Jilian & Jay | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer

It's been a while since I updated but I have good reason, it's busy season. I've got several weddings that we're getting ready to get onto the blog but first I wanted to put up an awesome engagement shoot that just finished up. As you have hopefully noticed I'm not big on cliches. You're hopefully seeing that my work doesn't look too terribly much like many of the other types of wedding photography out there. I like to work from a more personal point of view when photographing people. I like to build a connection between myself and whoever I'm photographing and I want to take advantage of any and all opportunities to create something unique but at the same time reflective of unique personalities, quirks, looks, etc.

So with Jilian and Jay I knew I wanted to do something super cool. I think that when people are in love, there's very little I should or need to do to bring that out in them. Just put people together and let the sparks or silliness ensue. They live in Northern Liberties, where we did the shoot, and are very much city folk, down to earth and fun to be around.

Enough words, here's some favorites from the shoot and a fuller collection here. (If you're curious, there are no special Photoshop techniques going on in these pictures.)

Recent other stuff

yes, I know, my blog titles are riveting. This Spring has been pretty hopping around here with album designs, a regular flow of prints, weddings and some recent editorial work. The most recent editorial piece ran in today's Wall Street Journal. It was actually a fun fast assignment when the picture editor called me around 1pm and said I could work on this over the weekend if I wanted to. I, however, had 2 weddings this weekend so there was no having of that. I got the call about 1:30, hopped to it and was done by dinnertime. It was actually rather fun being thrown a random challenge that had to be figured out and executed with no time to plan, think, coordinate or lollygag. I met up with Philadelphia Councilman Clarke and Mayor Nutter and did some street shooting of some buildings around Center City for a story about the local real estate tax abatement issue. Here's a link to the pictures on the WSJ website.

Another editorial assignment was really cool. I spent some time photograping Jack Witherington whose business is building anything Timber Frame. My very limited understanding of this construction style is that it does not involve any nails. I won't pretend to understand how that works at all. Jack started the business in the late 1990s after losing some clients in another economic downturn and turned the loss of income into an opportunity to invest in himself and his own passion. Today he has a thriving business doing what he loves. I really admire guys like Jack who see change as not just the end of something or a disaster but rather an opportunity to try something new. That's how I got into moving from editorial photography into weddings and I can't imagine what it was like going to work.

One from the archives

I've been working on an album for clients from, ahem, 2006, :) and was happy to see that they included this little gem of a shot. I always liked this picture and now that it's reemerged into my photographic life it's made its way back onto the site edit. To me it has this fun, almost anachronistic, feel of the little modern gothish girl and the old school looking guys who could be extras for a movie. I love the contrast of her almost stoic expression in attention-getting clothes that shows off a more mature attitude yet she's being a pure kid playing with the bubbles and their matter of fact smoker's moment.

gettin' geared up

I feel like a bull about to charge. Stomping the ground, getting ready to get serious about business. The next four weeks will see five weddings, including a trip to Florida's Marco Island for one of the weddings. In the midst of all this me and the family are going to sneak in a little get away after Rachel and Dan's wedding in Florida.

I had to feel for these guys, a month ago I didn't know Rachel or Dan, but they knew my friend Kevin in Chicago. Thanks to the World Health Organization's ranking of the Swine Flu as a massive pandemic, Rachel and Dan felt that it wouldn't be right to ask their guests to travel to their well planned wedding along the Mexican Riviera when no one really knew what this apparently nasty virus was all about. I was happy that I was available and could squeeze them into a rather busy month and give my wife a few days on the beach as well. I can't wait to meet them in person next Friday at the rehearsal dinner, as soon as they find a place! Not that I can't wait for all my other weddings but I haven't met these guys yet and they're doing a great job of managing a rather stressful series of events with a lot of grace. I'm sure we'll hear all sorts of great stories Friday night.

Meantime, I'll be getting geared up for local weddings at the John J. Audubon Center, the Four Seasons, The Curtis Center and the Park Hyatt at The Bellevue!!!

Contest Wins

I'm happy to announce that I picked up two awards in the fourth quarter of the WPJA contest.

This first image was from Leilani and Pete's wedding in December. I'd been waiting for a bride with to don one of these awesome birdcage veils. They always look great in pictures, they give off a sophisticated, classic vibe and Leilani rocked it with grace.




This pic was from Heather and Ben's wedding last October. It was a moment that I grabbed as we were finishing up portraits in Old City. These guys wanted to have a casual time getting pics of the wedding party in the city so we spent an hour just walking the neighborhoods around Old City. The light was awesome and this scene just emerged. It's one of those classic examples of a situation that I just know will yield a great image if I just sit back and wait and boom, there it is. Typically a picture would put the bride as the central focus, and most of the time that's definitely the case. But what I like here is that Heather's not the immediate center of interest but is the second point of interest in the image. For me it makes the picture a bit deeper as an image to explore and find the surprise, of sorts, of the bride in the shadows of the background.

Too much is too much

Kenneth Jarecke wrote a great post on his blog about the value of authentic imagery. He's a pure photojournalist but what he says in his post has a lot of value for work in the field of wedding photography as well.

The essential point he makes is

Photography and specifically photojournalism is a language. When you de-saturate, or burn, or vignette, too much (and this is the key, all of these are legitimate tools up to a point), you've destroyed the dialog with the viewer. You've twisted the common lexicon so much that it no longer has any meaning.

The idea that pictures can't be strong enough on their own and needs stuff done in order to hold our attention is rooted in a lot of insecurity. Either the photographer themselves relies on post-processing to make the image have impact or a designer doesn't feel that they're doing enough in their contribution if they don't change or affect or alter or "dress" an image in some dramatic way. The best pictures affect us on an emotional level. They allow us to linger and contemplate the moment or beauty, or hopefully, the two together that are captured in a single, still frame.

How does this apply to wedding photography? Surely all folks looking at having a wedding photographer at their wedding wants images that show them at their absolute best. Photojournalism, in it's purest sense, isn't so concerned about being flattering as much as it is about the truth of a situation – good, bad, indifferent. But when it comes to your wedding and the photographs, I believe it's important to concentrate on what's most valuable here and that's telling the story of two people and their most important inner circle of family and friends on the happiest day of their lives. The wedding album is an intimate family document that tells us a bit about who we are at our best and who stood their next to us as we made a sacred vow.

For some, I guess, it's about glamour and fashion but I like the comforts, truth and certainty of the real world and all that comes with it. To me, those images of real love, real happiness leap head and shoulders over all the technical whiz bang of those who rely on digital "magic" to boost a mediocre image into the sphere of "cool" but that often leave the viewer cold and left knowing little about the subject of the picture. In the end, it's not so much magic but just pressing a few buttons on the keyboard.

Frankly, capturing reality ain't so easy. Anyone can stand there and snap an image of what's in front of them and show what it is that a camera does. But to interpret a scene, handle the fast moving action and technically challenging environment and create a true piece of art, a document embued with a vision and takes your breath away, takes a connection to the heart of photographer and subject.

More from Jarecke....

It's the flaws, the capturing of reality that make a picture great. No, I'm not saying you have to act like you're recording a crime scene, and I'm not saying you shouldn't decide how to interpret the color of a scene, or the contrast, or even what needs to be burned down a bit, but I am saying you've got to know when you've crossed the line.

When you cross that line, you've destroyed your ability to communicate with your audience. That's the bottom line. If you can't show people what you've seen in a truthful way, if you don't have that credibility, why pick up a camera in the first place?

Colleen & Brian | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer

Colleen and Brian finally had their big day March 28. Last summer the three of us ran around Center City and the riverfront doing engagement pictures so I knew their wedding was going to be a highlight of the year, and I was right. These two are the kind of couple all wedding photographers dream about. They're nice as pie, easy going and a blast to be with. Even the folks at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art thought they were the nicest couple they'd ever worked with.

Colleen wanted a special moment for her and Brian to see each other for the first time. So we planned to have Colleen and her sister waiting in the courtyard of City Hall for Brian to arrive. It was a great moment for all of them, we then took some pictures in the most gorgeous light ever and then went over to PAFA for the ceremony and reception.

It's rare that I am truly excited about family portraits. Don't get me wrong, I like doing them fine and all but they tend to be speedy, efficient affairs. But the Cast Gallery at PAFA is an extraordinary place. It was designed by the original architects of the school there and has the most amazing natural light for the life models that pose for students. It has this beautiful, raw feel to it unlike any other space in the city. I can't wait for another opportunity to take advantage of that space again, soon!

Here's the slideshow of their day.