Sam Comer Photography

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.

Nicole and Ryan

Today’s wedding at the Museum of Appalachia, just north of Knoxville.

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.

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.

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?

Long-awaited update

Tonight I updated my website. There are some new photos of models I’ve photographed here in Knoxville, as well as some new wedding photos. I’ve added some pricing information to make things a little more concrete. It’s been a long time coming, though it’s not drastically different from how it was before. But now that I’m blogging and shooting more, I will be making updates to the site more frequently. Everything should be working and linking the way it’s supposed to, but I’ll be checking back with it over the next couple of days to see if it needs to be tweaked any.

I’ve shot so many things in my career, from high school reunion photos to commercial photos for advertising to little leagues to running races to magazine spreads to you name it. If I haven’t done it, I’ll figure out how. If I can’t do that … well, I’ve been around long enough that I know a lot of other photographers in Knoxville who could probably pull it off.

Check it out. If you have any suggestions or critiques, please let me know. I’m definitely more a photographer than web designer, so it’s iWeb on the Mac to the rescue!

Photos in the park

Today I had lunch in the park. I work pretty close to a nice little park near downtown, and I often commute by bicylce. It’s nice to ride down there and sit on a park bench, reading a magazine, enjoying a sandwich, checking out the scenery. Today the temps were in the low 80s and the humidity was remarkably pleasant for June in Knoxville.

I like shooting in places like this. There’s water (though, in this particular area, you really can’t get in it. In fact, I’d recommend not even looking at it funny. There are signs everywhere saying “Avoid bodily contact.” Of course, I see people letting their kids swim in there al the time, so what do the people who made that sign know?)

But I digress …

So there’s water, a lot of green green grass, some really nice trees, and a pretty neat old stone staircase that goes up to an abandoned building. And you know what? I have yet to shoot a model in this area. Hmm. I need to get on that. It IS a little too public for some things, but for most of the work I do, it would be great.

Maybe for my next shoot.