Gnarl

This will be my first post unrelated to wedding photography. I just finished Rudy Rucker's book, The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul. It was an extremely satisfying read. My mind is still swirling with links between Rucker's ideas and the natural world. The book explains quite well the 'gnarly' shapes we see so often in nature. In tribute, I wanted to photograph some 'gnarl' that is not ordinarily easy to see. This is a high speed photography of falling water.

blur...

..is a good thing. As in any creative medium, there are rules, and it is in breaking those rules that any real interesting work is done. One of the most steadfast rules in photography is to get sharp images. That is important, but you've got to play with blur too, because often the results are well worth it.

exit stage left

The moment after the ceremony is always great for really telling images. Rachel and Denny decided to run out the church.. I think they were excited.

timeless

I am experimenting with a new aging technique here. Generally, sepia toning an image is just a simple 'colorizing' step in photoshop, but here I layered another photo of rusted metal on top and made it semi-transparent. I think it worked pretty well. I am not a huge fan of a lot of digital manipulation to photos, but every so often it is fun to try out some new techniques.

This again is from Rachel and Denny's wedding. Most couples hold hands during the ceremony, but these two were really gripping each other tight. It is surprising how the small details of body language can speak so well to the powerful bond shared between these two.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2007...

Kim + Ned's ceremony

Saint Elizabeth's Church on the Auraria Campus is a really spectacular location. It was my first time there and I hope to return soon and often.

I especially like the shot of Kim and her dad. It is a little blurry and grainy, and I think that is the essence of photojournalism's style. Back when 35mm film cameras were new, and electronic flashes had yet to be invented, people like Robert Frank used to travel around capturing stories with a tiny leica and ISO 1600 BW film. The images were so striking, new and powerfull, they defined a look that 60 years later wedding photogs are trying to duplicate with all our fancy digital equipment. It really works well, though I will admit that the "style" probably appeals more to photographers than it does the general public. I hope images like these appeal to the majority of my clients, because they are certainly what I strive for in my photos. This image is also a good illustration of why I left newspaper photography. An image like this is too stylistic for most newspaper editors. The same is true for the panning shot. You almost never see panning in newspaper photography --which I dont understand because it is totally kick-arse. "Why didn't you use a flash!?!" the editors would say. Modern photographers are far too addicted to flash photography. Flash is the fastest way to kill the magic of any moment.

Cheeseman Park

I hate to give away trade secrets here, but Cheeseman Park is THE place to get outstanding portraits. It worked out especially well in winter, with a nice white dusting of snow in the nearbye trees and grass. We really lucked out that the recent blizzard had not completely covered the floor of the pavilion.

reach for it

This is sort of a unique moment. Kim stretches to reach her wedding dress as it hung in her room. As a wedding photographer, there are images that I get again and again (see mirror mirror post). I am always keeping my eye out for more unique moments. I think the combination of the stretching and the doorway work well together, and the clean yellow wall helps out too. This was taken at Kim's house which was absolutely stunning. I know they have done a lot of work on their home and it really shows. It is always nice to have such great surroundings to work with.

Rachel + Denny!

This is one of my favorite portraits of the couple, and I think it was one of the first ones we took. The whole wedding party made a short pit stop at Garden of the Gods park on our way to the reception. But it was cold! That is one great thing about photographs, you cant tell exactly how cold it is, the photos just look bright and white. I was all bundeled up in my heaviest winter coat, but Rachel and Denny had to grin and bear it. Good thing they did though, I think the group of images from GOG turned out really well.

mirror mirror

Rachel puts on the final touches before putting the dress on.

You see this image, or something very similar, quite often among the wedding photojournalism community. Still though, I never get tired of these mirror shots. One of the major obstacles to getting great candid shots is the "awkward" feeling people get when they know they are being photographed. To get around this, I tend to shoot through a lot of mirrors, windows, curtains etc. I get the impression that the subjects think I am photographing something else, and they let their guard down a bit. Actually, this image is not the best example of that kind of shot, but its what came to mind when posting.

Mirror shots are probably popular because when you flatten our 3d world into 2d with a photograph, the 2d world of the mirror then becomes just as "real" as our 3d world. It blows your mind just a tiny bit.

kiss in the chaos two

This is very similiar to the shot I just uploaded from Kim and Ned's wedding. Except that this was taken at the start of another recent wedding, Rachel and Dennis. All the bridesmaids and groomsmen were arriving at the chapel, milling about, and these two apparently knew each other. It a bit hard to read at this small size, so you may want to click on the image to see a larger version.

kiss in the chaos

This is another of my favorite shots from Kim and Ned's wedding. Kim and Ned share a moment during their reception. I like the contrast of the serene kiss with the chaotic surrounding. This image speaks to one of the many things a marriage can be, an island of sanity in a chaotic world.

I carry with me two cameras during the reception, one with a flash and the other without a flash. I rarely use the camera without a flash, especially when the receptions are particularly dark. But I do pull it out every so often when I think I might be able to pull off something using just the natural light. It rarely works, but every so often, you'll find a moment that last long enough for the long shutter speed.

It begins

This is an image from my most recent wedding, Kim and Ned in Denver. As I was going through their images, this one made me stop and laugh. I cant put my finger on exactly what is funny about it. Maybe it is just a good illustration of how similar we all are, yet we still each have our own way of doing things.

Blogging is pretty popular among wedding photographers. I can see why, it is nice to have some place to publish your work immediately after creating it. Thus far is my career I have not really had enough free time in my schedule to complete a blog, but, with the new year and new beginnings, it seems like an appropriate time to jump on the bandwagon. I hope to find plenty of time to keep this blog up to date in the coming year(s).