Why I Like This Picture – Michelle and Mike

Sunday, March 10, 2013 Posted in Columbus Ohio Photographer,Weddings,Why I Like This Picture

Image 3 from my website is from Michelle and Mike’s wedding at Immaculate Conception/Columbus Athenaeum.  I like this picture because of the lines leading to Michelle; the graphic nature of the balusters, along with the lines of the stairs, all softened by the flow of Michelle’s dress and her fluffy flowers – it’s a recipe for deliciousness.  This picture takes up a whole two-page spread in a sample album I show clients from their wedding and it always gets lots of compliments.

During their wedding, we had enough downtime to hang out at their house and have a nice, relaxed portrait session.  The three of us headed upstairs to their bedroom, and as soon as I reached the top of the stairs I knew I had to somehow incorporate them into a picture.  I didn’t end up doing anything posed with it, though; I simply stayed upstairs while Michelle made her way downstairs after our portraits and waited until she was in the perfect position.

Why I Like This Picture – Sara and Steph

Saturday, March 9, 2013 Posted in commitment ceremony,Weddings,Why I Like This Picture

Continuing in the Why I Like This Picture series, I’ll be going through the images on my website, commenting on what I like about each image along with some details of how the image came about.

And, why I like this picture is easy:  true emotion evolving in a real moment is impossible not to like.  You can’t fake this kind of stuff and you can’t tell someone to emote like this on cue.  This is where the wait for it, wait for it, waaaaaait for it comes in to play.

This image was from Sara and Steph’s wedding a couple years back.  The morning had a beautiful start – gorgeous sunshine falling down through the trees of Glen Echo Park in Clintonville.  And then, about five minutes before ceremony start time, the clouds opened up and it proceeded to rain for the duration.  Rain and rain and more rain.  I’m glad my cameras are built like tanks.  Waterproof tanks.  So, at the point in the ceremony where rings were to be exchanged, I spotted this image – Steph wiping a raindrop from Sara’s face.  It’s a beautiful, touching moment and the tenderness between them is palpable.

Why I Like This Picture (plus it won an award!)

Friday, March 8, 2013 Posted in Weddings,Why I Like This Picture

I wanted to start up my series of Why I Like This Picture posts again.  I always liked doing that, but got too busy and it stopped.  Now, though, I have a theme with the series and that is to go through each of the images on my website and talk a bit about why I like the picture and what went into making it so you have an idea of my thought processes when it comes to not only shooting but selecting images for clients and for display.

So, today’s installment of Why I Like This Picture is brought to you by Jeni and Robbie’s wedding.  I not only like this image, I love it.  And for a number of reasons.  First, it’s kinda hilarious.  It’s not often that your garments are ironed after you’re wearing them, and that’s funny.  I love funny.  The ironer is a close friend of the bride and an accomplished seamstress who handcrafted all the bridesmaids’ dresses and was just an all-around tailor, etc., at Jeni’s wedding.  I made multiple images of this scene, from different angles, high/low, left/right, trying to get everything aligned just the way my obsessive compulsive brain likes things, and to also have just the perfect expression, etc.  That’s the thing about making pictures – it’s not just see, react, snap.  In fact, that’s rarely it.  It’s usually more like, oooh, I think something good is going to happen here, I’m going to figure out the best place to be and wait for it, wait for it, waaaaaait for it, then workitlikemad, snapsnapsnap from this side and that side, until all the elements are perfect.

Oh, and this image also won an award on Fearless Photographers.  For those who don’t know, Fearless Photographers is an amazing group of photographers who have no fear when it comes to making images.  Not ones to be beholden to cliches, but those who strive to create something unique for their clients.  I’m proud to be a member and even more proud to have had this image win one of their prestigious awards.  I say prestigious because each round has literally thousands of images submitted for consideration.  And, in the round this image won (and one other I won), only 171 were chosen for awards.  So, to have two images win out of 171 awards given from the 8000 images submitted this time is, well, pretty stinkin prestigious, even if I do say so myself.

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