Tag Archives: rain

Wedding

Boulder, CO | Chautauqua Wedding | Top Knots Photo Contest

I just entered some of my images from Kate and Brandon’s June wedding to the Photo District News Top Knots photography contest. This is one of the biggest contests of the year for wedding photographers. There is some really great work on display, but most of it is more traditional “posed” wedding photography, so I’m not sure how my documentary approach will go over.

The main website can be found here . If you would like to vote for one of my pictures in the “People’s Choice” category, you can click here.

Below are the pictures I submitted for consideration. The four pictures of the Bridal Party walking around in the rain were submitted as a series. I chose these because I felt they really held together well as a series, and they also do a good job of illustrating the documentary style that I use when shooting a wedding. In the portrait category, I chose this particular portrait because I think it is really pretty with nice soft window light, rich dark tones and bright highlights that retain the details in the dress. I also chose this picture because it is somewhat unusual, being a straight profile of Kate’s face.

Hopefully, the judges will find these images interesting, if a little different than the usual wedding photography fare. Let me know what you think of them.

You can click on any of the images to view them larger. Enjoy…

Bride and her bridesmaids walking in the rain
A bride and her bridesmaids walking up the street
Bride and her bridesmaids standing in the rain
Groomsmen and ring bearer walking in the rain
Candid portrait of the bride

Tech Info:
Nikon F100
Nikon 50mm f1.4
Legacy Pro 400 (AKA – Fuji Neopan 400)
Processing and scanning by Richard Photo Lab

Wedding

Boulder, CO | Chautauqua Wedding | Final Album

thumbnails

It’s been a while since I put up a wedding photography post, so I thought I would give you a look at the album I designed to document Kate and Brandon’s beautiful wedding at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder, CO.

As I was shooting the wedding on that rainy June day, there were a lot of images that I made specifically with this album in mind. It’s really gratifying to see so many of them make the final cut. Kate is a very artistic person, so I had her and Brandon make the final selection of images to include in the album. I don’t always work in this way, but in this case, I think it worked out really well.

The book contains about 110 images spread out over 50 pages and is laid out in chronological order from getting ready all the way through the reception. I find placing the images in context really helps people understand how the day unfolded, and also helps the bride and groom mentally “fill in the gaps” between the images.

I designed the book as a 12X12, but also made it available in 10X10, 8X8, and 6X6 for family and friends to purchase. The pages of the album are printed on real photo paper and the spreads lay flat with no seam in the middle. The font used for the text is the same font that Kate chose for her wedding invitations, so this helps tie the album to the other mementos from the wedding day.

As you can see, I used very little text, a simple layout, and only one design element – a very subtle sloppy border around all of the floating images. I think these pictures speak for themselves, and adding a complicated layout, or a bunch of extra elements would really detract from the story of the day. This tends to be my album design philosophy – let the pictures stand on their own.

Tech Info:
This whole book was laid out using Layered Photoshop Files
The sloppy borders were created using a Photoshop action
All but 11 images in the book were shot on film

Wedding

Boulder, CO | Chautauqua Wedding | Bridal Party Portraits

Below are a few of the Bridal Party portraits from Kate and Brandon’s fun and intimate wedding at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder, CO.

As you can tell from the photos, it was raining pretty hard throughout the day. We really wanted to get outside to shoot these portraits, but because of the weather, we had to work fast and be resourceful. Knowing that the forecast called for rain, Kate and I had both picked up clear umbrellas that worked out really well throughout the day. I think these umbrellas add a cool element to the images that help tie them together an make them unique.

Normally, I would spend a little more time with the bridal party working on variations, groupings, individual portraits, etc., but in this situation, if we had spent any more time outside in the elements, it could have easily turned into a “trash the dress” shoot – not a great idea for the wedding day.

We were all really happy to have such a great location just a few yards from the wedding venue. The muted light, saturated colors, and shiny wet surfaces, mixed with everyone’s great expressions, really made for some beautiful photographs that sum up the emotions of the day.

You can click on any of the images to see them larger. Enjoy…

The Bride stands for a portrait in the rain
The Groom stands for a portrait in the rain
The full bridal party standing for a portrait in the rain
The bride and groom take a moment to look at each other

Tech Info:
Nikon N90s
Nikon 35mm f2
Fuji Pro 400H
Processing and Scans by Richard Photo Lab

Wedding

Boulder, CO | Chautauqua Wedding | Bridal Party in the Rain

Here are a few more pictures from Kate and Brandon’s wedding at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder, CO. It was a very rainy day, but we were able to get outside and do a little bit of shooting because we picked up a set of clear plastic umbrellas after we had seen the forecast for the wedding day. These bubble umbrellas worked great! They kept the bridal party relatively dry, and because they are clear, they let light through so faces are not in deep shadow. I highly suggest picking up a set of similar umbrellas if you have any concerns about rain on your wedding day.

I have included a portrait of Kate that we shot immediately after coming in from the rain. You’ll notice that she isn’t drenched, and more importantly, she looks awesome! I really like these documentary images. They add an interesting feel to the album, and are pretty unique here in Colorado.

You can click on any of the images to see them larger. Enjoy…

Bride and her bridesmaids standing in the rain
Bride and her bridesmaids walking in the rain

A bride and her bridesmaids walking up the street
Candid portrait of the bride

Groomsmen and ring bearer walking in the rain

Tech Info:
Clear Bubble Umbrellas from Target
Nikon F100
Nikon 50mm f1.4
Legacy Pro 400 (AKA Neopan 400)
Richard Photo Lab

Wedding

Boulder, CO Wedding Photography – Rainy Day Details

Colorado has over 300 sunny days a year, so rainy days are pretty rare. Days that are rainy from morning to night are even more rare. June 12th, 2010 was one of those rare days.

Although rain is never a Bride’s ideal situation, when it happens, the keys are to embrace it and have a back-up location (if you had planned for an outdoor venue). For the wedding I shot on June 12th, the Bride did both of these things.

I really think that rainy days make for vivid memories and unique situations that can be fun to document, resulting in images that will standout here in the centennial state. For photographers, rainy days present their challenges; but if you keep your wits about you, you can be rewarded with some really beautiful and interesting photographs.

Below are a few detail images from the day, they will help set the stage for the pictures to come in later blog posts. Enjoy (you can click on the images to see them larger)…

Raindrops sitting on blades of ornamental grass. Black and white detail photograph from a rainy Boulder, CO wedding.
Wet sundial on a white pedestal. Black and white detail photograph from a rainy Boulder, CO wedding.
Overturned umbrella on the porch. Black and white detail photograph from a rainy Boulder, CO wedding.

Tech Info:
Nikon F100
Nikon 50mm f1.4
Legacy Pro 400 (AKA Fuji Neopan 400)
Straight scans from Richard Photo Lab