Beauty In All Things

As a photographer, or as a living being I suppose, we are attracted to things of beauty. There is nothing to be ashamed of, I believe it is an innate aspect of the human character. Without this desire to seek out beauty, art might not exist at all.

Having said that, I think that for anyone who is visually curious, it is important to find beauty in unconventional places. In fact, a lot of modern photography focuses on the dirty, grungy, unloved and overlooked often more than it does on pure forms of beauty. As a photographer, it is important to be able to bring out the best of any subject. Or maybe not the best, but at least the true essence of what the subject is. I'd venture to say that truth is one of the most beautiful things that can be captured.

I recently had a project for a company who wanted to take photos of some of their completed projects. For an architectural photographer, this is more or less the normal routine. The reason this project was a little bit different was because this company was an engineering firm and their completed projects consisted of pumps, sewer plants, retention ponds and weirs. Not only that, but they wanted to have some of them blown up for display in their main lobby. I was up for the challenge and I think it turned out very well! I was able to "convince" my client that the displayed photos should be more artistic rather than straight project photos. When they were hung, everyone agreed that was the perfect way to go! Here are a few of the project photos as well as the finished wall display. Thanks to G&H Printing in Bonita Springs for a fantastic print job.

Before

After

Wow, 2010 has come and gone and we're already almost through February! I can't believe it and I am very excited for what 2011 has in store. This is just a quick note to say that I am putting this whole blogging thing back n the front burner and should have more frequent updates as the year goes on. Expect project photos, business news, photography tidbits, and random photography news that catches my fancy! See you soon!

Amy + Pat: Punta Gorda, FL

10/23/2010

Amy and Pat were married on a beautiful Florida October day at Amy's Uncle's home outside Punta Gorda, Florida. The day before had been quite sunny and humid, but the wedding day was blessed with fluffy clouds and a light breeze. Amy and Pay live in Chicago and many had to travel to attend the wedding. I think everyone was glad they made the trip because it was a gorgeous wedding!

Amy's dress was unbelievably stunning. I have seen a lot of wedding dresses in my day, and I was immediately taken with it. Once Amy put the dress on, it was even better, it was though it were made just for her.

Pat, Pat's brother, Mike, and Amy's Uncle Tom wait before the ceremony begins. Uncle Tom was the officiant and did a spectacular job. My favorite ceremonies are ones with a good blend of humor and emotion, and this one had a heavy dose of both.

We had such beautiful light this day for portraits. Combine that with a gorgeous background and a fantastic couple, and you have a very happy photographer!

The reception and cocktail hour were set up outside next to a small lake on the property. The canopy of trees and the color scheme for the wedding worked beautifully with the outdoor setting.

We snuck away for a few more portraits as the sun was getting low.

And of course, portraits with Elle were a must!

The reception was just lovely! The speeches given by Mike and Pat were particularly moving and had the whole place rolling with laughter.

Congratulations, Amy and Pat!!

Photography/Purpose

My original intentions upon creating this blog were three-fold:

1) Share photos from my recent projects, since this blog would be updated more frequently than my website.

2) Discuss the various aspects of the photography business: technical challenges, personal projects and ideas, business strategies, etc

3) Present really cool things that I have come across in the field of photography, things that inspire me and make me think, "My God, what a genius!"

The third topic is one of the the +/- parts of this crazy/wonderful profession. As with any artistic field, there is a Jekyl/Hyde aspect that goes through many artists' heads as they paddle through the waters of inspirations. "That is a great idea", "Whatever, I have seen it before", "No, really, I think it's fantastic", "Yeah, if by fantastic you mean predictable and unoriginal", etc, etc. I struggle with this from time to time and my way of coping is generally inaction. We all have our demons to overcome, and that is definitely mine when it comes to progressing my own artwork and ideas. Having said that, I do often thrive on inspiration I find in all forms of art/life. When I am confronted with something original and thought-provoking, I always ask myself how can I bring this back to my work. However, I think the better thing to do is that I need to also remember to take a step back and appreciate the work for the amazingness that it has brought into the world, and forget about what it can do for me.

So, on that note (i.e. long digression), I am brought back to my third intention which is recognizing amazing and inspiration artists. This one goes by the name of JR. Why did I say it like that? Well, he's somewhat a rogue artist, think of him as a photographic Banksy. Anyone that can bring more art into the world, I say more power to them, but the fantastic thing about JR is that he focuses his efforts in run-down and often third-world locations, bringing art to some of the most "unbeautiful" places. Not only that, but he also involves the communities where the art is displayed, using local people as the subjects of his portraits. One of the most poignant projects was his Face2Face project concentrating on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, or more specifically, the people. He just currently won the 2011 TED Prize, and I think it is totally deserved.

Find out more info about TED and JR

Summer, what summer???

I have no idea how a perfectly good summer could just fly right by without me even seeing it. I remember May, June seems familiar, and then all of a sudden...poof, it's October. Well, I certainly haven't been sitting around and twiddling my thumbs, so I will have to make up for lost time with a few extra blog posts.

I have to admit, part of the reason that summer flew by was that I was fortunate enough to take and extended (ahem, month) vacation during August/September. For any of you that know Florida, this time is also affectionately known as "Hell's Opening Act". I hopped across Europe visiting all the family and friends that I could think of along the way. Needless to say, a month in Europe + my camera(s) -----> ∞ photos. Once I have my head above the 1's and 0's again, I will share some travel highlights.

So, I supposed this blog post is like dipping my toe back into the water, but I should have some good swan dives coming in the near future.

Naples House

When you are an architectural photographer in SW Florida, it can sometimes feel as though you are waiting out the weather more often than you are actually taking photos. Don't get me wrong, the weather here is usually gorgeous at some point during the day, but considering that most properties have a time of day that is most suitable for their particular orientation, the stars do not always align appropriately. Even though it can be irritating continually postponing shoots for good weather, I do have to admit that I enjoy attempting to interpret the weather. I have become fairly good at understanding fronts, what wind directions mean for future weather, and analyzing radar maps, but I am always completely thrown off now and again by something totally unexpected (just to make sure I don't get too cocky!).

But, on those occasions where everything falls into place, I think it makes you really appreciate it more. I went down to shoot a house on the water one morning, and I was greeted with not only beautiful blue skies, but also with a noticeable lack of wind. Since the home was situated on the intercoastal, the bay took on an almost mirror quality, something you don't often see with large, tidal bodies of water. I couldn't help by take this panoramic of the whole bay scene and whenever I see it, I am reminded that that next perfect day is around the corner, I just have to patient enough to wait and ready to appreciate it when it arrives. A good motto for life, too, I suppose.

Just for fun, here are a few other shots from that shoot:

Golf Extras

Another Golf Illustrated shoot came and went. I have enjoyed doing these over the years, but since we are often focusing on instructional-type shots, sometimes I feel that the creativity is lacking. Usually after a commercial or editorial shoot, once the files have been delivered, the unused images go off to live in hard drive land. So, I thought I'd take a few from the last shoot and jazz them up a little.