Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween and Anniversary To My First Bride and Groom

It was three years ago today that I shot my first wedding as the primary photographer and what a lucky photographer I was to have that wedding be my cherry popper. I had shot several weddings as a second and third shooter, but as the primary I was a virgin before this event.

Nicki and Rich are a wonderful couple. He is a musician and she is a horror-movie-loving-comic-book-collecting-trekkie-fanatic that truly go together like bacon and... well bacon goes with anything now doesn't it. They are like bacon with a side of bacon.

Their wedding was simple, sweet and matched their personalities to a tee. They were married on Halloween. It was hailed as a "Converse" wedding, which means all guests were asked to wear Converse Shoes, just like Rich is wearing in the image on the left. Yup. This is what the bride and groom wore for their wedding. How absolutely cool is that.

Most guests did wear their converse shoes as well as Halloween costumes.

Nicki and Rich didn't want anything too fancy for the photos, but I couldn't help myself but play a little. It was a little awkward to ask Nicki to climb up on the pool table, she was wearing a skirt after all.

But with a little help from friends, she climbed up assumed the pose and I was able to capture this sweet moment.

Congratulations Nicki and Rich. Three years ago today you both said I do and have been doing it ever since. Best wishes to both of you in the coming years of your lives together. May those year be filled with the happiness and joy you both more than deserve.

So three years later, and I am no longer shooting weddings, at least I am not pursuing them. Weddings still find me on rare occasion and I am happy to raise my camera to support someone's special day, but now, for the most part, I am shooting more for myself, more for art.

At the beginning of the month I attended a weekend-long photography retreat on the Oregon Coast.

I had brought props with me that I picked up at the local Halloween shop in hopes to create some wonderful images.

With the help of my friend Matt's flash and remote triggers I was able to do just that.

The props were two blank cupie doll masks, one black and one white. They represent a face of horror that still scares the living crap out of me to this day and I don't know why. The why isn't as important as the fact that they scare me I guess.
Equipped with the masks, my camera and Matt's flash gear I headed into the woods alone and started shooting.

The focus was to create mood with the light and a scary sense of wonder. After shooting a little bit with the masks hanging on a tree, my wife wandered over to me and asked if she could help.

She put on a mask and posed in an old tree fort.The image on right is exactly what I had hoped to get from the masks. My wife can be a scary muse for me at times, even though she has not a horrific bone in her body... outside of our shared love of horror films.

Thank you for the help sweetie. You made my goals come true, once again.