Six Peeps

October 4, 2007

Ojective: Continue Shooting Amazing Weddings

Jenny and I are on a photo/work field trip, capturing the fall colors of Aspen, Redstone, and (today) Crested Butte! Here’s a quick preview, but expect a BIG OL post soon! The colors are SOOOOO amazing!! I drug Jenny out here at 5:30 AM to get this. It was worth it!

But before I throw that post out, I’ll be showing some shots from last weekend’s wedding in Portland! I went for a jog whilst in Portland and had a run in with a point and shoot camera: That’s me, doing my “JAZZ HANDS”

Like my running shoes/dress socks combination? That’s dedication!

The other day I noticed how many photographers are out there after looking at an online wedding planning service for brides. Schnikees there are a lot of photographers!

Digital photography has made it incredibly easy for amateurs to start up their own business, so suddenly I am among hundreds (maybe thousands) of other photographers in CO and AZ trying to keep the business alive. That said, I’m thankful that I don’t rely on advertising - my word-of-mouth has been enough to keep me thriving in the business. I think more than anything, I try to keep my photography clean, and genuine first, and keep the photoshop magic to a minimum. I am trying to do that more than ever now. Most new photographers utilize photoshop to crank the saturation and contrast of their images, to the point where they start looking like some sort of fairy tale. Some people love that, so there is a market, but I will try to excersize my timing, composition, lighting and everything I have been doing since my first wedding at 16 years of age.

Anyway, I was thinking about my history in the business of photography and it’s a long, list and I have so many great memories. I thought I’d share! I have been photographing weddings every year since my first wedding at 16 years of age. I have spent years photographing with film, and I would love to know the exact number of weddings I have photographed… but weddings aren’t all I’ve done…

1992 - 1994 - Air Academy High School: Yearbook Photo Editor. I was the first “sophomore” to ever get the PRESTIGIOUS photo editor position at AAHS. WOW! haha
1993 - 1994 - Photo Assistant, Dave Black, Sports Photographer. This was such an amazing experience. My Stepdad at the time actually got me set up with a famous Sports Photographer. He specializes in Olympic Athletes and shoots for SI, Newsweek, etc. The guy is still big time and I am lucky I got to assist him. He gave me a CANON hip sack that I still use today.
1995 - 2000 - UNC photographer, and photo editor after my soph year - The Mirror, their campus newspaper.
1998 - Sales, Camera Sound department, Target (or Tarshayyy). That’s right. (HATED IT!)
1998-1999 - before I started guiding, I worked for Colorado Whitewater Photography. I think this was where I really fine-tuned my timing. I had to catch the boats at the perfect time as they passed through a roaring rapid. I had to make sure that all faces could be seen in the photo, which represented usually only about a split second as the boats would be twisting and turning through the rapids. Very fun job!
1999 - 2001 - Fido Photo! Nope, not dog photography. I was the official photographer at all the sorority parties at CC, CSU, CU Boulder, DU and UNC. Uh yeah. As a college student and graduate, I LOVED this job. In fact…
2003- GreekShots. (I started my own biz). It’s still operating today. Many people don’t know that I actually own three photography businesses. Here is a shot from a Bid Day I photographed the other day. James Brown, my GreekShots manager is studying abroad in China, so I will be doing all his dirty work until he gets back. Hurry back, Jim!

The other two companies I started are confidential. I know I have competitors lurking in my blog so I have to keep em hush hush.
2004 - Photoshoot for K2 Mountain Bikes, got a free bike out of it, and one for my mom, too!
2004 - current - Master Class Presenter at the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention and Trade Show, Paris and Ballys Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas
Published work: Contributing writer to Rangefinder Magazine, Feature work in “Best of Professional Digital Photography” “Wedding Photographers Handbook” and some others.
Preferred Photographer at some really great places, including the St. Regis, Aspen; Arizona Biltmore, and about 10 others I think.

Other cool jobs I’ve had: Assignments for big air contests, Vail Resorts, Summit Daily, Greely Tribune, Playboy TV (shhhhhh don’t tell Jenny! Just kidding she knows about that).

Worst photo job ever: I got hired in college to photograph a hotel that burned down. My job, to photograph the places where dead bodies were found. It was so creepy. The worst part of it is that (as a young, naive, photographer), I offered to shoot for trade and ended up with a bunch of used office chairs. I donated them to my fraternity.

Anyway, I’m proud to say that I’m among the few wedding photographers out there with a lot of great experience. I chose not to get a degree in photography (learn some instructor’s style of shooting). That was the best career decision I have ever made. I think my style is very unique and I wonder if I would shoot even remotely similar had I gone to Brooks or something formal like that. Instead I got my degree in Business Marketing. Perfect. Thanks Dad, for pushing me that direction.

October 4, 2007 |