Aislyn & Jeannie

Aislyn and Jeannie had a vision for their wedding:  simple, on the ocean, private and intimate.  They had a truck full of pews delivered to El Capitan State Beach in Santa Barbara which created a formality and structure to that private beach.  "The Love Boat has Docked" was the theme of their wedding.  The love they shared was felt by all those who shared that amazing afternoon with them.  Same sex weddings are, almost by definition, non-traditional.  But there is a theme across all of the weddings I photograph that seems to run deeper than any tradition.  A deep mutual love and respect between the couples.  I suppose that as traditional as it gets.

Big Heart Weddings

When I met Gina and JR for the first time, I knew right away I wanted to photograph their wedding.  They had applied for a spot on my "Big Heart Discount" program.  Gina spends her time as a volunteer mentoring youth with disabilities.  Her passion for her work in this community and her contagious smile was only eclipsed by the connection she had with JR.  As she spoke about her plans, I could see the patience and support in JR's eyes.  I knew, their wedding day was going to be full of these moments and I couldn't wait to capture them on film.

One wedding: two very different posts

Selecting images to represent my work is always a challenge.  Two photographers could choose completely different images from the same set of images.  This selection or "edit" is similar to the editor of a movie and is critical to the final representation of the wedding.  The image set I choose is the second half of the creative process and supports my theory of wedding coverage.  Below are two posts from the same wedding.  Post #1:  A polished selection of the perfect shots;  immaculately cropped, perfectly timed, color balanced, tweaked and ready for a magazine spread.  Post #2:  imperfect raw moments, no magazine spreads... however, illustrative...  Which set moves you the most?  Which set truly sets my work apart from the crowd?  What if you don't know Ashley and Alec?  Well, now is your chance to weigh in.  No more lurking.  Below are two posts, the first set of images are magazine-ish, cropped out and tweaked.  The second... we'll tell me what you think.  What would you rather see?

NOW FOR THE RAW

These captures have some flaws, but are also very powerful.  Obviously, this image would have been better without the flowers in front of Alec's face.  But is it so distracting we lose the strength of this moment?  It's surely not magazine content, however... what this image does show is the truth in Ashley's eyes, you know exactly what she is feeling and thinking: ... "you know me ... all our time together and here I am ... that girl you fell in love with... in a wedding dress!"... they are about to leap off that cliff of marriage together and trust each other with everything.

Coverage balance: ACTION vs REACTION

Everyone knows: with every action, there is a reaction.  This applies to quality wedding coverage, yet many photographers forget.  Yes, it's important to capture a grand entrance.  This is standard.  Everyone, even uncle Jack gets this shot.  When Beatriz and Mauricio hired me to capture their wedding, they were investing in a key insight that carries their coverage to to a whole different level.  This vision requires a deeper level of perception and yields the kind of imagery that truly captures the whole story:  a bride enters the ballroom, her mother's reaction to seeing her daughter enter the room for the first time as a married woman... the bride walking down the aisle with her father and a groom seeing his wife for the first time.... a toast by the father of the groom and his mother listening to her husband as he proclaims his respect for his grown son...