Inspired Photo Blog

My engagement session for this weekend was cancelled. Not a big surprise as we’ve had almost a solid month of rain. It’s hard to be romantic when you’re wet and cold. We were planning our session at a snow park at Mt. Hood. The forecast was calling for 1-2 inches of snow per hour and 26-30 mph winds! If the forecast is correct, we’ll have our chance soon.

While I don’t have any new images to share, I did watch a movie (big surprise) called Hustle and Flow. I found the line that just reached out and grabbed me. I’m not a big rap music fan, but the storyline is about the struggle of an artist, wanting his voice to be heard and that’s universal. In this scene, the main character “DJ” is hustling hometown, platinum recording artist, Skinny Black to listen to his tape. He’s telling him that he sold out, that the best tracks he ever laid down were on his first album.

Skinny replies, I cut that in my mama’s laundry room man, It was raw as hell, but I put everything I had into that…”. DJ fires back, But to me, that was a sign of your genius. You see it’s not enough for a man to climb Mt. Everest. He’s got to do it with the least amount of tools. It’s about the man…one man and his skills.” Skinny says, “Like the Samurai say, the sword is only as powerful as it’s master.” Then DJ replies and Skinny finishes with him, “And it ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

Every artist I know can relate to those words, the struggle and the trappings of suceess. The desire to be true to your art. The innocence and truth of art. It’s easy to become compliant when you’re successful and the struggle to be heard is not the issue anymore. This is the myth of the starving artist. While not entirely true, it does have a ring of truth to it. A truth I call Cinematic Wisdom.

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Movies are one of my passions. I watch them to study the lighting and cinematography of masters. To be inspired and entertained. Movies are a great experience. How many movies have I watched? You really don’t want to know!

For a long time, I’ve tried to find the best way to describe my work. There are so many terms being bantered about and I know it’s confusing to clients. What I strive for in my work, is a sense of cinema. I was having a conversation with a colleague about this very topic. He’s been inspired in much the same sense as I have with the imagery in movies. The way they are lit, the way they are framed—you can take a still from a movie and there is something about it that still screams movie.

For portraits and engagement sessions with 1-2 people, I love using my telephoto lens. I tell people it’s my cinematic lens. A long lens will compress elements in the background, giving a surreal sense of place to an image. I can control my depth of field; how much is in focus and how much is selectively out of focus. Large, out of focus blobs of light are indicative of a long lens and very movie-esque.

Another aspect of movies that I enjoy is that no matter how horrible a movie is, there always seems to be at least one line of dialogue that’s worth repeating. Something that causes you to pause and reflect. Quotable quotes or cinematic wisdom. My friends know this about me and inevitably, as we sit together and watch a movie, there comes a moment when we all agree…”that was the quote”. I wish I could remember them all, I really should write them down. Here are a couple from movies I’ve seen this past week.

From one of the Star Wars trilogy comes this piece of advice from Yoda. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

From the movie Undiscovered. My wife made me watch this one and while the plot is a bit thin, the music is great…if you like Ashlee Simpson. There came a quote towards the end of the movie. It came at a crucial time when the main character was struggling with fame and just wanting to follow his passion of music. It was attributed to Hemingway. I spent a few hours on the net trying to find this quote and never found a reference to Hemingway. Perhaps it was artistic license, the advice is good nonetheless. “Fame is a bitch goddess, fame is froth, it’s nothing. Fame will break your heart. But creativity is passion and it’s endless. You look for fame, you lose your soul. You look for creation, you find it”

And the last quote of the week…from Grey’s Anatomy. A guilty pleasure, Sunday night television drama. The whole show was about lying. At the end of the show, the narrator asks, “Why do people lie? Because the truth is so painful.”

So next time you watch a movie, no matter how awful it is…look for that one line of wisdom and insight. Appreciate the craft of the artisans and escape, if only for a couple of hours.

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It was my pleasure to photograph the wedding of Rebecca and Thomas Bosco, January 7th. They were married in downtown Portland at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, located on the Park Blocks. I was hoping for a break in the weather so we could photograph the formals outside with natural light. Unfortunately, my window of opportunity lasted less than 5 minutes, but they were both willing to brave the elements.

It’s wonderful when you have a couple who are adventurous and willing to participate in making their wedding photographs unique. My fear was that we would spend all morning at the church alter with little change in the background. Stepping outside, if only for a brief moment, was all I needed to capture the spirit and intimate relationship between them.

Here, the newly married couple stop for a quick photograph before they enter their reception at McMenamin’s Kennedy School. The Rolls Royce is such a beautiful automobile.

This photograph was taken inside the Kennedy School with available window light. I kept telling Rebecca that she reminded me of a photograph George Hurrell created of Greta Garbo. I think it was the fur shawl that she was wearing, but it gave the image a classic elegance.

This is the photograph that George Hurrell created of Greta Garbo. This is one of my favorite images. I could stare at it for hours. The lighting in this portrait is the work of a master and the wardrobe, styling and pose…stunning. Truly a masterpiece. This is why studying art history is so important for any artist. You carry it forward subconsciously. This image was in my mind’s eye as I was working. I’m sure George had more than a couple of minutes to craft his image, but this is the challange of wedding photography.

Bosco Chocolate Syrup

Rebecca and Thomas passed out these bottles of Bosco Chocolate Syrup to their guests. I’ve never heard of it and thought it was a special order wedding favor, but apparently, it’s well known back East. Bosco, was memorably featured in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld called “The Secret Code,” in which George Costanza used “bosco” as the code for his bank card. Congratulations to the newly married couple and their families.

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A business without a great logo is like a ship without a sail. People quickly assume a great deal of information about a company simply by their logo art. This is quickly proven when you look at some of the selections I was presented by my graphic designer. While many of these are great and I can appreciate the art of the designs, they just didn’t feel like me. Look within yourself as you view these and listen to what that inner voice says…I know it sounds insanely silly, but each letter, color and design of these logos brings up emotions and judgements.

My business has transitioned through 3 different logos over the past 15 years. For the last 5 years, I’ve simply used the “Inspired Storytelling” tag line to describe my wedding photography. It’s a simple font that I’ve modified to suit my tastes. Since I also work in commercial advertising, I felt it was time to invest in a new logo that reflects my business.

These are the final logo choices, after 3 rounds of designs. As you can see, the choice was difficult. I sent these to friends, family and clients to see what they thought and my hope was that one of these designs would rise to the top. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that everyone liked different designs for different reasons. And it was even more interesting to discover what they felt when they wrote about their choice.

In the end, my designer presented me with a logo that was completely different than anything we’d been working on up to that point. The first time I saw it, I knew it was me. I quickly identified with this logo. My girls told me it was perfect because my favorite colors are black and white. This started with my oldest, since I used to spend so much time in the darkroom printing my black and white images. This love of black and white continues with my digital work. My wife said it was perfect because there is no grey with me, everything is black and white. That raised an eyebrow.

So, here is the final logo that I selected and will slowly incorporate into every aspect of my business. This will become my corporate identity. What do you think?

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