The Gasser-Miller Wedding

Williams Wedding Guest Photog pictures

I was honored to attend the Williams-Felix wedding as a guest. Here are some images that I captured and I am happy to share.

Anything you can do, I can do better!

First off, let me start by saying congratulations to my fraternity brother, Austin as he starts his new life with his new wife Anna. We had a great time at their wedding in the Dominican Republic. It was a great being around my chapter brothers and their spouses/girlfriends and it was exactly the reinvigorator that my wife and I needed. We were able to leave the little one home for 5 days and have some adult fun (you know I'm a big proponent of 'adult fun').

This is the second wedding that I have been invited to that I was not the photographer. I have already come to terms with the decision as to whether to bring my equipment to a wedding that I'm not working. This weekend I found myself wrestling with another conundrum though.

Photographers see the world in a different light that most people. We see the world in frames and pictures and what may seem to be boring tends to yield interesting pictures in the eyes of a photographer. That's even more true when the environment is beautiful and the layman can see how they can create a great picture. In those situations, a good photographer can create a phenomenal, one of a kind image. So here I was, at a wedding, with a gorgeous background, and with all the necessary equipment to create an iconic photograph. But that wasn't my job at the time! My job was to be a guest! So there I sat twitching, wanting to get in and pose the couple the way that I thought would result in the best shot. I just KNEW that I could take a better picture than the guy that was assigned to work that day. I bit my tongue and let the guy work because that the respect that I would like when I'M working but it was torture!

The next day, we were able to see the pictures, edited and stylized (I WISH that I could have that fast of a turnaround time!!) and they were gorgeous!! The photographer did a great job and I felt stupid for doubting his ability. After all, he works for the resort and this is what he does every day! Oh course, he know the right angles and what composition to use for that scene. That's HIS gig!

I made me wonder if other artists had the same issue. Did musicians go to concerts and feel like the band would suck after hearing their warm up session or their sound check? Do chefs go to other people's restaurants and criticize the potential of the meal from just the list of ingredients? Are directors hypercritical of other directors when they learn of the cast of characters and feel like they could do it better than they could before open night? I don't know the answer but I DO believe that photogs struggle with this all the time. The funny thing is that I don't feel that way when I'm shooting an event with dozens of photogs around taking the same shot. Maybe weddings just make EVERYONE crazy!

Just another thing to keep in focus...see you in the next frame.

Going Down in DR

This was taken on the beach on Fathers Day in the Dominican Republic. The sun was setting and there was a fire in the trees down the beach. The blues and the yellows provided the contrast for a great picture. Shot with the the 5D and the 70-200.

Film vs. Digital

I shoot a lot of pictures every month. There are client shoots, events at work, family events, and of course, shooting for just the fun of it. It is not uncommon for me to shoot one image again and again, changing the setting just to see what kind of results I'll get. I'm self taught so it's how I learned my machine and got familiar with the options that I had. I shoot digital and have since consumer level digitals became available. I, however, never owned a film SLR. All of my film cameras were point and shoot so I didn't need to play with the setting much.

I say all of that to say that I can't imagine doing what I do with film! I look at the greats and I am flabbergasted that they achieved the amazing prints that they did just using math and post production. It makes the images even more astounding. I remember shooting a roll of film and rushing it to the photomat so I could get the prints back in a week. When the time period started to get shorter (eventually we could get prints in an hour), the anticipation was even greater it seemed. I can't imagine what it must be like as a photographer shooting a wedding or an amazing scene and not knowing whether you got the shot that you WANTED. Nerve racking!

I try to emulate those photographers by doing the math as if I were using film. I still shoot a lot of frames but I know what should pop up on my viewfinder now as opposed to wondering what would happen if I change x setting or moved y amount of feet away. It has given me much more rewarding shoots and has given me more of a connection with my brothers and sisters using film.

Miami Sunset

This was taken off the side of cruise ship at twilight. My fisheye, old faithful, was the perfect lens to capture the majesty of this scene. Later I completely changed the colors on this image but this is the original. Hope you enjoy.

Staying in focus...on to the next frame.

At the Bambu exibit. More to come later

Hope you like!