Fellow Shutterbug Favorites
With a few good months under me with this whole blog, I've come to my own assumption that I don’t really think anyone is listening. This is perfectly okay. I’d like to think that no one is reading so that I may be able to just write for myself and still share my knowledge, experience and photographs with the world.
I can also add some sharing of my own journalism. In college, I was able to take time and write and it would be nice to revisit that necessary chore. So to change things up and add more of a personal touch to taking photographs, these are a few I’d like to share with you this week.
On a Saturday morning when I’m not shooting a wedding or engagement I enjoy walks on the beach. Cliché right? Instead of going in that cold Monterey Bay water, I like to take the best photographs I can at that given time. If I’m traveling with my friends more over than not we’ll arrive a few hours after estimated time so anticipating unexpected events is part of the photography equation of the day. With a fast cold front approaching the overcast give some mercy with the harsh sun hidden for just enough time for me to take this quick snap (1/2500 for those guessing my EXIF data).
I love sunsets so it’s always great to have a camera in my hand and take a fantastic photograph of each moment’s pleasure. On this particular day, I took my family to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and I was already shutter-tired at taking photographs with crowds of people. The sunset provides a great backdrop to just expose of the sky and let everything else just beautifully fade away. In addition to taking a landscape photo with a portrait orientation, the other fun part to this photo was anticipating on seeing the shades of blue at the back of my camera. It was great to feel that I nailed a shot.
The Monterey Bay provides various measures of landscape and basic street photography. It’s easy to take a willing body and go for a walk through your neighboring town. The photograph of Kayla was taken in the city of Monterey off of Lighthouse Ave. The color of the wall is pleasingly bright so I asked my little girl to strike a pose and she did! You can find some great shutterbug spots if you know what to look for. I’m a big fan of looking for leading lines in framing my composition. It’s an easy tool to help viewers appreciate a good photograph.
As you come through life you come across good friends so it’s important to include them in your life’s photo album. I hired Nick from the east coast and we have been chums since day 1. This portrait shows the sincere joy and positive energy he has for life and seeking the truth. I liked him even more when we came to share our favorite author is Jack Kerouac. In time, we also had the opportunity to create together in writing a book, Something to Start. Nick now has his own show and is on live Friday nights. You can catch him here.
This last photo is a culmination of how a photograph may be interpreted. The photo includes magnificent photographs of the evolution of Earth with specific time in a series of events. In addition, the connectivity to a small family plus the vertical leading lines helps with the composition of this picture.
Julio + Rebecca, In the Heart of Home - Salinas, CA
R&R Photography receives customer referrals often. Even with the couples we meet at bridal shows, Google searches, and other marketing efforts, past brides have been our biggest fans. They rave about us to family and friends and it makes me feel that much more important as a professional photographer. The fun part is I get to see it for myself mostly through popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. It’s great how within the last few years hashtags have been so popular. Simply think of a unique title and put a hashtag in front of it and there you have it! It’s like your own online digital wedding album and the best part that it’s free. I often go back to those hashtags and post a couple of post-edited photos to share with family and friends. Well, this wedding was no different in the sense that I met Rebecca and Julio from a past bride and groom. I take great pride when this happens because it lets me know that I’m doing a great job and providing a service that only last for once in a lifetime.
Normally when I meet with clients looking to hire me as an engagement and wedding photographer I bring a couple of sample wedding albums and really just actively listen to how they envision their wedding day. I know I can talk a lot, so that’s why I make sure I shut up and just listen. After a couple cups of coffee with Rebecca and finally meeting Julio, I got to answer all their concerns and finally we were excited to make the match. I was eager to shoot their wedding because it was in my hometown Salinas. I grew up here and have fond memories as a child so it’s not hard for me to find so much beauty in the largest city in Monterey County. To create beautiful and memorable photographs is so important and yet one can have an artistic approach to it with wedding photography.
With the wedding day starting with overcast, it provided good light for those wedding detail shots. Rebecca and her girls were getting ready nearby and with a little trust, I was able to take a few worthy items and begin taking some commercial-like macro shots of her jewelry. Her shoes looked great and from doing enough weddings I know when I see a pair that stands out. With a traditional church wedding mass, Rebecca and Julio scooted to Sacred Heart in Salinas with rituals of prayer and marriage. After mass and a few traditional wedding photographs, we then headed to a Salinas landmark. Don’t let the newly repaired and painted large yellow hats distract you, but Sherwood has some great willow trees and is a go-to locale when shooting in Salinas. Congratulations again to Julio and Rebecca who have given me great praise and encouragement after seeing their wedding photographs. It’s truly and honor and blessing to be a part of their wedding day and to create these moments of their life with photographs.
If you are interested in my style of wedding photography, please don’t hesitate in emailing me at [email protected] or call at 831-540-5087. Texts work for me too! =)
My Time at WPPI
I don’t even know how to start this week’s blog as there were so many things happening since I last wrote. It’s the busy of being good and successful, right? In this past month alone, I have met with a dozen brides and grooms and family members interested in having R&R Photography as their engagement and wedding photographers. As a result every Saturday in June is booked! Also many of my recent bookings have been from customer referrals, so that makes me even more jazzed. There have been many blessings since the New Year. I have come to learn many lessons in photography and photography business. As an aspiring artist, it’s important to find the lessons of refinement. There’s always room to improve and attending the premier conference and expo for Wedding and Portrait photographers (WPPI) was a good leap forward. I wanted to see the best of the best from around the world and in the United States and they were going to be in Las Vegas!
The great thing about meeting the most elite wedding photographers is a simple approach and giving them a good firm handshake. I got to meet my favorite photographers like Scott Robert Lim, Lindsay Adler, Yervant and Cliff Mautner, who received the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. Another great thing that happened was looking at all the beautiful wedding albums they had on display from a wide array of printing companies. I definitely could see my wedding photography in those albums and can’t wait to incorporate them in my wedding packages. With the past wedding off-season, I took more interest in curating my wedding photographs as creating wedding albums are also a favorite of mine. Geeky enough, I enjoy organizing the photos chronologically and telling a wedding story through an artist’s eyes. As I review photographs from the great one I mentioned, I also notice how they tell their love story through photographs. It’s great to see other people from across the world doing the same thing I do and better! With every wedding being different, my experience has told me to understand more of the approach and philosophy to wedding photographs and less about the technical details. At this point in my profession, I know it’s more about how you take a great photograph and much less about the brand on your neck strap.
So much is said when you’re your own worst critic. You always think of how much more it can be better. In light of that, knowing that there is so much recognition from past brides and grooms and their family and friends who have enjoyed your photography, the passion of being better is a great feeling to have. And that’s great as I should continue to refine my style of wedding photography and look forward to capture these unforgettable moments in a lifetime. Going to this year’s WPPI in Las Vegas was a great affirmation to when doing what you love you’ll never feel like you’re working a day in your life.
Practice Makes Progress Still
Five years ago, I fortunately met a great educator who incoherently taught me a great lesson. Since then I have continued this life lesson and when reflecting upon my journey into photography I have realized that it was built on a strong foundation. We have been good acquaintance and kept in touch through Facebook likes and comments. I say incoherently because I’ve heard his “mantra” at least three times a week and everyday if I’m so lucky. So why did it just suddenly kick in? I was in a rut and wanted to extend my bounds in photography. As artists, we are our own worst critic when it comes to our own craft. And you can only get so much online information that it spills over and out of your ears. So then what? You practice. And with the great words comes, “Practice makes progress.” Genius right? You mean if I continue practicing I’m progressing? Sure absolutely. So what does every brilliant artist that we’ve learned in elementary school do? Practice. I continue to practice and practice, plus I’ve added an older love to the component. I practice on 35mm and medium format film.
With film, it would be illogical to just snap away multiple rolls of the same photos then get them developed and pick out the best ones and edit later in front of a computer. Instead, you can take your time and really pick and choose about what is “picture worthy”. It all comes together since I was a young kid. I loved watching movies and started to see things cinematically. Then picking up my parent’s SLR was fun because I get to imagine and take photos and then anxiously waiting for the prints. Fast forward about 25 years and now I’m progressing to defining my photography more technically. To be inspired by other photographers, artists, independent-lesser known movies, realism, current events and sports practicing with film helps with that.
When I practice I think of three basic things; nailing the exposure, defining the composition and taking a risk. So you can see with the photos how fun it would to just have a camera in your hand and more manually than an iPhone, snap away. It’s fun to have two beautiful girls to take photos of and be my muse. As you can see I can take my SLR anywhere and take great photographs of life travels, family vacations and just hanging around. So back to the lesson at hand, practice does make progress. You should be encouraged to practice whatever you do more and more. Progress can go a long way with no boundaries of the end destination. Reflecting through my personal photography has immensely helped with my professional photography. Often enough when I speak to veteran professional photographers and show them my work, I’m complimented by them repeatedly on my ethics of practicing. Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Chriss. Cheers to you.
Mike and Colette - Wedgewood - Carmel Valley
Within the past couple years, pinboard-style photo-sharing website, Pinterest has been a gift in many ways. Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love. Millions of people use Pinterest in their lives and work. Ultimately, in my profession, as made a powerful impact in the modern wedding industry. It has educated and refined brides and grooms so now they have examples of how they envision their engagement and wedding day. Often enough, brides will share their boards and favorite detailed shot which is great for me as a professional wedding photographer. Not only can I now listen to how my clients envision their wedding but also see some examples through Pinterest. As a caveat, I don’t even attempt to mimic an exact replica of the photo but use them as inspiration to how I approach wedding photography. The result is a nice dovetail of Pinterest inspired engagement and wedding photographs and still originally created by R&R Photography.
I instantly enjoyed meeting Colette a year ago when she was deciding on her engagement and wedding photographer. One of the first things she said after I asked for the wedding date was, “I hope it doesn’t rain.” Immediately I knew that she has done her “wedding photography homework” and was eager on choosing the best professional photographer for Mike and her. We met at a local coffee shop and showed her a couple of sample wedding albums and answered all her questions and concerns. I think it was a couple weeks later and I was booked. From then on and past her wedding day, I continue to communicate with her at every facet of my wedding photography business. I often get those thank you emails from past clients for just my promptness to responding to emails.
The day of Mike and Colette’s wedding started with beautiful weather. It didn’t rain at all with a month in advance. My team and I arrived late morning and were eager to get started. Preceremonial photos are by far my favorite part of the day but there isn’t any other part of the day that I enjoy less of. I definitely have more opportunities to get creative with precermony photos as the bride and her bridesmaids are happy to start the day with taking photos. They can watch me take creative and beautiful photos of the wedding dress, the bride’s shoes and wedding rings. I often show them these photographs immediately to get their feedback. Colette and her girlfriends loved them! After that, I knew my A game was on and my confidence was ready for the day’s events.
Colette and Mike’s first look was just as magical. I won’t give you all the details, but there was love, laughter and tears… from more than just one person. Another indication that today’s wedding is going to be special. We whisked off from the hotel to Wedgewood in Carmel. It’s great to shoot there often during the wedding season as the staff there is excellent with customer service. Again not a cloud in the sky and Colette and Mike had a beautiful wedding at the gazebo with their banquet room overlooking a gorgeous California landscape. The day was filled with many more photo opportunities from the actual wedding kiss to family formal portraits to candids during the wedding reception. Our thanks and appreciation goes out to Mike and Colette for having R&R Photography as your engagement and wedding photographers. We wish all the best and congratulations again.
