A Minnesota Wedding

Let me preface that I was second shooting as an affiliate with Glasser Images (since dissolved). All images below were taken and edited by me.

~ 10 minute read ~

8/20/2021

Friday afternoon. Bags packed. Rushing off to the airport after a 40 hour work week. Vali is staying with a friend. This is my first time flying out of state to shoot a wedding and I’m so excited. This would turn out to be one of the most beautiful weddings I have had the privilege of shooting.

As with most travel trips, this one wasn’t without hiccups. My flight was set to depart from Denver at 10:30pm. The flight was delayed about an hour and finding the rental car desk once in Minneapolis was a nightmare because the terminal I landed was under construction so they moved the desks to another terminal but the ones they told us to go were closed and blah blah blah. Fortunately my hotel was close to the airport but I didn’t get there till almost 2am! 

The next morning I was up at 8. After double checking that all of my batteries were charged, lenses were cleaned, and SD cards were formatted, I left for the venue for scouting. I was a little nervous that morning for the gloomy weather was far from the forecasted 70 and sunny. And from the hourly projections, I wasn’t confident it would change. I wasn’t familiar with the venue and feared the worst.

To help ease my nerves on the way to the venue, I stopped at one of my favorite places: Chik-fil-a. Little did I know that I would be stopping for more than chicken biscuits. Shortly after sitting down with my meal at a window seat (because I love looking out and daydreaming), a gentleman about the age of 50 pulled up in a minivan in the handicap spot. He took time to unload the passenger into their wheelchair and they proceeded to come in and, after ordering, sat down at the table in front of me. The person in the wheel chair, presumably his daughter, was about 18. It was quickly apparent that the girl was both severely physically and mentally handicapped; she had little to no muscle control and could only speak in grunts and moans. When their food was served, the gentleman was again, in calmness and patience that seemed to stop time, put a bib on her and began to feed her pieces of a chicken biscuit one bite at a time with sips of chocolate milk in between. Though she was not capable of enunciating words, you could tell she enjoyed every bite. As I sat their eating my chicken biscuit too, I caught a glimpse of the man starring at his daughter with the warmest, happiest, most genuine eyes I’ve ever seen. He loved her. It was the most beautiful moment I have ever witnessed in my entire life and I cried. For 18 years, this man has taken care of this girl to a magnitude beyond what I can possibly imagine, and still, to this day, you could tell from his eyes that he would not trade those years for the world. Unable to control my emotions, I wrapped up my biscuit, went to my rental car, and wept. 

In my writings over the years, I have often asked myself why I act so selfishly and why my actions do not reflect my values. It is in moments like these that I seriously reflect on what it is I’m doing and why. So this begs the question: If everything in the world was secondary, what would you do?

So I’m back on the road. A little bit of a rocky start for me but I’m excited for I get to do something today that I love doing: photographing weddings. Upon arrival, I was taken back by the beauty of the venue. The land sitting neatly between two fields, the house overlooking a pristine pond, and the barn rustic yet modern. Although the weather was still gloomy and cold, I walked the site for a bit, met the groom, and eventually got ready to start shooting with the main photographer. 

Just as we got ready for the first look, the winds calmed, the clouds broke, and picture perfect daylight shined through. It was a blessed day because the weather would remain beautiful for the rest of the day. Everything that day went well. The venue allowed us to capture some magnificent couples pictures in the fields, magical pictures at the alter, and dynamite images during the reception and dance. I was solely responsible for capturing pictures of the groomsmen and I totally crushed it (*hair flip*). I could go on and on about the day but I feel the pictures do more justice.

Sometimes I don’t always know exactly what I’m going to write about until I start writing. This was a story about traveling to Minnesota to capture a special day for a special couple with my camera. But I think the real story here is that life is precious, love is limitless, and to always leave a door to your heart open because you never know when a moment may take a piece of it.

Printing is an Art

"I firmly believe a printed photograph is the ultimate form of this art, yet printing is an art in and of itself.” I’m quoting myself on this one, ya’ll. 

I mentioned this in my last post and that couldn’t be more true. The average person has no idea what goes into making a fine art print come to life. Even for myself, I didn’t know until I dove head first into this art. I pulled the trigger about a year ago and bought a small scale professional printer by Canon. I suppose it was a little more methodical than “just pulling the trigger” but it was nonetheless a big investment for me as I was somewhat unsure at the time whether this was a path I really wanted to venture down. But I’m glad I did because I have learned so much. A few notable things I’ve learned: 1. There are probably hundreds of different types of paper and variations of those types between about a dozen mainstream manufactures. Each paper gives a unique look and some can get more expensive than you would think. 2. In my limited investigation, it seems most photographers don’t print their own photographs and I think that’s a shame because it is the last step that brings this art together full circle. If you’re a true photographer I think you should do it all. Sending your digital images off to some print lab across the country is not an art and probably does an injustice to what your art could be. I’m amazed at the number of high end photography galleries that don’t print their own work in house. 3. There is actual math that goes into printing a photograph because there is, to put it simply, a loss in colorspace between a digital image and what can be physically printed with ink…and choosing the correct mathematical model when printing is important so that’s pretty cool and nerdy.

Let me now define some paper qualities and briefly describe the thought process I go through when selecting a paper for any given image. In a subsequent post(s), I will review specific papers I use and describe more thoroughly how I choose when to use each paper. I will use this as an overview for that process and as reference for those future posts.

Paper Qualities Defined:

Finish - glossy (satin) or matte with semi-gloss (lustre) falling in between but leaning more towards satin

Texture - the texture or roughness of the paper

Dmax - the amount of black ink the paper can hold…how dense dark tones appear - Dmax is more of a quality found in paper descriptions, it is not a quantified number - this can make it difficult to compare papers and requires experimentation on your part

Whiteness - how well the paper reflects all wavelengths of light…how white the paper appears - whiteness is measured on a scale from 0-100 with 100 being pure white

OBAs - optical brightening agents - artificial chemicals used to enhance the whiteness of a paper - these can degrade the paper over time and are most commonly found in cheaper papers

My thought process when choosing a paper:

Many paper qualities go hand-in-hand so while I’ve listed this process in steps, the process is a little less sequential.

1. Satin v. Matte - This is where I start. Determine whether the photograph wants to have a glossy or matte finish. A few things I consider when thinking about this are:

   1. Do I want really dark shadows or a contrasty/moody look?

   2. Is the image black and white?

   3. Is there water or other features in the image that I want to have a slight shimmer?

If the answer is yes to any of these, then I typically choose a satin or semi-gloss paper. These papers offer a higher Dmax and sheen that would give those desired looks.

1. Smooth v. Rough. This is where my mind goes next. Similarly, there are several questions I ask myself when choosing the texture of the paper:

   1. Are there elements in the image with natural texture like rocks or brush that I want to preserve or enhance with a textured paper?

   2. On the contrary, is there smooth water or sky that I want to keep smooth?

   3. To contradict the contrary, is there smooth sky or calming fog for which I want to add texture. Adding texture to smooth elements of an image can often enhance the image by making it more dimensional but it’s a personal preference and I don’t always do it; that’s one way that printing is an art.

2. Dmax. After choosing (1) and (2), you are typically left with only one or two options for a differing Dmax, mostly because the Dmax is primarily derivative of the finish of the paper (satin v. matte). Having said that, if you are looking for a more contrasty, moody look, a higher Dmax is preferable. For example, I have two matte papers that offer nearly the same roughness but one has a slightly greater Dmax.

3. Whiteness. Similar to Dmax, this is often the result of the type of paper you have already chosen, so you usually don’t have too many options but it can influence your choosing if you have more whites or highlights in your image for example. It can also influence your decision depending on the color mat you are framing your print. I stray away from pure white mat boards so in reality, I have found the whiteness of the paper not to have much of an effect on the finished look.

Keep taking photos.

Printing Memories

I firmly believe a printed photograph is the ultimate form of this art, yet printing is an art in and of itself. What goes into making a photograph a physical piece of art is liking putting a cherry on top; it is that little bit extra that brings the photographer’s artistic vision to life. This extra little bit can bring vitality to the photograph in ways that a digital image simply cannot. And holding that print can bring real life to you. For me, the experience is unparalleled both in inspiring awe and, in many cases, evoking extreme nostalgia. 

For many summers growing up as a kid, I would attend a month long boys and girls summer camp, Camp Mac, in the Talladega National Forest in Alabama. I think those experiences were the epitome of being a kid. Water balloon fights, camping, sugary snacks, water skiing, archery, pranking other campers, awkwardly sitting in the corner avoiding eye contact with any of the girls during the Friday night dances…the list goes on. I remember my mom helping me pack for those summers and always packing me two or three disposable Kodak cameras. The ones with the dinky little flashes and no display so you just hoped everyone had their eyes open. And I especially remember coming home from camp and cannot waiting to get the film developed. The agony of waiting but the sheer joy of flipping through those awfully exposed, grainy pictures. But those pictures, filled with red eyes and blurry faces, somehow made the stories that much better. 

At least for my generation and before, I am sure most of you have had a similar experience. That is, holding a photo of a memory. “Back in my day”, there were no iPhones for taking and viewing quick pictures. And odds are you didn’t have a fancy home computer with photo editing software or even a digital camera!

It’s only been till fairly recent has photography been associated as being more of a digital art with the advent of the internet and social media. Holding a printed photograph to where you can see and feel the texture of the paper is like non other. And selecting the correct paper to give the desired finished look and feel is an art in and of itself. I currently work with about (6) different fine art papers, all by Canson-Infinity. These papers are museum grade quality and made to endure a lifetime. The richness of the prints will give you a new appreciation for printed photographs…these aren’t your Walgreens prints.

To other photographers and anyone else with a camera, I encourage you to reconsider what it means to print your photographs. You don’t have to invest in a fancy printer with fancy papers…in fact I encourage you not to unless it’s an endeavor you are confident in embarking upon. BUT reach out to your local print labs and look into online printing labs. There are so many great, affordable options. Printing a photo for yourself or for someone else will make all the difference. 

A few years late

Children playing tag. One boy barely outpacing the others and thinking he’s better than the rest. A girl running her finger through the sand, making drawings because she thinks she’s an artist. A mother disciplining her child because she thinks she knows better. Groups of jovial teenagers poking fun at each other, acting as if the world is flat. A man fishing on a dock, completely oblivious of all the passerby. An entire ecosystem of thought and thought itself. 

Welcome to my mind and the not so beginning of my photographic journey…a few years late.

Yet here I am again at the intersection of my thoughts and my journey. Here lies the best way I know to express myself - writing. I enjoy writing. I enjoy writing for the purposes of storytelling. Not necessarily a story with a defined setting, creative foreshadow, a pivotal climax, and a resolution where the good guy gets the girl but rather an ongoing story of my thoughts. It’s a story I used to write often. I’ve maintained a couple of different blogs in the past. One of which was more or less a journal that I started in late high school to document my collegiate journey. I kept that for about 8 years and I’m so glad I did. The other blog was shorter lived but nearly as meaningful to me. Titled “From 0 to 2200”, it was a blog in the form of various styles of writings and photographs I maintained during my trek on the Appalachian Trail. I later reformatted that blog and printed a book.

As I had done with “From 0 to 2200”, let me now try explain what this journey will be about and my why. Understanding why should be the impetus for everything. If it’s not for why then it is for what and that is the wrong answer. 

This journey will be about my thoughts and learnings in the context of photography. It’s that simple. My writings will not always follow some order. Nor will they always make sense. Some may be for the purposes of describing new photographic technology and or photo editing tool. Some may be purely for entertainment…a creative writing piece or a poem. And yet some may be more philosophical, beckoning for the designer to rethink their design. And as for why? Because being forgotten is my biggest fear. Others will forget me and that’s okay but I don’t want to forget myself. And if I can do that while also writing something entertaining and of value to others then why not?

I’m a few years late but here I am.