Abby and Michael Richardson | Wedding | Krutch Park | Knoxville’s Market Square
It was quite hot during this one. 90+ degrees, muggy, and threats of thunderstorms. Not the best for an outdoor wedding. BUT! A brief storm DID come, but right before we were to start doing photos, and it ended almost as quickly as it started. So that cooled things off a bit and the sun stayed out the rest of the afternoon/evening.
It was a very nice ceremony held at Krutch Park in Knoxville’s Market Square.
From 2:30 until around 10, I shot continuously. Ended up with nearly 1000 images. Here is but a small sampling of the images from the wedding ceremony and the reception.
I could publish a posing guide from this shoot
Only one other time have I photographed a model that was so fast and comfortable and easy at posing as Shae. At first, I was concerned that our one hour and a half or so shooting window would limit how many images we could get. By the end, I had shot nearly 700 images! One pose right into the next. I found myself giving her actual direction very very rarely. Usually she was one step ahead of me.
Not only were we able to get 700 images, but she was able to get in more than a half dozen outfit changes. The bad thing is, I now have to sift through 700 images. The good news is, they’re all so good and should require so little editing that it won’t be difficult to get some quality photographs at the end of the day.
Heather and Chris – September 5, 2009
I mention on the weddings page of my website that, while I have done the big, fancy (AKA “expensive”) weddings, I generally prefer to shoot the smaller, less traditional type. This past Saturday was certainly an example of that. Heather and Chris had a nice little wedding at their home just north of Knoxville with a small gathering of guests and no attendants. Everything was very casual. The reception was held in the Gilligan’s Island-themed garage decorated with Star Wars memorabilia – including a life-sized Yoda guarding the cake.
The most important part is, aside from the casual nature of the event (or perhaps because of it), I got some really nice pictures of the couple. Here are a few samples.
Great shoot today
I had a great shoot today with a model from modelmayhem.com. Below are some samples of those images. We shot in my home studio and then took a trip out to Mead’s Quarry in South Knoxville to do some more shots out there.
All in all, I think I made nearly 500 images. Now the fun begins – how do I filter through all those to come up with a handful of great images? That’s the problem, I guess, when a shoot goes really well – you shoot and shoot and shoot. Then there’s hell to pay when it’s time to edit. (Not that I mind looking through all these images of a rather amazing looking model.)
Some of these will be up on my website soon. Next shoot? Looks like it’s going to be deep under ground! Fun stuff.
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- Laura D
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- Laura D
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- Laura D
Shooters Everywhere!
What a great weekend. Perfect Spring weather – in the middle of July! Awesome.
Saturday I rode my bike down to Market Square for the Knoxville Farmers Market. Picked up a few small produce items (including some “Tennessee Redneck” garlic – strong stuff. I like the strong stuff).
Anyhoo, it seemed that the nice weather brought out a lot of photographers and snap-shooters. About every other person I saw on the Square had a camera in his or her hand. They were photographing crowds, buildings, kids playing in the fountains … name it. I usually try to keep a camera with me at all times, but I’ve somehow misplaced my little Nikon Coolpix pocket camera. I hate that. It’s usually in my bike “trunk” to keep with me always. I guess I need to get on the ball looking for that thing. Never want to miss an opportunity for that perfect shot.
Slow Down!
Subtitled: Somewhere between 16 and 2/3 and 33 and 1/3
Names omitted and details changed to protect the (currently) innocent.
An acquaintance of mine was telling a story the other night that had a nice little nit of insight. It was many years ago and he and some of his friends were sitting around listening to records – yes, vinyl records. Charlie “Bird” Parker albums, as a matter of fact. As they started a record and began to listen to the first tune, they were blown away by the smooth, slow, melodious sound coming from the turntable. Not your typical Bird be-bop brandish. A few minutes into it, it was discovered (an “herbally induced” discovery, but a discovery nonetheless – this WAS the 70s) that the record player had been set to 16 and 2/3 instead of 33 and 1/3 – half speed. When the setting was made right, it was the old familiar controlled chaos of be-bop that they loved so much.
One of the first lessons in photography that I ever read in some book whose name I forget now was: “Slow Down.” Take your time to look at your subject. See what it is about it that you find photogenic. Too often we see something that looks worthy of a photo, shoot it, then look at it and wonder what we found so interesting about it. In the days of digital, that’s not a huge deal. But I started with film. The only way to know you got the shot was to wait until you got your processing back. This made it ever so important to make sure you would take your time, find what it is about the subject you like, and then take the picture.
I still carry that philosophy today, even though I shoot digital and have instant feedback. Do I “chimp” after I take a few shots? Oh sure. But before I shoot, I’ve already gone through the motions in my head about what the shot should end up looking like. I’ve set the turntable on 16-2/3 to see what’s there. What is really going on beneath the be-bop that’s worthy of capture? Can a ramshackle, makeshift dwelling under a downtown Knoxville viaduct be a study in afternoon light and the subject of a “fine art” folio? That’s what I hope to find out.
Photo clichés
I was going to write a blog about photo cliches, but in doing some research to find some good examples, I found a million blogs about photo clichés. How cliché!
So, suffice it to say, I avoid them. Sure, in my early days, I’ve done the model with a gun; the model on the train tracks; the model in a cheerleader outfit; the sunset silhouette, the bumble bee on the flower, etc. I think it’s necessary early on in any artist’s career to emulate what others have done.
In addition to photography, I am a musician. When I took jazz piano many years ago, it was a common exercise to study those who had come before and learn their solos, note for note. Not just play them, but transcribe them. It’s a great exercise to get an idea of just how it’s done – what’s the thought process going on by the player and how do different scales work within different chords ands chord progressions.
However, when it’s time to get out on stage to play for real, it’s generally not the best idea to play that Coltraine solo note for note, like someone just aping what’s been done. You have to develop your own style. Sure, elements of what you’ve learned to copy will be a part of your style, but it’s the mark of competence and skill to effectively hide the source.
Perhaps the best way to do that is to study several different styles and incorporate what you like about each of those into your own – turn them upside down, sideways, backwards and inside out until it’s unique to you. In Steven Spielberg’s earlier films, you can see elements of Hitchcock, Ford, Capra, and many, many others. Now his own style influences up and coming filmmakers who wish to emulate him.
There. I’ve done it. The cliché blog about clichés.
Classic Hollywood in Still
Last night, I made a visit to the Knoxville Museum of Art to A. Check out the Alive After Five for the first time in a long time (Jenna and the Joneses … Good show) and B. to see their new exhibit, “Made in Hollywood: Images from the Jon Kobal Foundation.” Still photographs from Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s are displayed. Some are classic portraits where the stars would go to the studio and sit for a session and others are on-the-set images taken while the movies were being filmed. Silent film stars Gloria Swanson, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin, on up to The Marx Brothers, James Cagney, Audrey Hepburn, Rock Hudson, and on and on.
Several different photographers are featured, and the point of the show is not so much, “Check out the Hollywood stars!” but more, “Here is some amazing work by some of the best photographers in their day, many of whom were responsible for launching and/or saving the careers of many of their subjects.”
It’s interesting how the quality on some of these is sort of … lacking. A handful were simply blurry/out of focus, which is particularly odd for them being still images of a still subject. But those were in the 20s when photos didn’t necessarily have to be good, they just had to be photos.
There were more than a few, however, that were just stunning. In some ways, I don’t think some of these techniques can be duplicted today. Or, if they could, likely wouldn’t because many photographers just won’t take the time to make the effort, nor (more importantly) will clients pay for the extra effort.
The exhibit has definitely inspired me to take some time to make some images like some of the ones I saw. I have a model or two that I just may have to get into the studio and make some Hollywood magic happen.
Oh, Holga.
For this past Christmas, I got a Holga camera. Talk about going “old school.” Cheap, plastic, inconsistent, leaks light, crummy lens, limited control over the exposure and focus settings … in other words: Fun!
I occasionally pull it out to get some interesting looks. A lot of the images have the look and feel of a photograph taken in the early days of photography. It takes 120 medium format film, which is getting more and more difficult to purchase in Knoxville, much less have it processed. But some places are still holding on.
I showed some of my images from the Holga to an advertising art director and he immediately started to think of projects where the look would be of value. Sure, it can be emulated in Photoshop, but I think that takes a lot of fun out of it.
There are a couple of shots on my Scenery page taken with it. Can you guess which ones?
