I had been looking forward to Rosamond’s wedding the whole year through. She and I have been friends since law school, going back well over a decade, and I was so happy when I heard that she and Duke were getting married! The wedding took place in Malibu, California, right at the tail end of a rainy week. Even as I drove over to the hotel for the prep shots at 5:30 in the morning, there was some drizzle in the air. But that turned out to be it. The clouds parted, the sun came through, and everything went off without a hitch. It was great to be both a guest and her photographer, and I felt lucky that I was able to be there with her the whole day through, as I watched a good friend get married.

Click on the image above to see the full slideshow. Some excerpts below. The permanent link is at 5weststudios.com/weddings/2009/rosamond_duke/slideshow/

The morning started off slowly, as I waited for Krissy and Eytan to come by, but that was about the only thing that would go slowly. From the time Krissy came in to the time we left, the day was non-stop and pulse-pounding. I know it sounds like an action thriller more than a wedding, but I just can’t find another way to put it. It was one of the most energetic and spirited I’ve ever seen with a record-length hora. There was never a moment where nothing was happening, and everyone there was a blast! When I looked at my watch at the end of the day, I couldn’t believe the day was over – it felt more like 8 minutes than 8 hours – and I’m glad I got to see it.

Click on the image above to see the full slideshow. Some excerpts below. The permanent link is at 5weststudios.com/weddings/2009/krissy_eytan/slideshow/

Katya and Evan in the fall

Just a quick plug for our new photography service! My wife Katya and I have been working on extending our services to include children’s pictures, as well as maternity pictures, both in studio and outdoors. Be sure to check out some of Katya’s work on her website!

www.5westkids.com

Katya, early morning

Evan, helping to charge the batteries

While I’m not officially in the off season – I still have two more weddings this year, it’s certainly looms close. I love this time of year. It’s my chance to figure out where things are, where they’re going, and what to improve on for the next season. Some of you might have noticed that I don’t post too many paid shoots other than weddings. While we do engagement sessions all year long along with a handful of corporate work, I really try to treat the down time as a period to explore personal material. It lets me experiment and process what I learn during the season, when things are so hurried and non-stop that there really isn’t much time to think.

One thing that really changed for me last year was my focus on personal work. To some extent, I’ve always documented my own life as well as that around me, but about a year back, the meaning of photography took a 180 degree turn for me. Before that, it was largely driven by the visual nature of the image, and not so much what the picture was about. But I found that I hit a wall. While my technical abilities continued to grow, I didn’t really know what to do with them. Creating more precise exposures in unusual lighting with quicker reaction times and better composition was nice, but it also seemed a little empty.

Something was missing. I found that I wasn’t enjoying taking pictures as much as I used to. In fact, what I really enjoyed the most the previous season was meeting all of the wonderful couples that I did. I cared about the pictures immensely, but more because I wanted to do a good job and I knew how important the day was to each couple. But the actual picture taking began to feel repetitive. Not there’s anything wrong with repetition per se, but there is when it’s not exciting any longer.

So that was my focus last year during the off season. At first, I was focused on trying to find a new look and feel, but I quickly came to realize that wasn’t the problem. What was really the problem was that I was so focused on creating pictures that I thought people would like that I didn’t think about creating pictures that I would like. Even in my personal work, I was looking to create pictures that were impressive, but not necessarily meaningful to me.

So last year was something of a transitional year for me. The pictures I took weren’t so different from the previous year that you’d think it was from a different photographer, but they’re most certainly different to me. They were personal. To me, personal is anything you care about. For which there is authorship. Where the point of the picture is connect you with what the photographer cares about. And by making the pictures personal, I was able to find so much more in both my work for myself and my work weddings. I stopped caring whether the pictures were impressive. I no longer thought about whether they would look good if I submitted them to a magazine or bridal blog. Instead, what I cared about was whether they were meaningful. Did they connect the people to the moment? Did they present an idea or a feeling? Did they have something to say?

I love photography that comes from the heart, where you just know the author is consumed by the pictures he or she takes, because the subject matter and the message matters that much. And I feel like I’m on the right track. So, hopefully, this year in the off-season, I’ll be able to keep pushing. I’m excited, and I’m looking forward to sharing a little more of my personal life, more of my discoveries, and more of my thoughts on why photography matters so much to me.

Leslie was one of those laid back brides who was so easy to work with that 8 hours feels like 8 minutes. The day just flew by. It was as heartfelt as lively. Eoin was a blast on the dance floor, his brother gave a heck of a toast, and there wasn’t a person there who didn’t look like they were having a good time. Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Yale Club, though we managed to sneak out for a few pictures over at Grand Central. We were also fortunate enough to have some help throughout the day from Allison of Lindsay Landman Events, who not only helped keep things on track, but was one of the bridesmaids!

Click on the image above to see the full slideshow. Some excerpts below. The permanent link is at 5weststudios.com/weddings/2009/leslie_eoin/slideshow/

Katya and Evan watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Growing up in California, the Thanksgiving Day Parade was always something I associated with watching on television. Somehow, it never really occurred to me that some people go out and see it – it just felt so much bigger than life. So moving here some 8 years back, and realizing that I could see from my window was really something else. It was as if those television images came to life. In fact, we were so fascinated that first year here, that we burnt the gravy for our turkey, because we were watching the parade so intently.

Anyway, I wanted to take a moment express my appreciation for all of the wonderful people we’ve come across and all of you out there kind enough to let us share a little of your lives. There is just so much to be thankful for, and I’m grateful for every bit of it. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

One thing I noticed as we walked around today – people find very interesting ways to elevate themselves:

Aileen, as her sister looks on and the make-up artist is finishing up

I was walking through Union Square with a friend not so long ago, when I experienced a bit of an epiphany. Maybe not quite a full-on epiphany. Let’s call it a semi-epiphany. As is always the case, Union Square is largely populated by teenagers hanging out on any given Friday night, and as I walked by, a familiar feeling of discomfort came over me. It was that sense of not belonging. Not so much because I’m 38 and the crowd was half my age, but more because of a feeling like I had in high school – that feeling of being the outsider. I was always the nerd, and it seemed to me that everyone cool knew each other, while I knew no one. And that’s just how I felt walking by Union Square that night. Which is also how I feel at parties, where I don’t know anyone. And most gatherings with strangers, in general.

Then it hit me. As I stared out, looking at everyone gathered together in their cliques, I suddenly realized they couldn’t all know each other. There was just no way. And there it was. Myth dispelled.

But, the feeling still lingers. Never having been the person in the middle of it all, watching the ebb and flow of the world around me and how people behave has always been intriguing. Have you ever seen those music videos or TV commercials, where one person is standing there, and everything is happening around them in fast motion? That’s kind of how I feel. I think that’s part of what turned me on to photography. Not only did it give me a sense of purpose, but it connected me with all those things going on in a way that was personal and intimate without making me self-conscious. It was a way to be part of it all.

There are certain shots that grab you right away. The emotions, the expressions, and the beautiful landscapes are all in this category. The impact is decisive, visceral, and undeniable. But there are also those shots whose value reveals itself more subtly. They’re not as visually stimulating or emotionally connective, but they have the ability to show the world in a way that is unique to photography. Their power comes from what they reveal about the environments we live in. They are about life going on, more so than any specific occurrence.

I really love those types of photographs. In a very special way, they convey the feeling of a particular place and time. They are ephemeral and fleeting, sometimes touching and emotional, other times haphazard and disorganized much the way life is. They are created by a confluence of events, and without looking for it, you’d never see them just by being there, but you can sense it. It’s that feeling of a moment in the middle of everything, and there really is no confluence of events you’ll ever find quite like a wedding.

Josie with bridemaids as she finishes up with the dress

Josie’s bridemaids

Evan’s first craft project

I still remember getting ready for the very first wedding I shot. I pored over the magazines and reviewed the portfolios of only God knows how many photographers out there. And there was one shot that really mystified me. The shoe shot. Not so much because it made no sense. But, because it seemed to receive an exceptional amount of attention in proportion to the other details and event occurrences. I saw them hanging off paintings, sitting on frames, placed in plants – everything.

Fast forwarding five years, it’s simply become part of the wedding to me, but I have to say, I’ve never really been “The Detail Shot Guy.” Not just for weddings, but in general. Some people love shooting objects, and they find great ways to imbue them with a sense of meaning. I love shooting people.

With that said, I thought I’d share something that struck a chord with me, and that reminds me how valuable a simple detail shot can be. A couple of weeks ago, we picked up a glue gun. I said to my wife “What are we planning to do with that?” She showed me a bag of…what are those things? Acorns? Well, anyway, it was a bag of twigs, leaves, and nuts that she and Evan had collected from Central Park. “Ummm…right, so what are we going to do with the glue gun?” I said again. She rolled her eyes.

The next morning, she showed me a little man she made with Evan out of three acorns. Evan was excited, and he carried the glue gun around all morning, waiting for more. Unfortunately, I had to go to work, and when we came back, I found the result of Evan’s handy work on our window sill from the picture above. I’ll never underestimate the details again.