I have a few images from the wedding that I shot last weekend for Jessica and Bryant to share. These are all "getting ready" images. In a way, I think that the sequence of the wedding day mirrors the entire process of getting married. A lot of time is spent planning and getting ready, and then the actual event goes by in a flash. All of that stress, energy, and excitement and then, just when you think that it is over, you realize that the good part is just getting started.

1/25 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 800
31mm, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 on
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi

I made this image by window light at the bride's parent’s home before the wedding. I applied a lightroom preset (Aged Photo) and then dropped the exposure a tad and added a little highlight recovery and fill light.

1/15 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800
70mm, EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM on
Canon DIGITAL REBEL XTi

All that I did to this image was apply a preset called "faded photo" which you can download for free here. I like the way that the soft lighting from the window and the almost 3/4 view of the bride really accentuate her great profile and pretty features.

1/40 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800
35mm, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 on
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi

I really like this photograph because it shows both the bride and her mother absorbed in getting ready for the big day to come. I know that it is the bride's big day first, but it is her mother's big day second and these two are such a great team. I love the unconscious connection that it shows. I applied a preset from Matt Kloskowski called Matt's Nostalgic Effect (2). You can download it for free on his website here. While you are there check out the rest of his site. He has a lot of great helpful information on there and if you are looking for a great read pick up a copy of his book "Layers: The complete guide to Photoshop's most powerful tool". The book is packed with tips and tricks for using layers in Photoshop and I can bet that just about anyone will learn at least one new thing from this book that will help you be faster or better.

I have to admit two things. The first is that even though I really like blogs and have several that I watch daily on my iGoogle page, I was incredibly intimidated by the thought of actually creating one. How does someone even go about it? It seems really hard right?

Fortunately for me, it is really incredibly easy. So easy that I kinda wondered if I was missing something important along the way.

This leads me to my second confession; even though I know that I should hate Google for smothering the small businesses of the world and feeding the corporate conglomerate of America blah, blah, blah I really just can't. In fact, I might just be obsessed with all of Google's services (including Blogger) to an unhealthy level, but how can something that makes my life this much easier possibly be bad?

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I wanted to talk about what my primary goals for starting a blog are.

First, I want this blog to be a place where my photography clients (both current and prospective) can come to get a feel for what I have been up to, who I am, and how I like to do things so that they can feel confident that once we enter into a professional relationship we will be a good match. I feel that it is important for the photographer and the client to feel comfortable with each other. Photographs always come out better when both the people in front and behind the lense are relaxed and in sync.

My second goal is to share some of the information that I have gathered along the way with other photographers. While there is a lot of great information out there in books and on the web, I still feel like I can probably help other up-and-coming photographers by sharing what I have learned. I strongly feel that this profession is a never ending learning cycle. No one can ever know it all, and everyone has something usefull to contribute to the whole.

On that note, keep an eye out for new information. I have several ideas for future blogs in both categories and hope to have a better idea of the structure that the blog will take in the near future.