It’s weddings like Pepper and Brendan’s that make things about as easy as they can get on a wedding photographer: beautiful weather, a church full of character and color, bubble-blowing kids, delicious food, and most of all a ton of very happy people. In fact, I think the image that will stay in my mind from this day is Brendan’s Mom, smiling nonstop with this expression that said, Isn’t this the greatest day ever?

You can see more photos from the day on my Facebook page. While you’re at it, join the party and become a fan!

Thanks again to Pepper and Brendan for having me along for such a warm, personal day. Best of luck to you both and to your families!

I’ve got some forward motion to report on my wedding rebranding efforts. Like I said in my last Big Project post, a couple weeks ago I threw all my favorite wedding images (about 200 of ‘em) together in a big pile for my photo consultant to review. Out of the chaos she pulled about 70 of them that magically crystallized my style in to a coherent body of work. I’m not exaggerating when I say that seeing her edit has changed the way I think about my own work.

Please – take a look at the new portfolio and see what you think. I’d love to get your thoughts in the comments.

What’s been cool about the process is not that Selina chose a lot of images that I hadn’t selected on my own (although she did). What’s cool is that by asking someone with some distance from the work to look with a critical and fresh eye I not only got a fresh edit; I also got an outsider’s perspective on what makes my work unique, and the language to express that uniqueness. I’ve gone from the general idea that I do natural, photojournalistic, fun wedding photography to the specific core of what comes out of that practice: capturing emotions throughout the day in a different, more intimate way than other photographers. Because I’ve talked this all through with a person who has reviewed thousands of photographers’ work over the past 30 years, I now have the language, and I also have the block of images that illustrate the language. Super exciting.

Now that the work is solidified it’s on to the branding. I’ll be working with Andrew Voss, a designer here in Minneapolis. He’ll be working with me freelance, although he also holds down a full time gig at Spunk Design Machine, the agency responsible for all things marketing for the Seward Coop, one of my newest clients. I’ve also started the search for a book binder who will help me with my wedding and commercial portfolios when I get to that point, as well as potentially constructing my wedding albums starting next season.

All of this great stuff. . . it ain’t cheap. At this point I’m six billable hours in to my work with Selina. (Think lawyer rates.) The current plan with Andrew means about 50 hours of his time. (Not lawyer, but still.) Then there’s the actual printing of business cards, price sheets, postcards, the whole ball of proverbial wax.

On the other hand, at the other end of this process I anticipate doubling my wedding rates. (Which is a weird idea that I’ll probably need to devote a whole post to at some point.) When I’m there it hopefully won’t take long to recoup my investment, and be at a point where I feel like I deserve and need to be. At this point it’s a leap of faith.

Recently I had a chance to photograph some engagement portraits for a couple whose wedding I’m photographing next spring. I really enjoy the chance to shoot engagement sessions; it’s a great chance to build trust and rapport with a couple, and to show them what they’ll look like in photos that I take of them. Plus they’re just fun.

The evening Jackie and I had talked about shooting was sketchy weather-wise – threatening clouds all afternoon, severe thunderstorm warnings not too far away. We talked earlier in the day and decided to call it off. . . then we called it back on. . . when we finally got rolling dusk was falling, and the streetlights came on. Luckily we were in the park near the Bloomington Central Light Rail stop, and there are much cooler-than-average streetlights (and fountains). Perfect!

Thanks guys – looking forward to the wedding!

How cool is this: not only are you getting married, but you’re a sculptor, and you’re saying your vows underneath your very own artwork, in the middle of one of the biggest public art spaces in the Midwest? It’s pretty cool.

Rebecca, the bride, also constructed the cupcake stand and the gold flowers left on the chairs as gifts for the guests.

This was definitely one of the most personal weddings I’ve had the privilege of photographing, and it was really fun to see a day play out that Rebecca and Ben had clearly put a lot of themselves in to.

I had the chance to photograph a wedding this past Saturday, an absolutely perfect Minnesota June day with blue sky and temps in the mid-70s. It was truly one of the better weddings I’ve ever photographed, in large part due to the bride and groom and their family and guests. Great people who let the day happen naturally and didn’t stress out over any schedules or up the level of drama in any way. As is the case during most weddings I photograph, my wife Johanna assisted me. And as also happens at almost every wedding, she had a table full of friends by the end of the reception.

Today I made my first pass through the 2,000 or so images I captured. Of course I uploaded everything to my work computer on Sunday morning and did a little spot checking to make sure everything made it from the camera back home (I don’t think I could’ve let that go for any longer than I did), but today was the first run through the whole batch.

Something that I find useful as I’m editing big huge batches of images is to pick out a few favorites and quickly work them up to a close-to-final form. Once I have a handful of images that represent most of the shoot, as I’m making my way through I have some images to use as models for white balance settings, exposure, saturation, etc. And maybe more importantly, it gets me excited to be cranking out hundreds of pictures.

So here’s my first handful. The ceremony took place in Urness Recital Hall at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and the reception was in the upstairs banquet room at Solera Restaurant, Minneapolis.

Prepping the bridal party

Dad and bride on their way in to the hall

Urness Recital Hall

After the ceremony

A feisty champagne cork

Clink clink clink. . .

The view from Solera's dance floor