International wedding of mystery

Sometimes, I second-shoot for other wedding photographers. It's something I enjoy, and while there's still the pressure and responsibility of getting the shots and telling the story, it's only there on that day. Post-processing, creating albums, client relations? Somebody else's problem. This weekend was different, though.

I had signed up as a second shooter to a wedding photographer from Toronto, who was coming to cover a wedding here in Pittsburgh. On the day of the rehearsal, she calls me. There's a border with the US, and nobody is willing to let her cross it. Now if it were up to me, North America would be one big free trade zone for wedding photographers, and possibly also DJs. But it's not up to me, so a brief reshuffling of roles ensued...

I made some calls. Then the calls made some calls, and sent some emails, and so on, and so on. October 17, 2009 is apparently a very busy day for Pittsburgh wedding photographers. Then, in the car, on the way to the rehearsal dinner, my phone rang. I now had a second shooter. She had some outdoor portrait sessions that had to cancel because of the weather, and was available for the wedding. Even better, she has more wedding experience than I do. Plan B is falling into place.


Now this was the first time I'd worked with this arrangement: acting as the main photographer, but shooting for someone else. It was a bit different. Normally, when I'm under contract like this, I'm a second shooter, and I do my best to be a good second shooter. What do I mean by that? Good second shooters know how to play as part of the string section, not as another solo violinist competing for the spotlight. When I'm in that role, my goal is to add to the story, following the theme and style of the principal photographer. Except that she wasn't there. I was.


What to do? Well, the first rule of wedding photography is: This Is Not About You. This Is Their Day. So: "Hi, I'm Kevin, and I'll be Michelle today." And off we went. More than one of the guests at the rehearsal dinner introduced themselves to me with a tagline like, "so I hear you've come to save the day." Which was nice, because I wasn't quite feeling the crushing responsibility yet. But, in the end, everything went smoothly. The venue was beautifully rustic, if a little cold and damp. Jen, Casey, and their families and friends were a complete joy to spend time with, and that energy came through in every photograph.


Thanks to Michelle for originally reaching out to me as a second shooter, and later trusting me to fill in for you. Thanks to Jessica for coming through at the last minute to fill the role of second shooter in a way that entirely exceeded my expectations, and for putting up with the seldom seen ball-of-stress side of my personality. And I can't let this go without a big shout-out to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, for providing me with the opportunity to tell this story.


Cheers!

That's entertainment

or, Adventures in Event Photography

It was my distinct privilege recently to be present at, and to be photographing, the first independent performance by the Bridge City Bombshells, Pittsburgh's newest burlesque troupe.

Elizabeth Couteau and Phat Man Dee

Their style is a delightful mixture of classical and modern burlesque; in their own words, "anything but ordinary." Friday's performance was jazz-themed, featuring the vocal stylings of Phat Man Dee as well as some classic recorded tracks like "I Put a Spell on You."

Elizabeth Couteau, Miss Hush, The Bees Knees, Kat de Lac, Shrimp Scanty, and the C*ntess von Tella (sorry about the asterisk, dear, but this is a family blog) each bring their own style and flavor to every number. The show featured a classic fan dance, some great character pieces including a petulant Shrimp Scanty dancing to Phat Man Dee's interpretation of "A Tisket a Tasket," and my favorite, a literally edgy interpretation of the balloon dance. The balloons already add a percussive element to your traditional striptease, but what if instead of that silly hatpin, you popped the balloons with an eight inch dagger?

ISO1600, 1/30, f/4, second curtain flash

And what if the balloons were filled with stage blood? Well then you'd be Tella. Stay out of the splash zone, kids.

Anyhow, about the photography. This was a very straightforward performers-on-a-stage kind of gig. Belvedere's is a dive, with lighting as low as the drink prices. I can't really complain, but I needed a little bit of reinforcement if I wanted sharp images of moving people. What I ended up doing was putting my SB-800 in remote mode, choosing a low power level and a pale amber gel to balance with the ambient light, and setting it on top of the PA speakers at stage right. The angle was consistent with stage lighting, so you don't look at the pictures and immediately think "flash."

Gee, that looks complicated

When I think back on using print film, or even more so, slide film, and how careful you had to be to meter everything just right, and how each time you pushed the button you spent money on tangible consumable things, there's that impulse to complain about how digital is "making photography too easy" or something.

But then you read something like this and realize that kids my days didn't realize how easy we had it either: How do you make a collodion negative?

Saturday, in the park

Oglebay Park, in Wheeling, WV to be specific. Through the magic of the internet, and no small amount of planetary harmonic convergence, I ended up working as second shooter to the wonderful Heidi Good, a Wheeling native now living and working in New York City. It was her role to tell the story of the couple's happy day, so I won't do that here. Instead I'll talk about me. This is, after all, a blog.

Heidi is the kind of wedding photographer I want to be when I grow up. What I mean is, her whole attitude is one I find so appealing. Wedding photography is about dropping into someone's life on That Most Important Day, then, ideally, leaving them with a record that will be meaningful and enduring, reminding them of all the things that made the day special. Retelling the story, as it were. It's not about a number of hours of coverage, or a number of pictures, or even a book or album; those products emerge from the process of entering the family's world and documenting it during the time you have together.

It was a long day of hard work, but so very rewarding. More, please.

Inclusion vs Exclusion

Painting vs photography. Discuss.

[more to come...]

Be your own boss

Also, be your own accountant, and your own marketing department, and your own sales force, and your own receptionist, and your own customer service rep, and...

Whee!

Why hire a photographer?

In this age of everyone's-a-photographer, with cameras present in an ever-increasing range of consumer electronic devices, why should you pay good money for a "pro" when anyone can take a picture?

When you hire someone to take photos of your event, or your product, or your employees, or just your smiling self, probably the most important thing you're paying for is that photographer's experience. He or she has done the wrong thing enough times that when it comes to your shoot, the Right Thing will just happen, smoothly and effortlessly. While your individual circumstances and needs for a photo shoot may be quite unique, the underlying principles of photography are not; a photographer with a solid understanding of those principles won't have to think about the basics, freeing up all of your energy for the creative process and the production of exceptional images.

Not only are you getting access to experience, you're getting access to some quality gear and an expert operator. The right lenses can allow you to approach your subject in ways you couldn't even consider otherwise. The same goes for lighting, where the difference between a good photo and a great one can come from the ability and expertise to control the light on the subject. Digital photography has eliminated film costs, but every improvement in sensor technology leads to a new (and expensive) camera body with new capabilities. If I were an economist, I'd say that you've increased fixed costs while reducing variable costs, which implies that you need to do more work with that capital equipment for things to make sense. Hiring a pro lets you throw $10,000 worth of gear at a $2,000 wedding, or even a $200 portrait session, rather than compromising on gear in a do-it-yourself scenario.

Are you my studio?

I think it'll look a lot better with, I don't know, electricity and heat and stuff. But really, what more do you need? It's 1) an unbroken space with 2) a hard floor and 3) a reasonably high ceiling. That's pretty much it, no?

belly dancer

A few months ago (somewhere between 3 and 5, if I had to guess) Deena and I had talked about maternity photos. This was a new experience for me, taking family portraits. Her son (not pictured here) was being himself, always in motion, curious, expressive, always making moments available, but not for long. Working with small children is a lot like dance photography.