looking back and babbling about it

Last week I did something I highly recommend anyone in my line of work doing; I looked through my first wedding shoots. A little humility (or in my case, a lot) is always a good thing. After I stopped cringing at my constant black and white conversions to save poorly exposed shots and my apparent consistent need to compose everything at a slant (why, WHY?!), I took a breath and had to smile as I caught glimpses of the photographer I am now even 6 or 7 years ago. I think my style is ever evolving and changing but there are a few constant things that hold over (I was actually surprised to see just how many shots I actually liked).

All things considered, it made me realize over and over again that it isn't composition, timing, or editing that makes a photo great; it's the people in front of the lens. Trite as it may sound, it's true. My photo is only as good as the emotion and story on the other end. Sure, timing is important and composition can help propel a story or pull focus where it needs to be. But, once you start trying to do something "awesome" or start looking for the next shot that's blog worthy or that's going to help further your career, you're going to start missing the the point of taking the photograph. I know I'm in need of checking myself every once in a while and looking back at your first year's work is a great way to do that. The stories are still there and still powerful, even if your shots are God awful. It's the people that make the image great. It always should be about the people. Your client. Their story.

So, what's with this post? The second wedding I ever shot was for a friend of mine who I still keep in touch with (she's also a photographer up in Kansas - you can check out her work here). I pulled some of the images from her wedding day that caught my eye for one reason or another. I wanted to see how different they looked with a more honest processing. The church we shot in was dark and old with awful(ly) awesome blue carpet and florescent lighting. Originally I tried to "fix" a lot of that with black and white conversions and excessive cropping-- no more! Here they are more true to the original lighting and tone of the event. I like these a lot better. As for the old images? Those will probably never see the light of day.

winky face emoticon.

wedding one // houston wedding

Shot my first wedding of the year last weekend. Hope and Chris did not disappoint. How could they? We already knew these two were gorgeous. They can also throw one heck of a party. I had a blast. Thanks for setting the bar so high for the rest of the year, y'all. Congrats!

where the air is fresh and sweet // houston engagement

I had a great time with Nicole and Joey last week. Looking forward to their wedding this spring!

two things with love from gus

1) You don't always have to do what people tell you to do. 2) Look up often.

this is why i love actors

They just know what to do. Like Savannah here. She's finishing up her senior year of high school and needed headshots for her college applications. Obviously, she's gorgeous. But that's not what made my job super easy. Savannah, though she'd never taken headshots before, had a lot of (humble) confidence and it shows! Well done, my dear.