Cup of Joe Photo

Dynamic Light

I captured this image last summer, and it's one of my favorites from 2007. I wanted to share the before image too. Have a great weekend and stay true to your vision.

straight out of the camera

Before and after wall

While I began shooting at this super cool temporary wall, I had a vision of the couple without the sidewalk or construction in the background. After tweaking the original, I had my completed vision. I like the before shot and it would be fine, but I like the after shot better. It seems more idealistic and clean to me. That appeals to my style. There is no right answer to which is better. It's just which shot you prefer.

Uncle Photo

The reason I sometimes refer to myself as Uncle Photo is because of these three, sweet kids. Two of them are my God-Children too:) (You'll have to guess which ones). Anyway, I photographed my sister Lisa's kids the other day for a Christmas card image. She wanted one with all three of the kids together. As you know, working with kids is much harder than shooting weddings.... I thought I'd show you the before and after images from one of my favs. Happy Tuesday.

Before and After Engagement

Here's a recent image I felt would be enhanced with some some warm toning to the color and vignetting, as well as a little blur too. I'm interested to find out your thoughts.

Another Before and After

Erik's comments on my last post got me thinking about peoples preferences and the decision "to tweak or not to tweak". These "before and after" images are a bit more subtle. I'd love to know which one you like better and why. Thanks for the comments and have a great weekend!

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Before and After

I am happy to be an artist. Sometimes, while working on images, I achieve a result that was better than I even imagined it to be in my head. This was the case with this image of the little girl lying on the bed. The moment was spontaneous, but in that instant I saw her face lit up with expression and very little else. So that is what I sought to show in the final image. Have a blast in Photoshop and be don't worry - be happy.

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Old School, baby

Here's 4 Photoshop techniques I used to make this image look vintage. Selective focus, grain, brown tone, and edge darkening. Pretty cool huh? I've had so much fun playing with images lately. Who votes for the old school version, raise your hand.

Before and After Mountains Images

The process of refining the final image is incorporated into my workflow procedures. For the blog, I pick my favorites right away and then I tweak them. The "before and after" category is the most viewed on the blog. Here's a few more to look at and be inspired. Have a great weekend!

Elaine and Jeff

Good morning friends! I'm so happy with all the responses and emails I've been getting from all of you. Please know that I read them all. I laugh and sometimes cry at your kind blessings for me. I apologize for not responding back to so many of you. I hope to manage my time better in the future and stay in touch. After all, that's why this has become so important to me. Building a community of mutual admiration among the brotherhood (and sisterhood).
Many of you have commented on how you enjoy the before and after images. Well, every Thursday I plan to show you more. As I've said before, this approach makes the good images great, and the great images, extraordinary. Sometimes the differences are subtle and sometimes they're dramatic.
These are images from my friends Elaine and Jeff's wedding last summer. I've been friends with with Jeff for 18 years. Enjoy the images!

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Emily and Stephen

These images of Emily and Stephen were photographed at the beautiful Montage Resort and Spa. I like to think of my tweaking the originals as an exercise in beauty. I hope you'll agree. Enjoy!

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Samantha and Bejan

Style appeals to my brides. They have a "passion for fashion" just as I do. Samantha and Bejan were a pleasure to photograph. Their wedding was at the fabulous Montage Resort and Spa in Laguna Beach. Photographers ask me all the time, "how do you get your brides to do the things they do?" I reply "Be enthusiastic and simply ask." Enjoy!

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Carrie and Rhys

"Tweaking" images is so much fun for me. All of my clients' images are retouched, and many of them get the extra "magic". Parker J has been such a profound influence in the shift in my image making. Enjoy!!

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Ashley and Brandon

The style of my images is one of the most important reasons my clients hire me to photograph their weddings. I challenge myself to continue to learn and evolve in my image making. That ensures that it's always fresh and always fun. Enjoy!

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Erin and James

I've got a fun idea. I'll show you some wedding images before and after "the magic". My buddy Parker always says "You can't polish a turd." It's true. You have to start with good images, then you can make them great.

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Desert Tranquillity

These images were shot while Ingrid and I were visiting her sister in Phoenix. My brother in law is a trail guide and offered to be my "shirpa" on a hike. What a great offer. A guided tour and help carrying my camera bag. Awesome.

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Devastation

We all have so much to be thankful for today. I have a healthy family and I have my dream job, working as a wedding photographer. I make it a practice to be grateful everyday. I just heard an inspirational woman speak about "Thanks - living". Being thankful everyday. What a lovely concept. If you are having a hard time being thankful, I find that often an image can put things into perspective. I shot this after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

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Sittin' in the Streets

Many times people on the streets are just hanging out. My method of shooting these people really depends on how quickly I see them or they see me. The first guy was actually looking at Becker while were in Mexico. I choose to shoot him from the side. He never noticed me. The second guy, Parker and I met in New Orleans and we hung out with him for a while to do images. There's not just one way to do it. Sometimes, developing a relationship works best and sometimes not. Pratice, and you decide!

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Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was killer for street shooting. Amazing actually! For these images, I used Parker's "James Brown Color" action. It's one of my favorites for the streets! Enjoy.

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Streets of Tijuana

Photographing in the streets is one of the most challenging assignments for me because of the human misery element. It's the 180 degree opposite of the beautiful weddings I shoot. In the streets, I'm really careful as not to offend the dignity of the individual. Any big city is going to have plenty of people in the streets. I plan to continue to stretch my comfort zone through my art.

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Union Station Los Angeles

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time and you shoot the right shot...

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Basketball Hoops

These hoops were standing on a playground in a New Orleans suburb. The park had sustained some very high winds and there was a lot of debris around. There were absolutely no children around to play. This tweaked shot represents how I felt in the lonely playground.

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Phoenix Renaisance

Jousting is an old time sport. I tweaked this image to reflect it's place in history.

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Mexico Graveyard

While in Mexico, Becker and I sought out this graveyard that he had seen off the freeway. We were able to shoot for about 20 minutes until we got kicked out. Two white guys with expensive cameras in Tijuana in an old graveyard. That's exciting! Live on the edge a little... These tweaked images represent how I saw the environment we were in.

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New Orleans

This image was captured shortly after Parker and I arrived for Mardis Gras 2006.

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Mexico

Becker and I travelled south of the border for a photo field trip in Jan of this year. This is one of the street musicians we encountered.

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New Orleans

When Parker and I photographed New Orleans last Mardi Gras, we parked his car about a half a mile away from Bourbon Street and had to walk because there were so many parked cars. This was the first doorway we walked past and I just couldn't wait to start shooting. This doorway has become a memory, because I took a moment to document it. The original image and the tweaked version.

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