The Alamo

Most people, specially those in Texas, will immediately recognize this landmark.  Well, it took a LOT of patience to get this photograph.  If you’ve ever visited The Alamo, you know that there is always a crowd around it.  I waited for nearly an hour for the moment when there was no one in the image – besides the trooper.  Yes, I could have used Photoshop to remove people – but that’s not the way I like to photograph.  I was raised on film and getting it right in camera is top priority.

– and is now a shrine to Texas independence.  While it is an amazing and historically important building, one needs to get out and visit the other missions along the “Mission Trail”.  I’ll post some of those another time.  For now, enjoy this one.

Palm Trees – Miami Art Deco District

I simply love palm trees.  Not much else brings me as much peace and relief.  I guess it’s because I’ve always associated palm trees with relaxing vacations.

Here are some spotted in Miami’s Art Deco historical district.

Bridal Party Portraits

There is something to be said about bridal party portraits.  These are your closest friends and relatives – those that mean so much that you want them to have a place of honor at your wedding.  Of course, just because it’s a “bridal party portrait” doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

I always encourage my couples to allocate time between the ceremony and reception for portraits.  This time is used for “something different” – portraits outside the ceremony location (be it a church or other venue).  This time is used for quality portraits of the couple AND the bridal party – close family also.  These can be done at different locations and tend to be a bit more relaxed.

Oh, yes, let’s not forget a group photo of those that are still standing at the end of the party.

Here’s a sampling of what I mean about more relaxed bridal party portraits.

San Francisco Engagement Session

So, keeping with the travel theme and going back to my love of engagement sessions, here’s an engagement session from a while back.  Jubi and Ankur got married in Houston but live in San Francisco.  When we talked about their wedding they asked if I were willing to do their engagement session in San Francisco and my simple answer was “when?”

First, I must say that they were AMAZING to work with and we quickly became friends.  I spent three days with them in San Francisco and not only did we get some pretty good photographs, but we shared some meals, talked a lot, and walked around most of the city.  In a selfish kind of way, I felt as though they were my personal tour guides.

Their wedding was a held later in Houston and that was a lot of fun also – I’ll share that at another time, but for now, here are some from their engagement session.

Destination Weddings – Cabo San Luca

I love to travel and I love to photograph weddings so a destination wedding is the ultimate combination.  When photographing a destination wedding, I always keep in mind that the location is very important – there’s a reason the couple selected it so I make it a point to document the “setting”.  Sometimes, I spend as much as an extra day documenting the surroundings:  the town, the hotel, what the couple did, etc.

This particular wedding was in Cabo San Luca and I wanted to do something a bit different.  I wanted a photo that included the couple, the location, and their rings.  I used a fisheye lens for this and kept them as close to the center of the photo as possible to minimize distortion.  The lens was probably not much more than 2-3 inches from the rings!

Joshua Tree

There was something just amazing about Joshua Tree National Park.  I enjoyed hiking through it for a day – taking in some incredible views and being all alone in absolute silence.

On that particular trip, I took a camera I’ve had modified for infrared photography – no, not heat sensitive, but sensitive to the infrared light spectrum.  This creates some incredible black and white photos and I took full advantage of it.

Here’s one for you.

And here’s the original as it comes out of the camera.

Which do you prefer?  Leave a comment.

Spirals

Another of my favorite photographs – hangs in my home office.

This one is a reminder to always explore your environment.  I had stayed at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt several times but never been to their coffee bar/restaurant (I am not a fan of hotel restaurants).  I had also always had rooms in a part of the hotel that didn’t require walking by these corridors.  One day, I heard a bit of commotion as I was heading to my room, walked over to see what was going on, and saw this.  The next morning, I grabbed my camera, went downstairs and tried to shoot upward.  It just didn’t quite get me what I wanted plus it hurt my back.

So, what’s one to do?  Simple, lay down on the ground and look up.  This is the result.

Serenity

It is difficult to explain this photograph and why it has become one of my favorites EVER.

I was in China visiting one of their “water towns” and I loved the feel I got just standing on one of the little overpass bridges – it was somewhat peaceful yet chaotic.  There were people EVERYWHERE.  I waited patiently while the crowds kept walking past me and the area.  I eventually found a “clearing” and was able to take this photo.

It hangs on one of my walls as a 20×30 gallery wrapped canvas – a tribute to patience, chaos, and peacefulness.

Classic Black and White

By now you’ve probably noticed that I love black and white photography.  It is classic.  It strips away the distractions of colors.  I recently had an opportunity to experiment and photograph an entire wedding in black and white.  I loved the results (surprised?  didn’t think so) and I wanted to share them with you here.

Now, not only was I able to photograph this entire wedding in black and white, I was able to do so with some small cameras which allowed me to not “stick out”.  These were all taken with new Fuji cameras that are AMAZING.

If you’re interested in all black and white coverage as a classic alternative, please contact me so we can discuss the option.

Grooms

Some times you’ll hear it said that “grooms are the ultimate bridal accessory” or that the day is “all about the bride”, well, I beg to disagree.

Weddings are about many things and the groom should not be ignored.  So, in honor of the grooms, here is a portrait that won first place in the Groom Portrait category in an International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) contest a few years back.