The same BUT different!

No two people are alike.

We have all heard that statement. It also applies to snowflakes and fingerprints. However, it also applies to weddings! This wedding season (yes, there is a wedding season!) I have had the pleasure of shooting some truly different types of weddings and it's been quite interesting. I have already written about the Brown Wedding and how that came together. Each event brings a new and fascinating aspect to experience and varied point of view. As the photographer, my goal is to be omnipresence and to be unobtrusive as possible. As you can image, those two beliefs don't always mesh with each other. I am always proud when I see pictures from the guests of the wedding and I am in NONE of them! I know I was there and I took a picture of the same thing that the guest did but I managed to not be PART of the proceedings. It involves a certain amount of stealth.

That said, it is almost impossible to not be involved in what's happening. The words of the officiant will move you whether you are single or married. If you are of that faith, you find yourself mouthing the words of the ceremony, right along with the cleric! The joy of the couple is infectious and you would have to be a stone wall to not smile when the bride comes marching down that aisle. On top of all of that, sometimes you get to capture images of the most spectacular and beautiful settings. The last wedding was a good example of this. The couple got married in one of the most simple yet ornate church's that I have been to. R and J were married in an Anglican church in Brooklyn NY and you could imagine stepping out from the doors onto the English countryside. It was gorgeous and the couple took full advantage of the beauty of the space. So did I.

If you have ever attended an Anglican or Catholic wedding, you know that there is a mass included. Translation: the ceremony is long! I guess that's the trade off: Protestant and evangelical churches have long services on Sundays but short weddings and Eucharistic churches have short services on Sundays and very long weddings! But the length of the wedding allowed me to fully shoot the church, the wedding party, the guests, and all the little details that I would have had to rush with a shorter event. R and J were a regal couple and emanated a love that with carry them forward and that, coupled with a great setting, made for excellent images (or at least, I think so).

My hope is to one day be the photographer for an Indian or a Greek  Orthodox weddings! Those are spectacular visually!

I wish them well and pray that their relationship will always be housed in beauty in the same fashion that their wedding was housed in a beautiful house of God.

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

Greene Light Photography would like to thank the Pearsons for permission to images and descriptions from their wedding for this blog.

Discarded Beauty.

One of the goals of photographers is to capture an amazing image that will stand the test of time. We hope to create a picture that will stand out and draw acclaim for both us and the subject. Another goal is to earn money for your efforts. Often, these two goals require a different 'eye' from the photographer. It is a very hard line to straddle especially for a photographer like myself.

I pride myself in not being a studio photographer. There is nothing wrong with being a studio photographer. Some of the most renowned pieces of photography are the result of studio sessions and for some people, that is the exact environment that works for them. But not me. I love shooting in the elements whether that be a park or in someone's living room. I think that pictures speak more when the background adds to the conversation. They are more artistic that way. I always tell people that if they want they normal white background kind of shot, I'm not the right photographer for them. And there is nothing wrong with that.

So, with that in mind, I assume that people that hire me are looking for that treatment and for more of an artistic, quirky type of picture. Which brings me to the confluence of the two goals. Sometimes, after a shoot, I see a picture that is truly artistic and beautiful that I am SURE that the client will choose. I send them the proofs and get their selections back, only to realize that they have NOT chosen the picture that I thought was amazing! What!?!?! In my mind, I am screaming, "ummmmm ya missed one" but this is their choice. They are paying the bill so they get to decide.

So what do I do with this great image? Put it on my website (with permission, of course) or just put in the archives? If I put it on the site, am I risking not attracting clients? After all, it WAS a rejected image. I then have to decide whether the images on my site are there as stylistic representations of me or advertisements to draw in more clients. I haven't come to a decision on that yet, by the way, and I am leaning towards it being both. If I store the image, I feel like I'm burying my talent.

There is one other option I guess: tell the client that you think that they should choose this image instead. That's a tough call. Clients already have a hard time narrowing down their selections. I recently did a shoot and took 460 frames (that's another story altogether) and I will probably edit and deliver around 100 images. From that pile, the client will choose about TEN!!! Can you imagine after you painstakingly agonize over which 90 to discard that the photographer comes back and says you should reconsider your choices? My head would explode! LOL Clearly, there is no easy answer to this quandary. So I'll keep shooting and hope that my clients and I see eye to eye.

And you thought we just pick up our cameras and start taking pictures! On to the next frame...staying in focus.