My favorite photos...




I had a great conversation with a bride recently who asked me what are some of my favorite photos. It took me a little off guard.

I can tell you plenty about what I did wrong on a photo, what I don't like, what I missed or the ones I wished I had a second shot at.  Most of the photographers I know are unforgiving critics of their own work and I'm no different.

I spent a couple of days going over older galleries and thinking about what it is that makes me like photo.

Sometimes, it's the technical aspects. Sometimes, photography is a little like solving a puzzle, where you are going to put a light, or what angle you are going to shoot from or how much or how little depth of field you will use. Sometimes I like a photo because I solved the puzzle well.

Sometimes, the photograph may not show a great technical acumen, but the perfect capture of a moment. A photographer has to be something of an empath, to see when a child will smile or when the father of the bride will tear up. To be able to anticipate these moments, to watch them build and to place yourself in the right place at the right time and, of course, to have a camera ready.  Sometimes, I like a photo because I really feel I captured a moment, a real slice of time. 

Sometimes I like a photo for the silliest, simplest reasons. Maybe because I remember what I did to get it or maybe it's just the kismet of things, the happiest of accidents.  Maybe it was how a leaf looked, the expression on a person in the background. 

I thought I would go through and pull a few images out of the archives now and then and share why I liked a photo, in part  to show you how I think as a photographer and as an exercise for me to keep striving. 

There's no order, no Top 10 list, no rank, when I find something I like or remember something about a photo, I'll give it a post. 

I hope you enjoy.   

One of My Favorite Photos:


Technical: 
Camera: Nikon D3s
ISO: 200
Lens (mm): 28
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter: 1/200
Exp. Comp.: -0.3

This was from Alex and Hillary's wedding last October in Dubuque, Iowa. They were a great couple and had an amazing group of bridesmaids and groomsmen. We had a lot of fun. This shot is in Dubuque's Downtown Millwork District, after the ceremony but before the reception. It was an amazing area that I would love to shoot at again. It was a crazy because it was also homecoming for one of the local high school's and there were people everywhere taking pictures and cars and traffic. I love this photo because of the colors and the way the lines lead the eyes to Alex and Hillary. Alex had been practicing his dip and it paid off. I love the way Hillary's arm drapes, I love the pop of color of the flowers in the center of the image.  I drag an Einstein E640 studio head and a portable battery around on a 13-foot, adjustable stand just for images like this. It lets me get the sky that dark blue, and fill all the shadows. You can see the falloff from the light on the bricks.   I got down and shot up to hide a gaggle of kids walking in the background. I knew I would only have a frame or two before people would be around us. Sometimes it just all comes together. 

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