Watching my fan base continuously grow and receiving the on-going support never fails to pleasantly surprise me. I am more than appreciative for my clients, fans and followers that I want to give stuff away!! Within the Facebook guidelines, it specifically states that I cannot hold direct giveaways or sweepstakes on their site. Nor can I obtain a list of all of my fans to hold a random drawing. So the next easiest way to give away a $150 credit toward any session of your choice (family, engagement, maternity, high school senior, wedding) is to have you leave a comment on this blog post. Once I reach my 1500 fan mark, I will keep the contest open for 2 full days then will randomly select a name from those who left a comment. The comment can be anything!!
Leave your comment here and thank you again for the love!!
Crystal
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
114 West Pacific Ave #209
Spokane, WA 99201
509-499-1090
$150 credit to be redeemed by December 31, 2013. Credit is not valid for newborn sessions.
Find me on Facebook to follow all of my most recent work!
High School Photo Pricing
Over the past couple of years, I have been asked by multiple people how much Photoshopping or editing I add to my dramatic photos, specifically to the skies. My answer, “Hardly any!” I might increase the saturation a bit and bring out the detail, but other than that, I don’t do a whole lot. The “trick” is getting it right in the camera. To prove it to you, below is an image straight out of the camera. Once I position my subjects, I have Erin hold a speedlight only a couple of feet or inches away from their face. My goal is to expose for the sky and surroundings to attain the greatest detail, then light the subjects up. Once we achieve what we are looking for, Erin steps out so we can take another identical photo. 
I open both photos into Photoshop as layers, create a mask to remove Erin, and remove any unwanted eyesores (sticks on the bride’s dress) and combine the two.
I then open the photo into Nik Software’s Color Effects to bring out the texture and increase saturation.
For the last step, I layer the Color Effects photo on top of the previous photo, create a mask to tone down the skin tones, and make any other adjustments that need to be made (vignettes, burning/dodging etc).
From beginning to end, the editing process on this one photo takes approximately 10 minutes as long as there aren’t too many eyesores to remove and clone. A super simple process that creates an amazing result, but there is no way this would be possible without getting it right in the camera or without those amazing clouds!
Crystal
Spokane Wedding Photographer
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
114 West Pacific Ave #209
Spokane, WA 99201
Find me on Facebook to follow my most recent work!
Everyone can appreciate being strapped for cash, especially when planning a wedding. Yes, even wedding vendors! That’s why I am, for a limited time, offering a HUGE savings on any wedding package for a wedding taking place on any day other than Saturday in 2013. I have most Saturdays already booked for the summer and am looking to meet my goal of shooting more than 30 weddings in 2013. Unfortunately, I can’t offer this forever, nor can I offer it to everyone. I am offering it to the first 5 booked weddings, then the original pricing will be put back in place ($400 off for weekday and off-season weddings). I don’t anticipate the special to be running for very long so call me (or share with your bride-to-be friends) and mention this ad today!!
I just received word from Evy with Makeup By Evelyn Mauro that she will offer $10 off of her services for these 5 weddings as well!! As you all know, Evy is my go-to makeup gal!
Crystal
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
114 West Pacific #209
Spokane, WA 99201
Who wouldn’t be excited to attend a wedding these days? With all of the awesome details, great venues and delicious food you just can’t lose! Look at that bouquet that our bride made by hand…burlap roses!?!? Get outta here!!! And who could turn down a Barrister Winery Spokane wedding! Melissa and Corey said their “I Do’s” in the most perfect little church in Fairfield, WA where Melissa grew up. The woodworking detail and stained glass were just magnificent. I immediately knew why Corey requested that we take a few wedding pictures inside the church. Once we completed photos inside the church, we headed outside to the middle of the street. I thought the train tracks and old buildings that lay beyond would make a great backdrop and give us a small town feel for our bridal party shots. I have never been to Fairfield, WA before so I was grateful when Corey and Melissa led us a bit away from the church to the perfect spot that overlooked the snow-dusted hills and trees of the valley. To our luck, the sun and clouds worked in perfect harmony just as we were setting up for one of my favorite photos of their wedding day.
Since we had a 45-minute drive to the reception at Barrister Winery we lost all of our daylight, but still wanted to get some more photos at the winery. Time to get creative with the lights! We took about 30-45 minutes to snap a few more dramatic and fun shots of just the bride and groom, and some of the bridal party as well. Then it was time to party! Have you ever been to Barrister Winery? You have to go, and you have to request a quick tour. The building was built in 1904 and still retains many of its original features even after modern and industrial updates. It makes for a perfect Spokane wedding venue. I loved the ambiance that the candles and rustic chandeliers provided, and could tell that Melissa and Corey’s guests were enjoying it as well. The reception was relaxed and gave our bride and groom the opportunity to visit with their dear family and friends; exactly what Melissa and Corey wanted. It was obvious that it was very meaningful to the couple that their guests took the time to help them celebrate their important day.
Wedding Venue: Zion Lutheran Church
Reception Venue: Barrister Winery
Caterer: Beacon Hill Events
DJ: Gordan Grant
Hair: Courtney with Perala’s Hair Design
Make Up: Shasta Hankins
Crystal Madsen
Spokane Wedding Photographer
Crystal@CrytalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
114 West Pacific #209
Spokane, WA 99201
Find me on Facebook to follow my most recent work, and please let the bride and groom know what you think of their wedding photos!
Have you ever been to a Davenport Hotel wedding? If you have, then you know that the elegance, grace and sophistication is unbeatable by any other Spokane wedding venue. With it’s ornate wood workings, impressive gold leaf accents, and grand marble ballrooms it’s guests are sure to leave the celebration impressed. If you have not attended a wedding at the historic hotel, then by golly, you need to go!!!
I met Jamie and Taylor literally ON the day they got engaged. Taylor hired me to deviously take pictures of the two before, during and after he proposed…how special!
When Jamie informed me that they were holding their Spokane wedding at The Davenport Hotel, I was beyond excited. Every Spokane wedding photographer feels privileged to photograph such a special day at such a unique venue.
Jamie and her bridesmaids got ready in two of the hotel’s rooms which provide large windows that pour in natural daylight helping our magnificent Spokane makeup artists apply their art. This bridal party had their beautiful wedding makeup done by Evy with Makeup By Evelyn Mauro. She just happened to be a gorgeous bridesmaid that day as well!
Once Jamie revealed herself as the most gorgeous bride ever, we walked around in the hotel and took some breathtaking wedding photos in the Elizabethan room.
Of course any December bride wants a few snowy wedding photos. We took everyone to a Spokane south hill park where we found plenty of snow and a couple of rock bridges to pose, play a little wedding football, and do a little wedding cheering.
Once we warmed up and finished the family formal photos in the Hall of Doges, we were ready to begin the Davenport Hotel wedding with the ceremony in the Isabella Ballroom. This ballroom is so classy that it is difficult to snap a bad photo. While it may be a bit dark, especially with an evening ceremony which provides no daylight through the windows, a successful Spokane wedding photographer will come equipped to shoot a Davenport Hotel wedding with ease.
On top of behing one of the most beautiful Spokane weddings I have photographed, it was also one of the most fun! I was fortunate enough to have my husband assisting me that day. Anytime he gets to tag along, its a guaranteed winning-wedding-photo prize for the couple AND a blast for me. Jamie and Taylor held their wedding reception in the Hall of Doges and the Grand Pennington. Hardly anything about their reception was traditional. We witnessed unique introductions including a quick offensive football play by the ushers, a blind-folded groom in seek of his new bride, and a dual-tossing of the bouquet and garter. All of this was made even more hilarious and entertaining by Dave Mason with Entertainment Warehouse.
What a beautiful, elegant, and exhilarating wedding. But oh my goodness how exhausted I was the next day! 
Congratulations Jamie and Taylor, and thank you to your friends and family for showing my husband and I how to party and work all at the same time!
Crystal Madsen Photography
Jenna and Justin wanted a beautiful winter wedding in Coeur d’Alene, ID with plenty of snow! Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot to offer the Oregonians other than about a half of an inch and a constant drizzle of rain, but I think it still helped us achieve what they were looking for!
The newly engaged couple brought their family up with them from La Grande, Oregon to have a Northwest destination winter wedding in Coeur d’Alene. They played it super simple by saying their “I do’s” at the Hitching Post and a nice dinner at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, but only had me do a quick wedding portrait session of their guests and the two of them on the beach of Lake CDA. I understood from Jenna that she wanted everything to be easy and simple, but when I walked into the lobby of the resort and saw Justin dressed in a full suit I started to think that maybe I had my notes mixed up. Then I saw Jenna approaching from the other side of the lobby in her beautiful lace covered wedding dress. I quickly asked Justin, “Is this the first time you’ve seen her in her dress!?”
“Yep,” he replied while while trying to open a boutonniere box clearly not concerned that she was making her way to him. I could have slapped the two of them!!! I had missed the moment to stop them and help them create a traditional “First Seeing” or “Bride Revealing” as is the popular wedding ritual these days. When I voiced my opinion that I could have came 5 minutes earlier to help them do this they both laughed and explained that they had seen each other plenty that day and it wasn’t a big deal at all. It helped me realize that as a wedding photographer its easy to get caught up with the traditional rituals and the popular trends when 90% of my weddings perform the same agenda each weekend. But once I got over the fact that these two were there to simply get hitched, take some gorgeous photos and celebrate with their family, I was ready to move on 
hahaha
Like I said, we had a constant drizzle during our photo session and everyone was a trooper! Especially Jenna! We had a little shoulder shawl that we tried to keep on her when we could and also had one of my prized frilly umbrellas from Bella Umbrellas to help keep her as dry as possible, of course it served it’s other purpose as a beautiful prop!
Jenna and Justin (and Justin’s brother) helped me achieve one of my most prized photos of 2012. The photo of the two of them kissing while Justin dips his bride on the beach of Lake Coeur d’Alene just mesmerizes me…I hope they print this one super large and hang it on their wall!!!! 
Crystal Madsen
Wedding Photographer
Crystal Madsen Photography
114 West Pacific Ave #209
Spokane, WA 99201
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
Find me on Facebook to follow my most recent work!!
As soon as I got a taste of being a travelling wedding photographer, I was anxious to shoot my first destination wedding! When Louis & Raechel asked me if I was available to travel to the Turks & Caicos Islands in the middle of December to photograph their wedding, I couldn’t say yes fast enough!! Then it was a rush to purchase airline travelling cases for my gear and to get a good tan so I didn’t burn under the tropical sun!
I arrived at the island the afternoon before the wedding day with just enough time to meet everyone and catch up on my sleep. The entire bridal party, guests and myself stayed at a gorgeous 9-bedroom estate that sat on a private beach and could not been more beautiful. I started the morning of the wedding off with a cup of island brewed coffee, mingling with the bridal party and seeing a dolphin swimming just yards off the coast of our soon-to-be alter. The sun was blazing with hardly any clouds in the sky, and the wind was continuously blowing (I later found out that the island was the 2nd most popular for wind-surfing) which made it interesting for formal photos with all the long hair and lip gloss
The ceremony took place on the luxurious patio of the estate that looked over the pristine water. The 3 rows of chairs lined with conch shells provided the most gorgeous and intimate wedding alter I’ve seen. As soon as Raechel was escorted down the aisle by her two young sons, I was on the move! I ran into the house, up the stairs and onto the balcony to get a view of the entire ceremony from above. I then ran back down the stairs, behind the ceremony, and down the rocky trail to get to the beach where I wanted to get a unique angle of the ceremony. On my way back up I stepped into a bur plant and had to pick them out of the bottom of my feet before I could continue…I was panicking that I was going to miss the kiss! Luckily I made it with time to spare I should have listened to Raechel’s dad earlier in the day when he recommended I keep my sandals on if I took that trail!!
Immediately following the ceremony Raechel danced with all of the special men/boys in her life and we were treated with an amazing dinner prepared on-site by an outstanding local catering company. Louis and Raechel were surrounded by their family and closest friends as they sat in a tropical paradise celebrating their new unity….awesome!!!There is something to be said about 21 people who allow a complete stranger to join their vacation and treat her as family. I was touched by the levels of hospitality and generosity of everyone there, it really made my experience beyond what I thought it would be. I’ve made some new friends and established relationships that I get to enjoy back here at home, there is nothing better than that!!!
Crystal
Traveling Spokane Wedding Photographer
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
114 West Pacific Ave #209
Spokane, WA 99201
Find me on Facebook to follow more great wedding photography!
I probably performed the most dramatic wedding photography during this wedding than any of my others this year. Kristin and Dan allowed me to dedicate an entire hour to just the two of them which gave me the chance to bring out my lights and experiment as much as I wanted.
Their wedding took place in Ritzville, WA. I believe most of us from Spokane know that Ritzville offers a Zips, Starbucks and gas right off of the interstate exit, but if you drive not even 3 minutes north, you will find a historic downtown filled with beautiful buildings and structures. As soon as my eyes fell upon the abandoned buildings, a stationary caboose, and ornate light poles my mind was filling up with stunning wedding photo opportunities! The only thing that could have made me more excited was warmer weather so we wouldn’t freeze our tail feathers while achieving these awesome images.
Not only did we have downtown Rizville to play in, but we had a late 1950′s Studebaker Silver Hawk to strike a pose next to. We scored one of my favorite dramatic wedding images next to this beauty.
The church ceremony was beautiful, emotional and comical (see photo below). Kristin and Dan were gorgeous, happy, and hysterical. The reception was sparkling, energetic, and according to the DJ (Craig with Milestone Music, the party continued past midnight!! Kristen warned me that her family and friends were partiers, but I had no idea when I left for the night that they would outlast me by more than 3 hours. Must have been that family-made concoction I saw being passed around
Crystal
Crystal@CrystalMadsen.com
www.CrystalMadsen.com
509-499-1090
Find me on Facebook!
An elegant bride, a charming groom, a charismatic bridal party (and parents) and one of the best Spokane wedding venues our area has to offer makes for one of my favorite weddings of 2012! We began our wedding day at The Davenport Hotel and Towers where the bridal party prepared all of their final grooming details. Grant waited for his stunning bride at the bottom of the grand staircase of Hotel Lusso to see her for the first time that day. What a great location for a revealing! All of the rails, curves, bends and mirrors made it fun to create interesting angles and perspectives of a moment they will remember forever.
We all kept our fingers crossed leading up to the wedding that we would have snow on the ground for some extra magical pictures at Beacon Hill, but unfortunately we had none. Of course we still achieved romantic photos of the couple alongside the pond, fun photos of the bridesmaids in the vineyard, and hysterical pictures of the groomsmen anywhere they happened to be. I have to give everyone kudos. A late fall Spokane wedding is never warm or pleasant to be standing in the cold weather, but not once did I hear a major complaint
Most wedding ceremonies take place around 5:00pm or so, but Andrea and Grant wanted an extra level of intimate ambiance in Beacon Hill’s clubhouse which looks over north Spokane. At 7:00pm their closest family and friends could see the twinkling lights of the city beyond the bride and groom as they stood facing each other, holding hands about to promise each other their forever love.
Once the candlelit ceremony came to an end we took the party downstairs where the dance music started, moves were busted out and laughs were had.
Thank you Andrea and Grant for allowing me to help you document your day!
Venue: Beacon Hill Events
Dress: Marcella’s
Tuxes: Tuxedo Gallery
Makeup: Makeup By Evelyn
Hair: Jordan Igo and Ashley Sampson
Flowers: A Special Touch
Cupcakes: Celebrations
Crystal
Spokane Wedding Photographer
Crystal Madsen Photography
114 West Pacific Ave #209
Spokane, WA 99201
509-499-1090
crystal@crystalmadsen.com
Find me on Facebook to follow my most current weddings!
