposition and love for life.

A few days after their session, Rachel's daughters stopped by the studio and I asked them to reveal her secret . . . they said simply, "a positive attitude and a healthy diet." Hmmm . . . sounds good to me!

Thanks for spending time with us, Rachel. Happy Birthday!

~Abby

Guest Post: Why You Should Never Skimp on Wedding Photography

We love scoping out hot topics amongst other wedding professionals across the country. I stumbled upon this article by stationery designer/venue owner Southall Eden and thought, "That's worth sharing!" It's not every day you discover a piece from a potential competitor written in support of what YOU do . . . neat huh? We think these are some wise words to consider; enjoy! ~Abby

Why You Should Never Skimp on Wedding Photography

"Let’s face it. Weddings are crazy expensive. I’m all about finding ways to save money, and there are lots of ways you can do so. But if you only splurge on one thing for your wedding, let it be photography. That’s right, I’m a venue owner and a stationery designer and I’m not telling you that your splurge item should not be one of those things, but photography. Why? Because its true! Chances are you know someone who is a “photographer” and its tempting to hire them for cheap or even have them shoot your wedding as a wedding gift to you to save money, but hear me now and believe me later, DON’T DO IT!!!

Here’s why:

1. You will not get this chance again.

This is your wedding. Hopefully you will only be having one. Isn’t it worth the investment? The #1 regret I hear from Southall Eden brides about their wedding day is that they are not happy with their photos. Don’t be one of them. Besides, when else will all your family and friends be gathered in one place? Probably never, except for at your funeral, and by then you won’t care. My own sister had a very mediocre photographer at her wedding. Within a year, both my grandma and my mom passed away. Those are the last family pictures we will ever have, and they are not good. The value of that now far exceeds the $1,000 or whatever money was saved on the photographer.

2. It’s not just for you, its for everyone who loves you.

Of course your wedding day should be all about your and your fiance, but don’t forget how much time, effort, and money your family and wedding party have put into it as well. They deserve some nice photos to remember the occasion by. But even more than that, think about future generations. Won’t your kids and grandchildren want to see these? What girl doesn’t love seeing old wedding photos of the generations before her? This is the one aspect of your wedding (aside from your marriage itself) that will last forever.

3. A wedding photographer can anticipate what will happen next.

This is why you should not only get a great photographer, you should get a great wedding photographer. The word “photographer” encompasses a variety of people- family photographers, fashion photographers, commercial photographers, etc. Being good at one area doesn’t necessarily mean you are good at another. If you hire someone whose livelihood is shooting weddings, there is a pretty good chance they have done this enough times to not only know where they need to be in order to capture certain moments, but also random things like what kind of light will come through a stained glass window at 5:00 in May, etc.

4. A great photographer can turn an ordinary wedding into an extraordinary wedding.

I have seen this first hand on multiple occasions. A couple is on a tight budget and doesn’t have a lot of money for decor or fancy extras at their wedding. But they hire a great photographer, and lo and behold when you see the photos you would think the wedding cost twice what it really did. The photographer captures everything at its best, and everything that is wonderful about the day, and when you look at your photos you remember your wedding day fondly.

5. If it doesn’t turn out well, you don’t want to have hard feelings with a friend.

This is a big one. If you hire (or ask a favor from) a friend and the photos don’t turn out well, it can seriously damage your relationship. Every time you see that person for the rest of your life you will think of how s/he “ruined” your wedding photos. It may not be intentional, but you will. Its kind of like if they ran over your cat with their car tire. You know its not intentional, but you can’t help but associating them with this one unfortunate act.

So how much does a great wedding photographer cost? This depends on what all is included. Some photographers quote their rates for shooting only, while others quote packages that include both shooting and prints, albums, digital images, etc. When you are researching photographers you should keep this in mind and make sure you are comparing apples to apples with regard to pricing. That being said, I know a couple of great photographers whose coverage starts around $2,000, but you should not be startled at a base price of $3,500 either. Sure that’s a lot of money, but what you get in return is priceless. How can you argue with that?"

~Southall Eden via WedCandy

Hats off to Jeff!

It's been all over Facebook, but I thought we should take the time to post how excited we are that Jeff took away NH Photographer of the Year at NHPPA Conference this weekend!

He also earned the CPP (Certified Professional Photographer) Award, the ASP (American Society of Photographers) State Award, two court of honors, a Kodak Gallery Award, the Lustre Color Highest Scoring Print Award and Best of Show- phew!

Many thanks to all the judges, speakers and participants in this year's NHPPA conference. Jeff and Carolle thought this year was really successful, despite the unwelcome snow that showed up.

I'd like to say that Jeff and Carolle are resting soundly after so much hard work, but it's quite the opposite. More exciting projects on the way, so stay tuned!

~Abby

Pretty Friday blooms.

Here is a little peek at our Women's Expo booth over the weekend- don't those blooms just warm up your wintery Friday? Yup, that's right, we also create tissue floral arrangements!

On Sunday, Jeff and Carolle went to the Exeter Inn for their exclusive Bridal Open House. They had a great time chatting with women who are busy planning their weddings . . . it really is such a privilege to share such a special time with folks.

Thanks to the Women's Expo and The Exeter Inn for a fantastic weekend!

(Photo courtesy of Abby's cell phone. Please note this is not a practice of the studio and is limited just to our assistant.)

Jeff and Carolle: Radio Stars!

Hello, all!

Switch your radio dial to WGIR AM tomorrow morning!

We're excited to share that Jeff and Carolle will be on 930/610 WGIR AM radio morning show with Charlie Sherman.



Tune on Tuesday, February 15th at 7:30 in the morning to hear them chat with Charlie. We're excited to hear them on air!

We have stationery!

Greetings, all!

I'm so pleased to announce that Dachowski Photography now carries beautiful artisan notecards featuring some of Jeff and Carolle's award winning scenics. The cards come in packages of 5 assorted seasonal images.



The cards contain no internal text, so they'll make terrific thank you letters, friendly notes to loved ones and are perfect for professional use too! They're in stock at the studio . . . so call us to let us know you'd like to drop by or to place an order!

603.626.7300

It's a family thing.

We are so honored to share the milestones of our clients' lives. This fall, Jeff and Carolle photographed the wedding of Julia and Chris Leddy . . . it was a gorgeous fall day, and as you can see, this couple was fun-loving and totally ready to make beautiful images on their special day!











Now, photographing the wedding of a bride and groom is pretty special as it is, but Julia was the third sister in her family to be married . . . and Jeff and Carolle photographed them all! It's not every day that the studio has such a close relationship with a wedding party's family . . . and to be the chosen photographer for not just one but THREE brides in a family was such a compliment!

Take a look at some of the portraits Jeff and Carolle created just a few years ago for Julia's sisters . . . here for Meghan's day in 2006:









And Alyssa's wedding in November of 2009:









A special thank you to Meghan, Alyssa and Julia for letting us tell the stories of their wedding days; we were so happy to share them with you!

For a look at more weddings from Dachowski Photography, please visit here.

If you are interested in learning more about photographing your special day, contact us at 603.626.7300.

Are you game for some snowy fun? Call us!

Hello, Friends!
The roads might be frightful today, but tomorrow's conditions will be gorgeous.
Who is game for creating some snowy portraits with us?



Jeff is available for a few appointments on 01/13/11 and 01/14/11 . . .
a complimentary session fee and framed 5x5 go to the first two families to call and schedule!
Are you up for an adventure?
603.626.7300

Jeff photographs local music artist.

Jeff recently had the pleasure of photographing local musician John R. Wallace at the studio . . . it's a little known fact that Jeff is a musician himself (rumor has it that he plays a mean bass) and was happy to support someone from the area by creating neat images for John's developing website, blog and up-and-coming EP.



John headed to Nashville just a few days after this session . . . we're excited to see where his career takes him! You can check out his music and blog here. Some of Jeff's work is already featured there!



For more information on Jeff's commercial photography, please visit the Dachowski Photography website. You may see someone or a place you know!

Flattery

There isn't too much that is more flattering than colleagues complimenting the work we do here at Dachowski Photography.

So, when three fellow photographers from out of state wanted us to photograph them, we were completely little over the moon. What a compliment!

The first session was for Poppy Clark and her family during our Portraits in the Park Day this last weekend. Poppy runs a studio out of Auburn, ME and Jeff had a blast making portraits of the crew. Nothing beats doing a job you love AND talking shop with the subjects!



And today we had a terrific visit with Will and Lucia, friends and photographers from Portland!



We think they look fabulous, don't you? Jeff and Carolle had a wonderful time working with them down here in Manchester and consider it such a privilege to create for other photographers.

Thanks, Poppy, Will and Lucia!

A staff portrait session . . .

We at Dachowski Photography like to indulge in a little fantastic portraiture for ourselves from time to time.

Jeff has photographed my family numerous times . . . my sister's Senior Portraits, headshots for my brother, a cute and girly formal wear session when I was just out of college . . . not to mention a fabulous sibling portrait that brought my mother to tears one Christmas morning.

Imagine my delight when Jeff suggested we try for some portraits as a "welcome back" to the studio . . . as you can probably guessed, I'm thrilled with the results!



Feel free to take a look at more portraits here.

Attention Seniors: you're not too late . . . yet!

We can hardly believe it's the last week of September. Where on Earth did the time go?



For those of you who are in the Class of 2011 or parents of Seniors, don't hit the panic button if you've suddenly realized that the entire summer and first month of school has gone by without an appointment for Senior portraits! We've still got a few slots left and are happy photograph you in time to make your yearbook deadlines (after all, no one likes their name banished in the "Not Pictured" section!).








Check out more of our Senior Portraits and call the studio to schedule a time to visit our studio!

Autumn has arrived!

Happy First Day of Fall!

Come celebrate the falling leaves and crisp, cool air at Stark Park in Manchester, NH on October 17th. We've got just a few sessions left!

We're so excited . . .

Okay, we promise, no breaking into verses from The Pointer Sisters.

But we do want to tell you all about our Beach Day, scheduled for next Saturday!




The forecast is promising (70 degrees and sunny with no chance of precipitation . . . could we ask for any better?) and we still have a few slots available. We would love to fit you in . . . we hope you join us!