NEWS: Website redesign and new Pay Online page

First, at the request of a recently booked bride, I have modified my online payment page to reflect my new package names, descriptions and pricing. When you click on the Online Payment in the menu of the website it now takes you to a page with just the online payment options only. It is a stop-gap just to tide everyone over until the new site is launched. Please let me know if you have any problems using the new page.

In other news, I am hard at work, with a designer, giving my website a dramatic upgrade. The current site was never intended to be permanent but as the season got busier and busier, I never got around to redoing it. SO, I did a search and found a good web designer to work with me and we should have the new site ready to launch in the next week or so. It will be a Flash based site, in keeping with what seems to be an industry-wide trend toward high-end, high-design sites. Personally, I just like function and form and at the moment, I only have function and not too much form. So look for that change to happen soon. When it does happen, you not go directly to my site anymore. When you go to http://www.weddingsbyrobert.com you'll get a portal and will choose to go to a low-bandwidth html only site, the new, enhanced Flash site or my Blog. I hope everyone likes the new design as much as I do.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Leigh & Nick...Booked...and other news...

Thank you to Leigh & Nick who booked for next June in Orlando. Look for their engagement session and bridal portraits to be posted sometime in September. Also, Nick, I didn't forget...I'm still working on it.

I am going to try, as much as possible to announce new bookings here when I have a picture available. Congrats to Leigh & Nick for being the first.

Also, judging by the number of bookings/inquiries I've gotten for next year, 2008 looks like it's going to be a killer year for weddings so if you're thinking about waiting to book me or other vendors, I would not wait too long. This past season was booking about 3-4 months out but it looks like next year is going much earlier so book your favorite vendors now before your date is gone!

EDITORIAL: I get it now!

First of all, sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I have some recent images to post but first I wanted to tell you all...I get it...I understand now.

I have so many of my brides (and grooms, can't forget about you all) tell me that they want photojournalism, or at the very least, they just don't want formal posed wedding photography. Now, since I don't show that kind of work, I don't really get that many requests to do it but until today, really, 10 minutes ago I didn't really know what so many of you seem to dislike. I didn't have a visceral feel for what traditional wedding photography may represent to you.

I was watching a somewhat old photography "magazine" DVD that featured the work of some of that day's better wedding photographers, just to see if there was something I could take from it. To put this in perspective, the photographer in the main feature story was talking about the fact that weddings would never be shot in digital. Hmmmmm. Anyway, in this video I saw a photographer doing what I guess you'd consider VERY traditional wedding photography, filled with all the static, uncomfortable posing you could ever want...or not. I felt uncomfortable just watching so I can only imagine what it must have been like for the bride, groom and their families.

To say I only understand because of this video is not entirely true. I only have to look 10 years back at my own wedding photography to see the very same stuff and while my recollection of how it felt to be stuck in those positions is a little fuzzy, I know I don't like the pictures all that much.

So when you say "Robert, I really don't want traditional wedding photography, you know, all that posed stuff..." I know what you mean, and I also know that what you likely REALLY mean is that you'd love to have beautiful lines both in the scene and your bodies, wonderful lighting and creative angles but you don't want to have to make like a statue for 10 minutes while I pose every last part of your being. That's why I tell my couples that I WILL do some direction and offer the occasional posing advice, even to the extent of directing head movements but I never let it seem like work.

I think too often people assume that when you abandon tradition you abandon beauty, structure and lighting. I think that's a mistake. To me, now, after witnessing what many of you probably consider your worst nightmare, I assure you that tradition, or at least tradition when it means stuffy, stiff, posed wedding photography is not the only path to classic beauty and stunning imagery.

Rest assured, while I do strive to make timeless, beautiful wedding photographs, I think I do it in a way that feels very fluid and totally stress-free.

Thanks for reading.

EDITORIAL: Behind the Scenes - Marnie & Scott

This was a shot we had to get. It went from something we didn't even know about to top of the list from the moment these stairs were spotted just off to the side of the ceremony location.
I first noticed these stairs as we were wrapping up the formals. My assistant Chris suggested that we shoot long with the happy couple on the top landing. I thought it was a great idea and we raced against time to catch the failing afternoon light peeking through the trees in the background. At the time we first framed up the shot there was a spectacular bit of light hitting that spot but after a couple delays and a re-shoot of one of the formals, the sun had dipped slightly below where it was and the light was essentially gone. We sent Marnie and Scott up on the landing and I quickly decided to send Chris around the back of them with a light on a stand. I thought if we could hit them from behind with enough light, it would simulate the effect I hoped to get with the sun. It worked pretty well, especially on this shot of Marnie where the fringes of her hair seem to be lit by the setting sun, but in reality are being illumined by a flash held high by a quick acting assistant.

EDITORIAL: Memorable Shots from the past season - Part 1

This image of Brittany and Greg, married March 11, 2006 is one of my personal favorites. This shot came about because of some advanced scouting I did at the Celebration Hotel, the location for this wedding and reception. The entire affair was going to be at night so I knew I needed to get a bit creative with the shots we did post-ceremony.

This phone booth was actually the first thing I saw when I parked my car along the street leading up to the hotel. I was immediately reminded of my "Brit" wife and my trip to London several years ago. I knew right then and there that I would have to find a way to coerce this couple into this booth for a shot. The only problem was that it was going to be cramped and probably a bit dirty. I knew I ran the risk of Brittany saying no when I asked her to get in.

Not this bride! As with a lot of my brides, Brittany was brave and all about getting the best, most fun shots possible so she didn't hesitate to pull Greg into the booth. What I didn't realize was how hot it would be in there. Within minutes, as my assistant and I frantically worked to get the lighting set up, they began to sweat. I knew I didn't have time for the lighting I wanted to do so I just abandoned the lights and switched to using the light that was available, which wasn't much. I had to shoot with a slow shutter speed so they had to hold VERY still. Luckily for me, I was using a tripod, which is rare (I like to be free to move a lot) and everything came together to make a very romantic, unique shot.

The way the elements of planning, chance and a willing bride and groom came together to make this shot is a pretty good representation of how I like to work. I plan and prepare as much as possible but I often fall back on experience and "gut instinct" to improvise when I need to in order to make the best images possible.

In the end, Brittany and Greg loved this shot and that's really the ultimate reward for me.

-Robert