Christinana and Pete are so perfect for each other, they are one of those couples that complement each other very well.
They meet over seas.
While stationed together.
In a Iraq!
What I thought was really interesting was our first meeting together talking about their wedding and I asked them from a photographic standpoint what was most important to them and Pete replied the “posed pictures...”.
Really?
No one has ever said that to me, now keep in mind almost every couple I’ve ever worked with wanted some kind of posed picture but without fail just about all of them were most interested in the candid images, you know more of the documentation of the day type of images. He wasn’t done “...because I come from a family of photographers who will all be hauling around their Canon 1Ds’ (it’s a $6000 camera) getting plenty of candid wedding day shots.”
Great.
A room full of veteran, seasoned photographers watching me, critiquing me... judging me. Their is a joke that goes:
“How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb? 20. One to change it and 19 to tell you how they would do it differently.”
So that joke probably isn’t that funny if you don’t shoot for a living but it KILLS at photographer get-togethers. Oh and I am totally guilty of that myself, I’ll see an image somewhere and think to myself “Wow that lighting was weak.”, or “Boy if they had just moved a foot the right.” or my favorite “Who are they freaking kidding with that Photoshop job?!?”. Don’t get me wrong I see way more stuff that I think is really good but that still leaves me come wedding day in a room with what I’m guessing will be 3-5 REALLY good photographers and me. Then again who knows, I may pickup something new!
OK enough ranting onto the engagement pics!
Heather and Reagan’s wedding day was finally here! Heather (and her family) are from the same part of the county I am... Northern Virginia (it’s funny because people from Northern Virginia are VERY quick to make that distinction, so as not to be confused with the rest of the state of Virginia, it’s like it’s own little state or something. I never really noticed that until my native-Austinite wife pointed it out on a visit a few years back! I digress….
So, for the record, Heather and Reagan have been really good luck for me (or maybe it’s the other way around?!?). I have captured some of my all-time favorite wedding and engagement images with them. Their engagement pictures were great, we lucked out with this very groovy field at the end of that shoot and their wedding was no exception. Great location, the church was so cool,the time of day couldn’t have been better and we had such great light pouring in from the side windows!
As always click on the image to see the full size.
*** click on the image for a larger size***
Here’s an engagement we did right before Christmas (I know I am so lame for not posting sooner but I had gifts to wrap!). Sofia and Derrick were AWESOME! They were so creative and full of great ideas, we spent a ton of time shooting, it slipped away too quickly.
***click for a larger image size***
Long time readers may recall way back on the 1st of January (was that only 17 days ago???? seems a little longer) that I committed to doing a 365 project, one new picture a day for the next year and no five picks on Monday to cover the week, a legit new image everyday. So far so good! I’ve learned a lot in just a short time, it’s been a great excuse to try new light set ups, to push my natural light shooting creativity and here’s one that’s had a big impact as well... post production. Shooting weddings, bridals and engagements, when I come back from a shoot I process a ton of images, a wedding can yield 800-1300 frames. The goal of all good photographers is to get it right in the camera so post production (Photoshop and Lightroom) is a simple color tweak and sorting out the wheat from the shaft. Here’s the cool part about the 365 project, I’m shooting 2 to 12 images which has give me time to go into Photoshop and/or Lightroom to experiment with different processing techniques.
Here’s one of my favorites so far, I think it was from the 7th of January (January - duh), but this a windmill off of Palmer between McNeil and MoPac. I’ve passed it hundreds if not thousands of times and alway thought I’d like to shoot it. Well it was FREEZING that day, it was sooo cold the first frame I fired off was under exposed, a quick adjustment and I got this one (with a little Photoshop love). I had run back to the car before I could get a third on account I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.
After much thought and lots of versions I proud to unveil the new logo, hope you like it! Now if I can just figure out how to change it on www.mikereedphoto.com .
This was a great wedding I shot a couple of months ago BUT never blogged it which is ironic because it’s some of my favorite photojournalistic work of the year! Erica and Justin were a fun couple to work with, they both live in Dallas and were married in San Antonio. Funny they both went to elementary school together in San Antonio but didn’t start dating until they found each other in Dallas. The church they were married in was amazing and I’m not over stating that, if they film a movie in San Antonio and needed a church THIS would be that church... oh and the reception rocked as well!
***Click on any of the images to see a larger version***
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