Saturday, August 27, 2011

Beaumont-Caldeira Wedding

Who says 13 and 1/2 hours of work in a day can't be fun? Kerry and Tony's wedding in late June was an absolute blast to photograph. Bride, groom, wedding party, and all the relatives were all so great to work with on what turned out to be a wonderful wedding day for the newly married couple.

Things certainly got interesting at times with limousines pouring out smoke, a ceremony snuck into the sunshine between downpours, and small children napping in the middle of the dance floor.

The Day kicked off hanging out with the girls. Makeup, hair, excited/nervous chatter, all that good stuff.



I bounced from the main room to their alternate readying room to capture some dress and finer details before the women were really ready to get photographed.



A few points during the day I could see nerves kicking in. Good nerves, wanting a perfect day kind of nerves. Just another set of emotions in the cornucopia of feelings being experienced by the group.



So, the girls' limo may or may not have been spouting smoke for the majority of the ride, after our driver missed becoming part of a multi-car accident. Regardless, we got the shots we wanted in the shortened amount of time we had before the ceremony began.



It was certainly a different challenge photographing a ceremony from across a pond. I wasn't aware the couple would be on a bridge, which I would not be able to shoot from at the same time. Long focal lengths saved the day.



It was so obvious how happy Kerry and Tony were once the pressure was lifted and the ceremony had gone off without a hitch. Relaxed and ecstatic, they started to look forward to the party ahead.



As you can see the light and weather cooperated for the ceremony and after-shots.



Such a great group of bridesmaids. Accommodating, cooperative, and encouraging when they saw I was wearing down a bit at the end of the day. (That camera gets heavy after 10+ hours). I'm looking forward to seeing many of them again in September at my next wedding coverage.



Kerry and Tony, cheers to your new marriage, I hope you're always as happy as I saw you were on that day.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Boston Models

I had the very fortunate experience today to find myself in the Boston public gardens surrounded by nice people who all share a passion that I do. It was the first meet-up with a new portrait photo-group I have joined, and it was a great first experience.

Twenty five photographers attended, joined by 5 or so models, and a makeup artist. We had the run of a decent chunk of the public gardens before the number of people became interesting to work with.

As the models finished with makeup photographers branched off in small groups and moved into different locations. We had a rotation to split time shooting and holding reflectors for others. There was only slight jostling for position, and most of it was simply inadvertent shot-crossing trying to get a new angle. People were very nice, and models were receptive to ideas photogs would suggest now and then.

I would certainly say I was young for the photographer contingent, if not the youngest. I was much closer in average age to the models. I hope I am still shooting when I'm the age of some of the group's members. I know I can only improve, and if or when I mirror the experience of some (45 years), I look forward to seeing how I've developed by then.

I took far too many shots to share, so here at my favorite dozen or so:


























Some of these will probably find their way into my portrait portfolio in this ongoing overhaul. I'm always open to suggestions on what you think is best. :)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Portfolio Overhaul

Time to clean the cobwebs out of the portfolio. My tastes change with new and adapted styles and techniques both shooting and processing. It seems silly to have a static group of images represent my best or favorite works, if the criteria I used to judge them is always changing.

(New Home Page)


Therefore, in the spirit of that, I'm updating the "expressionist" portion of my site first.

These photos used to represent my continuing...journey... in finding out the different things my camera and software were capable of. I would show the "best" of my attempts at striking color, composition, or subjects slightly out of my own ordinary.

My newest additions take this portfolio section in a new direction. The direction I chose for my latest "expressionist" photos, tell a story, make a statement, or (hopefully) invoke some feeling.

Several of these photos are personally important to me and, I feel, have the rare ability to convey the emotions felt by the photographer to the viewer.

You'll notice all of them but one are in B&W. I subscribe to the oft stated opinion that sometimes color can be distracting, and I'd rather have people concentrate on substance, rather than style for much of this section.

Feel free to view them on the site, or check them out below:

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Monday, August 1, 2011

Stuff I forgot about

Every now and then I just take photos that I forget all about. Some of them I revisit and really take a liking to. I wonder what was going through my mind when I just uploaded them and did nothing. Most of these aren't even flagged as picks to be backed up or anything.
A new selection my entries for this blog will occasionally be posting the photos that I've forgotten.

Like this one:

"Chicago Oz"


I'm feeling back in the game. Hopefully I'll be posting on the regular from now on.