Chantal and Brian, Columbia Restaurant Wedding

My first day back from vacation and I jumped right back into things with the opportunity to photograph Chantal and Brian's lovely wedding. The ceremony was at the First Chirstian Church in Hyde Park and the reception was at the historic Columbia restaurant in Ybor. The Columbia is a great venue for an event; not to mention some great food! Congratulations Chantal and Brian! You guys were great and I think we walked away with some special images. Special thanks to Al, the second photographer. Let's walk through some of my favorites.

Chantal and Brian were great! As the reception was ending, I asked to pull them away from their party for a quick portrait upstairs where the light was really nice.

This shot was taken right after the one above. Just a few extra minutes resulted in some great images.

I was with the guys upstairs in the church before the ceremony. We waited a few minutes for the last usher to come up for some group shots, so I used the time to fire off a few quick portraits of Brian. Thanks to one of the groomsmen who held my light for me. By the way, this shot almost resulted in my head having a chance meeting with a ceiling fan. Note to other photographers: look up before standing on chairs!

The mothers are seated, the guys are at the altar, and the bride sneaks into the front of the sanctuary ready to make her grand entrance. The church staff closed all the doors before her entrance and I didn't want to open them and cause too much of a scene. But I really wanted a shot of Chantal in that special moment before walking down the aisle. The small windows in the doors offered enough of a glimpse to create a special image.

The ceremony is over and we arrive at The Columbia. A photographer in The Columbia is like a kid in a candy store. I could easily shoot there all day and not run out of cool locations. Some great down-lights add a dramatic touch to this shot.

This is near the main lobby of the restaurant. And although it looks like it is their own private romantic hideaway, customers kept passing through congratulating the couple. I loved the warm, intimate feel of the ambient lighting at this spot. Unfortunately, the light was no good for faces. I had to find a way to properly light the couple without killing the mood. A flash on a stand zoomed in on the couple was set to add just enough light to light them without overpowering the cool lamp light.

Chantal and Brian put a lot of work into planning their special day and it showed. There were lots of great details to record. I had a tough time deciding between two different matchbook shots because I liked them both so much, but this one won. The color and texture of the napkin offer a glimpse into the style and feel of their wedding.

Yee-Haw!! Now those are some dancing shoes! Brian goes to remove the garter, but first has to remove the cowgirl boots. (Yes, she had separate shoes for the ceremony)

I love this technique for highlighting the bride and groom on a busy dance floor. The light in my left hand is zoomed in so it only illuminates Chantal and Brian. A nice moment between the couple is really what makes the image.

Once again, congratulations to the happy couple! The wedding was awesome and all of us at Tampa Photo would like to wish you the best.

Back from Vacation

Whew! Sorry for the unannounced absence. I just got back from a nice vacation to the Carolinas. Back on Friday, and weddings on Saturday and Sunday. So there is going to be plenty of pics to post. First you'll get a glimpse at Chantal and Brian's wedding; then some images from Michael and Christine's beach wedding. Then I will toss in a few of my favorite vacation shots. So I've got lots of editing to do. Chantal and Brian's post should be up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Baby Grant

I finally made it over to see baby Grant to make some photos before he gets too big. He was great and gave me plenty of time to get some nice images. It's so nice when babies cooperate. Let's dive right in!

This image is getting thrown in because technically it is the first picture I ever took of Grant. This was just a week or two before he was born. Doesn't Shannon look so beautiful here?

Grant was just hanging out in his little seat until we were ready to get started. The window light was so nice (and the seat made for a wonderful background) so I popped off a few shots.

And here he is.

Gotta love all those little baby parts! The bottom left image is Grant holding on to mommy's finger.

Big brother Andrew was a lot of fun; he is quite a ham when you point a camera at him! I love this image because it is such a great brother picture. Don't worry Grant, Andrew will be there looking after you for years to come.

He is just adorable. I originally thought I would convert all of these images to black and white, but I really like the natural baby skin color against the black background.

It was tough (as usual) to only pick a few images to post here (hence the 4-in-1 baby parts image). But these are a few of my favorites. We are really happy that Shannon, Josh, Andrew and Grant are all doing great!

Bridal Show Slideshow

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Perfect Wedding Guide's Really Big Bridal Show! As promised, the goofy slideshow has been created and posted! Thanks to all the good sports who were willing to step in front of the camera and get crazy!

For those of you who did not attend the bridal show, we set up a "photo booth" to allow show guests to get in front of the camera and do (almost) whatever they wanted. It turned out to be great fun.

Here are are a few quick images selected from the show. They were either taken by MJ, Kevin or me. This first one is of me and MJ! She is notorious for putting pics of me in her blog, so I HAD to include her in this!

In the Kitchen

Wedding season is relatively slow in the summer yet I still can't seem to find any free time (OK, so I did go fishing on Sunday). I finally found a few minutes for a quick product shoot though. David over at strobist has begun his "Lighting 102" series that is basically an online course/lecture/experiment/workshop/group learning kind of thing for photographers. The first "assignment" was to shoot kitchen utensils. I busted out some measuring cups and the wooden cutting board and got started.

This is the final product and the image I liked the best. The following images will give a brief overview of how I arrived here.

I chose the measuring cups because in a normal situation I would avoid shooting something so reflective and curvy. This subject posed a few problems, but that was the point; to learn and improve.

So we start simple. I placed an umbrella close to and slightly behind the subject. This angle was chosen because it give the best highlights on the rims of the cups. Unfortunately that is about the only cool thing of this photo (and that shadow in front of the cup is pretty distracting).

I turn off the umbrella light (for now) and experiment with a second light. My main problem with the shot above was the dark shadows inside the cups. So I bounced a light into my ceiling, knowing that I would be able to see the reflection of my ceiling inside the measuring cup. Bonus: this second light gets rid of that nasty shadow from the previous image. Also, both of these shots look underexposed because they are each one flash; the final image is a sum of the two.

Now we have the final lighting scheme. Well exposed, nice highlights, nice shadows, and enough light inside that small cup to help draw your eye to the center of the concentric pattern created by the cups. Once the lighting was figured out I played with a few different compositions.

Here is a setup shot of the final lighting scheme. The pillow is propped up to act as a GOBO (go between). This prevents the cups from reflecting the actual flash. Just as you can see the flash in this picture, you could see that same reflection on the cups. This simple step eliminates those specular highlights while allowing the cups to "see" that bright ceiling.

And now just a few bonus images for a different prespective. As I made the images, I grew more interested in the artistic/abstract patterns than the cups as a product.

A different view. One thing I did here that helps the image is rotating the cutting board so the grain is going diagonally. The cups are arranged in such a linear and uniform composition that I felt the image needed that small touch for the added design element.

OK, back to the normal stuff soon. Hopefully I will have some images of baby Grant this week!

Where's the Journalism?

I am not sure if the wedding photojournalism craze is starting to die off, but I was very surprised at this past weekend's Perfect Wedding Guide bridal show. There were LOTS of photographers and the quality was......diverse. Some nice images to be sure, but nothing that jumped out at me with emotion or a unique sense of the moment. I, and the other Tampa Photo shooters, will certainly pose you on your wedding day. Those shots are very special and they give us the opportunity to portray you and your day in a very beautiful and flattering manner. But your day is going to be filled with many special moments that could never be staged, directed or recreated. My passion is capturing those special moments exactly as they happen. I can pose you very elegantly and in the nicest light around; and people who see those images will say "You look beautiful!" That is a great response, but I also want to hear "That picture is SO you, Jen!" or "Oh, that is classic Stacy!" Capturing a moment without manipulating the subjects or the environment is difficult. It requires composition, lighting and subject matter to all meet at the same point in time. It is my belief that when such a moment comes together AND is captured by my camera I am providing my client with a special keepsake that will forever remind them of their special day.

Sorry for the drawn-out post, but I was so surprised at the lack of photojournalism at the bridal show! It has inspired me to go back and pull a few quick images from past weddings to give you a glimpse into some stories behind the moments!

The bridal party was getting ready and one of the flower girls was just getting up from her nap. It would have been great to get a picture of her in her dress, smiling in front of some nice background, but that is not how things were. She was tired and shy, and not letting go of that bankie! The light was cooperating so I shot this using available light.

This was a scary situation (for me). I was told I had 15 minutes to shoot the B&G after the ceremony before they were to be announced since everything was running late. That is not enough time. But I can do it. But then....bustling the dress took 12 minutes! I made images of all the bridesmaids and mothers working like crazy to get it bustled and I managed to keep my panic on the inside! I set up a light near the adjacent wall and waited a few moments. The bride finally gave up stressing and trying to help and she just relaxed! It resulted in this wonderful pose (it looks natural because it is!) and an image that shows how pretty and elegant she looked, while also capturing the scene of her worker-bees trying to get that dress bustled!

This is from Lange Farm. A really cool venue where the bride usually arrives at the ceremony by horse-drawn carriage. I always see the typical shot of the bride, or the bride and groom, sitting in the carriage smiling. I shoot that picture also because it is good to have. But it doesn't capture a true feeling of the special day. For this shot, the bride had just arrived at the ceremony and the reality was starting to hit her. The bride typically gets out on the far side of the carriage so she is hidden; the carriage rides away to unveil the lovely bride. But as she met up with her brother to be escorted down the aisle she needed a minute to compose herself. The carriage stayed put as the second carriage attendant (pictured) held the horses in place. Seeing this shot years from now, the bride will be reminded of the setting, the horse and carriage, in addition to the strong emotions that she was feeling at that very special moment, shared with her brother.

This was during the blessing before dinner, so I was being as stealth as possible. The shot was great because the mom and daughter were together and the father and son were kind of praying together. Cute enough. But then the son gave a quick glance up at dad and it took this image to a whole different level.

This bride was getting ready in her hotel room and was almost ready for us to start taking pictures of her. I ran into the bathroom in search of some cool details. She was still modeling for her mom and checking herself in the mirror. While in the bathroom I saw this image come together. I had to wait a minute or so until she naturally looked over at her mother, allowing me to capture her profile. She was comfortable and relaxed because she didn't think she had to be "on" yet.

The bridesmaids were all lined up waiting for the bride to get positioned. The bride arrived at the church entry and that was all these girls needed to start the water works! Apparently, fanning your face somehow stops the tears! The girl on the left is looking at the bride, the girl on the right is looking down the aisle, and the girl in the middle is looking up to try and prevent the tears from ruining her mascara. I love this image because it is a great balance of emotion, humor and motion.

I hope you enjoyed some of my journalistic-style images. If you like this style, check out my whole gallery dedicated to "PJ" at my web site.