(F)akesgiving.

Food.

Fun.

Sangria.

Friends.

New friends.

Food again.

Tatum Williams Senior Session

I don’t normally do senior portraits or family stuff. Just not my thing.

But I took an exception for Tatum. I’m glad I did.

Taylor and Quinn Le

I finally put up high resolution pictures of Taylor and Quinn Le’s Wedding. Looking over all the pictures and deciding which ones I wanted to put up, I was tempted to overload this blog with bridal portraits with soft lighting and very elegant poses and such. Of course I have those pictures, but I realized that didn’t tell what this wedding was like. It didn’t encompass the story, it wasn’t a narrative.

I’ve had a couple photographers starting out ask me how are they supposed to know what shots to have, and how do they get them consistently.

I’ve been browsing a lot of wedding blogs and realized one thing, where are all the indoor candid reception pictures? Unless the photographer staged some shots to let the general public assume that this is what all the reception photographs will be like, there was no candid high action celebratory pictures. Yes, anyone can pose a person and take their time photographing them. But it takes literal sweat, endurance, sore feet, cramping thighs, tense hands, running shoes, and a determination to get in their, get jostled around and risking your camera, to get the shots. Cause the celebration is a part of the wedding too. [Side note: my body has never hurt so much after a wedding like this one.]

Image quality, sharpness, the type of lens that produce great pictures, are all good and dandy. But in the end, the bride and groom don’t care about the quality of your photographs. They care about THE photograph. What it encompasses. The emotion, the joy, the celebration, the narrative. When you initially see an image that is crisp and clear, you think, “Oh my goodness. What a beautiful picture.” Then you start to look at it more and more and more. Then you start to ask, what does this photograph hold past the actual technical qualities. And if it is a beautiful pose, what does it say about the couple. The photograph must be as TRUE as possible, because in that way, it will last forever. Yes, I agree, the soft lit dramatic pictures, posed couplets portraits, beautiful scenery is all an integral part. After all, it is a wedding and it is elegant and beautiful. BUT, in the end, you want the story, not the sentences.

As a photographer, I invest myself fully into my couple. You have to forget about the prices, the shots, the lighting, cause then you forgot about the couple themselves. It’s not about you. It’s about them. I feel as if so many photographers think too much about taking the photographs. I know that sounds extremely stupid cause, DUH, he/she is a photographer, of coursed they’re supposed to think about taking the photograph. What I mean  is, if you’re a photographer, the time to think about the actual TAKING of the photo shouldn’t be at someone else’s big day. It should be prior, in YOUR spare time, not THEIRS. Michael Jordan didn’t practice his jump shot at the game, he practiced it prior to the game.

Love the couple, and the photographs will take care of themselves.

And remember, it’s not just bridal portraits and the boquet toss.

You don’t want to get SOME of the wedding.

You want ALL of it.

No Flowers, No Sparkly Sun, No Smiley Faces

I’ve found out that the thing that helps me most with my photography is shooting it. Not just weddings and bridal portraits and seniors smiling. But shooting life, the old and mundane, the new and fresh, and everything and everyone in between.
Tonight/this morning at 2am,
we just hung out on the roof so I snapped a few ‘shnappy shnapps’. More photos will be up later, cause photobucket takes forever to upload high res photos. If anyone knows a way to set up a better blog, please let me know. Preferably one where people can comment without having to sign up to the same blog site.

Tonight there is one thing that has been reinforced into my brain.

I don’t take photographs so that other people can call me a photographer or a wedding photographer. I feel as if lots of people out there are photographers because its the hip and ‘in’ thing to do. But when it gets down to the nitty gritty of spending 30 min just setting up your lighting for ONE picture or getting rotting meat on your new pair of shoes to get a shot on time lapse, a lot of people would bail out. It’s not about me. It’s about the photos.

“I take photographs to see what the world looks like in photographs.” - Gary Winogrand

Naomi & Austin eSession

Chilllllllll. Like ice cream. 

Have you ever wondered, do commercial and wedding/portrait photographers every take pictures of anything else. What’s the point of calling yourself a photographer if you don’t take pictures of everything in this world? There’s more on this planet than brides, grooms, and pretty flowers.

“I photograph the world to see what the world looks like in photographs. - Gary Winogrand

“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks like photographed.” - Gary Winogrand

“All things are photographable.” - Gary Winogrand

Familia Bamilia

So, these kids.
Were the craziest most hyper kids. Which was super coooool. But also super harrrrrrd. Cause It’s really hard to RUN backwards and keep a steady hand. Good thing I attempt to keep in shape. 
I haven’t really done a lot of family shoots cause it’s really not my type of thing. But this one was fun.

And because every good family starts with good parents.

Peace baby.