editing wedding pictures

I've been finishing the final edits for my sister's wedding photography.

It's been an interesting time.  I learn more and more about the nuances of color correcting as I go.  It's a cold sort of task, all sliding bars and numbers, rebounding numbingly off of my visual intuition.
It's frequently frustrating, because of the way each color is intertwined with the next, and the way the color casts of light sources interact with each other.

However, there are moments of obscure triumph.  They are moments that no one else is impressed with, because the best result is an ordinary photograph, but a perfectly exposed one.

Then, there are the exceptions.  While I'm processing away, there are a few photos where I spontaneously try something, just to see what would happen.
I should explain: I don't much believe in digital editing "tricks" like sepia toned vignetting, fuzzing out the edges, only saturating a single color, or randomly turning things black and white because it looks more "arty." For me, if one of my pictures needs a "trick" to look interesting, then it's probably not a very strong picture.

However, some pictures cry out to be black and white.  Others go from ordinary/distracting, to stunning with selective saturation.  I'm still not sold on random sepia tones.

These pictures are the exceptions, and incidentally, were the most fun to edit.

In the original, the background of this is all bright greenery.  I feel the desaturation lets you focus on his face.

I like these pictures so much better cropped.  Without the crop, they're just snapshots.

 there was a picture hanging on the wall. I felt it distracted from the subject.

 It's a subtle edit, but I crowed aloud when I got the color balance of the people and the yellow lit ceiling agreeing with one another.

 I can't decide which version I prefer.  I like them both for different reasons.

I loved recovering the blue of the sky, with the streaming clouds. Such lovely weather, for November.

This one is edited too, but I won't tell you how. ; )

Best of 2011: Portraits

It's been a good year for portraits. Tons of friends and families, and friends with families.
I've found babies are especially fun to photograph.  They're ridiculously spontaneous.

It was also the year I finally started getting decent portraits of my best friend, Ann.  I've been trying to photograph her for years, and they've all been less than satisfactory.  Either I was making it too "arty" or she was too conscious of the camera, and subtracted some of her personality from her face in order to "pose."  Somehow, we both became comfortable enough, and I got some we both really like.
I also managed to get a couple good pictures of my father, who is also hard to photograph well.

this is my mother, working on pottery late at night.  I doubt she even knows I took this picture.

 smooches,

 smooches,

smooches!

 The thing I've noticed about photographing new mothers, is that their attention is so completely not on themselves.  Their life seems to be one unending vigil, overseeing their child.

 charming isn't she?  I love how her face looks like rubber.  We were in the middle of her engagement shoot and all the smooching was making her giddy.

Wedding Certificates... or the importance of a piece of paper

I have a funny story to share with you.

My sister forgot to get married.
That is, they left the marriage license at home, and consequently didn't get anyone to sign it, and therefore were not legally married.
So, in the eyes of God, their souls were bound irrevocably together.  However, in the eyes of the state, they were still two starry eyed lovers who had gone to church and then thrown a big party.

They didn't realize this until about 11:15, when we were packing everything up to get out of the reception site in time.
Under more "normal" circumstances, they would've waited until the next morning and tracked the priest down after Sunday mass at his home parish, and sheepishly asked him to sign it with them.  However, they had chosen to have their wedding celebrated by a friend, a Dominican Father who is living in another state, and they didn't know when he was leaving on Sunday.
Luckily they knew he was staying at his (local) parent's house.  So at about 12:15, they knocked on the door.  Father Joe was thankfully still up, and they got married, for real, at his parents kitchen table.  The priest's mother got pictures.  I'm dying to see them.

In lieu of showing you my sister's "real" wedding photos, here's a few pictures of Jewish marriage certificates from Yale's Beinecke Rare Book Collection.

enjoy!

A link to the Beinecke Rare Book Collection website.

Wedded bliss

My sister Rachel got married on Saturday to the love of her life: James Bond.  

The priest made copious 007 jokes during his homily.

It was a glorious wedding.  I did a great deal of the photography, which was easy.  Shooting beautiful pictures of my sister and her groom was a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.

Now that the bride and groom have a disc of proofs, the mother of the bride has seen the pics, and the mother of the groom has a disc of pics on the way to her, I feel free to share a few with you lovely people.

Rachel and James are two of the most prayer filled people I know.  They worked hard to fill their wedding with prayer and thanksgiving, meaning, and beauty.  They succeeded marvelously.

I'm just a little bit proud of Rachel's bouquet, since I made it and got it to cascade every bit as much as she'd been hoping for. Here's a closer picture:

Around the ribbon, we put a rosary and a medal of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of marriages.  There was another St. Nicholas medal inserted into James's boutteniere. The medals were a gift from Tammy Hemmerle, who also did a smashing job with the choral solos.

Rachel had 19 different musicians and singers singing parts and/or playing piano, violin, flute, bohdran, and bagpipes.  I hope I'm not forgetting an instrument.  It was beautiful, despite several of the musicians having just met each other that morning for practice.

Rachel had a small horde of flower girls.  Half of them helped with her chapel length veil, and the other half scattered rose petals before her.  However, their main task was to look ridiculously adorable.

They did this with enthusiasm and panache.

My favorite part of this picture is the little flower girl who is hugging Rachel's train.  She's keeping it from getting dirty trailing on the ground, but you can tell how much she adores it.  The little girls loved Rachel's outfit, particularly the veil which I think they regarded as a particularly beautiful toy.

A couple more pictures of flower girl cuteness:

She's listening attentively to Rachel and James singing a duet.  They sang "Set Me As a Seal" to each other, and to dedicate their marriage to the Holy Family.  I cried behind my camera.  It was just so beautiful.  It was James's idea, which is a little surprising, as it's such a Rachel-ish thing to do.

I love it when guys are so in love, they simply can't hold their beloved's hand with just one hand.  Only holding with both hands will do.

The wedding party looked pretty smashing too.

and, of course, a good time was had by all.