I have always had a camera around. My mother was always the busy photographer at our birthday parties or family vacations or performances. When I was in Junior High sometime I went with her to a Creative Memories class – scrapbooking. And I was officially hooked. To scrapbooking. Which you need photos for.
All through Junior High, on class trips or parties and the like, my parents bought disposable cameras for me. I should dig out that film. Yes, I still have it. Technically terrible images. But they still capture that day for me. They still tell the story. Even if the light and composition and quality are all bad.
I got my first 35mm camera point-and-shoot for a Junior High graduation gift. And I loved that thing to pieces. I think it only lasted a couple years before I got replacement. Probably Olympus. Probably some ridiculous zoom that I overused.
I took pictures constantly. Constantly. You can ask my High School friends. I was always the one with the camera. And, yes, I still have all that film too. And the whole time, I was scrapbooking our stories.
I was really involved in High School. Several extracurriculars. A big group of friends that did all these activities with me. I had a lot of fun in high school, and I had the photos to prove it. My scrapbooking became a constant activity. Pages and pages chronicling the spring musical, or the speech and debate tournament. All of these stories and laughs and events that I didn’t want to forget.
I was never one to set up ‘photo shoots’ with my friends, the way some burgeoning artists do. That’s not why I took pictures. I just wanted to capture what was really happening since the moment is gone so very fast.
And, in listening to other photographers talk about their craft and recognizing other methods, I realize this is how I still approach photography.
I just revel in the idea of photojournalism. Capturing the story as it happens, every part. The nice thing about weddings, though, is the story is always happy – versus working for a newspaper and having to photograph every car accident or student board meeting.
My goal with every wedding is to really capture the event as you will remember it.
This is why you won’t find me doing any staged shots. I would love to get a picture of the bride’s mother arranging her train, but I hope she’s not doing it just for the photographer’s benefit.
This is why I don’t have Photoshop on my computer. I just don’t have a need for it. I process my images with Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture – just enough to counteract any digital flatness and ensure the colors are true. But any further tweaking (adding in your pet dog, for example) I have no interest in doing.
I love being a wedding photographer because I love being there, hopefully as a member of your friends and family, capturing your very real emotions on one of the happiest days of your life.
I would love to be there, creatively capturing the funny, the fleeting, the poignant, the unexpected moments of your wedding day.
I can’t wait to hear from you and learn more about your wedding day, what you envision and what you have planned.
Please feel free to contact me at any time.
-A
310-694-7907