Back on July 28th, I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of Zak and Laura. They were excellent people to work with, as their families made us feel right at home! Upon arriving to the Labrecque house in Staunton, Virginia, we noticed a crowd. Everyone was getting ready there; it was like a pre-family reunion! Zak and Laura opted for a first look session, which took place on the Labrecque’s front porch.
We’ve all experienced it. Facebook makes a change, we still want to use it, and so we have to adapt. Recently, Facebook switched all users over to the “timeline” style profiles. Personally, I love the timeline, except for the fact that Facebook now forces users to crop to a square when they choose one of my images for their profile photo. As a professional photographer, this is like torture for me, as my logo, my signature, always seems to get cropped out, not to mention the composition changes. I’m not sure Pablo Picasso would approve if someone took the scissors to one of his paintings!
Here’s a super easy step-by-step solution:
This image marks an important checkpoint in my walk as a professional artist. Just before I made this image, I had an amazing explosion of pre-visualizations take place in my mind’s eye. I’ve had similar experiences before, but this time, I finally felt able to direct the model [my wife], to act out what I was thinking. With very specific words, I explained the feeling that the photo should have, told her how to lean her head, where to place her hands, and adjusted everything in little increments until the image in reality and the image in my mind lined up perfectly. The awesome part is, I had spot metered on her face, set the shutter and focused before any of those artistic thoughts took place. I was prepared.
Another awesome aspect of this image is that I metered, set, visualized, executed, developed and scanned all in one afternoon. There’s just something special about self developing black and white film, especially when the images on it are fresh! It’s an amazing experience watching the images roll out one by one while unwinding the reel and hanging the strip up to dry. I foresee a lot more of this in the future.
This image is titled “The Power of a Dream” not just because the mood is dreamy but because it is a dream of mine fulfilled. Years ago, I knew I wanted to eventually make images like this and I think my confidence level is finally catching up. I certainly don’t plan to become vain in any sense, as all vanity is doused by this being the only awesome image on the 36 exposure roll [in my opinion]. But this result speaks to me with much volume: if you have a dream, chase it. Be responsible while you chase it, but don’t let it get away. I have had my eyes set on becoming a better photographer and I truly feel like I am growing every day.
Due to the impermanent nature of digital media, clients, as well as photographers may often worry about things being lost, deleted, crashed, overwritten, corrupt, etc. Today I shall make transparent my digital workflow and the preventative measures within for all to see, criticize, or praise. Let’s get started!
On August 18, we had the opportunity to photograph the beautiful wedding of Matt and Sarah in the town of Franklin, Pennsylvania. While there, I fell in love with the look of town and long to go back someday! We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather: blue skies, fair weather clouds, and 72 degrees!
Here is another teaser from their big day! More to come!
I’m subscribed to a youtube channel called The Art of Photography, and last week the host, Ted Forbes, did an episode on the “minimalist darkroom”. In the episode, Ted illustrated just how uncomplicated it can be to develop your own black and white film. You need the following: film, tank, developer, fixer(special fixer called TF4 eliminates stopper), distilled water, various used bottles, thermometer, a timer, scissors, can opener, and clothespins. I went ahead and ordered some supplies. Yesterday was a red letter day. My shipment of Rodinal black and white film developer came a day early, so I got down to business.
illustration by Jordan Baker Photography
Back in 1998, people thought that the folks at Apple were mad for shipping the new “iMac G3” without a floppy drive.
we’ve just added competitive travel rates for destination weddings.
aneila and i have reached our first anniversary. self timers are the eighth wonder of the world.
