One cool bride….and a groom in a skirt
December 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment
When I started out shooting weddings I decided that I just couldn’t do the “outside the church” thing. You know what I mean, the traditional photographers who would turn up after the ceremony with two rolls of 120 film, shoot off 24 pictures of group and portraits, discard 4 blinks and present a set of 20 pictures. Some of them could do 5 weddings a day. The trouble is, that misses so much. That’s why my company is called MyWeddingStory - I truly believe that each wedding is a unique story and that my job is to tell it. And you can’t do that in 24 pictures on a tripod outside a church.Take Jane and Andrew for example.
That’s the end of their blessing at St Augustine’s at Westgate on Sea. It’s a pretty traditional shot (except that most churches won’t let you use confetti bombs) but it’s only part of the story. It was a long, long day but a beautiful one - everybody at the wedding was so full of fun and excitement that it was hard for it not to rub off on you.After the meal I had an idea - there’s a great gazebo at St Augustines but we hadn’t used it for the wedding (because it was winter!) and it was pitch dark out there. But with the building lit up behind it I just knew it would look great. I explained the plan to Jane and Andrew and they immediately agreed - it was only when we were going outonto the grass that I stopped Jane and asked if her shoes would be OK - “that’s OK - I don’t have them on”. Truly I think it was the first time that I had a bride walk barefoot across freezing mud for a picture!
It must have been pretty drafty for Andrew in that kilt too! I couldn’t think of a better way to round off the wedding story - until Jane started playing the sax at her own wedding…
Now that was cool.
I’ve gone PRO!
December 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment
No - not pro photographer. I’ve been a pro photographer for several years now - ever since I decided that IT just wasn’t for me and that the thing I loved doing most was taking pictures. It took me a long time to realise that I could actually make a living from doing something I enjoyed (and even longer to stop feeling guilty about it!).
Nope the PRO I mean on this occasion is the shiny new Mac Pro sitting under my desk. I’ve been a fan of Macs ever since I switched my old beige PC for a fire breathing G5 desktop (actually it’s liquid cooled and has to sit under the desk because it weighs over 40 pounds). The G5 has ha a good run and means that I actually like working in Photoshop - but Intel Macs are the future and I can’t resist a new toy. The release of a sneak preview of the new version of Photoshop last week finally convinced me and I replaced a 40lb liquid cooled aluminium clad monster for, err a 40lb aluminium clad monster without liquid cooling (Intels run a LOT cooler than the PowerPC machines).
First impressions are that it’s going to save me a lot of time - I can get out doing more of the bits that I love (taking pictures) and less of the bits that I just enjoy (editing pictures, making slideshows, email, web surfing….). Of course it won’t work out like that but it should be cooler in the summer.
