Monday, March 31

The Quintessential Wedding Shot


I like this shot, because it is a really good example of good execution. There is nothing "creative" about the composition or lighting, just a pure moment caught on film (or on flash memory). There are no barriers to the idea that is being communicated --wedding photography in its purest form.


Though, you could argue that putting it in BW is the creative part. I have been converting a great deal of my images into BW recently; it is my current obsession. I think I have just now truly discovered the art of fine art printing. Its all about trying to get as many different tones into the final print, while still maintaining enough contrast to keep the image from looking muddy. That is probably not the best way to put it, but suffice it say, I have rediscovered BW photography. I am envisioning huge BW gallery prints for every shot.

I have also been adding film texture to the images. Back when I shot film, I hated film texture. That was largely because it was during the awkward "half digital" period of the late nineties. Film would be digitally scanned and then manipulated in photoshop. Plus, having never seen a photograph without grain, it was hard to know what grain added to a photograph. Grain always seemed like a barrier to a clean sharp photo, and it is. What I had not realized, is that a clean sharp photo is not always the best thing. Film grain gives the photo a texture, that brings it to life a bit.

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