I view my most recent wedding as a standard for things to come.
Let me explain why and how.
What I did to make this possible
A couple months back I was so busy that I opted to raise my prices in a deliberate attempt to have more time.
More time for my photo projects.
More time to have a real life.
More time to focus on each photo shoot.
More time to UP my standards.
And so far it’s worked.
It’s been weird to not book as many photo-shoots, I’ve learned to deal with it.
I’m learning how to fill in all that available time.
New Pricing – Thoughts About
I didn’t want to simply raise costs just because, but I wanted to raise them at the same time raise the quality of the product.
Over the years I’ve raised my prices many times… back in 2005 with the first few weddings I shot for as low as $250 for a wedding.
I didn’t just raise costs because I wanted more money, but because I felt the product was worth that, because I had worked hard at improving with talent, time and equipment.
Now I finally have pretty much every tool I’ve wanted for a long long time.
Weddings I’m searching for
This Hawaii wedding is also an example of the types of weddings I want to focus on working on.
Nicely organized weddings, with people who are very interested in a higher level of photography. I want to be dealing with brides who don’t simply want A photographer but are in search of A great quality photographer.
I understand for some photography isn’t their #1 concern.
And I also understand there are many who really want great pictures but can’t usually afford them.
I want to still be in an affordable range… as a bargain for an educated shopper who can understand what I’m giving when they compare it to other options.
I want to deal with people that stretch to reach the cost (even if i have to help them with the cost) so that they’re appreciative of the product.
But I also want to deal with people that understand the bargain.
I am in Utah where the wedding photography costs are way down in comparison to many other parts of the country.
I suppose this is why I travel a lot.
Give more
If you compare straight up prices it can be deceptive.
But when someone sees I don’t charge by the hour and they could have me for 10hrs + on a wedding day.
And when they see how many pictures I typically give to a client.
When they recognize things like how I review and edit Every picture I give to them.
Many of the intangibles such as the experience which will help me deal with any possible situation that might come up for a wedding.
Or the demeanor and attitude that helps me deal with weddings perfectly. Not too formal, not too informal.
Not just the quality of the picture… but the feel of the picture.
The speed with which the sessions go… not rushed and not dragging along.
Consistency
I’ve always prided myself on the consistency of my weddings.
I felt confident telling clients that they were assured of great wedding pictures.
It wasn’t hit and miss. It was hit after hit.
And sometimes of course there were some big hits.
Good things happen when the sun goes down… twilight is often more exciting… and then there’s a clear evening with the stars coming out and some nice palm trees.
In this post I’d love to drive home the point:
Make wherever you happen to be work for you.
And get good at seeking out spots and SEEing the spots you’re at.
Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity… make it the perfect opportunity.
(Above) As you see these pictures you might wonder why they call it Sunset Beach… haha
This day was proof-example, after example, of why going out with a set purpose (set picture) in mind is in many (not all) ways is retarded.
But having a “way point” can be smart.
Yes have plans… but be open to all the amazing things that surround you.
In this case we penciled in Sunset beach for sunset.
When you’re on a road trip with me you realize I’m using a pencil and that pencil has an eraser.
But beyond that when you are wherever you are… be ready to shoot them when they happen. (know how)
And be ready to SEE them.
It makes me wonder how/why those photographers who set out with one specific shot in mind do it.
That would drive me batty… and doesn’t seem like a good idea. (Open for discussion, as long as we’re trying to understand eachother)
(Though perhaps having fewer pictures would sure cut down on processing and make picking easier)
Going back to the car to grab the tripod… low and behold, I saw the light.
I was saying to myself… how do these things like this keep happening to me?
I really couldn’t have planned the mist, the sunlight angle because of clouds, the color of the sunlight is beyond our control as we know.
Yes I put myself in a situation where i could get back lit pictures of surfers when they came out… but I certainly wasn’t expecting this.
I can’t move this dude I’m not in charge of the posing.
I just frame it up to tell the story and wait for the elements to be in a good spot.
This is a big example of just wandering around searching and being in the right place at the right time.
We didn’t write Hawaii 2009 in the sand but we came by literally seconds before the wave washed it away forever.
I barely had time to aim and spray fire shoot it as it got washed away.
The lighting was hardly what people aim for, but I knew that it would make it unique and that I could add back some of the contrast from shooting towards a setting sun.
This was not planned it was a result of waiting around for other people to be ready to go and getting bored and saying… hey why not take pictures of the palm trees.
If only I had my cable release to take longer than 30 second exposures. But that’s what I could do…
and I set the White balance to 2500 kelvin to bring out the blue because the street lights were throwing off the colors.
On this trip I discovered the joy of setting my white balance to Shady A2 to really bring out warm colors
I think any white balance could have worked for this evening and the camera itself would have been stumped with the colors of the sunset at sunset beach.
Don’t just take good pictures and call it good… add spice.
OK obviously the above picture was taken a while before sunset colors hit… but I wanted to show the kind of waves they were looking at.
You’ll see some better pictures of waves coming up… but I take pictures to document what was going around a whole lot.
Now planning your shots ahead of time is not a bad thing… don’t misunderstand.
I planned on being at sunset beach at sunset.
And when I got there an hour before sunset I said I wanted to be on such and such side of the water/beach.
But the point is: Up until that time (your way-point time) and after and maybe even instead be willing to let your hunches, ideas and the light take you where they will…
Kinda like the waves of see, they go here and there and wherever the wind and tide takes them.
Yes there could have been other paths… but make the path you decided on, or were thrust into work for you
You’ll find some amazing things start to happen.
And you’ll learn to deal with (photographically) what you’re given… and not just search for what you want and always see the green green grass just beyond reach.
I’m saying both things can be good when done correctly.
But don’t wait for the perfect opportunity… make it the perfect opportunity.
A lot of my pictures are a testament to my laziness… i was shooting sunset here and just didn’t feel like moving.
I was hoping more surfers would just walk past me. (They’ve done it in the past)
So i just sat around, not being pulled in any other way.
So I made where I was Work.
Instead of perhaps finding another better location. (Which might have been good too)
People almost seem to refuse to take pictures when the light is not perfect for them.
I say learn how to deal with the light no matter what it’s giving you.
Use it to your advantage… take the pictures the present light situation is giving you.
Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity… make it the perfect opportunity.
Even better if what’s been given is pretty darn nice!
Dustin wanted some pictures while we were traveling around in Hawaii.
One evening after sunset (twilight) I decided I could take a break and do some.
I laid the flash on a few rocks pointed it in a direction and told him to stand in front of it.
I walked around him shooting pictures and doing some different poses.
After a while I realized I didn’t have move at all… he stood in the same spot the whole time and I just moved around and adjusted my settings.
In fact the flash stayed in the same spot on the same settings the whole time.
I did have him jump in that spot so at the end he did move a little.
Just goes to show what you can do.
Here are some examples
To change it up I shot through things.
Shooting away from the sunset/twilight made things much darker background obviously.
This day we took it easy only leaving later in the day to pick up two more photographers from the airport and then shooting in two locations in town (Kailua Kona)
The plan was go up the mountain… but they didn’t let us… so we went around.
They closed the mountain because of snow and ice, so we decided to take a small dirt road accessible by 4wd only.
This is the same road we played on, on a previous day. So thus we were back on the road.
Probably one of my favorite places on the island and for sure one of the least traveled areas of the island.
You’ll also see some pictures of the north east coast of the island where we went later in the day.
You’ll recognize it as the places with water, ocean, waterfalls etc.
There were many many pictures taken that day, but I was able to skim through them and pick out some of my favorites so I could do a recap here.
It’s gonna be a long post because I have lots of pictures to share.
And also a few words about how to make every wedding this great.
Perfectly planned
I really had a great time doing this wedding.
Being in Hawaii certainly didn’t hurt.
They were also a great looking couple, had a great family, picked a wonderful place for the wedding and reception.
They had everything planned out very well and that makes my job so much easier and makes for better pictures.
So if a future bride is reading this.
Please note that it just doesn’t naturally happen with no effort.
What to do?
This bride seemed to almost plan the day around wonderful picture opportunities.
From the fans and the parisols the brides mades used to flying her stylist over from her island.
She seemed to pick the location based on her own estimation and advice from the hotels as to which one had the best photography spots.
And she picked well.
So therefore… pick a great place to get married or time to travel to a spot on that day.
She even organized the banquet/reception to end in time to have her be able to do photography at sunset.
Most people seem unwilling to do that sometimes planning a reception during sunset.
Perhaps it helped since she had a captive audience since 70 people flew from another island.
I can’t and won’t just pull you away from whatever you’re doing to get sunset pictures.
But I will be willing to do them if that desire comes from you.
I’ll do my best to take amazing pictures. But if you aren’t willing to go the extra mile with a smile… well… you understand.
She got tons of pictures during the reception that she will be using for several projects that would have not been possible unless she had 2 people helping organize those shots. I could have done them but not effeciently in the time that it needed to, because we had the help of others to cut down drastically on the time and have me simply doing the shots, what I do best.
Besides she planned a banquet/formal reception which allow for better pictures than a “lined” reception.
The program allowed for great pictures as well as the nice decorations.
Finally they were troopers.
I pride myself in making the shoots fun and creative.
But they were more than willing to make the pictures happen.
Those who are more interested in and excited about pictures will more often get the better pictures.
We photographers feed off of that energy.
They didn’t just wait for instructions (slowing the process down) but they put emotion into their pictures.
And they acted quickly to help utilize effectively the short time we had.
I’m not saying they were the best actors or characters I’ve photographed. In fact I did most of the ideas, but it just happened that I was on a roll. but I think their attitude played a big part and the way we interacted.
Never once did I hear… “But I’m not photogenic”, or “I don’t look good in pictures”
It’s our job to make good pictures and I’d like to think I do a good job and everyone is always pleased, so if you just trust us and just relax and have fun.
Remember we thrive with the emotion of the moment.
Having tons of time to shoot isn’t the key, it’s a team effort to act effectively with the time given.
(Above) Two poses they made happen entirely on their own. The prep dancing they didn’t even know about.
The photographer and those being photographed should both be creative together working to make things happen.
The emotion and feeling of the picture needs to flow from them.
I tend to put them in the poses that match the mood coming from them and from the light of the day.
Even though I scouted out the location in advance to see what could work, we still were open to any possibility that night.
We had to roll with the time and situation given to us.
Just exactly how the light would be hitting at the moment we passed by the location we were walking around.
And it all went down perfectly. And part of that perfection comes from moving fast and taking advantage of every picture we had time for. But not limiting ourselves to expectations of pictures and then not having time to make them happen.
Having wants and desires is great but we need to be able to roll with the flow and settle for the best pictures possible.
If she had wanted a picture that took 20 minutes to travel to or create then we would have missed out on soo much.
There was trust that I would do my job but it wasn’t a blind relience that it only depended on me and that the subject didn’t have to do anything nor did they even have to care.
Hawaii sure didn’t hurt, nor did their good looks of the bride and groom, nor Dustin assisting me that evening with lighting and bags.
And creating and inviting to more opportunities is very helpful.
But the moral of the story is… It’s partnership of creativity, we all work together to make great pictures.
This day seemed like several days all rolled up into one!
I guess that happens when you get up at 4am to go shoot sunrise a ways away and then shoot all the way until sunset.
When you are taking pictures and think back to that previous day when you were shooting near the lighthouse… oh wait that was earlier today.
Or when at the end of the day you can barely remember the beginning of the day because it seems like you’ve done sooo much since then.
That’s when you know you were pretty effective with the scheduling of your day.
The First “day”
Sunrise on the north point.
It included quite few miles of driving along along the coast line on fun dirt roads.
This was the longest day and we were in a bunch of different towns all along the northern coast.
“Day” 2
This day came in two distinct parts, but felt like they should be combined.
We went snorkeling in a bay and then met up with the wedding family and friends for some lunch and fun on the beach.
Using my little G11 to take some fun underwater shots.
The final “day”
We scouted out the location for the wedding and did sunset shots.
I don’t usually go visit the location before hand to figure things out, but we usually look for a place to do sunset and this was a phenomenal location.
I enjoyed being able to spot the possible locations and possible routes for the sunset since it comes and goes quite suddenly.
Turns out that info came in very handy for the wedding day and being overly prepared helped move things along smoothly.
I was also glad the element of spontaneity was still very much there and the pre-visit didn’t spoil it at all.
Sunset at this beach is pretty crazy awesome, but I thought i’d highlight some late twilight pictures taken a while after sunset.
Tripod required for this long exposure.
Look at the bunch of other “Day 3″ sunset pictures later in this post.
And we begin the post with a nice end of the day shot.
These types of trips you plan on picking a great spot for sunrise and sunset.
Well I think we got ourselves a nice sunset location.
There are a lot of rocky beaches, but this one was a nice sandy beach and I made it work.
Here’s some more stuff from the story of the second day.
This was only a few of the 1200+ pictures taken on day 2 (yesterday)
Cresting over the mountain, the unofficial west island sunrise.
Sunrise on the west side has some nice light but no color like I suppose you’d see if you were actually seeing the sunrise earlier in the morning.
Mid-morning holds some surprises on secluded beaches you get to with your 4wd vehicle
Mid-afternoon can be fun when clouds start participating a bit more.
Clouds block the sun but they’re just about to release their captive prisoner the sun, for that little gap between heaven and earth.
Can you spot where the sun is about to drop down below the cloud level?
Get your butt down in that water, get the camera low, not for the faint of heart, but it’ll make the great pictures.
Ahh the reflections!
Dang it people don’t even think of walking in the path of my picture…
…oh wait… now that I think about it… walk right in front of me.
That’s right, hold hands,… that’s cute!
Thanks for playing.
I titled this recap post “Just across the street”
Because that’s where these pictures were taken.
By the time I flew in, rented the car, went to the condo, went and got some late lunch/dinner and bought some groceries It was now to late to travel somewhere to do sunset pictures… so I went accross the street!
What I’m trying to say is for less than the cost of a hotel room there are nice condos for rent in super nice locations.
The search for a good place paid off.
But I thought about calling it “Be ready and Wait for it” because that’s what happened.
I had a great moment when with about 30 seconds notice I noticed something that was going to happen.
I quickly got ready and waited for it. When it happened it happened fast and there were no do-overs.
In those 5 seconds you had to hope all those years of learning how your camera functions best pays off.
The thing is you fire off a dozen or more pictures and then you can’t really decide which one is the best, because the subtle differences offer something good for each.
But when this moment is happening in a flash (pardon the pun) it’s this weird rush of excitement.
Subdued and peaceful, you feel like you want to shout out Yes! but no one is around, and well you don’t want to jinx the pictures anyway.
So it’s a quite victory. Plus you know you didn’t make the event happen, you just happened to be there.
Yes indeed Thanksgiving Day is already upon us in Hawaii!
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