Aged

I swear I never do this, even though this is my second blog post to try aging techniques. I just upgraded to Photoshop CS3 and I have wanted an excuse to do some heavily photoshopped images. The little ring-bearer is great, of all the groomsmen, he was the toughest. I love how he is holding his jacket, like a little mob boss.

peek

I am just responding to the light here, the moment is sort of there, but mainly I just liked the way the light falls on his face. He is looking right at me, but the shadow kinda creeps in around him and finds its place on the center of his face, so it has a more mystery than it would otherwise.

Window Light

It looks like I am going through a bit of a portrait phase here. I have been making a lot of portraits that I just really like. Especially this one of Jessica's absolutely beautiful pose in the window light of one of the buildings in the University of Denver campus. Great location.

Smooth

Grace, Jessica's sister and bridesmaid extraordinare stares a hole into my camera. This one my favorites shots in a long time. Everything came together really well, the red brick walls reflecting red light all over the place, the cigars, the look, even Grace's blonde hair all combine into this really powerful palette of color and theme that work together. I'd like to think it captures the unique style of Jesse and Jessica's wedding pretty well. That is always my goal, to identify what the unique story-line of the particular wedding and make some images that portray it well.

Congrats Jessica + Jesse!

I know it sounds cliche when I say every wedding is unique, but its true, so I'll say it. I really enjoyed trying to capture the unique style of Jessica + Jesse last Saturday. They had a really impressive set of friends, a great location --everything was very smooth. This particular photo may look familiar to those of you who have watched the slideshow at the front of my web-page. I was surprised it worked so well again. These type of things cant really be planned, you just set it up, and hope for the best... more to come.

ka-pow

At the end of the night, I stalk the dancers with my flash at the
ready. I always shoot from the hip, or more acuretly, sort of a side-
ways hail mary. Taking the time to frame a shot will often kill the
mood, plus its so dark you cant see anything anyway. I set the flash
on infra-red assist and watch where my infra-red beam lands. Its
like laser targeting for photography, and it works really well.
Then, after the wedding, I have hundreds of photos that I have not
seen yet. Which makes the job interesting. I guess it is similiar
to working with a remote camera... Nat. Geo. Photographer Nick
Nichols caught tigers in their natural state using an infra-red tripped
remote camera... http://michaelnicknichols.com/gallery/cameratraps/ I am
using similar techniques to capture humans in their natural state.

Course, the tigers were not tipsy. That helps. Nichols should have
spiked those water holes...

reflecting

I could probably put together a whole portfolio on shots taken
through multiple panes of glass. I once took a portrait of an
executive through a glass revolving doorway. I was shooting through
like seven pains of glass, and there were some mirrors involved as
well... the photograph was likely the single best executive portrait
ever created. The client did not publish it. Not to worry though,
because the executive himself asked to buy some of the files from the
shoot for his internal publications and the like... I never heard
back from him after I showed him what was the single best business
portrait ever.

This is not that photo. (obviously)

french fries

I had the pleasure of working with Hillary and Travis last weekend at the Denver Design Center. This was my first time at the design center, so I was of course enamored with the huge yellow sculpture all denverites are familiar with (around I-25 and broadway). I am told that the sculpture is known as 'french fries'...

James Nachtwey's Ted Award Speech

Photojournalism is a word a lot of people use, but there are not any real clear definitions. This blog is an opportunity for me to communicate my understanding of photojournalism. To me, the very best photojournalist, living or dead, is James Nachtwey. I would encourage anyone who has the time to watch this video.

http://ted.streamguys.net/ted_nachtwey_j_2007_480.mov

Nachtwey mentions in his speech that a picture which reveals the true face of war, would by definition be an anti-war photograph. I agree with that sentiment, and with all humility, I think wedding photojournalism is the opposite side of the same idea. War photography illustrates humanity at its worst, and I think I have been lucky enough to find a niche that represents humanity at its best. It is important to understand what we are capable of, both good and bad.

Rim-light

This is one of my favorite photos that I had forgotten all about. I take so many photos throughout the year, its hard to remember my favorites when it comes to contest time. Anyhow, I am working on Susan's (the bride in the photo) album tonight, and I came across this photo. I felt it needed to be published, and that is what the blog is for, no?

Rim-light is a technical term, referring to light that falls on the edge of your subject. It is rare to find natural rim-light, but you can get lucky if you look can find a couple of bright windows with the right spacing. I also really liked the way the curtains behind Susan match her skin-tone.