dav.d wedding photography

Leave a Comment: January; 21st; 2012

Adventures in Film – Something New for My Wedding Photography written by dav.d

I know there has been a lot that I haven’t mentioned in blog posts – one of them is my new discovery of film photography. I won’t say that I am a film photographer yet – but I am definitely putting my toe in the water and trying it out.

So, I wanted to show a few film photographs – these photographs are of Kelli Jo and Jonathan. I will be blogging their formals and their wedding photographs soon – but I figured I would share a few preview photos. One is a color film photograph and one is a black and white film photograph.

Kelli Jo, amazing bride, is photographed on Kodak Portra film

Why shoot film? Isn’t digital the way to go? I like to consider the notion that digital and film are simply different mediums much like water color and oil paints are both beautiful means to convey art. Film photography has a look and a feel that can be described as organic – I definitely find it isn’t as sharp and detailed as digital. I like photographing both – with digital I have more control and with film I am still discovering the artistic possibilites. I am discovering the limitations of both.

Jonathan, my brother and the groom, photographed on Kodak TMax

I am learning so much by shooting film. There are photographers that only shoot film – and they have some amazing artwork. Right now I am straddling both worlds – I shoot digital and film. With digital I can do so much including compositing a bride and groom into different locations. With film I gain an organic grain and texture that is unique.

A few days ago Kodak declared Chapter 11 bankrupcty. Is this the end of film? No. In fact I am just starting my discovery into film. I am hoping that I can be one of those photographers who can both shoot digital and film. (Just so you know I have about 14 different cameras that I use regularly)

I have been trying to find a balance between film, digital and even Polaroid. The only thing that seems to limit my experiment is how many bags and cameras I can carry at one time. Anyway, I would love to know if people like the look of film and if they want a photographer that uses film and digital – or maybe even just film. Please let me know!

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Joel & Carissa on Polaroid, It's the Future!

Wedding Photography Anywhere and Anytime?!

Joel & Carissa in Death Valley of Namibia

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Posted in Film Photography, Formals | Tags: film photographer, film wedding photography, Formal wedding photography

Leave a Comment: January; 20th; 2012

Open Question to Brides – I Want Information written by dav.d

I’m going to confess – I am wanting information. I want to know what brides (more importantly – in Utah) want from their wedding photographer. Being a guy and also being gay I don’t have my pulse on what brides want.

I have about 70 people who visit my website on a daily basis – yet very few contact me. Am I selling myself poorly? Am I too expensive? Am I not offering the right services? Do you want prints, albums, disks, or more – I want to know!

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Longing for Spring & Wedding Season

Prime Lenses

Battle of the 24mm f/1.4 lenses

Testing my New Camera and Lens

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Posted in Photography |

Leave a Comment: January; 20th; 2012

Joel & Carissa in Death Valley of Namibia written by dav.d

I couldn’t wait to show off this photograph of Joel and Carissa. I photographed them in the foyer of the church before their wedding reception. The background is a stock photograph of Namibia’s Death Valley. I doubt I will ever be in the African desert with a bride, groom, and my camera gear. However, I was able to create a one of a kind fine art photograph.

Joel and Carissa live in Arizona – which of course I equate to desert. And since time is a valuable commodity and we didn’t have the chance to drive to the desert we brought it all together in Photoshop.

Joel and Carissa in Namibia's Death Valley

I need to figure out how to price this kind of work. It is cheaper than flying or driving to Death Valley – yet it does take a lot of work and skill to get this to look real. Hopefully more brides want this kind of artwork for themselves – I am having a blast creating this kind of artwork and I want to print images like these out on huge canvas.

For a photograph like this there is planning and attention to detail. And of course – if a client wants a certain location I will of course do all I can to use that location. If someone wants Paris, New York, Asia or other locations that shouldn’t be a problem.

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Wedding Photography Anywhere and Anytime?!

Adventures in Film - Something New for My Wedding Photography

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Posted in Formals | Tags: death valley, desert, Formal wedding photography, photoshop

Leave a Comment: January; 19th; 2012

Two Family Weddings in Two Weeks! written by dav.d

Yep, it is true – there were two weddings in my family in the last 2 months. In fact the weddings were only 2 weeks apart. The last sibling to be married was my sister – eleven years ago. So to have 2 so close together is probably a bit odd. And I was the wedding photographer for both weddings – woo hoo!

I will be blogging the photographs later when they are ready for publishing. In the meantime I figured I would share the two family photographs.

The first photograph features the family portrait from the Salt Lake wedding. My brother Jonathan (the youngest of 7 kids) married Kelli Jo in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Jonathan and Kelli Jo were married in December at the Salt Lake Temple

My brother Joel married Carissa 2 weeks later at the Snowflake Arizona Temple. My brother Paul wasn’t able to make it out for that wedding so I will be adding him with the power of Photoshop.

Joel and Carissa were married in January at the Snowflake Arizona Temple

Our family is very excited for our new sister-in-laws! They are awesome and they have really meshed well with our family. Most importantly they enjoy our family’s sense of humor – which is important

Now if we can find someone for my sister…

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An Open Letter to the Groom

Sun flares at Sundance Wedding

Cake smash!

Dang flowers get in the way of a cake cutting

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Posted in Weddings | Tags: salt lake city, snowflake arizona, temple, wedding

Leave a Comment: January; 18th; 2012

Wedding Photography Anywhere and Anytime?! written by dav.d

Hooray for Photoshop! Did I ruin the surprise?

One of the first things that a bride and groom will ask about are cool locations for their bridals, formals and maybe even wedding photography. The old adage of “location, location, location” will always be important.

When we were planning for the formals for Kelli Jo and Jonathan we had discussed the Bonneville Salt Flats. Unfortunately, the Bonneville Salt Flats are only dry and available for photography from August – October. What do we do? I photographed them in studio and then used Photoshop to add them onto the Salt Flats.

The first photograph here is the final result. Truth be told this photograph comes from 3 different photos. I photographed the Salt Flats in August, The sky is from the Great Salt Lake in October, and then they were photographed in studio in November. It all came together and it is one of my favorite photographs to date.

Kelli Jo and Jonathan on the Bonneville Salt Flats

Here is the studio photograph. We spent the first part of the formals wedding photography at the Salt Lake Temple. We wanted “real” photographs first and then we shot in studio. I will be blogging more photos later.

They were originally photographed in studio - with the idea of using Photoshop

Here are a few more photographs that were shot in studio and then added to the Bonneville Salt Flats. The other advantage of Photoshop is we can use photographs from Stock photography websites and that will be cheaper than flying out to New York, Chicago, Europe or other locations.

Bridal portraits - anywhere and at anytime

Shooting on location will usually always be ideal. I can create a few hundred photographs easily on the Salt Flats or wherever we have the portrait session. If I am compositing – it takes a lot more work in Photoshop – and so a portrait session may result in 4-5 shots. Right now it takes about an hour per photograph to add people to a different location.

If you want to see some of the possibilities – check out this family photo shoot that I did – it is on my other website. This kind of photography is definitely different – and hopefully makes my photography a little bit more unique.

So with a bit of planning we can do almost anything. The fashion world is using these techniques on a regular basis. They will photograph a model in studio and then put them into different locations around the world. It saves them travel costs. And since I like the idea of putting fashion and wedding photography together I am definitely breaking some new ground here.

Where would you want your photographs?