I'm new here, but long enough to realize what a resource you folks are in this forum. Thanks for the million tips!
I received my training as a writer originally (an MFA in creative writing), and became hooked on photography when I contracted with Simon & Schuster to write two children's books. The books just happened to need photographs -- and that's how I cut my teeth in this art form. One book was on Native American kids in powwows, the other on kids who compete in in rodeos. (The rodeo book is entitled "Let's Rodeo," but it should be subtitled "How to Break Your Kids Neck in 8 Seconds" -- a very dangerous sport; I'm keeping my daughter in ballet!)
And in what way, you might ask, is shooting a wedding like shooting a rodeo? Well, the action is equally intense, the drunken guests sometimes swerve like saddle broncs, and many DJs sound as though they'd make a great rodeo MC. But all in all, weddings are considerably safer -- no one-ton bull's horns to avoid, not nearly so much dust coating the lens, and (except for the rare encounter with bridezilla) no bull**** to step in.
I scorned the thought of wedding photography for years, until I learned that you could actually shoot weddings in a way that would make Cartier Bresson proud. (I read in Diane Arbus's biography that she occasionally shot weddings, too -- the thought of which gives me the willies.) What I like most about shooting weddings is that I feel like God's spy -- watching through the viewfinder for a glimpse of someone's soul, a moment of profound emotion, at an event that's laden with new beginnings and poignant departures.
I live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where we we get a drizzly English rain for three-fourths of the year, and then, for three months -- as now -- it turns into Tuscany.
Robert
http://robertcrumphoto.com
I received my training as a writer originally (an MFA in creative writing), and became hooked on photography when I contracted with Simon & Schuster to write two children's books. The books just happened to need photographs -- and that's how I cut my teeth in this art form. One book was on Native American kids in powwows, the other on kids who compete in in rodeos. (The rodeo book is entitled "Let's Rodeo," but it should be subtitled "How to Break Your Kids Neck in 8 Seconds" -- a very dangerous sport; I'm keeping my daughter in ballet!)
And in what way, you might ask, is shooting a wedding like shooting a rodeo? Well, the action is equally intense, the drunken guests sometimes swerve like saddle broncs, and many DJs sound as though they'd make a great rodeo MC. But all in all, weddings are considerably safer -- no one-ton bull's horns to avoid, not nearly so much dust coating the lens, and (except for the rare encounter with bridezilla) no bull**** to step in.
I scorned the thought of wedding photography for years, until I learned that you could actually shoot weddings in a way that would make Cartier Bresson proud. (I read in Diane Arbus's biography that she occasionally shot weddings, too -- the thought of which gives me the willies.) What I like most about shooting weddings is that I feel like God's spy -- watching through the viewfinder for a glimpse of someone's soul, a moment of profound emotion, at an event that's laden with new beginnings and poignant departures.
I live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where we we get a drizzly English rain for three-fourths of the year, and then, for three months -- as now -- it turns into Tuscany.
Robert
http://robertcrumphoto.com
