San Antonio Engagement – Beth and Brent

If you are friends with Beth or Brent then you already know they are a really cool couple.  I met up with them at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio for their engagement photography session.  It not only was a great location for their photos but it was a wonderful chance to get to know them.  These two are on a whirlwind year, with a great deal going on.  Their plans are mixed with both known, and yet-to-be-decided events, but they are both taking it in stride and ready for whatever life throws at them.

Such was the case with the engagement shoot, as we tried to find a date that would work.  Between their out of town traveling and my hectic photography schedule we were finally able to set aside a date and create some gorgeous photos of the two.  I will save all the wedding details for Beth and Brent to reveal; I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag but I am sure it will be a fantastic wedding.

Now you need a permit!

The Japanese Tea Garden has seen a good deal of renovation and improvement over the past few years.  I can remember for many years the pond sat empty, and only the most hearty foliage survived the hot summers.  Now the park has been restored to its former beauty,and is once again a hot spot for tourism.  This has also brought some additional restrictions in regards to photography.

The Tea Garden has long been one of the iconic locations for portraits and photos of all kinds.  The park is typically filled with the usual visitors capturing their snapshots and the professional looking to create a gorgeous portrait or family photo.  I assume this has lead to the current restrictions and need for a photo permit when taking professional portraits.  The San Antonio Parks Foundation has implemented a photo permit program and requires those photographers who are taking professional portraits to purchase a $20 permit before arriving.

The $20 permit can be purchased from the Japanese Tea Garden website through paypal.  This is something I was not aware of until yesterday when discussing details of an upcoming engagement shoot with a couple.  Wanting to have the shoot at the Tea Garden, the bride-to-be noticed something regarding a fee to shoot there.  After some searching of the usual websites I found the details and thought I would pass the info along through the blog here.

The last engagement shoot I did at the Japanese Tea Garden was with Melissa and Chris and the photo below still remains one of my favorites from the location.

Michelle and Steve’s San Antonio Engagement Photos

Michelle and Steve were in town a couple weeks ago for their engagement session.  This was a photo session I had been looking forward to, since we were shooting in a new location; always a fun and exciting experience.  The location was Bracken Village out NE of San Antonio.  Bracken Village is a boutique shopping area made up of antique buildings and historic homes that have either been re-located to the area or were already present.  It provides a beautiful location for photos any time of day with large shaded trees and gorgeous surroundings.

For Michelle and Steve, Bracken Village provided a lovely location for their engagement photos, and a fun end to an exciting day.

Average Engagement Ring

I came across some survey statistics today that might be interesting to those of you engaged and planning a wedding.  The headline focused on the average cost of engagement rings, but the article has stats on wedding spending in general.  One interesting stat was that San Antonio made it into the list for most expensive places to get married.  At 17th in the list we were not at the top, but we should be proud to be on there, or not!  However you look at it, the average cost for the engagement ring is what interested me.  At $5,130 that can be a pretty big chunk of money for the future groom.

Let me know what you think in the comments, a lot for an engagement ring or not?

Flippers and Snorkel – accents for your wedding dress

Many of you may remember Stephanie’s wedding dress photos from last year.  That will be a shoot I will not soon forget.  It was one of the lengthiest shoots I have done.  At a bit over 5 hours we covered a range of concepts and left the location exhausted.  Stephanie had an endless supply of props; still don’t think we shot everything she had ideas for.  The sky was absolutely perfect!!  I feared for my equipment…electronics and water don’t mix.  The fact that there was water in a San Antonio creek during a record drought was amazing.

Narrowing the photos down to the 10 I posted was extremely difficult.  We had so many fantastic images, and I knew at some point I would revisit the images.  One concept that I withheld from the first post was the snorkel and flipper shots.  After browsing through the images again today I decided to post the one below.  My tendency is always to shoot into the sunset.  Everyone knows you get the most brilliant colors and supplementing that with some dramatic lighting makes for sensational photos.  Once we moved into the larger pond area, the backdrop towards the sunset was not very appealing.  With multiple obstructions and unclean lines I opted to shoot away from the sunset.  Hey what do you know, there is that awesome sky now providing brilliant color in the opposite direction as well.  The clouds added just the right mood and effect to make for an amazing background.

Fashion and Home Decor photography session

I debated putting this post up on my blog for commercial work, but the main blog here won out.  This probably falls more in line with commercial photography, but the lighting and set ups are similar to what I might do for bridal portraits or an engagement shoot.  The session was built around some concepts and ideas by Gambrell Renard.  The purpose was to get together a group of creatives in different areas and produce some stunning images.

Gambrell produces custom home decor that is stylish and beautiful.  The group of creatives included custom dress designer Valerie Perez of Verseau, custom jewelry designer and maker Diana Bolch, and custom furniture designer James Breaux of breaux-arts.  To add to the all star list was Cassandra Lazenby, producer of Great Day SA to model for us.

Oh yeah, the location?  Partially furnished unsold condos near Olmos Park in San Antonio.  The goal was to get some great photographs that showcased the products in an artistic and stunning manner.  Gambrell brought the concepts and masterminded the set design, which just left some lighting tweaks and composition on my part.  Even running a bit late everything came together nicely and we were able to move through the various ideas and get some great images.

See Gambrell’s blog post for additional info on the table.

Kids at Weddings – Rodriguez

No matter how self conscious the adults may be about getting out on the dance floor at a wedding, there is no stopping the kids from getting out there.  At Maria and Luis’ wedding reception the children were having a fantastic time.  With the tunes rolling and the fog machine smokin’, these two kiddos were all about the dancing.  It only takes a few moments to set up the photo and capture some great expressions like this.

Kids at Weddings – Martin

Here is another cute one from Patricia and Lakie’s wedding.  Most children have no reservations about playing it up for the camera.  The great thing about kids is that if they were being cute before I can be assured that they will do something else that will be just as good.  This little guy was in his own world having a great time before the ceremony.  With last minute preparations still going on I captured this fun photograph of him just being cool.

Kids at Weddings – Okonski

Kids are always a lot of fun to photograph at weddings.  Having to sit still through a ceremony, then being let lose for the reception, is a recipe for fun and excitement.  I always keep an eye out for cute moments and fun interaction between the kids, adults, and dance floor.  Last year I captured this cute photograph at Stephanie and Matthew’s wedding.  The ceremony was over, the formal photos had been accomplished, and the kids were turned lose to have fun.  With the music going strong, these two were on the dance floor.  Their expressions are priceless.  One can only guess the exchange going on between them.

Balancing the Light for Dramatic Effect

The basis for my style of photography is light, especially off camera lighting sometimes referred to in photography circles as one-light.  I add auxiliary or additional light to 90% of my images.  There are the occasional photos that are “natural” or ambient light only, but using additional light allows me to bring a sense of drama and atmosphere to the photos.  I came across several photos today that give a good depiction of the lighting scenario that I might encounter in an indoor setting.  These photos represent the various approaches that could be taken given the location, lighting, and composition of the scene.

The photos show a composition of an indoor table centerpiece that is heavily backlit by a nearby window.  The first image is composed and created using settings that would yield a decent exposure for the centerpiece, but the background is “blown out”.  In fact the brightness of the background is so great that it makes capturing the centerpiece somewhat difficult without losing a lot of detail and contrast in the subject.

The second image below is created using settings that capture the background in a more pleasing and interesting manner.  The image reveals much better color and detail in the background, but you can see the main subject goes almost completely dark in shadow, with very little detail.  This approach can produce an interesting silhouette of the subject, but in this case I would rather see the detail that went into the centerpiece.

The final image below, is created using directional off camera lighting that is balanced with the bright natural window light.  Overall the image is better balanced in terms of the exposure, revealing beautiful detail in the background and stunning detail in the subject. The other aspect that brings a pleasing look to the subject is the directional lighting as opposed to “on-camera” flash.  With the additional light coming in from the upper left of the subject, we have more dimensional lighting giving the subject a more interesting appearance.  On-camera flash would have given the image a very flat and lifeless look.  Overall the image has a nice dramatic atmosphere that enhances the beauty and appearance of the centerpiece.