I had the pleasure of documenting Carrie and Tony’s wedding October 3rd.  Both lived here in the Savannah area, he’s from Kentucky, she’s from Virginia, but they live in Texas now!  A recipe for a destination wedding for sure!  They’re a lovely couple, with wonderful families and friends…

 

I never charge for engagement shoots when I'm booked for the wedding, and it helps me to anticipate shots and discuss preferences on the day of the wedding.

 

As natural as possible is always best in any shoot, engagement or otherwise in my opinion...

I always attend the rehearsals, surprises might be good for guests, but not for the guy documenting your wedding!

 

The most poignant images are usually captured before the day begins in earnest. People have time to reflect on the day and life ahead and those unscripted shots are usually the most emotional.

 

 

These guys were childhood friends, and this occassion was a wonderful opportunity for them to revert to form and enjoy some time together.

These guys were a fun group.

 

I swapped off with the other photographer to get Carrie's bridals done in Calhoun Square.

 

A horsedrawn Carriage is always a great arrival!

 

Whitfield Square is a beautiful location for outdoor weddings in Savannah!

 

Savannah is a very romantic city, and is pretty well loved by it’s visitors and natives alike.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that so many people come from hundreds (in some cases thousands) of miles away to get married here, but every time I shoot a couple sharing vows in Savannah, I always ask why they chose Savannah, GA.  To date, I have never gotten the same answer twice.

Wedding Venue in Savannah, GA

The history is so palpable and heavy, you could almost cut it with a knife.  Buildings from the 1700’s and 1800’s abound, and it’s easy to imagine people from a different era strolling the promenades.  Women more concerned with the latest fashions from Europe or the next social than the economy or the business climate.  Men more concerned with their honor and reputation than their livelihood.  It’s very easy to imagine, and remains a very romantic city.

Free Ferry service available on River Street

Every city has a personality, and Savannah is a city geared for tourism.  Clean streets, manicured greenery, boutique shops, gourmet restaurants, River Street, and tour companies abound in Savannah.  For a couple interested in a destination wedding, Savannah has it all, including quite an industry geared towards weddings.

Horsedrawn Carriage Service is available in downtown Savannah

Tybee Island is a short 20 minute drive down Hwy 80 East from Savannah, and for people that have a love for the beach or the ocean, Tybee is a popular place to share vows, and begin life as a married couple.  The setting allows for wonderful imagery and the endless backgrounds are great for heirloom photography.

Tybee is a popular elopement destination.

Second to the beaches of Tybee, Forsyth Park at the fountain is probably on of the most popular venues for weddings and elopements in the Savannah area.  The fountain at Forsyth Park is probably the most well-known landmark in Savannah, and when shooting an engagement, bridals, or post wedding set for a destination couple, it’s always at the top of the request list, even if they don’t know the name of the park they can describe it pretty well!

Forsyth Park is a beautiful location for a destination wedding or elopement.

Savannah has 22 squares, each unique with it’s own personality, that are wonderful outdoor settings for both weddings and elopements.  Some have gazebos, others have fountains or monuments, but all are romantic settings for sharing vows alone or in front of guests.

Squares can be very intimate settings for weddings and elopements.

When I began writing this blog, I really thought I could sum it up in 500 words or less, but to do Savannah and the wedding industry here justice, this is really going to need to be broken into multiple parts!  I’m going to be blogging over the weekend about some of the aspects of weddings here in Savannah that interest me as a photographer, including accomodations, planners, other photographers, and the nightlife.

To be continued…

I was reading an article in Professional Photographer magazine, and marketing guru Seth Godin posed the question “are you doing photography worth paying for?”

That was a profound idea to me because I’d never stopped to consider that simple question in my own life. I shoot weddings, portraits, and pretty much anything I can find because I have a love of photography: I’m passionate about it, and I enjoy my subjects’ reactions when they see their photos.

But the question remains: Am I doing photography worth paying for? I would say yes for multiple reasons. First off, I will get the shots, regardless of any variables, and everything will be well documented. Am I saying that Uncle Bob with 10000 dollars worth of equipment wouldn’t be able to get a lot of the same shots? If he were competent, no. I invest a lot of time in expanding my creative mind, and I try my best to see things from a fresh perspective. Someone might have a decent digital camera, but they won’t shoot with the same photographic style that I would.

From a creative standpoint, yes, my work is worth paying for. I instill a great deal of passion for my work, and that passion is expressed in the shots I get. The end result in the photos presented is only part of what I bring to the table. I genuinely enjoy weddings. The pomp and circumstance, the romance, and the simple fact that it is the biggest party that a couple will ever throw inspires me to go beyond just collecting a paycheck and getting the standard shots. I have a bit of envy for the subjects, and by documenting them, I can live it as well.

So, it comes down to presence — I’m happy to be there. There is nowhere else I would rather be than with that wedding party celebrating with them, not as a objective observer. I get to do something with them that no one else can — capture their memories so that they can be re-lived in the years ahead.

I show this love for weddings by not worrying over the intellectual property that most photographers primarily concern themselves with because I celebrate the wedding alongside the bride and groom. I become a part of their wedding and lives, not just an interloper.

I insist on doing engagement shots before the wedding, a service I provide for free as an incentive for the bride and groom to go through the additional sitting. I do this to begin and foster an emotional connection with the couple: I need that in order to celebrate the wedding not as a stranger to the couple, but as a person who truly feels joy for their union. Being emotionally connected allows me to get the shots a paycheck photographer won’t even think to get. Those shots are worth paying for. The competence aside, there are many photographers that don’t want any part of weddings because they find them too stressful — the shots are candid and there are no do-overs. Because of the way I see weddings, and because I celebrate them, shooting them is a joy.  

There is also something to be said for charisma. It is never a struggle for me to line up group shots in a pleasant and non-invasive way. I can sincerely kid around with Grandma or Mom and Dad in order to get the shots with which a bride will be happy for the rest of her life.

So, to answer Mr. Godin’s question — yes, my photography is worth paying for, as is my passion, dedication, and emotional connection to my subjects.

Rodney Johnson and Carrie Fallon came to Savannah for a destination wedding to be coordinated by Coastal Savannah Weddings, as they both live in Florida.  As such, I was never able to meet them in person until the day before their wedding.  Within two minutes of meeting them, I knew Rodney and Carrie were both going to be a hoot!  I got a few shots of them prior to the rehearsal in Forsyth Park, and felt thrilled to help document their ceremony.

 

 

 

If you look closely, you can see a little chickadee on the back rail in front of Rodney's arm! Even the birds loved them!

 

 

 

So today their wonderful friends and family joined them to witness their vows and begin their wonderful life together.  It wasn’t exactly chilly at the park today, so after the ceremony the wedding party and guests adjourned to The Lady & Sons (Paula Deen’s restaurant) for the reception.  I’ve processed a few images to share and will have the rest posted to their gallery in a few days!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This isn’t really a photography blog, but is more of an advice blog for those planning their nuptuals and all of the celebration surrounding it…

When I got married back in 1996, I basically just showed up.  We participated in some pre-marriage counseling sessions because it seemed like a good idea, and it was, but other than that and going broke, I was pretty hands off.  My bride and future Mother in Law planned everything.  All I had to do was show up and say I do.  And I did.  It was a raging success because my voice didn’t even crack, but then I practiced.

But I want to share something with you ladies.  When your man asked you to marry him, it wasn’t for a wedding.  When he did, he had visions of waking up next to you every morning and growing old with you by his side.  Normal everyday you.  Not stressed and tense you, not upset because someone’s life changed and couldn’t attend your wedding you, but the you that he fell in love with.  Not all men are wedding planners.  I would venture to say that most men don’t really care about the wedding.  That’s why it’s called the Bride’s Day.  You have been planning this day since you saw Father of the Bride when you were 9 years old.  You knew it was your big chance to be a princess of Disney quality.  But when you started thinking about your big wedding day, your fiance probably still thought girls smelled funny or something along those lines and was more focused on playing baseball.

A good man knows it’s your day and doesn’t poo poo the event.  But just because he isn’t as excited as you are about the day is really no reason to question his love for you or whether he wants to marry you.  Let him be as involved as he wants to be and everything will be better.  Let him focus on planning his bachelor party with the groomsmen instead.  Let him handle the details of the honeymoon arrangements.  Bring him in for the fun stuff, engagement pictures, cake tasting, etc…   But don’t go into hysterics 4 days before your wedding because he forgot what the colors were, or because he laughed when you told him you were worried about motion sickness in a horsedrawn carriage.  He will never know how big this day is to you, because to him it’s just the day that he says “I do” to loving you for the rest of his life.

 

So just relax, take a deep breath, and know that you have a good man, even if he doesn’t know colors or seem very interested in your bridesmaid gifts…

There is a correlation between familiarity with the photographer and good results for the client, and unless it’s an emergency or there are extenuating circumstances, I insist on a shoot before the wedding.  I include a pre-shoot in all of my wedding packages because it follows logically that the few hours I spend with the couple before a wedding result in better images for them and for me at the wedding.  Now don’t get me wrong, some people are naturally more photogenic.  But even photogenic clients benefit from more images because they are more familiar with the instruction and less time is spent getting the requested shot complete.

Sometimes the clients are simple elopements, and photography is an afterthought, and I respect that, I do.  But I have had engagement shoots for elopements as well and the familiarity showed in the results for those too, and it was time well spent.

In the minds of a client, the benefits of an engagement or bridal shoot are simply pictures for announcements, “free” additional pictures, or maybe a romantic outing with the man or woman they plan to spend the rest of their days hopefully pleasing.  But for a photographer, the benefits are so much more…

The biggest benefit to a photographer is the ability to better engage the subjects.  By spending an afternoon shoot together, the photographer will inevitably become familiar with the “warm buttons” of the clients.  Everyone has different tastes and presuppositions they bring to the table when communicating and the better photographers will work to find that fountain of humor/emotion/reaction desired in their subjects to get the optimal results everyone wants.

Another benefit to the additional time spent together is understanding the terms of instruction.  Near side, far side, right, left, front, and back are simple instructions, but when combined with the anxiety of being in front of the camera, and the confusion of their’s, their partner’s, or my orientation, you understand how it can be quite confusing!  Confusion does not necessarily mean disaster, but when you are limited to 60 minutes of golden hour light in outdoor photography for a sunset wedding, it could mean the client has fewer images than they could have otherwise had if everyone understood everyone else a little more clearly.

An image can only be as good as the subject being shot, and there is something to be said for the comfortable factor when staring into the business end of a 5″ portrait lens.  A subject that is comfortable knows how they are represented in a photographer’s work, and are a little more open with the performance aspect of subject photography.  Emotions are a little more open, the subject is less self-conscious, and the time in front of the lens is a little more enjoyable and it SHOWS!

 

If you’re a photographer reading this, I encourage you to adopt my mentality because it will pay off.  Instead of  acceptable work, your clients will love it because it’s more accurate to their self perceptions.  Instead of a one time client, you have a better chance of forging a friendship and creating an advocate for your work, or at least someone to feed your ego!

If you are a future bride or groom reading this, then you ought to insist on a shoot prior to the wedding.  It is a sure fire way to make sure the person you are investing a sizable portion of your wedding budget in is someone you want to subject your family to, not to mention built in competency insurance.  Second, it’s a romantic activity you can spend with the man or woman of your dreams.  And finally, it will make your wedding pictures better.  It’s a no-lose proposition for you.  Even if you have a spend a few hundred extra dollars, an engagement shoot is something that you can’t afford to pass up.

We started shooting a couple of hours before the wedding, and this is one of the shots they humored me with...

 

Being a very tall guy sometimes comes in pretty handy...

This past weekend I had the pleasure of doing my first boudoir shoot. You may not know what that is, because I never did until I started to get heavy into photography. But to be able to play with light and shadow, with no time constraints and the resources to get it right, sounds like a great time to me. Throw a half naked woman into the mix and you have my idea of a grand time. Kidding. But it was a blast.

boudoir ( ) n. A woman’s private sitting room, dressing room, or bedroom. A boudoir shoot is simply a private shoot done to emphasize allure and sexuality.

4 image Boudoir Collage

A boudoir shoot doesn’t have to be revealing, or display any naughty bits, but some do. Before the shoot, I had some in depth conversations with the client and we discussed what she wanted to accentuate, what she wanted to hide, and what she hoped to accomplish with the shoot other than have a good time. She wanted to have something to look back on in years to come, and also see the fruits of her labor. We were initially going to have the shoot at a friend’s house and I was going to be working with the friend at the same time, but family commitments got in the way and we had to postpone the shoot for the friend, and we had her shoot anyway, just at my house, in my livingroom.

The collages above and below are a group of photos she said I was welcome to share on here, otherwise they would have remained in the locked gallery on my website requiring a password of her choosing to access. We spent a little more than 4 hours, and ended the shoot with 243 photos uploaded, some quite similar and some drastically different. It was a fun shoot for me. I walked away thinking that there are some other things I would like to try the next time I get an opportunity to participate a shoot like this. It’s not cookie cutter though and different subjects require different light and emphasis.

I asked her immediately following the shoot what she thought about the experience. She said that she was worried about me seeing her unclothed but after we began shooting, she became more conscious of the camera than me. Today I recieved a note from her thanking me for the shoot and that she felt self conscious of her looks and now, with the images, she feels pretty. And she should. She is.

3 image Boudoir Collage

Now knowing how much work this is, I’m going to add it to my repertoire, and I’m going to charge $350 for the sitting fee.

Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but I love the ambiance of the historical south.  Growing up in rural Louisiana, I was surrounded by live oaks accented with spanish moss and steeped in history.

My home was in the curve of Bayou Cocodrie, and we used to fish on the banks allowing me to dream about the days of my grandparent’s grandparents.  We definitely didn’t come from money so I had no O’Hara-esque illusions of grandeur for my forbears, but I dreamt them anyway.  I pondered on the decisions made and the lives lived and wondered about old plantations in the area.  I questioned the more elderly of my relatives, trying to discern whether I had any dashing calvarymen or swashbuckling pirates I could claim as ancestors, but to no avail.  I was disappointed to learn that my family was one of hard scrabble workers breaking their backs to scratch a living from ground rural enough that they might not have been aware of a civil war going on, and if they had they would have been simple enough to willingly agree to a position of cannon fodder.

So I embraced my southern heritage as a whole, and celebrated the romanticism of the culture.  Placing their southern ladies on a pedestal, refusing to bend their stiff necks in order to go along to get along, and living their lives according to their definitions of honor seemed to be the order of the day, and I loved that idealism.  I would say that those dreams and ideals formed the man I am today, so it has been very easy for me to find interest in the history of the old south.

I find myself living in Savannah, GA now and it has never been easier to look into the history of centuries past.  From it’s founding in 1733, the happenings and goings on in Savannah have been very well documented.  Pirate houses, cobblestone streets, monuments and memorials, ghosts, and buildings constructed more than two centuries ago abound in this old city.  Walking around in the wee hours of the morning, it’s easy to imagine a life of 150 or 200 years ago, though much more pleasant in the 60 degree temperatures of the late winter/early spring.

I love the old south, and I love Savannah.

 

Rear balcony at The Gastonian

I remember the first time I saw someone do something special.  It was this kid in the first grade that drew a picture of a monster truck (Yes, I grew up in the rural south).  I spent the next 45 minutes trying to draw monster trucks, G.I. Joe’s, army men, monsters, dogs, and horses.  I didn’t have any talent for it, but I wished at the time that I did.  In the years since, I have witnessed true talent in music and voice, dance, writing, sculpting, acting, and even interior design.  I share none of those talents, which is all the more reason I thank God above for blessing me with photography.  By no means am I a master of photography, but I love the art of it enough that I’m willing to be a student of it for the rest of my life.

Sometimes the best skipping stones have already been thrown.

When I first started shooting, my focus was on shooting beautiful things.  Icicles dangling over a sidewalk, a dandelion in a patch of green grass, or maybe trees, their foliage in shades of yellow, red, and green.  All beautiful things and worthy of being captured, savored, and shared.  From there I grew an appreciation of contrasts, juxtapositions of color, shapes, textures, and even meanings.  At that point things blossomed for me and I thought nothing of driving around the countryside looking for the hidden sides of things because I wanted to see them a different way, and I wanted to capture that difference, and make it my own.

A cozy alley off River Street in Savannah.

At some point I began to see shooting images of people more gratifying than still shots, landscapes, wildlife, and forgotten pieces of other people’s lives.  I don’t know what triggered that lightbulb, but I found myself taking pictures of people on the sly, and sometimes stopping people on the street to ask their permission to snap a quick shot or two.  I discovered that a face has a thousand expressions, and that natural beauty had no real bearing on the appeal for me when it came to my passion, photography.

An inside joke.

So here I am today, primarily doing portrait work and weddings.  The best results (my opinion) in my general photography are usually found when I don’t have to mind the time so much and can join a family in the park or for jaunts downtown.  The children are less aware of me as time goes by and it becomes easier to capture their natures.  The mother, father, boyfriend, or girlfriend become a little less self conscious and maybe a little more trusting and their focus turns to each other and I become a part of the background, then magic seems to happen.  They engage with each other and I get to capture that.  In weddings it’s much easier because there is a timeline and many things to think about so it’s easier to be out of a subject’s mind.  And I feel priveledged to be there, with a license to shoot to my heart’s content freezing moments in time as they unfold before me.

Father/daughter bonding time after the wedding.

So why do I shoot?  Because it’s a challenge.  Because the subject shares something in every image.  Because unless it’s captured, something truly beautiful might be forgotten and eventually be unappreciated.  Because photography is my creative outlet and I would do it for free if given no other option.