Photographers look at the world differently than most people. Everything is looked at with varying degrees of potential. Mental formulas are calculated for every scene, every shot. Light & Shadow, Color, Texture, Composition, Perspective, Expression…It all comes into play in the span of a few minutes or even a few seconds.

For creating portraits, good photographers often start with a mental projection of the image they want to capture, they know the appropriate camera settings and lenses that it will require, they make the light work for them or they create it themselves, they bring in their experience and their view of the surroundings, add in the ideas for digitally editing/processing the image and they make it work for the end result of an awesome (hopefully!) photograph.

Wedding photographers have to do all of this rather quickly, with large numbers of people, while making sure everyone is having a good time. At least, that is what I try to do.

I am enjoying capturing weddings by myself, but for a few of my wedding packages, I offer a second photographer to come in for the day or a portion of the day. Logistically, it can be good to have two people in different places at once. Good teams can feed off each others ideas, sometimes even raising the creative bar. Sometimes though, the two photographers end up working the same scene. The results, while similar, can be awesomely different.

Take these two photos, for instance…

Neal’s Image

My Image

Neal Troester joined me on a wedding I shot earlier this year. He is one of the two awesomely talented guys with LemonLime Photography…yes, he cheated on his business partner, Eric, to come shoot with me.

Anyway, back to the photos, this is an example of the same direction, lighting, and nearly the same settings and lenses, but the final perspective and composition, although still straight on, is entirely different. I wanted the beams in the roof to be in my photo to lead your eye down to the folks and Neal wanted the reflective ground to be in his. Ends up, the results are stunning and I decided I like his version better. The key, though, is sometimes just changing your perspective only a few feet can make all the difference in the world.

Out of curiosity, which is YOUR favorite? Why? Why Not?

To all my incredible and patient wedding clients… a HUGE Thank you!

NINE Albums are currently being designed and the album proofs will be out very, very soon. Same with a bunch of DVDs…The new packaging is in and ready to ship very soon!

– John & Jessika, your proofs and blog post are almost ready (later today!)
– Tyler & Monica, your blog post is nearly there also later today!
– Michael & Amanda, your proofs and large blog post are going to be done tomorrow!
– Bob & Stacey, I am nearly done with your amazing wedding images and am getting them ready to show you on Monday or sooner!
– TJ & Krista, the windy photos look awesome…can’t wait to share them with you early next week!

Michael and Amanda’s wedding was a show-stopper! A fantastic day all around. This is only a quick preview of what will be coming soon!!

Laughs filled the day!

Pilgrim Chapel. I can’t wait for you all to see the emotion and energy during this memorable ceremony!

Aren’t they gorgeous!?!

STAY TUNED for many more posts! Three full weddings and three more engagement sessions are soon to be blogged over the next 5 to six days! YAH!

What a fantastically fun day! It kicked off with me over at Blake & Jenn’s house where the girls were pretty much all getting ready.The guys were getting ready over at their neighbors’/dear friends house. Yah for Tony and Angela! When I arrived, nearly everyone was pretty much ready to roll. On the way over to the main venue, we stopped at some groovy little spots for bridal party photos. I think some of the bridal party were having fun, so I decided to post some of my favs from those sets. What do you think of those? I was kickin’ it with my new wide angle glass. Gotta love the sturdy 17-35mm f/2.8!

After those shots we hurried over to one of the prettiest venues of the year… Renée Kelly’s Caenen Castle. Yes, you heard me correctly, a genuinely restored castle, originally built in 1907. Chef Renée Kelly produce’s it’s flawless fresh cuisine and the experience of the entire place was just too cool for words. It is definitely a quiet little gem in the Kansas City area. I hope more bride’s use it in the future. Nice find Jenn! Anyway, the ceremony, dinner and reception was held at the castle. An incredibly fun time was had by all ages.

Oh! This was my second week in a row to have some yummy Rebekah Foster cake! It was my first time to meet the ever-so-awesome dj, Marc O’Leary. He put the f-u-n in fun!

I would love to know your all’s thoughts on the myriad of photos from this day. Leave a comment and let me know!

Getting ready…I love Jenn’s glasses. Such an artist.

Hot dog! Check out the crew at an empty lot in an industrial park.

Walking back to the cars…man, there were a lot of crickets in the tall grass!

Check out the handy, dandy backseat of a minivan. Perfect place for a picture, no?

The yellow building brought some groovy opportunities…

Pretty peoples….just makes you sick, you know what I mean?

Lovely, intimate ceremony.

A rockin’ Rebekah Foster piece of art. Sigh….I could eat it everyday.

“Dance with meeeee, oh my darlinnnngg….” I always love the first dances.

Chef Renée Kelly let me come in and bug her. She is a cute sweetheart and ta-len-ted! Her crew rocks, too! Fantastic staff.

The inside of the castle…detailed and more than charming. Breathtaking.

Aren’t they a dynomite couple? Smokin’ hot even when they are serious! I promise I got lots of happy photos, too!

Their neighbor & friend Angela, enjoying a good ole cigar.

Party time! Marc O’Leary brings it all when he DJs. Look out for a good time! In the bottom left, that’s Tony, Angela’s husband, break-dancing king…or trying, anyway. Better than I can do! Ha!

Tweet, tweet…wook at the wittle wing shot!

Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon.