The posing trend.

When I shoot, either weddings, models, boudoir, kids or pretty much anything, I'm an advocate of capturing emotions.
You see, there's a trend to make people look perfect. Family members will stop a photographer to 'fix' the bride, to move the dress, to ask her to smile.
Truth is, the more people tell the bride or the groom what to do, the more confused they get.
They hired a photographer to make them look good, but their friends, family members or bystanders keep interrupting and giving them all sorts of advise. Most of it contradictory and confusing.
By the time we get to take a picture, the look in their faces is truly the look of confusion.
What happened with spontaneity?

Years ago, the trend was photojournalism. Although most people really didn't understand the concept 100%, there was a hunger for pictures that looked honest, non-posed, true to reality.

Hereby I ask:
What's of more value to people, A true emotion or a posed and daunted look?
I choose the first one.
Granted, a professional already thought of the basics of composition, light, technique and overall mood before he/she takes an image. But there's this element of intimacy that a couple has, that a true professional tries to bring out, instead of eliminating it with constant interruptions and posing. Some guidance is great. Telling people what to do every moment is not.

This is true even more with the flood of 'perfect' images that people pin in their pinterest walls, or gather through months of research.
People are so desperate to have those 'perfect' shots that they loose track of what matters the most:
Each couple is different. Their language and story is different. The photographer may not do the images you saw on pinterest. And... would you want to have the same images another 1500 photographers are doing on every wedding?
As photographers, we see the new trends and try to balance what couple's want with what we do.
The most amazing images I get from my weddings is when I have freedom to do what I feel like doing, just for that couple.

On the following image, the couple was getting ready for the 'official' image. They are not even looking at the camera.However, you can feel the emotion and excitement.

So here, some images that show true emotions, without been technically perfect. I value these more. And all were taken on the flight, just casually between other images one the list.

Love the true love these guys have in their eyes :)

 Often times, all it takes is to have the perfect setting. The rest just happens.

Why photographers need exclusivity. The Cousin saga.

A couple weeks ago, I shot a destination wedding. The place was amazing. A castle by a lake!!
I had quite an interesting experience there.  It's always so uncomfortable to have to ask somebody to please stop shooting over your shoulder, or just to move out of the scene.
Have you heard those horror stories, where the most important image from the shoot is lost?
Well, that didn't happen, but quite close!
See what happens when a cousin believes he's a pro-photographer...
Let's see who can figure out who is our dear Primo!

 Groom is ready to take his place down the isle, nice arch, stone and...Primo!

 We have father of the bride, Groom, Pastor, Bride, somehow DJ was also there and then...Primo!

 Primo is busy checking his images.

 What a lovely scenery in the background.

 Flower girl and Ring bearer, plus photo- relative.

 Some nice jacket and elbow.

 Primo didn't want to miss the shot.

 I bet his image looks awesome with me in it too :)

Primo also doubled as entertainer!

Al joking aside, these are some examples of why is important to keep things under control. Many Brides are now opting for electronic-free weddings due to this very reason. The number of images where all the guests are staring into their little electronic screens instead of looking at the newly weds is just breath taking. When your professional photographer has to continuously ask other members of the ceremony and guests to please move so he can get the shot, is just uncomfortable for everybody.
Our goal is to get you the best images, so help us and make sure somebody keeps an eye on all the uncles, cousins and friends who have a really nice camera and are so eager to become the next family pro.
Certainly, we can take charge and just ask the other people to stop. But then again, why ruin the most important day for a  relative if all could've been avoided?
Just my 2 cents :)

Where do sports and weddings cross?

Well of course, in the Volleyball court!
We did some fast images for Kara and James. We absolutely love taking pictures of these guys. So much fun and they're just made for each other. Besides, it's always so interesting to learn about the passions of our customers. Kara is into Volleyball, like REALLY into it. We haven't had the opportunity to see her play professionally yet, but we sure witnessed them playing each other, and boy, I got to say, they get real into it!

Anyway, here's a little teaser. More to come of this couple's great engagement images. These soon to be married couple met us at the Lee's Summit public volleyball court.
Sorry I don't remember the name, I'll ask the wife.
Adrian

Wedding in Emporia, KS Heather and Lukas

Last Saturday started early, since we had to be there by 8:00 am.
Michelle and I had a blast with Heather and Lukas, and got to share their awesome wedding.
Lots of the details were made by their families and we got some great locations too.
We were moved by how they were supported by the people who loves them.
It was challenging and we had some equipment casualties (a 150mm macro lens and an umbrella, ouch!) but nonetheless were really happy to be part of their wedding day.

We can't wait to do some picture selection, there's many to choose, but here are some teaser pictures for their friends and family to enjoy.
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Horst!

Misty and Randy's Wedding

Well, It was a long day, drove all the way to Wichita to photograph Misty and Randy's wedding, but boy, I gotta say it was totally awesome. These guys are so cool, and Michelle and I had a ball. We knew the weather was going to be against us, and it sure was. Hot, humid, sunny. A photographer's nightmare. Things got a tad hectic, but we managed to improvise and I think it worked really well.

As a side note, it's always prudent to steer away from other photographers working in the same area (and their brides). They seem to get pretty territorial :)

On this one, we just got silly, and will include it as a bonus track (for Randy) in the album.

And it was easy to get too. You tell a bride to get a sexy look and she knows exactly what to do. I think it's genetics.

The couple was staying at the Marriott downtown Wichita. The hotel's management was kind enough to let us wander and use their facilities for some really nice pictures, like this.

It was interesting to me how for the pictures I liked the most, we used a very simple set up, no flash, and one lens only. Natural light is the best.

You can tell how much Misty likes to dance on this one. Randy was really having a good time taking pictures of his bride.

ttp://www.earthue.com/

Amanda and Drew's Wedding

Congratulations to Amanda and Drew Koester! I had the honor to photograph their Wedding at Town Pavilion last Saturday, June 20th and did I have a ball! Of course it's going to take some time for me to post the pictures, but I couldn't wait to show something at least.

They were amazing, and we got a whole lot of very fun pictures. I knew they were fun before, as I took their engagement pictures before, which I use in my galleries.

I got many comments about a little incident that happened during the ceremony, and I missed as I was taking pictures in the other way (Sorry guys!) , However, after consulting with my lovely assistant (Michelle), I found out that SHE did get this moment. So... by popular demand, here's the glorious moment, for posterity.

To give an idea of how much fun these guys like to have, check the next picture. And that was actually the censored one. (No worries guys, I won't post the ones of the "Superbad" movie)

So, after a long but very fun day, I'll be working on more images in the next few days. Check back often to see the couple doing their groceries, Drew's love for vegetables and the couple's brand choice of wine...

I'll give a free 8x10 print to anybody who guesses the wine brand...(except Amanda or Drew)

Back to my website:

http://www.earthue.com/

Randy and Misty's engagement pictures

Randy and Misty picked a very cool place for their pictures. They like the urban setting, so we went to Wichita's riverfront area and close to the museum. After three hours driving, we were quite tired, but we got energized when we saw the place. It was awesome. the weather was super nice too, but we didn't have much light to work, so we got down to business.

After a couple pictures by the river, we decided to move to the colorful club area.


As always, Randy and Misty were such troopers, and put up with all my ideas. Of course, I wanted to try all the cool spots around!
Randy and Misty's wedding is on July 11. and we plan to use the great scenery to take beautiful images.
You can see more pictures at www.earthue.com