Category Archives: Personal

30, the new 20.

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So today I turned 30.  I guess this means I’m old now.  Or at least it seems like I should mean that having never been 30 before.  I didn’t really feel that my birthday required a blog post about it, until I spoke to a friend this morning who asked me a seemingly-innocuous question that ended up prompting a little introspection.  So here I am, getting ready to go out to eat and drink to celebrate 30 years, writing a blog post.  She asked me, “Are you where you thought you would be by this point in your life?”  Ha.

Well turns out, that’s a good question.  I think the value of birthdays, at least to me, ought to be to take stock of where you are, where you have been, and where you will go.  And while I might have had a perfect and blissfully-ignorant birthday without such contemplation, it is, I think, fitting to reflect on these things.  Afterall, failing to do so from time to time will ensure that the answer is always no.  You can’t be where you’d hoped if you never stop to hope.

Am I where I thought I’d be by age 30?  Yes and no – of course the answer has to be yes and no.  Otherwise I’d be dead.  My life, like anyone’s, is a work in progress.  And when it stops being in progress, it’s over.  I love to say to people, “If you’re not living, you’re dying.”  And dying I am not.  Progress, though, is certainly the word of the day – actually, it’s the word of the year.  Something kicked in for me a year ago that got me moving on the things I’d spent years thinking and dreaming about.  I seriously doubt it was the proverbial “clock ticking” that got me in action around my dreams rather than in dreams about my action.  But whatever it was, thank God.  It’s about time.

So where am I?  Well, I wanted to start a photography studio and be famous.  LOL.  Yeah, so some of that might have been more dreaming than anything.  But I have to say, the fact that I’m making my way with photography was something I dreamed about, but never really thought I would or could do.  Sometimes being wrong is great.  And in the nearly 9 years of shooting weddings and events in the DC area and all around the country, I have come a long way.  I’m coming up on 200 weddings, I’ve shot weddings on both of our bordering oceans, in a handful of states around the country, transitioned from super-traditional to much more contemporary style of shooting, transitioned from film to digital, worked through (and welcomed) the legalization of gay marriage, learned about such a plethora of different cultures/religions and their wedding traditions and beliefs, connected with so many different and wonderful people, and seen places I would have had no other reason to see.  I’ve watched my style develop from scattered to a more refined and personal style.  I’ve learned how to sell myself and my work – well, I’m learning anyway.  So many wonderful accomplishments that have happened without too much stopping and smelling the roses.

And with all that being said, I’ve only begun to start this studio.  Am I where I thought I’d be at age 30 with a photography business?   No.  But I didn’t know when I was 20 that starting a business was actually difficult.  I thought if I just took nice pictures, I’d be rich.  I don’t wish I were that naive again.  Reality is more work, but more rewarding.  And hard work is living.

Besides photography, I’d say I’m further along than I’d hoped to be.  I own a house, who knew I’d own a house already?  I can drive motorcycles (and love to).  I enjoy and own a few single malt scotches, know a little about wine, and enjoy good beer.  I still remember when I asked my father at a very young age to try what he was drinking (scotch) and having him grin and pour me a teaspoon-sized taste in a shot glass.  I was sure I would never touch alcohol for the rest of my life after that little taste.  Nice move, old man!  I want to learn to fly helicopters.  Eventually I want to own one.  That I can’t check off my list yet.  But I don’t think at 20 I thought I’d have checked it off by 30 so I’ll take that one and keep working.  I’ve lived on a boat for 5 years – yeah, I didn’t see that one coming either 10 years ago.  Learned a lot from that.  They say the second happiest day in a man’s life is the day he buys his boat and the happiest day is the day he sells it.  I vehemently disagreed when I bought my boat, and slowly came to realize that no matter what you think, that statement is pure fact.  I’ll have another boat one day.  But not today.  But all in all, I think that I’ve done a few things since birth of which I can be proud.  Guess I’ll keep trying.

But I’m really glad that since my first days of photography in high school yearbook I’ve improved, learned, and grown.  It’s been a long road and it’s always funny to look back at photos I’ve taken over these years and see what an amateur I was and how much I’ve learned.  Without digging up the archives too much, I’ll do a little share and tell:

Ah, my first wedding ever.  2001.  The bride, my high school social studies teacher and theater director, contacted me during my freshman year of college and asked me to photograph her wedding.  Thanks, Peg, for trusting me with this.  You were certainly a great kick to get started.  Wish that my skills were a little more refined at that point…  The image was shot with medium format film in a Mamiya RZ67.  And for those of you who don’t know what that camera is, just imagine shooting weddings with one of those big, grey bricks that they make the basement of your house out of.  Yeah, it was basically one of those.  Beautiful camera, but what was I thinking???

A little travel photography in Prague during a spring break trip in college circa 2001.  I traveled with a friend from high school and we fancied ourselves a couple of real artists.  We hardly slept, just wandered the streets of Prague photographing.  Magnificent city!

In a black and white class in college, I took a page from the playbook of Mario Testino and thought perhaps I’d one day be a great fashion photographer.  Thanks, Amy, for not telling me the truth at that time…  Needless to say, I’ve shifted my photographic goals ever so slightly.  But it was fun learning.

I loved and continue to love photographing sports.  And I love moments in sports that aren’t the most typically seen.  It was fun using Zipcar to get to baseball games in VA when I was a college kid without a vehicle.

Shooting performances at GW was always fun for me.  Indian dance is so beautiful and I got to learn about new cultures and people.  What a great experience for me as a photographer and as a person seeing all the things I saw as an undergrad at The George Washington University.  The slogan when I was there for the university was “Something Happens Here” and I can’t say how true that was for me.

If you don’t believe me, ask Larry King.  When GW opened their new, shiney School of Media and Public Affairs, Larry King stopped by as a surprise visit at the ceremony where GW was inheriting the complete archives of the Larry King Live shows to be stored in GW’s SMPA.  What a treat to photograph such an icon.

Speaking of icons, I think we all recognize this character.  While he and I probably didn’t sit down to too many political discussions together, I photographed President Bush a few times and this photo was from the 2004 Republican National Convention.  As the Photo Editor of The Hatchet, GW’s student newspaper, I got an internship with National Journal Magazine which took me to the DNC and the RNC in 2004.  A pretty lucky break for a young punk like me.  I actually heard the speech that put Obama on the map while on the travels with National Journal.  Talk about access, I thought I’d arrived…

This shot is still a favorite of mine after all these years.  Presidents Day in Old Town Alexandria, VA is home to a parade every year.  The parade is full of Americana and down-home goodness.  This photo really made me feel like I was a reporter, and a good one.  And I was so proud of myself for using a gel filter on my flash to keep some of those warm tones from washing out with the flash.  Learning all the way.

Thankfully my engagement shoots have improved from 2005.  I love the people I’ve had the privilege of photographing over these years.  Each wedding, engagement shoot, portrait, event, or assignment I learn something new.

2006 wedding.  Hoping to shoot the bride’s sister in February, they were so sweet and I was delighted to hear from her mom recently.

2007 wedding.  The groom described this pose as “too much metal for one hand”.  Guess that pretty much sums it up.

2008 wedding at the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore.  Lovely!

2009.  Kentucky.  Forecast was 100% chance of rain all day.  Psh!  The entire 9 hour drive from DC to Kentucky was a monsoon.  And the wedding day was supposed to follow suit.  So happy it did not.

2010 wedding on the Eastern Shore of MD. I love this couple.  I love this location.  And I love my job.

So am I where I thought I’d be by this time?  No.  Mostly because I had no idea where I’d be.  I had no plan, I was just doing it.  And the only difference, now that I’m 30, is the plan.  30 is not really that much like 20.  As 30 was getting closer, I thought I might wish it were.  But the truth is, 30 is just fine.  It’s just a number.

 

The Open Road

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People always ask if I just shoot weddings or if I shoot other things as well.  I always have to stop for a moment before answering to decide whether to proceed with the “my parole officer has asked me to deny shooting anything or anyone” response or the “just weddings?  What’s the matter with shooting just weddings?” response.  In either case, the answer is no.  I shoot all kinds of things (sorry, officer).  It’s one of the things I love about shooting weddings – the diversity of shooting opportunities.  Weddings are like whole academic photography curricula condensed into a single day (or a couple days in some cases).  A little sports work, a little portrait work, a little studio lighting work, some posed group shots, candids, emotion, action, direction, observation.  So much goes into planning a wedding and I get the gift of being able to witness and document those things.  It’s not just shooting weddings like anybody could do it.  It’s a wedding!

What is not a wedding, however, is this post.  I warned you in the About Me section of my blog that my interests were more diverse than just weddings and that those topics would emerge eventually in my blog.  Among them, motorcycles!

So a client of mine called me and told me that he built a motorcycle.  Obviously this caught my attention because I like motorcycles and I have a sense of what it would take to actually build a motorcycle.  Also, I know this man is a manager at the Home Depot in NE DC so moonlighting as a motorcycle builder is pretty awesome.  He asked me, like usual, if I just shoot weddings or if I do other things as well.  I smiled to myself and told him I would shoot whatever he wanted to have shot.  So he told me about the motorcycle which sounded pretty spectacular and we set up a time to make some images.

So I was chatting with Mike while photographing his bike about the bike and the process.  Before it got cold last season, Mike decided to move the motorcycle, then a stock 2006 Harley-Davidson Road King, into his garage for a major face-lift.  He then described the process of hibernating in the garage for the winter working on the bike meticulously.  As the spring rolled around, it was time for Mike to get his bike rolled out of the garage and start riding again.  And the finished product was even more spectacular than he had hoped.

Mike is not one of those prissy motorcycle owners who has a motorcycle, works on it all the time, and never rides.  Mike prides himself on both having a beautiful bike that he rebuilt from the ground up and actually riding it.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate a good show bike like the best of them.  Wouldn’t even mind having one or two myself.  But, like Mike, I’d ride them.  That’s what they’re meant for anyway, right?  There are few things more glamorous, manly, or honest than polished chrome and the open road.

Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t get gay married.

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So writing a blog is primarily about sharing my images.  But knowing your photographer is really almost as important as liking his images or trusting his artistic judgement.  I don’t intend to have this blog solely serve as a showcase of my images – if you want to see those, you should go to my website.  Actually, since you mention it, why don’t you swing by my website?  (too shameless?)

So I had a marathon weekend of shooting this weekend.  I shot a rehearsal dinner Friday, an admissions piece for The George Washington University on Saturday morning, a wedding Saturday evening, and a wedding on Sunday.  And, in case that wasn’t enough images to bury myself in editing, I employed one of my assistants to cover a rehearsal dinner for me on Saturday too.  Phew.  No wonder I was looking for a 5-hour energy at the start of the reception on Sunday.  And no wonder I slept in on Monday.  And no wonder I still have studio lights, stands, and god knows what else still in my trunk today…

But what a spectacular weekend and pair of weddings I was able to be a part of!  Certainly each of these weddings will have its own blog post later (once the images are edited), but for now each of them warrants a story that doesn’t need images (and might help you to know me).  So if you’re looking for pretty images, scroll down farther (or go to my website).  These ones I stole from the googles. ;)

So the wedding I shot on Saturday was a gay wedding.  James and Bill contacted me through a fellow photographer who was unavailable to cover their wedding and discussed with me their plans for a “garden party” outdoors at the beautiful Woodrow Wilson House in NW DC.  They described their tastes, hopes, designs, and dreams about their wedding and talked to me about what they liked about my photography and about photography in general.  I could tell right away I like them.  Little did I know how much I’d like them – but you will read more about that when I share photos from their wedding.  Suffice to say they were wonderful.

Shooting gay weddings is always interesting as a straight man.  You don’t realize necessarily what it’s like to deal with vendors for your wedding (for example) as a gay couple planning a wedding.  Since DC legalized gay marriage, there has certainly been an influx, at least in my business, of gay weddings and gay couple contacting me about photography.  And of course I’m happy for the business, I mean at some point it has to be a business.  But it’s been a joy celebrating with these couples because their celebration is about more than just each other, their love, and their lives.  Their celebration is about something much harder for us to understand, something we all take for granted, and something that these couples have to work hard to find.  Their celebration is about things I’ve never had to fight for and about things I don’t claim to fully understand.  But what I do understand is that James and Bill are in love.  They’re not in love a little bit, or for appearances, or for their families to understand.  They’re not in love so they can file taxes together or join their bank accounts.  They are in love because James makes Bill so happy he can barely stand up for a 20 minute ceremony.  They are in love because Bill makes James so happy he can’t even close the lips around his smile for a 20 minute ceremony.  They are in love because they are in love.  Does it matter that they’re gay?

I was speaking with Sherri, their officiant, at the reception.  She and her partner were there together and while she was waiting for her partner to arrive, she chatted with me at dinner.  She is the one who mentioned the fantastic advertisement posted above.  I thought it was clever and it made me smile so I thought I’d share.  Then I started poking around a bit and found these other funny little quips.  There are a lot of funny images and sayings online about gay marriage.  But they’re only funny now that it’s legal.  And it’s not legal everywhere (yet – go ahead, doubt it, it’s coming).  I was telling Sherri about what it’s like getting calls from same-sex couples about photography.  There is always a moment in the conversation, after I’ve told them I’m available for their date but before we get too much farther, when they stammer a bit about making sure that I’m comfortable shooting same-sex weddings.  And to all of you couples out there who have learned through bad experience in your lives that this awkward part of the conversation is necessary, I am so sorry.  Let me assure you that there are people out there dying to celebrate with you.  And if you call my studio, I’ll celebrate with you.

Besides, it’s straight people’s fault anyway, right?  LOL.  That’s a good one.  I’m not sure where this sign was displayed, but I’m glad someone got a photo of it.  Pretty priceless.  This isn’t a political post (I mean, more than it has to be I guess).  I’m not looking to incite anything or stir the pot.  Sherri made several comments that made me think and I just felt like a little flag-waving for basic human rights never hurts.  When we forget that we are all humans and that our basic rights are rights and basic, then they go away.  And what a terrible shame it would be to see the means for such joyous celebration go away for anyone.  More happy and healthy relationships like James and Bill’s relationship is the solution, not the problem.  Congratulations, guys!  Can’t wait to share your photos.

Always Say Yes

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Can it be that I’m posting TWO blog posts in one week?  While I’d point out that this is a record, I suppose that goes without saying on a blog with four total posts…  Just goes to show I have a long way to go.  Also, probably dangerous waters publishing a blog post with such a title.  Rest assured, I don’t mean about that.

I was hired to shoot some family portraits at a couple’s 50th anniversary party recently.  A nice gig where everyone is happy and the couple who was celebrating 50 years was just as cute as could be.  Actually, they were downright adorable.  They were each joking about what saints they were for putting up with the other for all these long years but it was pretty obvious that they were in a marriage that was improving each day – even after 50 years.  My hat off to you two!  May your next 50 make the last seem dull.

Now this blog post is not about saying yes to proposals for marriage or even about saying yes to photographing family portraits.  Although those people are so stinkin’ cute…

So after we spent some time in the park photographing family portraits, the couples’ children (who hired me for the shoot) invited me to join them at their home for a drink or some food.

$50 tip: Always say yes.  This tip is for you photographers out there who think that you’re shooting strict documentary photography and have to keep yourself at arms-length from the content of your shoot.  You don’t have to stage things in your work and interfere with documenting life, but get involved.  Go ahead, have a drink with your clients/subjects/whatever.  You never know what opportunities you will afford yourself in doing so.

So, as the post suggests, I said yes to their invitation and went back to their home for a drink.  While I was there, I took some photos of their unique cat and continued snapping a few photos of the family while hanging out.  Then, I decided that I needed a different lens for an image I was trying to make.  When I went out to my car, this is the scene I passed (and then photographed).

Obviously these photos are not what I was hired to shoot.  And clearly I’d not have taken these photos if I’d declined the offer for a drink after I “finished working”.  Luck plays a funny role in photography sometimes.  But you can’t get lucky if you don’t keep your mind open.  And say yes to whatever.

The Blog Begins…

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So every good photographer has millions of photos on their computer, on their desk, on their shelves, in their basement, in storage, maybe home at mom’s house.  We are, as artists, surrounded by our work.  It never ceases to amuse me how hard it is, among these thousands upon thousands of images, to find a single decent photograph of myself.  Or even just a photo in which I appear.  Don’t get me wrong, this is one of the great blessings of taking pictures – avoiding being in them myself.  So to all you grooms out there who come to meetings with your fiancee (good for you, by the way, bonus points will help you later) and tell me that you “hate to be photographed”, trust me when I say I know the feeling.  I sympathize with you.  I will, however, still take your picture.

So it is with some anxiety and great excitement that I finally put pen to paper with my blog.  The idea, I admit, was conceived some time ago and has gone through varying phases of interest.  It was not until yesterday that the whole concept snapped into clear focus for me and suddenly I HAD to start immediately.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Amelie (and if you haven’t, stop reading this post and go immediately to the store to buy, not rent, this life-changing film), you’ll know the moment I’m describing.  Suddenly the secret of the man in the photographs is not a secret and all the over-exposed, shiny, sun-kissed moments of Amelie’s life flash before her to a melody that only the French could conceive.  It was like that – except I’m not as cute as she is.  Or as French.  Nevertheless, inspiration comes to us all in strange ways.  My inspiration you’ll have to wait for that blog post to read about.

So who am I?  Why do you care about my blog?  Why DO you care about my blog???  Well, I guess we’ll find out together.  I’ve been shooting weddings and events happily in Washington, DC and all around the country since 2003 and have finally decided to make a studio of my own.  I’ve had some absolutely wonderful experiences, met some absolutely wonderful people, and learned so many things.  Maybe I can share some of the things I’ve learned and I will do my best to share new experiences as they change me.  We can change together.  And if you’re looking for a photographer, look no farther.  I’m right here.

I have been known to climb things, stand on things, scale walls, hang off of whatever necessary.  I’m not your typical prim and proper photographer who is worried about getting something on his suit.  Quite the opposite in fact.  I’m here to work!

Not all of my weddings are in Cabo San Lucas, shockingly.  This brisk October wedding in Kentucky was cold, muddy, and outdoors.  Eventually I’ll post about this wedding, but for now, this whole post is a bunch of foreshadowing.  Besides, if I wrote everything in my head down here tonight, it wouldn’t be a blog, it’d be novel.

So with that, I’ve introduced myself and my blog.  The best, as they say, is yet to come.