If it matters to you – It matters to me
December 6, 2011
Often when I arrive at the house, it’s easy to pick up on most of the important things. I have consultations – even if it’s just over the phone, with all my clients. Usually with brides, at least once in person.
Weddings in particular are pretty fast-paced so of course it’s best to hammer out as many of the details as possible when you’re not thinking of a thousand tiny little things. But what I always stress is: in the moment communication.
I hate to liken a wedding to war but they are similar in the sense of the planning sometimes. People have these great ideas and schedules and they’re usually not built with any flexibility to accommodate humans and their amazing ability to change their minds and so just like a battle plan, things tend to change right after the first shot is fired. What can I say? I’ll be your fox-hole buddy if you’ll be mine...?
Beyond that, most couples are trying to focus on the major mechanisms of the day itself and that’s where some of the important stuff gets left behind.
This bride’s mother was a cancer survivor (so’s my Mom!) and had a special plant commemorating her latest anniversary.
This plant was on the deck. It was in nowhere special and I almost stepped on it when I started taking the group photos outside.
I turned around and asked her if I could move it over so I didn’t crush it...
Her mother was whispering to her daughter when they were taking some photos together and I asked if they we talking about me :-) and she told me that it was nothing....
I usually don’t pry but it seemed important, so I kept on her about it and she finally told me all about the plant and seemed kind of embarrassed to ask me to take a photograph of she and her daughter with the flowers in it somehow.
I think at first she didn’t understand my level of enthusiasm. I started talking a little about my mom and that it meant a lot to me because it would probably mean a lot to her to know that her son was out their trying his best to honor another mother not so dissimilar to her and certainly in an exclusive, not-so-fun club, by commemorating the link between her health and her ability to be there that day to see her daughter get married to a really classy guy. Sounds like a celebration worthy of a photo to me.
Living away from my mother for almost half my life, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate our relationship into my daily life and that includes my work which is my main repeating source of creative expression.
All my favorite photos are love letters. Not literally but those moments where it’s a pure joy to step out of yourself long enough to really see the moment for all it’s possibilities and focus all your energy and experience into a single capture that reflects the truth about how short life is and how precious our relationships are to us. It feels great.
I love using my camera to make things look beautiful or edgy or all kinds of things but as an image-maker I’m always interested in making things real.
When I find out that there’s something my clients want it becomes something I want.
What I like about this situation, this moment, is how manly elements of the unspoken part of the day that it involves.
The idea is that anything done well will always look good no matter what’s going on in front of the camera.
Attention to and awareness of detail is everything.
So no matter how un-spruced the subject or scene may be, if it’s important and real then making it look that way, is essentially easy, because it’s based in the natural and that’s what people like and look for in life no matter what but especially in their photos.
The idea that the plant is it’s own subject but is, as a symbol also tied to the mother’s very existence and her ability to watch her daughter get married, is epic.
But what gives me pause is how subtlety this image almost didn’t happen which brings me to the most important part of what I took away from this experience which is better communication. By “better,” I specifically mean, day-of, in the moment communication.
I always tell the parents to let me know what’s on their minds and consult with me throughout the day so we can all work together to craft the images in a way that reveals the true nature of each family and the bounds that they share with each other. Because after all – most weddings and even most marriages are about more than just the couple getting married and I think that the images should reflect the entirety of the bride and grooms family experience.
Now, as to how much of that ends up in the album is essentially up to my individual clients preferences, but if nothing else, I always want the options to be there.
Otherwise, the album and images will lack depth and personal feeling. It’s easy enough to make people look good, it’s another thing entirely to allow yourself to be involved in your photos in a real way so that what I bring to the images can elevate those photos to a status that matches the way you feel about yourself and your family on that day.
I am so fortunate that so many families like this one allow me to be a part of their day and open up their hearts, homes and history to me to that I can help tell their story, their way.
Truth or Fact
January 7, 2011
There’s no one photo or one album or even a years worth of images that could say all that I’d want people to know about they way I go about capturing, but...If there was one photo that encapsulates my entire philosophy about image capture it’s this one. Here’s why....
These people were a bit of a dream couple but they unfortunately didn’t have a dream schedule. We knew this going into it and had planned accordingly. But weddings as you may or may not know have a life of their own (next blog) and sometimes you just have to ride the wave...or in this case the limo in the direction pointing way far away from your photographer. Don’t worry – all’s forgiven in the end.
We’d arrived at Maggiano’s in Schaumburg right after the ceremony and were supposed to start shooting outdoors immediately. I parked. Got out my army size amount of gear and proceeded double time to the front of Maggiano’s in the middle of one of July’s less forgiving days. For those of you that know me, you know how much I just love humidity.
I looked around for bit and planned out my locations. I figured there were about three places I could work with.
Just to the right of the image is a huge parking lot surrounded by a mall. Route 290/53 is right behind them about shoulder level with the rest of the mall on the left and behind us!
You can see a car by the tree that is left most.
I think my favorite thing about photography is the balance between what you have power over and what you do not. As an artist, I’m given a set of times and locations and the rest is pretty much about making choices about what we want to do in between with the time and places we have to work with.
On a good day, it simplifies my job to the point that I feel like I’m just going with the flow...on a bad day, I remember to try and smile all that much more.
The limo stopped in front of the restaurant, paused and then took off out of the parking lot. I looked at the mother of the bride – she looked at me and we both asked each other where they were going. We both didn’t know. If the photographer and the mother of the bride don’t know what’s going on it’s a fair assumption that the official game plan is out the window.
I only had about thirty minutes to knock these out and even on a good day with a location that wasn’t surrounded on all sides by cars and freeways it probably would have been just enough time to take all the things I wanted to give this really cool couple.
I love my hair dresser brides – they understand the importance of well executed artifice (which is what this whole shot is about) and attention to detail. We’re born collaborators. I’m serious – we’re talking love, like the love I have for those Apricot Rugala’s at Corner Bakery. I only ate like 5 waiting for the limo to come back.
And it did after 35 minutes. Or as I like to think of it as limo Happy Hour!
That’s ok – these kids were pro’s and totally worth it.
Ultimately – I knew from having 30 minutes just to access the situation that the whole bank of photos was going to be about background control – let’s face it, that’s what it really is a lot of the time anyway.
With the amazing time crunch and the fact that we were limited as to what direction we could photograph in I decided I wanted at least one picture that actually incorporated the background without calling attention to it’s lesser attributes of which there were many.
I don’t mind utilizing photoshop to enhance my photos but once you have to completely re-order the whole image it starts to loose my interest, but that’s just me.
The great thing about Infrared is it’s ability to pick and choose the parts of the images it sees the most (truth be told – I did a little burning and dogging but the original looks pretty much same – I knew when I’d took the first test shot it was going to look even better than I’d thought it would when I saw the image in my head. I get lucky like that a lot).
It’s kinda fun a mysterious too. There’s certain things you can tell right away will look good but there’s always an element of surprise when you look at the LCD to see where you’re going to take it.
A good friend of mine (Ken Wadman) told me to grab one, he said “It’ll make you love being a photographer again!” Ken’s a smart guy and between his images and his philosophy, one of my all time hero’s. Very tall shoulders. If you stand on them, you can see very far.
But like any camera – it’s just a device (or toy as my wife calls them) that does what you tell it to.
Simplicity is often the key to a good image – it certainly was here. I found a nice rock for Johhny to sit of so he could form a 90 degree angle for his bride to sit. Placed a back light behind them, adjusted the hands a little and asked them to kiss and there it was.
Larger than life (but probably not even as large as they felt about each other or this moment or this day) image in an ordinary location that looked good because it had all the elements present at the right moment. Couple and photographer working together to create images that represent how we feel about what we’re doing instead of just how it looked by itself.
Documenting is important. Photojournalism is the natural unfolding of the days events and captures the raw emotion better than any construction but when it comes to sprinkling a little on top I think it’s the intentional photos that speak more of the truth of the moment than the fact.
As an artist, I’m more interested in truth than fact.
On looking at photographs
August 5, 2010
On looking at photographs: A practical guide
David Hurn / Magnum in conversations with Bill Jay
“The ubiquitous nature of photography in our society has devalued the currency of the camera; a plethora of pictures has weakened even the most powerful to exert their magic.”
This is a great book and the conversation between these two is pretty amazing. I was struck by this sentence yesterday while reading the first chapter over again. It’s a very eloquent way to describe an unpleasant fact about our business that’s been true since the end of the 1800’s is now truer than ever and gaining.
As a professional photographer and also a person who cares deeply about photography and it’s natural progression I’m constantly stuck by how the tendency is moving from highlights to just simple coverage. People are all still resettling to the “whateverness” that is the current and what seems like a very lasting economic shake up.
Like all periods of revolution – there is progression and regression. Progress: the gear is getting very, very good and affordable enough that the hobbyist who only have to buy one camera and a lens can be seen regularly at the weddings I photograph with my camera. Regression: as the equipment gets better and more idiot proof it is turning everyone into software freaks and gear heads (and sometimes – idiots). Which frankly, isn’t and hasn’t ever been that interesting to me.
Do not get me wrong – I love my photoshop and all the bells and whistles that go with it as well as all my gadgets but when the percentage of the conversations are shifting in that direction it's leaving very little time to discuss the finer points like story telling.
Having a clear idea about how you’re going to process an image is essential in this day and age – no one’s going to argue with that point but we shouldn’t be thinking so far ahead of ourselves that it kills your ability to often see what’s right in front of you. Not just the landscape, but the people, the energy and the moment that’s unfolding.
I’m guilty of this as well, I’m right there with you but it’s a bad habit I’ve noticed and I want to encourage my clients and my peers to be aware of it so we can change it back to the quality we all expect when working with a professional!
Taking photos is fun! Being a participant in your own photos and knowing that you put the energy into that makes it what it is will increase the value of that image every time you look at for the rest of your life.