Photo Station – Federer Photography

Michelle and Cam : Photostation take #2

Even though we went to the same college, and I cheered my heart (and throat) out for Cam as a Rat Pak member (Go Johnnies!) while he destroyed Mount Union for the 2003 National Championship… I first ‘met’ Michelle and Cam at Paul and Ellen’s wedding… while Michelle was riding Cam like a bull in my first-ever photostation.

Welp, here we are after 4 more years (apparently dating for 73 years is hip and cool… 😉 ) and they commissioned me to photograph their own wedding — the photostation being a ‘must have’. Good choice — people clearly had a blast. You’re parents deciding to also replicate the growling bull ride is pretty much the definition of love. Right? That’s why my dictionary says, at least…

I also need to thank Travis Biggs who helped me out doing the photography at the photostation while Colleen is recovering from the birth of Corbin. He did a great job, as you can see….

Minneapolis Wedding Photography Photograph .

Missy and Matt : Photostation

Oh photostation… how I love thee… From the touching moments and messages to the crazy cast of characters showing the world how to party… it’s always a good time.

This one was especially fun for Colleen because she finally got to use all of the props she bought a few years ago when we first started this photostation concept (it’s NOT A PHOTOBOOTH!!)… yet, ironically, the photo that stole the show involved nothing but (pun!) a sharpie. (warning – it was a full moon that night!!!)

Matt and Missy — I hope you have an amazing time on your honeymoon at the Outer Banks… Do the Mulligan name proud!

Photostation, not a photobooth .

Kelly And Justin : Wedding Photostation

Kelly and Justin (whose engagement photographs accompanied my most recent birthday post) booked the photostation for their wedding. A while later she came to me with an idea: What if they gave everyone frames as their wedding favors and we used the photostation on-site printing to ‘fill’ the frames for all the guests – giving them a great memento from the wedding. Brilliant!!

So we did just that this past Saturday at their wedding at the Carlson Center Rotunda in Minnetonka.

We added chalkboards to the mix so guests could ‘leave a message’ and I also enlisted an additional assistant to help with the added volume. I don’t hesitate to say that it was the greatest thing in the history of all human achievement. 🙂

Photo station image from Minnetonka Minnesota Not a Photo booth image Photograph from Photostation in Minnetonka Minnesota Wedding Photograph from Photostation Photostation Photograph .

Mel and Eddie : Rockin’ Photostation

Get it? Rocking? Rock background? Eh? … Puns are fun. 🙂

Mel and Eddie had a wedding that put Elm Creek Reserve at capacity… so there was no room for the photostation. No room inside that is. 😉 A few days prior, the weather was looking beautiful, so we decided to give it a go outside. We’re resourceful like that.

They ended up putting yard games and other fun games on the veranda so the outside wound up being a natural extension of the party inside; it worked really well. The sun tried to squash our fun with some crazy lighting at the start — but nothing was going to stop the party. We even had our largest photostation shot yet — 28 people! Try sticking that in your photobooth. 😛

Enjoy…

Eddie and Mel's Weddings sweet Photostation

Minnesota Maple Grove Wedding Photographs

Minnesota Minneapolis Wedding Photography

Wedding Photographer Minnesota photobooth

Wedding Photography Minneapolis Minnesota

Colleen and Kyle : Photostation!

(My) Colleen, my usual second photographer and photostation-runner-extraordinaire was attending a good friends wedding during (Kyle’s) Colleen and Kyle’s big party… So I contacted another photographer friend of mine, Dave Swartz, and he helped me out by running the photostation during Colleen and Kyle’s reception. Dave enjoyed himself a lot… As did his ‘customers’. 🙂

Minnesota Wedding Photographer Not a Photobooth Photostation Photograph

p.s. “Enraged” does not equal “Engaged”. Remember that if you are ever printing anything. heh. 😉.

Farmroom photo station

When we arrived at Willow Lake Farm in Windom, Minnesota for Anna and Mark’s wedding, the photo station was to be set up in a small ‘milking station’ in the barn. The room had a structural post right in the middle of the shooting area and a board running over a trough in the ground. I knew this would be crazy-different than the first photo station I ran in a near-brand-new reception hall – but of course, it was still going to be a blast.

I knew from working with Anna and Mark over the past 9 months how important the farm was to them. It came up numerous times in our conversations while planning, from their awesome custom wedding website, to their engagement session photographs, the ‘Willow Lake Farm’ was a constant topic of discussion.

Walking around a bit, it became clear to me that even the photo station pictures needed to have a sense of ‘place’; an anonymous backdrop just wouldn’t be right. So I moved a few tables and some tools, and decided to use this gnarly wall instead. Everyone dug that idea, and I agree that it worked out amazingly well.

I love how the photo station really gets everyone’s personality front and center. And man, Anna and Mark had some ‘personalities’ at their wedding, for sure. Great times. 🙂

The Photo Station!!!

2 weeks before their wedding Ellen and Paul wrote me saying they wanted something a little different at their wedding. Not a photobooth – that’s been done; they asked me to come up with something a bit different. I said, “I’d see what I could do”; and then proceeded to do a giddy little happy dance because knew I just got license to do something really cool.

After reading the entire internet (yes, the whole thing), crazy scrambling, lots of time at internet stores, talking to other photographer friends, more internet stores, testing, trips to brick-and-mortar stores after I realized I didn’t buy everything I needed from the web, and even more testing… we came out with a photo station.

Here’s how it works. You walk up, a real life photographer holds a camera (and helps you look your cutest if needed) and clicks off 2-5 frames. Then, before your eyes have even gotten over the flashbulbs, the images quick pop up on a screen (already all cool looking – in this case, Ellen wanted a sepia-old-school type look – they looked just like this on the night-of), we pick one to print, and 8 seconds later you’ve got an actual photographic print in hand (yeah, a physical 4×6 print – how quaint, right?)… later, all the images are online for you look at, grab, share and mock one another with. It’s a lot like heaven in photographic form.

The bar, the photo station, and the dance floor were hoppin’ all night. Paul and Ellen – you’ve got some absolutely insane friends! I’m really glad you guys had me do this for you.

Seriously, how fun is this?!?! Check it out:

… and some of the really crazy stuff isn’t even here (my small effort to help keep the internet “family-friendly”… hehe)..

Ellen and Paul’s Wedding, a teaser

Just wanted to toss up a quick photograph from Ellen and Paul’s amazing wedding this past weekend before they head out on their suprise-location honeymoon. Their wedding day kept throwing us curve balls… remember though, sometimes curve balls are blessings in disguise. Case in point:

Not to mention, I set up (and then my assistant ran) my first photo station at this wedding. What a blast — Talk about adding fun to a wedding! Here’s one ‘sweet’ shot … more images from that in an upcoming post in the next week or so.