Grand Rapids Photographer - Tiberius Images - Photography by Russell Climie

Grand Rapids Engagement Photos | Kyle + Molly

Russell Climie — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:00:54 +0000

These two are great together. Kyle works at a local golf course and Molly is a speech language pathologist at a local school district. Together they are a fun, energetic couple ready to take on the world.

During their session we visited the local course where Kyle works (and his family owns) and also the spot they first met – at HopCat in downtown Grand Rapids.

Their wedding will be held at the Cook-Dewitt Center on the campus of Grand Valley State University with the reception following at the Eberhard Center in downtown Grand Rapids. If you would like more details about their wedding day or to check out all their engagement photos, be sure to visit their wedding website.

Tiberius Images is a Grand Rapids wedding photographer that photographs people, places and events. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they serve clients throughout the world and are available for travel.

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Reeds Lake Engagement Photos | Jack + Laurel

Russell Climie — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:59:14 +0000

Jack + Laurel – what a great couple. We met Jack through his parents and set a time for engagement photos while Laurel was in town. She works at a publishing house in Chicago and Jack just recently moved down to the “Windy City” to be closer to her as their wedding day approaches in September.

Their session was a beautiful March day around Reeds Lake and Gaslight Village. We were able to watch how fun these two are to be around. Jack is the life of the party and always laughing and Laurel is the reflective one who listens and enjoys those she’s around.

Their wedding day will be photographed by Tiberius Images Associate photographer Theresa in Holland, Michigan. We have posted just a few of our favorites below and if you would like to see their full engagement gallery, be sure to visit their wedding website. Be sure to leave a comment and let them know which photos are your favorites!

Michigan Wedding Photography | Tiberius Images Blog | Tiberius Images

Business Portraits in Grand Rapids | Where We Have Been Recently

Russell Climie — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:05:53 +0000

We have been busy around Grand Rapids photographing business owners and employees over the past several weeks. I thought it would be great to post a few of the stories here on our blog to let you know what we’ve been up to. So here are just a couple of stories about some of the business portraits we’ve taken recently.

Wendolyn Davis was the winner of our giveaway at the Local First Sustainable Business Conference back in March. If you were not at the event or have not heard about Local First’s great annual event at Aquinas College, be sure to check out the photo gallery. Wendolyn came to our studio, spent a few minutes with us and we created an updated portrait for her work at Grand Rapids Community College.

Over the past few years Saint Mary’s Healthcare has become a great client and every few months we are able to visit their downtown location and meet their “Colleague Award Recipients” and create a portrait they will place on the wall at Saint Mary’s.

John Winkle is a new Edward Jones adviser on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids. We met at a networking event and he wanted to update his profile image with Edward Jones.

Dave VanHouten of HWC: Home Works Corp and Window World in Grand Rapids had us come out to his location and create a few different portraits that will be used in the very near future for the company.

If you or someone you know is in need of updated portraits for your business or for your employees, please feel free to contact us with your photo needs.

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

Who We Are & What We Do | A Bridal Elegance Interview

Russell Climie — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:15:14 +0000

Recently we were asked by Bridal Elegance, a boutique bridal store in Grand Rapids, to answer a few questions about who we are and what we do. They were kind enough to post the interview on their blog, but we feel like it can benefit the readers of our blog as well. Thanks specifically to Sara at Bridal Elegance, who put this all together – we can’t wait to send over images of beautiful brides from our 2012 season that purchased their dress at your store!

We recently spoke with Russ & Rebecca Clime, Michigan wedding photographers and owners of Tiberius Images, to learn how they got started in the photography business, what makes them different and their tips for brides. Besides being some of the nicest people you will ever get to work with, they also take some of the most amazing photos! Read all about them, and then stop by our store or visit them at http://www.tiberiusimages.com/to learn more!

1. BE-What is Tiberius Images? What lead you to be a photographer?

TI-Rewind to 2003. In order to complete our degrees, my wife and I spent 6 months living abroad. In Europe I met my match: the Camera! Seeing just a small portion of the beauty that makes up our world is indescribable and life changing. We returned in 2004. I found a photography mentor and spent an entire year developing technical skills under his amazing instruction. Tiberius Images was born. Now, in combination with my wife and 2 associate photographers, we specialize in weddings and business events. Capturing photographs of the most important moments for our clients, is like archiving their personal stories. Tiberius Images ensures that memories and moments will never be forgotten.

2. BE-What makes Tiberius stand out from other photographers?

TI-There are many Michigan wedding photographers out there and we strive everyday to create amazing experiences for the couples we work with. We believe speed is of the essence with wedding photos, which is why on the wedding day (during the reception to be specific) we will put together a 30-40 image slide show of the bride and groom from earlier in the day. It gives their guests the ability to see what happened outside of the ceremony. Later in the night, we will upload those images to Facebook and those photos will become the “official” Facebook wedding photos. Check out www.facebook.com/tiberiusimages for some examples.

Every couple we work with receives a custom, hand-bound Italian album. Many couples have never thought of having a wedding album after their wedding day, but when they learn that we include a DVD of hi-res images when we deliver their album, all of a sudden the choice of “digital images vs. wedding album” goes away – they can have both with us!

We also create individual wedding websites for couples to show off their engagement session photos. This site also allows them to put wedding details online, have guests RSVP through their site, create an itinerary and “things to do” section for out of town guests and much more! Visit Ryan and Krisitin’s wedding website to see an example of one of these amazing sites!

3. BE-What is one of your funniest memories?

TI-While downtown with a couple, we told the groom to “pick up his bride and swing her around”. His response… “I don’t know if you know this, but I am a former Olympic hammer thrower. Do you want me to really swing her? ”

4. BE-Best advice for a couple looking for a photographer?

TI-When searching for a photographer, we would suggest that you concentrate on the following:

PORTFOLIO: Ask to see an entire wedding to really view their style. Anyone can get lucky on a few shoots, what you should be looking for is consistency. Many people will tell you that they can morph their style to fit your needs, but think of it this way, if a classic musician is asked to create a piece of rock music, won’t that piece of music be very “classical” in nature because that’s who the composer is?
PERSONALITY: Do you like the photographer? Do you feel comfortable about who they are, their work ethic and their ability to deliver? Make sure that you meet them in person if possible. Get to know them. You are making a considerable investment, so feel free to interview them!
PRICE: Once you’ve found a photographer that fits the other two, address the thing everyone thinks should be first: Price. Remember that most studios are flexible and can either add things to or take things away from their list of packages to meet your budget needs.
PRODUCTS: Does the photographer know their craft? Can they tell you where their albums come from and how they are made? Are you viewing products that have the potential to outlast technology changes? Are they timeless?

5. BE-What is your best advice on how to look great in your photos?

TI-I have three basic suggestions for every shoot:

Be comfortable in your own skin. 80% of beauty is attitude! This is your day…feel like a goddess and let it shine in the photographs.
Be in tune with your body shape. What does this mean? Know which features you want to accentuate and which you would like to down play. Discuss this with your dress provider and your photographer. A good professional will have extensive experience with all body types and will be able to provide suggestions about styles and angles.
Be a good listener as the photographer should have experience and suggestions on how to look your best.

Thank you to Russ and Rebecca for taking the time to be interviewed. We had the pleasure of working with Tiberius Images and loved our experience! If you are looking for a professional, courteous, friendly photographer who will help you look your best and includes lots of special “extras”, check them out. And tell them Bridal Elegance sent you! I promise, they will become one of your “favorite things” too!!

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

Adventure Destination: Ohio….? Yes, Ohio

Russell Climie — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:12:27 +0000

So I must say, I never thought Ohio would be an adventurer’s destination, but after visiting the Hocking Hills area of southeast Ohio, I can tell you we’ll be going back in the future.

Rebecca’s family arranged the trip where we would spend Sunday through Friday together in a 14 person log cabin, explore the area and have some great quality time with our nieces and nephews. Just a few of the places we visited:

Columbus Zoo – one of the top 5 zoos in the nation – worth a 2 day visit (we were only there for about 6 hours)
Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls & Cantwell Cliffs – all part of the Hocking Hills State Park – great for hiking and exploring and all for FREE
Timber Ridge Lodge – where we stayed with the family – couldn’t have asked for a better setting
Hocking Hills Canopy Tours – a canopy tour through the forest with 10 zip lines and 5 bridges – great teen and adult activity
Hocking Peaks Adventure Park – a family challenge course for all our nieces and nephews
Hocking Hills Super Zip – a 1/4 mile Super Zip at 55 mph – talk about a rush!

Lots of games were played at night and it was such a blessing to unplug from the world and remind ourselves of what really is important in our lives.

Enjoy the photos and be sure to click through and see the complete gallery on our Facebook page.

Russell and Dave on the SuperZip in Hocking Hills from David Radde on Vimeo.

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

Grand Rapids: The Place To Make A Life

Russell Climie — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:22:06 +0000

We have friends around the world that have always wondered why we live in Michigan. We have lived in many places, including Europe, for quite a bit of time. For some reason though, we’ve always been drawn back to Grand Rapids. When we left Michigan State at the end of 2004, we decided to make Grand Rapids our home because our family lives here and that is one of our top priorities in life. But we’ve always known Grand Rapids is a great place to live and work and now it’s beginning to be noticed by the world. Our guess is, in the next 5 years, Grand Rapids will be the driving force for a large part of the Midwest as more and more companies and entrepreneurs choose West Michigan as their base of operations. Here is what some folks are saying outside of GR:

(photo courtesy PureMichigan)

RelocateAmerica Announces Top 10 Cities for 2011

Being named a Top 100 Place to Live is a big deal. It fuels economic development and improves quality of life. It fosters community pride and creates opportunities for marketing tourism, relocation, business and industry. Of the 100 U.S. cities named to RelocateAmerica’s list for 2011, there are 10 that have won the American Idol for communities in that they were named a Top 10 Place to Live.

They are:

1. Austin, TX
2. Grand Rapids, MI
3. Boulder, CO
4. Raleigh, NC
5. Dallas, TX
6. Greenville, SC
7. Augusta, GA
8. Boise, ID
9. Omaha, NE
10. Oklahoma City, OK

RelocateAmerica’s research team compiled the list after evaluating extensive data on the factors most important in a community: real estate and housing, economic health, recreation, and safety. But, it wasn’t all a numbers game. Just as important, and perhaps even more so, was the input provided by local residents, business and community leaders. There’s nothing that says community pride quite like a resident (or many of them) delivering a list of all the things that make their community special.

It feels especially good to name Grand Rapids, Michigan a top 10 place to live, especially after it was named one of “America’s Dying Cities” by Newsweek in January. What really caught our attention about this city, though, is its response. It didn’t get mad. It made a video. And, not just any video. A video with 5,000 residents (that’s not a typo), lip synching to Don McClean‘s “American Pie” while touring every aspect of the city. Now, that’s what we call true community spirit– and that’s what being a top 10 city is all about.

Congratulations to all the winners.

In addition, check out the letter to Newsweek from our Mayor, George Heartwell about what’s going on around Grand Rapids:

Dear Newsweek – An open letter from Mayor George K. Heartwell

Dear Ms. Brown:

The citizens of Grand Rapids were astounded when you declared our city, Grand Rapids, to be a “dying city” in the January 21, 2011 issue of Newsweek.

Dying city? Surely Newsweek must be joking! Would a major medical school (Michigan State University School of Human Medicine) move its campus to a dying city? Would a dying city have seen $1.4 billion in downtown construction in the past seven years? Would the first J.W. Marriott in the Midwest have opened (2007) in a dying city? Would the US Chamber of Commerce have awarded its Siemens’ Award for America’s most sustainable mid-sized city (2010) to a dying city? Would a dying city have attracted over 250,000 visitors last year to the world’s richest art competition, ArtPrize which, incidentally, attracted 1,713 artists from around the world and was prominently featured in the nation’s leading newspapers? Would the United Nations University have made a dying city its first US “Center for Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development” (2004)? Or would 22 universities, colleges and theological seminaries maintain campuses in a dying city? Would a dying city have more LEED certified buildings per capita (2009) than any other American city? Or would citizens of a dying city rank second highest in the nation for per capita philanthropic giving? Would a dying city be listed among the top ten urban fisheries (2009) after investing $240 million in water quality improvements in the Grand River? Would a dying city be listed among the top 50 “bicycle friendly” cities (2010) by the American Bicycle Association? Why would Good Morning America have featured a dying city just last week?

Ms. Brown, surely you have never been to Grand Rapids! If you had been, you would never list our amazing city as “dying.”

I invite you to come and see one of the most vibrant cities in America. Spend a few days in Grand Rapids. Be my guest. Eat, drink and be merry in as many of our 92 downtown restaurants, bars, clubs and coffee shops as you can. Visit our new LEED gold Grand Rapids Art Museum, or our terrific local public museum, or just stand quietly by President Gerald Ford’s burial site outside the Ford Museum.

I’m afraid our timing is off to get you to a Kid Rock concert – that happens tonight. But if you want to see Lady GaGa at our Van Andel Arena there’s still time; she comes this spring.

Call me. The mayor of this so-called dying city is available 24/7 to show you just how wrong Newsweek is about our astonishing city.

Hand Burned. Lesson Learned.

Russell Climie — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:33:09 +0000

Did your mom always tell you “Don’t touch that! The stove is hot, you’ll burn your hand!”? My mom told that to both my brother and I one day. Well, he decided not to listen and touched the hot stove anyway and burned his hand. Though I did not touch the stove, I did learn the lesson she was trying to impart into me.

Makes sense doesn’t it? Two kids in the room, one does something to hurt themselves and both learn the lesson?

That’s how we feel when it comes to wedding photography.

You see, we were the couple that knew nothing about weddings when we planned our own almost 10 years ago. We didn’t realize the value of hiring professionals the way we do today. And the only way I can really relay to you what we know now is through a story.

Hopefully this will help so you don’t “burn your hand” like we did.

This is the story of a car. Just a plain old car. I’m not much of a “car guy” like many of my friends, but when something isn’t working properly with my car, I do know enough that it should be fixed. So the question I ask is, “where do I take my car?”. Knowing what we know now, there are many answers for everyone to consider.

The first place we took our car was to a “backyard garage” where a “friend of a friend” who had a full time job, but worked on cars at night, took a look at our car and said “yep, I can fix that…” Our friend of a friend then proceeded to pull some parts off, put new parts on and called it finished. Only when we drove off, it seemed like there were more problems than when we first took the car in!

What to do!?! Because we didn’t want to hurt our friend of a friend’s feelings, we decided not to tell him and just put up with it, vowing “we will never do that again!”

So the next place we went was the “local garage” around the corner from our home. The mechanics there proceeded to tell us what the first person had done wrong, that they had to do some extra work, but it could be fixed. We told them go ahead, as long as it can be fixed. We trusted this garage because they had a location, a manager and a way to settle up if something didn’t go right. We did pay a little extra, but had we taken it here first, we would have saved ourselves quite a bit of stress.

As we drove away this time, happy that the entire ordeal was finished, a few more things started going wrong with our car. A few days later we took the car back to the “local garage” where they said everything should be working fine. We didn’t agree and they referred us to a “specialty garage” that dealt with our brand of car exclusively.

So off we went to the third garage in just under a week to fix what started off as a simple problem.

At the “specialty garage” we found out they had the reputation for being the go-to people when it came to our brand of car. In no time at all they had diagnosed the problem and told us that almost all garages didn’t have the right tools to diagnose the problem with our vehicle. We ended up paying a more premium price to work with this garage, but our car problems were over. Whew!

Guess where we are going to go in the future when something has gone wrong with our car?

Yep, the “specialty garage” because those guys get it right the first time.

So what does this have to do with photography?

Weddings don’t have any “do-overs” like we had with our car.

If you’re planning a wedding and something doesn’t go right because you hired a “friend of a friend” to take care of your needs, tough luck.

Same thing with event photography or photos of your 1 year old. If it’s not done correctly on the first run through, chalk that one up to a “lesson learned”.

My wife and I have don’t have a single wedding photo we are happy with because we hired the “friend of a friend” to take care of us. At the time it wasn’t a big deal. Our wedding budget wouldn’t have even afforded any of the package we offer to couples every day!

But how much has it cost us over the past 10 years in terms of not having photos we love from our wedding day.

After reflecting back on all this, what we needed was someone to sell us on the idea that photos on our wedding day WERE MORE IMPORTANT than other things we were spending money on. Unfortunately no one in our lives stood up and told us that. So, we went ahead and burned our hand.

Lesson learned.

So, let us be the ones to stand up and say, PHOTOGRAPHY IS IMPORTANT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY!

Why?

Because the food will be eaten, the flowers will die, tuxes returned, dress will be put into a box and preserved and your friends and family head on home.

But your wedding photos, those remain.

They stay with you and your family. They become your story.

Are you going to tell the story like my wife and I have to of “we don’t have any photos from our wedding day because we hired a friend of a friend” or will you be able to tell a great story and proudly show off your wedding photos because you hired a specialist?

We specialize in people. Our business is not photography, it’s people. It just happens that we take photographs of the people we work with.

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

A Thank You From Seth + Sarah

Russell Climie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:23:10 +0000

We love getting letters in the mail like this:

Russ & Rebecca -

We know this thank you is a little late, but we wanted to take the time to thank you for the amazing job you did with our wedding photos. They are absolutely amazing and are so much more than we could ever have expected – we could not be happier. Also, we enjoyed having you share in our day with us, especially how easy you made it being around the camera. And we can’t forget the cheeseburgers – you were the heroes at the last picture stop! :-)

Thank you for making this part of our wedding so easy. Everything from signing the contract to ordering our final prints went so smoothly and you were so prompt in answering my many, many questions.

Words can’t explain how happy we are with our pictures. We are so grateful to be able to look back at the pictures and watch the day unfold over and over again.

Wishing you and your company all the best,

Sarah & Seth

If you know someone who is planning their wedding day, have them contact us as we are the ones who can make their wedding planning so much easier!

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

Ever Wonder What Your Photographer Does In The Winter?

Russell Climie — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:51:59 +0000

PRINCESS PARTY!

That’s right folks, you heard it, princess party with our 3 nieces under the age of 8! This pink extravaganza was made complete with dress up clothes, tea, catwalk for the princesses to strut their stuff, dance party, the movie “Tangled” and dinner provided a man named Caesar from the town of Little. Grandpa and Grandma Donker also participated.

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography

Wedding Photography Prices & Your Budget

Russell Climie — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:27:22 +0000

Brides,with a wide range of budgets, contact us during the months of January, February and March to secure our services. We are so thankful for each inquiry and we love meeting so many couples. Each conversation is an education process. Together, we discover what each bride is looking for on their personal day. In return, we share our take on pricing, products and how to get the bast bang for their buck.

Unfortunately, the world of wedding photography can sometimes appear like the world of car sales. Most people (not all), who are out looking for a
“new to you” car can be sold a few things that they don’t really need. Let us tell you a story…

A young couple, just married had their first “new car” experience. Their trusty steed was a 2001 Forest Green Saturn. Originally leased (bad, bad idea), this couple went to turn the vehicle back in at the end of 2004. Upon arriving at the dealership, they realized that they were about 30,000 miles over the lease limit! Yes, you read that right, 30,000 miles! So they were faced with 2 options: pay to return it or buy it.

During the financing paperwork, the loan officer had a few questions about “extended warranties”, “oil changes and tire rotations for life” among other things. He asked “what payment amount are you comfortable with each month?” And received the answer “about $200 a month”. So the details were set at $211 per month for 60 months.

As they were preparing the paperwork, he asked if they would be interested in taking a new Saturn for a test drive. They said yes. During that drive, they dropped by their older sibling’s home. That sibling reviewed the loan paperwork. To their surprise, the wise sibling informed them that they had to purchase the car for what was owed, around $7,500, but all the “extras” the loan officer had added on to it made the total $12,500! What extras they exclaimed! They immediately returned to the dealership. When the loan officer was questioned, they were told, “well you said that you wanted your payment around $200 per month.” They walked out that day, purchased the car for $7,500 and never referred their family and friends to that dealership.

We were that young couple.

Our experience taught us 2 things:

1.) Be an educated buyer.

2.) If you are selling anything, listen to your clients wants and needs. Share all the information that you can to help them make the right decision for them, not what is most profitable for you. Your word is your worth.

We have carried these philosophies into the wedding world. When we meet with clients, we want to educate them about our industry. How prices are set, how we operate and what is in it for them. But we also listen to what each couple really wants and needs. We have tailored our packages to match a myraid of budgets. The larger the package, the more that is included. The best way to represent it is through a pyramid of products and services. Our base packages begin at the bottom and as you add additional cost, you receive additional stuff. Simple huh?

We won’t sell you what you don’t need. Our contracts are clear and concise. Doesn’t that just make sense? Businesses exist to find needs and fill those needs. Each couple that contacts us is unique and we will do our best to meet their needs, but if we find that we’re not the best fit for them, we are happy to refer that couple to someone we trust within the wedding community.

We would love to find out if we can help you as you plan your wedding. Simply give us a call (616-855-4079) or contact us through our website by clicking here.

Tiberius Images | Tiberius Images Blog | Michigan Wedding Photography