He was a pioneering photographer who brought the beauty of the American West to city folks who would never have imagined such beauty existed.

In honor of him I ask all of you that like taking photos to study his photos and take your own versions or studies of his work and share them here in his spirit.

Here is a link to his wikipedia information.

Here is a link to a google search for his images.

His work is a study of light and darkness and the contrast is not limited to the lighting, but also frequently the subject matter.

If you have software to convert and process in black and white great. If not you can email me (pm me for email address) your photos and I can process them how I think he might have and post them here for you.

Here are a few to get us started:

Ansel drove the highways and bi-ways of our great land, frequently shooting from his old wagon. Recently I took a trip with a friend of mine who just lost his wife to cancer. He’s older and not up to hiking around much so we just drove around a looked for things to take pictures of from the road. These are my favorites.

Mono Lake Fog

Mono Lake socked in by Fog

Big Pine California

Snow covered mountains in Death Valley National Park

Clouds in Death Valley National Park

Dappled Hillside in Death Valley National Park

If you have a gallery of photos that are inspired by Ansel, post a link to it in the comments. I have moderated comments turned on because of spam, so it might take a day or two to show up.

Baker Beach Wedding Engagement Session Photo Sunset Long Exposure

In the above photo, I had them stand very still and did a 30 second exposure at F8 so everything would be fairly in focus.  I set the timer for 10 seconds and ran over to the left part of the frame and held the flash on them.  When the shutter opened, the flash popped and then the shutter stayed open to catch the bridge and the ambient light.  The biggest worry was that the waves might knock the tripod over.

Multiple image composite

For this shot, I first took an empty shot of the ‘stage’ to use as the background.  Then, I set the camera to keep taking shots at 10 second intervals set to use flash.  I moved Yenlie & JJ around and held the flash over their heads until the camera triggered it.   Then I combined the images in photoshop using layers.

Contrary to expert opinion, I dream in full color. All the time. And I always have…Despite being an adult male. Mostly I dream in deep blues and greens and blue greens. I also like reds and stay away from browns.

But lately, maybe the last few weeks, I haven’t been dreaming at all. Maybe it’s the stress, or the hectic travel schedule and busy wedding season but for whatever reason. Nothing.

I didn’t even notice I was not dreaming until I woke up this morning fresh out of a beautiful dream with deep, brilliant blues and very soft light. I don’t remember what was going on in the dream, but oh! The color.

The deep blue color reminded me of the sky in this Christmas eve wedding photo that I took at Murietta’s Well in Livermore, CA a few years ago.

I also love bright verdant greens. Like this macro picture of some grass that I took after a rainstorm.

I think I spend a lot of my time with photography trying to re-create the color palette of my dreams.

What colors you dream about?

There is a lot in that sentence.  The most important part is defining desirable outputs.  Usually in a business sense it’s a complicated formula that takes into account minimum acceptable quality and perceived value to consumers.

In a creative or artistic field it’s a completely different animal.

In a creative field, the output is your performance, your identity, your very soul in some cases.

So why shoot for something less than spectacular?

On a daily basis I see photographers who are investing tons of time and passion into creating something that’s well, mediocre.  And the most disheartening thing to watch is:  That output is exactly what they are trying for.  It is what they strive for.  And it’s a horrible mistake.

The epiphany that helped me jump my game almost overnight was the realization that I could take ANY picture I wanted.  Think about that for a second.  I have complete control over what’s in the frame and how it will look.  *I* have control.  So why strive to take a mediocre picture?

The only limiting factor is artistic vision.  Yet artistic vision the one thing that beginning and mediocre photographers never work on.  They fiddle with exposure and argue about equipment.

When you study the innovators, the top of the top, you realize that their artistic vision is just about the only thing they work on.

The amazing thing is, it takes just as much effort to make a great pot roast as it does to make a crappy one.  The difference is the  vision.  The higher the vision, the more it demands from the technique.  Most people, it seems, strive to make an acceptable pot roast.  And that is all the difference.

As an aside, here are some blogs of photographers that you probably haven’t heard of whom I consider vision leaders:

Wedding:

Jerry Ghionis – I love the way he works with his clients to bring out their very best and creates timeless, fashion magazine quality work

Jeff Ascough – A master of using available light to achieve hard-hitting emotional images that will be heirlooms for generations to come

Commercial:

Erik Almas – Erik is a commercial photographer who has created many images you see on a daily basis.  His photos hint at being a window to a fantasy world that would really love to explore for a while.

Nature:

Joel Sartore – Joel is a photojournalist with National Geographic but his passion is the environment and endangered species.  He goes far above and beyond to get images that stop you in your tracks and really make you think.

QT Luong – QT is a great photographer whose website has about as complete a collection of images from different places as any single photographer I’ve seen.  He has photographed every US National park using a large-format camera and his images are a study in excellent lighting, composition and technique.  If you like great landscape photography check him out.

It goes without saying that the above list is incomplete.  There are many, many fantastic photographers working today.  These are a sample of some that have inspired me over the years. I hope they can inspire you as well.

Look at this photo for a few seconds.  No motion blur, must have been a fast exposure huh?  Nope.  The exposure was 1/2 a second.  That’s not a typo, my shutter was open for half a second.  So…how is she so sharp?!

That is precisely the point.

The above photo was taken at the After Dark Austin workshop. (A great workshop by the way, if you are interested at all in Studio Photography, attend an After Dark workshop).  In fact, I wasn’t even triggering the flash myself.  I was ‘poaching’  I had my shutter open for a long time around the ballerina’s jump, then when the photographer shooting the photo triggered the flash, I captured the image.  So my shutter was open for 1/15th of a second and the flash fired for 1/500th of a second.

This is referred to by photographers as ‘dragging the shutter.’

Dragging the shutter means, simply, that the shutter is open longer than the flash is firing.  This allows more ambient background light to get into the photo while still allowing your subject to be illuminated by the flash and, just as importantly, frozen by the flash.

This is a useful concept to master when shooting indoor or nighttime events.  You can illuminate your subject, even freeze their motion while leaving the shutter open long enough to catch some critical, mood-inducing ambient light.

This photo from Katie & Mike’s wedding at Garre Winery in Livermore, is a good example.  They were lit by flash while the background folks were lit by the sparklers.

How do I do that?

It takes a little experimentation to get good at, but it’s easy to get started.

1) Set your camera to ‘M’ or Manual mode.

2) Choose an ISO and F-stop that will look good with your camera (low noise) without overworking the flash too much.  For my D3 I start with ISO 800 and F/4.

3) Choose a shutterspeed that is about two stops under what the camera says it should be.  If the camera says you would be getting great exposure at 1/8th of a second, start with 1/30th of a second.

4) You get best results by bouncing your flash off the ceiling (Turn the speedlight straight up) or using a light diffuser of some kind.  There are many after-market ones if you didn’t get one with your flash.

If you have a point and shoot camera, many cameras will do this for you by shooting in night portrait mode or something similar.  Look for a picture of a person with a moon behind them

If the above is too much to think about, next time you find yourself at a wedding reception, set your camera to M, 1/40th of a second, F/5.6 and ISO 800.  Then point the flash straight up.  You’ll be fine

~rc

As a guest with a camera, you don’t bother me at all, in fact, I love you.  I think the more people taking pictures all the time, the more appreciation people have for good photography and the more the market as a whole grows.   But sometimes you do cross the line

Guest Photographers

Things to do to get great photos:

Killer tip 1 – Look for emotion

The most engaging aspect of any wedding photo is the emotion that it conveys.  As a guest, you know the intricacies of different relationships and can spot when special moments might happen or are happening.  Look for those moments, get in close, and let fly.

Killer tip 2 – Focus on relationships.  Get Close

The pro photographer will be focused on the bride and groom and the immediate family for most of the day.  While they are doing that it’s a great time to get happy shots of your friends and family at the wedding.  The guest photos I see on facebook that I think are special, are the ones that guests set up and take themselves of each other doing fun, crazy things.  Your familiarity with other guests can help you get photos the main photographer will likely not be able to get.

Killer tip 3 – Get a great seat for the ceremony, and stay there

Get a good seat in the aisle of the ceremony and stay there.  Shoot from the aisle.   Shoot the other guests, shoot the church.  Just don’t lean out into the aisle too much, especially if the main photographer is behind you.  You don’t want your head to be in the brides dress in that great shot of the ceremony!

Killer tip 4 – Stalk the light

Great light makes great photos.  If you have a DSLR, you’ll be better able to take great advantage of the light.  A good strategy for images that will set you apart is to find great light, take a few test photos to nail your exposure and then just wait for cool things to happen there and snap away.

Killer tip 5 – Reception dancing photos

Your energy and party mood will help you get great photos of the dancing crowd!  Take fun shots of your friends dancing.  Set the lens as wide as you can and hold the camera up and take shots.

Killer tip 6 – Bounce that flash

After the sun sets, if you have a DSLR or other camera with a speedlight.  Look up.  If the ceiling is a bright color, white or off-white work best, just point your flash up at the ceiling and shoot away.  The flash will turn the ceiling into a big soft box and create a nice, soft, even light.  If you can set your camera aperture and shutter speed manually, you can experiment.  Try setting your shutter speed to 1/30 of a second and the widest aperture you can.  4 or 5.6 etc… (lower number is larger aperture).  This will go through your batteries slower and also make your flash not as bright.

Also, here are some things you might want to avoid doing:

Rule 1. – Don’t jump in front of us for ‘The Shot’

At a wedding a couple of years ago, my 2nd shooter was assigned to cover the groom’s reaction to the bride while I photographed the bride walking down the aisle with her father.  The bride called and said there was a great photo of the grooms smile that a guest had taken and did we have a similar picture.  I went back through the pictures my second shooter had taken, and there was a shot of just before the groom smiling, then three pictures of the back of a woman’s head – yes, it was the guest who took the picture of the groom’s smile.  So she had jumped in front of my 2nd photographer to get the shot and kept her from getting the shot for the bride and groom.  Jumping in front of the pro will not win any popularity contests.

Rule 2. – Don’t engage us in conversations when something important is about to happen

Even when it looks like we’re not busy.  We are.  We have to check timelines, look for light, change lenses, cards and batteries and make sure we’re in position in plenty of time for the next shot.  We’re not brushing you off by being brusque, we’re not arrogant, we just need to keep our mind on the task at hand.  Usually I make it a point to try and chat with all the guest photographers for a few minutes if I can.  If I don’t make it, it’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy talking with you (I love talking about gear) so please don’t take it personally.

Rule 3 – Wait until we’re done with the formals before snapping

When a group of people is getting their picture taken, it’s important that they look where the photographer is asking them to look.  If they look away, then the shot is ruined. When guests are taking pictures of the same group, grandma isn’t sure if she should be looking at the photographer OR her grand daughter who just got a new camera.  Result: Great family shot with grandmas eyes looking like zombie eyes because she’s looking off to the left.

Most pros now accept the fact that guests want pictures of the formals and will allow you to take a few shots when we are done, but many times we just don’t have the time.  The family formals are usually pressed for time and any slide in the schedule gets taken directly out of the portrait time.

That’s about it!  Keep to these rules and you’ll be snapping great pictures that the bride and groom will love – and keeping the photographer happy

~rc

Buster and Murphy watching the squirrels. Note the tongue on Buster.

We have two dogs.  Buster and Murphy.

Buster is a little half-pint SOB who is really obsessed with squirrels.  If there is even a hint of a squirrel anywhere he’ll run around like a tasmanian devil and bark at the tree tops.

Murphy is a big, dumb looking yellow lab who loves food more than buster loves squirrels.  Because of this I always assumed she was a little slow.  Until yesterday.

You have to understand, Murphy gulps her food down in two seconds flat.  Buster seems to delight in eating his one stinking kibble at a time.  All the while, Murphy watches him with a hint of drool dripping off her chin.  And he just eats slower and slower.

Yesterday I fed them and Buster was taking his sweet time and Murphy was watching, drool dripping on the brick patio and then suddenly, she had a brain flash.  She ran over to the tree and started barking up at the branches.

Buster, thinking there was a squirrel immediately stopped eating and ran over to the tree to try and catch a glimpse of the Broadway Bigfoot.  He was circling around the tree, barking at the branches, frantically looking for a squirrel that, alas, wasn’t there.

Meanwhile, Murphy, satisfied that he was distracted sauntered over to his unfinished food and ate the rest of it for him.

Not just a big dumb yellow lab, our Murphy.

But it raises the question:  What are your squirrels and what gets you sufficiently worked up to allow others to steal your food?

That is what marriage is about.  Combining our lives, combining our families.  Standing up together and saying “This is US!” to the world.

When I photograph weddings, I bring that perspective.  It’s not ‘just’ a wedding to me.  Ever.  It’s the beginning of something great, something completely unpredictable and something that two people will build together that is different from all the other things other couples have built together.  The inside jokes, the references to shared experiences, the tender moments, the joy of childbirth, the pain and desperation of serious illness and even death.  It all is born of that one act we call a wedding.

And I love it. And I love documenting it. Interpreting it. Remembering it.

While I was reviewing photos from past weddings to share on this site, I remembered fondly every couple, every mother of the bride, every shy flower girl and ring bearer, every photo that I took.  Several times I was moved to the brink of tears by the emotion in the photos.  Some forced me to laugh out loud. Still others just brought me back to the reverence that I feel for the beauty and emotion of two people committing to each other.  Committing their lives together.

So I want to thank you. All of you.  Those who have brought me into your lives, whether we’ve met yet or not.  I am grateful to do what I do for the people I do it for.

So maybe tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that I will be able to get some more pictures posted and bring in old blog posts.  Maybe next week I will get my photographer learning articles up.  Maybe I’ll clean up everything so that it’s more polished in a few days.

In the meantime, I will be with my wife.