My brother Tim’s band, The Turbo A.C.’s, swept through Lexington Tuesday night to play Buster’s Billiards and Backroom. Having shot the back cover of their last album, Live to Win, they were looking forward to having me updates some of their promo photos. They’re putting the finishing touches on a new album set to drop in October, just in time for their European tour… check them out!
One of the opening acts, The Loaded Nuns
One of the things about weddings is that they often seem to be too familiar after awhile. You start looking for the same things, you set up in the same places in the aisle, etc. But then one comes along that busts up all your usual routines, and for me, Meredith and Aaron’s wedding certainly did that.
Their original plan involved a small ceremony in a nearby state park, but someone pointed out that there was no alternate location at that site if the weather turned sour, and boy, was that a good call. The day turned out to have a light, but steady, drizzle, and instead of fighting the weather, we got a charming venue that was perfect for the intimate size of the gathering and promised fun for all.
It’s that time of year again-- I’m knee deep in editing this summer’s weddings while trying to schedule meetings to talk with brides about next spring’s weddings (plus a couple still for this fall!), which hasn’t left lots of time for blogging, especially if I want the kids to remember who that guy who shows up every other week is. I think my wife remembers who I am, but I’ve been on the road lots this season-- six different states this year.
I’m overdue for a real wedding post, and you’ll see a new quirky one tomorrow -- the ceremony took place on a carousel in Massachussetts!
Also tomorrow (Tuesday August 17), my brother’s Tim’s band, the Turbo A.C.’s, invade Lexington. They’re playing Buster’s Billiards down in the Distillery District, and you know I’d love to see a great turnout for them here in their only Kentucky appearance. If you’re a new bride that we haven’t booked yet and you introduce yourself to me at the show, I’ll give you a substantial gift card towards your wedding photography-- trust me, it’ll be a lot bigger than the price of admission, even if you bring your whole wedding party!
As for the promised fun in this post, I was on Improv Everywhere’s site and saw this great mission from last year, where they throw a surprise wedding reception for a couple getting married at City Hall… Enjoy!
Took a break from editing during my too-brief time home for Thanksgiving to shoot the portraits for our annual Christmas Card. With the twins now 20 months old, we’re able to get them to do a little more in front of the camera.
The basic setup for this one was white seamless paper for the background with a Alien Bees B800 monolight through a beauty dish, just to the right of the camera, as our main light. I used a white coffeetable as a combination stage/seat, as some of the photos were taken with the kids having their legs dangle over the edge, some with them standing on the table so they could move around. I also had a small flash high above at camera right running through a 1/4 inch Honl Speed Grid as a hair light, and a second small flash with a second Honl Grid behind the table lighting up the background.
Just because you’ve planned things well, doesn’t mean they always work out right. I noticed quickly that one of my Pocket Wizard radio controllers wasn’t consistently firing my main light. I ended up disconnecting it, and using the hair light to trigger the other two. That required a second adjustment… it cost me a third of a stop of shutter speed. Even on self-assigned gigs, you have to be ready to adapt quickly.
Kristina and I had a pretty good idea of our selects before the shoot was over. The easiest part was the mixing of the five photos– I’ve had this concept (and the previous year’s card) in mind since before the twins were born.
I’m out of ideas for next year. Maybe I’ll let Kristina come up with the next concept… Naaaaaah.
We’d been trying to get the weather to cooperate with us for awhile to take family portraits of Eugene and Lily and their two children, Louis and Autumn. As you might have guessed by their daughter’s name, it was really important to them to have fall colors in their session. Lily had told me in our initial conversations that while she wanted some posed portraits, she was more interested in having the majority of their images be candid photos of her family being themselves.
We got most of the posed photos out of the way early, figuring that the kids would have more patience for it early, then got them into places where they could play, first a playground, then in an area with great light and lots of colorful leaves on the ground– if you give kids a chance for free play, they often reward you with their most genuine smiles of the day, and they may even give you a playful moment with Mom the above photo. In addition, I made a point of getting a few of Mom and Dad together for some relationship shots.
After our session, we wandered over to Angelo’s Coal Oven Pizza on West 57th St. for dinner together. I’m a sucker for coal oven pizza places every time, and I wasn’t disappointed. Highly recommended.
Those of you who have talked with me are familiar with the fact I never touch the cake at a wedding I’m working, even when I’m a personal friend or even family of the bride. Well, for the first time in five years, I left the camera in the hotel room, and I even ate the cake.
The occasion? My much loved brother Tim and his wonderful bride Nadia got married on Sunday, and for the first time ever, I was a groomsman. Best of all, my oldest, Caroline got to be a flower girl, got to dance with Daddy at a wedding, grew up faster than her parents ever believed possible.
Not that Declan and Audrey didn’t try to participate– Declan tried to march down the aisle, and when his sister got chatty, he and his twin were picked up and relocated to the back of the sanctuary. Audrey then chimed in loud enough for everyone to hear, “Bye!” Later, as Nadia was giving her half of the vows, Audrey sensed what type of life change she was in for, being married to Uncle Tim, because a little voice started insisting, “No, no, no, no, noooooooooo!” (Luckily, no one other than Audrey’s parents heard her.)
Anyway, I did take a couple of shots of Caroline in her flower girl outfit before we left for the wedding. Enjoy!
