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Like many people
I enjoyed taking pictures as a kid growing up. I remember my first
camera when I was 10 years old and taking pictures of my dog, my
brothers and sister, and the area I grew up in.
In early 1994
after graduating from college and starting my own family I went
out and bought a good camera to take pictures of my kids as they
grew up. I wanted to create a photographic history of our family
to preserve images of who we were as we went through life, the things
that were important to us, and some of the fun things we did. I
wanted to document the lives of my children as they grew up because
childhood is short and perishable and one day I knew I would want
to be able to look back and remember
and I wanted my children
to be able to look back and remember. And although it is inescapable
and even important that some pictures are posed I wanted to document
as best I could all the cute, spontaneous, unpredictable, perishable
moments I could
the things my kids did when they were just
being themselves without their being aware of the camera because
when they were aware of the camera their behavior changed.
In May of 1997
I read an article titled, "Celebrity Wedding Photographer Tells
All!" in one of the photography trade magazines. The article
described the photographic style of a man named Denis Reggie, who
Town and Country reported to be "the great wedding photographer
of our day." According to the article after he took the classic,
traditional, posed photographs Mr. Reggie took pictures the way
I was trying to take pictures of my children-documenting the natural
happenings of the day
both planned and spontaneous and the
interaction and celebration with family and friends. Mr. Reggie
was credited with bringing a fresh, new approach to wedding photography.
He called his new approach "wedding photojournalism" and
he became my first important, enduring photographic influence.
"Wedding
photojournalism" grew out of news photojournalism. News photojournalists
attempt to tell a story, to capture emotion, to capture the "decisive
moment," the moment that tells the story. Doing this requires
knowledge of photography and the right equipment, but it also requires
a photojournalist's "eye," anticipation, and timing.
Wedding photojournalism is similar. It's all about observing and
anticipating events and stories as they unfold and then capturing
the natural interactions and expressions, the really great moments
of your wedding day, the spontaneous, perishable, fleeting moments
that allow you to relive and enjoy your wedding day all over again
when you view your photographs. Such an approach produces images
that have a classic, timeless quality with universal appeal; images
that move us when we view them because they pull us into the story
as the story unfolds. Because such an approach produces a photographic
record of the couple celebrating with their family and friends such
images may become even more meaningful to couples as the years go
by. This photographic approach also allows the bride and groom to
forget about photography and just be themselves as they go off and
enjoy their wedding day and celebrate with their family and friends.
I should add that some couples also want their wedding rehearsal
and rehearsal dinner documented as well, and of course I am happy
to do so.
In addition
to capturing the important moments of your wedding day it is also
important to capture the classic, posed images, and the traditional
group photographs. Although I typically go through these rather
quickly and efficiently some brides and grooms ask that we set aside
additional time to create fun, classic, or artistically posed images
of them or of themselves and members of their wedding party. Of
course I am delighted to do so.
If this approach
to wedding photography sounds like the kind of wedding photography
you're interested in I'd love to hear from you!

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