We’re all happy messes of anticipation and excitement.
I’d never been to the Russian River before. When I met with Naomi & Scott the first time, and they showed me a postcard of the Highland Dell Lodge right on the river, I knew I had to shoot this wedding. It was a great weekend, and since I had a room, I stayed extra late at the party and got to witness and photograph some extra awesome and funny things, like cars being decorated and Naomi & Scott’s bed filled with balloons. I am hooked on the concept of telling a wedding story from morning til late into the night and even into the next day, as I did in this case. Naomi & Scott really wanted photographs at the ocean but knew travelling there would make the wedding day too stressful, so they had me stay until the next afternoon when we all hopped in a car and went to the beach. Naomi had been wanting to get into the water in her dress so when we got back to the river, they went for it! It’s indescribably beautiful there, I can’t wait to take my own family back for a river/beach vacation.
July 27, 2012 - 7:11 pm
Beautiful pictures! Congrats!
July 27, 2012 - 9:35 pm
incredible! love all the night shots!!
I’d like to talk about why weird awkward photos are often my favorites. As I was sorting through images from a wedding over the weekend, I came across one that stopped me in my tracks. I stared and stared at it. I had taken plenty of photos of this sweet couple’s first dance that were perfectly in focus, yet the one where my camera momentarily grabbed focus on a contrasty b&w dress in the background was the one that caught my attention. Why did I love this one the most? I was still thinking about it when I went to bed.
On one hand I wanted to post the photo and pronounce it was the most “me” first dance photo I’d ever taken, that stylistically I identified with this photo 100%. On the other hand I thought, this looks like my 3 year old took it, since I can’t honestly say that focusing on the guests in background was planned. Why on earth, as a professional who can take a technically correct photo, would I choose to show this frame AND pronounce it one of the most interesting dance photos I’ve ever taken?
Because it made me feel something extra.
And it made me stop and think. A perfect photo doesn’t challenge a viewer. It doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t make you wonder why that guy is looking out the window. It doesn’t have an annoyingly distracting line intersecting with his head. A perfect photo would simply focus on the couple kissing, and after a 1 second glance, that’s the sum total of what you would take away from it.
In a world of perfect digital images, it’s almost a treat to look at something flawed, awkward, askew. That’s why I treasure the gift of imperfection, and that’s why I often carefully include it in my edits that I give to clients. If it makes me feel something, I take the chance that they will too.
October 1, 2012 - 10:55 pm
I love this post. And I adore your statement: “a treat to look at something flawed, awkward, askew … the gift of imperfection.” Agreed. I love that you take the chance.
over the weekend at Kayla & Travis’s Lavender Ridge wedding in Reno, Nevada. More soon. This is straight out of camera.
I picked my dream 35mm off Craigslist last Friday. It came with a roll of very expired Kodak 400 inside, so I blasted through the roll to get a feel for the camera. I was using a 50mm f1.4 for this shot. I love the softness and crazy cyan tone.
Lee Anne Havens - So touching Rory, these images brought tears to my eyes. And what a beautiful Grammie