The process

I'm editing pictures today (just like every day lately!) and thinking about why I do what I do. Being a self-taught product of the digital age, I take a lot of pictures, knowing that they will not all be great. For portrait shoots and weddings, usually 1 out of every 4 pictures are what I would consider a keeper. The great thing about digital is that it doesn't cost me anything to take a bad picture. . .in fact, the opposite - it could literally cost me if I quit shooting before I get the GREAT picture.

The term for what I do is "sketching" with the camera - trying different angles and light and vantage points and determining afterwards, upon reviewing the pictures, what looks best. Hence my portrait/engagment/bridal shoots are fairly lengthy - an hour or two. . .or sometimes more if we're having tons of fun.

The wedding day is a bit different in that I don't have the same liberty to take my time with pictures because things are happening so fast. But the same concept of sketching still applies - I shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot - and depending who is helping me, I may take 40-50 gigabytes of pictures - good grief! But that is my key to making sure there are great ones.

I suppose the reason I'm sharing this is to shape expectations of me and how a shoot will go. I with I were a photographic genius and were only able to take perfect pictures, but unfortunately that's not the case. So that's why I won't take 20 pictures and call it a day! I want your pictures to be awesome and unique, and I'm committed to taking the time to create great work.

Allrighty then, back to work!!