Statler and Waldorf….

Statler and Waldorf Dancing

Shot for Peter Thomsen Photography Check out Peter’s amazing work here: www.peterthomsen.com

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I also like a clean, simple layout. No more than three images per page, nothing crazy. I really want the images to speak for themselves.

Below is a good example. As always is is a compromise between what the client wanted and what I was aiming for artistically.

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The Groomsman Dancing a Jig at the Reception

When I shoot receptions my typical approach is to set up a couple of strobes around the dance floor and one on my camera. Nikon’s strobes are smart enough that I can trigger them wirelessly from the on camera flash. I kill all the ambient light and let the on camera strobe light the subject and position myself so the subject is between me and the remote strobes I’ve set up around the room. The remote strobes supply a bit of fill in the back ground and add a rad rim light as well as if they hit the aperture blades on my lens just right, a star burst look in the background.

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Here are some of the images… in absolutely no order what so ever…

See, a pig

I love the classy elderly lady cracking up at the dog and rabbit walking down the isle.

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Wait, what?

I had to look it up.

“A ketubah (Hebrew,  ”document”; pl. ketubot) is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement.”

FULL ARTICLE

Ok, sounds super romantic.

But really, if you think about it in the right light it’s a husband promise to always provide for his bride, even after he’s gone.

After witnessing Brit and Jake’s Ketubah Ceremony I have to say it was one of the most tender events I’ve witnessed as a photographer.

It began with the Rabbi placing the tallit on Jake and explaining to us all the meaning and importance of the tallit and it’s place in the ceremony…..

… then the tallit, together with Brittany and Jake’s friends and family form a home, or a shelter…

I should say something here about this Rabbi. He approached me and my second and said he had some rules. To which we cringed. Usually when a Rabbi/Preacher has rules for the photographer it essentially means we can’t photograph anything of any significance.

Needless to say we were floored when he told us our duty that day was to capture the best images we possibly could because, “These two, this day will ZIP by and they will need these photos to remember. You tell me where to stand and how to stay out of your way. You do what you have to do to make great pictures.”

Part of that process is trying to understand why I’m drawn to photograph those things that find their way in front of my camera. Sometimes it makes sense. Street performers for instance. That’s easy. They are interesting.

This process is what drives photographers to embark on photographic projects that last decades, even lifetimes. When will I be finished photographing street performers? I don’t see an end in sight.

But weddings? Why weddings?

Confession. I don’t look at wedding photography. I don’t study other wedding photographer’s work. Weddings are ubiquitous and it is hard enough to be original in capturing them, I don’t want to pollute my visual vocabulary with other peoples work. But I do sneak peaks once in a while and what I read a lot on the blogs is how so and so photographer is “just so in love with love” and that is why they photograph weddings. I have know idea what it means to be in love with love nor can I conceive of how that would at all be a motivation for giving up a perfectly good Saturday to work your butt off photographing a wedding.

I went to school for a very long time just to end up making a living as a plumber. My folks think I waisted all that time (and money) just so I could have a blue collar job. Maybe so. I studied, among other things, Anthropology. It’s a study in people; how they live, why they live that way, etc. It’s about people’s stories. I also studied Communications (you know, public speaking all dressed up). Again, story telling. Both also came with a large dose of Philosophy and Meditation on the how and why of life.

The things I’ve taken with me from my university years are those key things above. Maybe I was drawn to those disciplines for the same reason I’m drawn to photography. The inclination to meditate on life, human nature…. Who we are. Why we do what we do. I also write. A lot. When I write it’s only after a long meditation on some aspect of life and writing it down is the final step in the process of grappling with it. (If this blog post isn’t long winded enough for you, you can find some of that HERE)

Ok, what’s my point.

Oh yeah, weddings. Why do I photograph weddings?

Think of it in terms of those decades long projects. Wedding photography, for me, is another project. Another part of the process. Excuse me but I’m going to get a bit pretentious… I photograph weddings as a form of meditation on the American experience.

I think that is why I’m not looking to photograph a wedding every Saturday. I can’t conceive of something like that. I don’t think I could get my head around all those weddings and glean anything remotely meaningful from the millions of frames. But a few weddings a year. Say, ten weddings. Ten weddings a year. Big ones, small ones. Traditional, modern, vintage, weddings in churches and weddings in backyards. Ten weddings a year. Yeah, that I can get my head around.

The new portfolio is done, click HERE I would love some feedback.

So if you are here because you are looking for a photographer for your wedding, or portraits please excuse the mess.

Along with the blog and portfolio my own personal shooting style continues to evolve….

Among the many metaphors for life the most persistent are the traveling metaphors. “I came to a fork in the road and chose the one less traveled…” and so on. I’ve been planning my own wedding for a few months now. The hardest part has been finding a photographer. Never before had I sat down and really looked at the legion of wedding photographers in our area. If you are reading this then you are likely in the midst of that same discouraging search and know exactly how bewildering that can be. A bride contacted me the other day about her wedding, which happened to be on the same day as mine so obviously I was not available. In her email she wrote that every photographers pictures all looked the same. The only difference was in the cost.
On top of that I’ve been shooting a lot of personal work, trying to figure out who I am behind the camera. Shooting a lot of film on my old, fully manual Nikons and loving the simplicity of it. You look for the light. You wait for that moment to happen. You make the image and live with the result.
And, and I’ve completely stopped looking at any other wedding photography. I felt like it was polluting my personal vision with ideas about how a wedding should be photographed. I just thought one day “I don’t like looking at wedding photography. I do like looking at this other stuff. I’m going to photograph what I like regardless of the subject matter.”

Back to the metaphor. Hokey as it sounds, I’m on a photographic journey and part of that journey is bringing my personal shooting style to the front when I’m getting paid to shoot. I think, well, to be honest I fear it will lead to far fewer bookings. I know it won’t appeal to folks who want images like what they find in bridal magazines and on the blogs. But it will, I’m confident, lead to better images.

The other result of all this is I’ve realized that I would much rather shoot an event or wedding or some portraits for what ever someone can afford, given the subject matter is compelling enough, than to miss out on an opportunity to express myself photographically just because someone can’t afford me. I have my rates. They are right there under the “rates” tab. If someone has the budget for those rates then I’ll trust them to be honest and pay those rates. If they don’t I hope they won’t be discouraged and hire someone else less capable only because they are “cheap.”

We have a winner from our “I shoot your wedding, you pay $0 story telling contest.” The winner has been contacted. More details to follow. The goal of which is two fold; one to offer wedding photography to a couple who would ordinarily have to settle for some hack, and to add to the portfolio a wedding that gets closer to how I want to cover weddings.

I’m currently on the search for a couple who are interested in something a little different for their wedding. If you are up for it I would love to photograph your wedding entirely with a Holga (google it). It isn’t for everyone for certain but I think the right couple will love it.

I’m also working on developing a rates structure for a pure documentary style coverage in film. Just me, a 24mm and a 50mm. No formals. Right now the way I picture it the getting ready and reception will be shot with Tri-x and the ceremony in the new Portra 400 (LOVE LOVE LOVE that film). Again this is a step towards bringing my commercial work in line with my personal shooting style. I expect fewer bookings but tons more fun. As it’s falling out a wedding would likely cost me about $500 to shoot. Of course I will charge a commission on top of that.

I’m also working on a couple of personal projects that I’m very excited about that will find themselves in at least one self published books. While speaking of books, I’m culling images for book to leave with vendors who might be inclined to refer me. It’ll be like a wedding album… but not so much. I’m thinking soft cover. And the layout won’t be anything like a wedding album. More of a showcase that says “hey, this is how I shoot. you know you like it. please book me.”

All this talk about personal work and personal shooting style reminds me. I have a little personal blog with some images that are directly from the heart. Check it out: a light tight box/ if you like what you see and you want that for your wedding or portraits let me know. I’ll do a little dance and do everything I can to book you right then and there.

Now, just because this is a photography blog here are some recent images…

you participate. you give blessing, rings, daughters and sons, unite and depart.

they’re a little micro metaphor of life at times.

Ten years old and she looks ahead.