Aidee's Wedding

Aidee was once one of my students.  One of my most talented students.  During her senior year she was in my classes for three periods a day, so she was definitely missed when she graduated.  You can imagine my surprise then when many years later she contacted me asking about shooting her wedding.  Yes, I am starting to have students who go by Mrs.  Man, that's weird.  I was honored to be her photographer.  She had booked this adorable little church and planned the wedding for a beautiful fall afternoon.  I like to think that the photographer in her had a part in these decisions--all that wonderful natural light streaming in through the church windows made for the easiest and best lighting I've ever had the opportunity to work with during a wedding.  Here is the story of her big day...

 Oh, that's right... there was a groom involved too :)  That's Daniel on the right with his best man and brother on the left.  I didn't have Daniel in class and just met him at the rehearsal the night before the wedding, but he seems very genuine and kind.

 Why oh why do they always set the bride up in the Sunday School room?!  The getting ready photos are some of my favorites, but it's always a challenge to not include the Noah's Ark decorations and craft supplies in the background.  On this dress photo I used some clever Photoshopping to "re-paint" the walls.

 Aidee, the beautiful bride.

 The pastor at this church was very photo-friendly.  He had zero restrictions on where I could shoot.  He even showed me a secret passageway that I could use to move around behind the sanctuary.  The door on the left by the American flag went back to an office with a second doorway that led into the sanctuary.  It was a great place to stand incognito and get photos of the groom with the guests in the background.  From there I could go out a third door that led behind the sanctuary to the right side where I could get photos of the bride.  There was also a back balcony of sorts--really an upstairs Sunday school classroom that had big windows overlooking the church.  That's where I got this shot of the whole scene.  Aidee and Daniel did not plan a long wedding ceremony.  For the guests this probably sounds great, but for the photographer it meant I had to HUSTLE!  All of the key elements--walking down the aisle, the vows, the rings, lighting the candle, the kiss, and walking out happened very close together.  And when you're the photographer you have to balance getting photos that tell the story with making sure you aren't being a distraction.  I basically shot it like this.  When they walked in I was at the end of the aisle looking back.  From there I moved to one side of the sanctuary and then the other using the back passage.  After that I had to walk quickly and quietly to the back of the church and up a flight of stairs to the windows.  Got a couple shots from there and hustled back down to catch the vows and kiss.  After that I scooted to the back of the church for the walk out.  Then I caught my breath, wiped the sweat off my brow, and breathed a sigh of relief that I got it all.

 Time for the requisite family photos.

 Love those sunglasses on Daniel's dad!

 The guests at this table were also in my photo class :)

 The kid table.  Half of them were on their phones...

 ... and the other half were blowing bubbles.

I wasn't booked long enough to shoot any of the dinner or dance, but I'm certain it was beautiful.  I was so excited about these pictures that I had them fully edited and ready for pickup in a week!  That's a record for me.  After weeding out blurry and missed shots I ended up with 453 photos total.  This includes the extra photos of each posed family picture (which I only use if somebody blinks--and there was one blinker in this group.)  I credit my speed in editing to several factors including batch editing, keeping a time card to hold myself accountable, and writing out a detailed workflow before any editing began.

When Aidee and Daniel came to see the reveal of their finished photos I had created a video of the best images put to music from their ceremony.  I'm always so hopeful that the clients love the photos as much as I do.  In this case I had the added pressure of having trained this particular client myself--I taught her to have a discerning eye when it comes to photographs--but they said they liked them. :)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Coker!  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your big day.

Mini Location Scouts

These guys helped me scout locations a while back for a wedding.  I made them pose a lot, and they were really good sports about it.  Here I even got an unexpected wink.

The bride, Aidee, had requested one photo where the groom picked her up, so just for fun we tested the pose... quite entertaining :)  They crashed to the ground right after.

I love the idea of visual contrast--not just light and dark tones, but also the subject and their environment.  I noticed a desert area near the reception venue (Spring Valley Lake) and I could just picture Aidee walking through it in her beautiful white dress, hand in hand with her new husband.  So, I convinced the boys we had to take just a couple more shots.

Alas, Aidee wasn't super keen on going in the desert with her dress on (and who could blame her.)

Up, up and away! :: Surrealism Part II

We had some fun with surrealism today.  This was Emerson's idea--I asked him what he wanted and he said to float away with a balloon.  I said "That sounds fun, but we don't have any balloons."  His response: "You can just make one on Instagram."  Say what?  You're FIVE.  When I asked him how he knew about Instagram he said I had shown him, and turns out he meant Photoshop, but still.  He helped me edit and insisted on removing the chair which I had deliberately shot to add some "realism" to the image.  So, the first one here is his pick, and the second one is my original idea.  I'm interested to hear feedback.  These are a composite of 4 images all shot from the same spot at the same focal length (do not read any further if reading this will ruin this photo for you.)

1. The balloons (borrowed, creative commons licensed for reuse.)

2. Emerson on tippy toes

3. The chair in the scene, tipped and held in place by Ansel

4. Just the scene minus any people, chairs or balloons.

Of course the best balloons that I could find that were appropriately licensed had to be all almost the exact color of the sky.  So, we set out to colorize them with Emerson picking out the colors.  He now knows the term "masking."

What's for dinner? :: Surrealism practice with Ansel

Surrealism is on the horizon for my advanced/AP photo class. I wanted to practice some shooting and editing techniques, so Ansel helped me out with a quick test today.  Disclaimer: The idea is 100% not mine--I saw something just like this on the internet today while browsing and brainstorming with a couple of my AP students.  I just wanted to see how easy it could be to combine images when they are shot from the same angle and in the same light.  I also wanted to do something Ansel would find silly.  We literally did this in about 5 minutes.  I composed and took the main shot of him at the table, held still while asking him to put the silverware out of the frame and pose for the "head on plate" shot, took that one, did a quick edit and that was it.  I masked out everything from his chin down in the second shot, and because everything else remained the same it looks pretty seamless.  I was showing him how I masked in Photoshop, and was doing so while very zoomed in.  When I zoomed back out to show him our final product he laughed out loud :)

Channeling Daniel

While at the beach this past weekend I saw a scene that instantly had me thinking of one of my student photographers--Daniel F.  It was just a pier with some people fishing off of it, but I felt inspired.  Daniel is a master street photographer.  It's not something I taught him; it's something he's just naturally good at.  He's bold.  He shoots whoever he wants and captures some really interesting people in the process.  Recently he's been working on these amazing photos of his mom cleaning a fish, so that may have contributed to my aha moment at the beach.  I am not a street photographer.  It makes me super self conscious to approach a complete stranger with my camera.  But I had to give it a shot; I wanted to step outside my comfort zone.  Ok, so I cheated and used my telephoto lens, which gave me a fair amount of distance between me and my subject, but he still caught me shooting him.  I'd say I'm happy with the results--the photo itself and trying something new.  I feel very fortunate to get to work with creative minds every day.  I'm certain I've said this a million times before, but I have the best job.

Film Noir-ish Shoot with Becca and Brittany

This past summer I had an idea to try a "film noir-ish" kind of shoot with my little sister, Becca.  I was thinking low key, vintage styling, black and white, lots of shadows, maybe even a little Dick Tracy themed.  Check here for some of George Hurrell's photography.  His style is pretty close to what I was envisioning.  We still had a bunch of props that our mom had rounded up for the Roaring 20s shoot I had done the previous summer of the staff at Digger's Sting Restaurant in La Crosse, so that helped.  This summer Becca was in a boot after having surgery on her foot and was hobbling along on crutches and an amusing (sorry) knee scooter.  We shot in her living room to accommodate her lack of mobility,  Her friend Brittany also joined in.  These are all lit with window light plus a cheap clamp light which I craftily clipped to some soft of fishing spear her roommate had laying around.  It's Wisconsin; fishing is a big deal.  I'm not sure that these really have a well developed theme, but it was fun and here are my favorites.  Your critiques are much appreciated.

 Oh, that hidden eye!  Should have had more or less shadow.

Somehow Becca had exactly the prop I needed for these photos--mini blinds that were already detached from the window.  The clamp light is off to the left.  My brother and my husband held the blinds and the light.  Couldn't decide on a favorite here.  Your thoughts?  1, 2 or 3?

 Here's a behind the scenes picture, courtesy of Becca.

 Something a bit brighter.

Afterward they wanted just some of them together.

Same pic, but in color.  Not usually my favorite, but I liked that it showed the red lipstick more.  Plus, I love how this wall looks green.  It's not.  It's white.  Made for a nice backdrop.

Verduzco Wedding

Back in December I shot a wedding.  Here are a few of my favorite photos.  It was a smallish wedding in a tiny church in the evening in December.  So, a technical challenge for sure.  Also, there were no outer aisles in the church.  So, I had to have a pretty solid game plan so as not to be a distraction while still getting all of the shots.  I got there early and left reserved signs in two pews somewhat near the front (which I had cleared with both the couple and the priest at the rehearsal.) I highly advise going to a rehearsal.  You meet all your key players, get to scope out the location usually at the time of day you'll be shooting, and it just generally makes you feel more prepared the day of the wedding.  After reserving my seats I met up with the wedding party--first the guys and then the ladies.  

After getting my initial photos I headed in to take my seat.  When the bride came down the aisle I was able to duck down and peek out of my row, or maybe I even took a knee in the aisle,  to capture her entrance.  Everybody was watching her, so nobody was watching me.  Unless there were other photographers there, because I know that as a photographer I always notice the photographer at a wedding.  I watch their moves, sneak peeks at their gear, and generally try to learn something.  The ceremony at this wedding was really beautiful, and the priest was super funny and inviting.  I shot about half from one side of the aisle and then sneakily moved to the other when the kids did their reading on that side.

 After the ceremony we did posed family photos and then some of just the bride and groom.

After the nightmare that was editing the last wedding I did (there were countless times I actually fell asleep while working on my computer) I decided I needed to be more meticulous this time around.  To begin I kept a time card so I'd know how much time I spent.  It kept me accountable to myself--I have a family and time with them is very valuable, so I have to edit smart.  I try not to go off on editing tangents.  I always begin by backing up the photos in multiple locations.  Then I wrote out a workflow.  I used Adobe Bridge to organize and then rate the photos, deleting outtakes as I went.  I created actions for each lighting situation.  Then I edited a color, black and white, and a watermarked jpeg for each shot.

Here's a rare selfie-- me the day of the wedding.  Do I look the part of the wedding photographer?  Bangs out of the way? Check.  Got my quiet shoes on? Check.  Dressed professional? Check.

 One of my favorite parts... delivering the final product!  I really have fun with the packaging and presentation, making my own envelopes and thank you cards with scrapbook paper.  I put so much into it that I always end up shooting pictures of it.