A fathers wish

Most of you who know me know I have a thing about fathers. I aspire to be the best father possible to my own children. So when I meet a good father I can't help but watch and listen. Such is the situation here when I first met Mark the father/father in law of Jillian and Will. I received a call from Mark last March inquiring about wedding photography for his daughters wedding in August. At first I thought... how strange. A dad inquiring about photography for his daughters wedding. Doesn't really happen all that often... ever. But after meeting him It became obvious he was not just dragged into finding a wedding photographer by some Bridezilla or overburdened wedding planning mother. Mark was genuinely looking for "the best wedding photographer in town" at his own accord. He set it upon himself to make sure his daughters memories were captured by the right person. Now, I am not saying I am the best in town nor do I agree with him that I am. I believe choosing a wedding photographer is much like choosing a car. You have to pick the one you like, matches your style, is reliable and works for your budget. So I believe I was the best choice for Mark. Mark showed real passion in his daughter and her happiness and you could tell their is an unshakable bond between him and his daughter. Mark is not like most fathers today. I'm taking notes. Oh yeah... Mom was pretty cool too.

Jillian and will had a beautiful wedding and were married in Charlottesville at the Westminster Presbyterian Church. The reception was held at the Greencroft club in Ivy.

Working with light part II

So Megan and Jake finaly get to tie the knot after a long and hard engagement, most of which they spent apart from one another. I first met them together as a couple during their engagement portraits that we did at UVA. You can see some of those shots in this blog posting I did a few weeks ago.

They got hitched at White Hall Vineyards outside of Charlottesville, VA. For the pre wedding portrait session the plan was to get shots that capture Megan and Jakes love for each other but also capture the beauty of the location. So I show up and it's raining... bummer right? Wrong, to me this is a good thing. Rain is beautiful. Most people love the rain and the clouds it comes from. They appreciate the cooler temperatures and the freshness it offers the air. To me, rain is more than good luck it's a good opportunity. Now, we had a lot of places to work with at this location and we decided to take advantage of them. We worked with the vines outside, we worked with walls and fence lines the big black umbrellas I always bring and even an old grey barn. Given it was a cloudy day I had to be careful with my light. I had to be aware of the changes in exposure from moment to moment because as the clouds move so does my exposure. Moving into a barn also completely changes everything. So for this situation I had to think fast. Bracket my shots. Shoot manually if need be and use the light to not just capture the moments or the poses, but do something truly artistic... get a dramatic exposure. The resulting shots from this wedding are like that. and I think Megan and Jake are happy about that.

Working with light part I

Here is Rebecca. Her wedding was in Lynchburg and I don't get down that way too often. Upon arrival I was faced with a challenge. She was getting ready in what appeared to be a sunday school room, chalkboards, school desks, a piano and one window. It was time to get creative and fast. Now I am a strong supporter of natural light and minimal flash or strobe lighting. I had two options. Strap on the flash and just take pictures that would be basic and photojournalistic or find a way to use the available light and take the images to a different level, perhaps a more artistic level of photojournalism. I love windows and I think they add great highlights to photos so I instructed my subjects to use the area next to the window as much as possible. I used the light from the window to light the whole scene, capture silhouettes, and get artistic. I had to shoot around 400 ISO at 2.8 for almost every shot and hold the camera super steady. Bracketing shots that looked good and using a lot of my spot meter to get the exposure I was looking for. Photographing the whole session before the wedding was basically consistent adaptation to the light and the subjects. The result is photojournalistic and artistic images I really like. These images are expressive a moody. For finishing touches I add a little vignette and increase the contrast a bit. Overall the images in my opinion came out better than if I has just blasted them with my flash, bounce or no bounce.

Rebecca also had a great idea. She found a picture she liked where the bride and groom were holding up "thank you" signs. and when we met to discuss her wedding she asked if I would be willing to get something similar. She planned on using the pictures to make what else but thank you cards. I think the idea is great and the image came out perfect. This is a good example of a bride telling me exactly what she has always dreamed of in wedding photographs and in the end getting exactly what she had hoped for simply because I took the time to get to know her and incorporate the style of my client in the commission.