Letter from Pam.....
WOW! I thought I was all done crying! Yes, I am very lucky to have Bryan. He is definitely one in a million and I will forward your message to him. We got back from our tour of Europe last night and are glad to be home. The wedding and the honeymoon seemed to be a success and you were a big part of that. Thanks so much for your work. You made both of us very comfortable and we can't wait to see the pictures. I believe that you offer so much more than the other photographers that we looked at....you are very personable and you REALLY care and that showed so much, Steve. Thanks a lot!
We can't wait to see all of the photographs! Give me a call when they are
done. We are back to life as usual here!
Thanks again, Steve!
Pam
P.S. Do you think we will make the web page!!?? :)
.......That’s funny, I was about to ask if I could use the images for the website!
There's something about Pam.....
In the movie There's something about Mary Cameron Diaz stars as the always smiling and always lovable Mary. She pulls off what could have easily been a flop of a movie by playing her character with a bright smile and happy personality. Pam is as close to a real life Mary as I have ever seen. She has a charismatic personality and a smile that can light up the room. When your as beautiful as Pam you don't have to be nice, which is what really surprises me about her. She is a super sweet and wonderful person. She is originally from Michigan and she has that Midwest "let me take care of you" personality.
It took a while to figure out
The first time I met Bryan I recalled meeting others like Bryan in the past, bold, sophisticated, with a
lot of confidence. Right before the wedding I was photographing him and I saw a completely different
side to him, nervous, unsettled, anxious, and not having the answers. It was a remarkable contrast to
the guy I first met. I think it hit him all at once, the best thing that ever happened to him in his life was
just moments away from devoting herself to him in front of family, friends and church. After the
ceremony I could see that he was truly happy. As someone told me later on, "he just lights up when
she's around him." The other thing that was funny was that a number of people have told him the
same thing, that if he hadn’t show up that day they would have gladly taken his place. Would Pam
marry a stand in for Bryan? Maybe, maybe not. One thing for sure, the nearest tux store would have
been flooded with business.
This is a rare shot
The ceremony took place in a beautiful church in La Jolla, one of the finest beach cities in California. I
walked into the church thinking that there was a lot of history in this building. It's seen many happy
days. In the image above I had the rare opportunity to take the bride into the church for a portrait
before the wedding.
We follow the rules........
A general principal we follow is RESPECT. Respect for people, property, religion and ceremony.
Every time we walk into a church we are greeted by the "Wedding Coordinator." The first thing they
do is recite the church's rules towards photography. The rules seem to go like this.
Catholic Churches: Most will let me move around, many allow flash photography.
Newer Christian religions: Allow just about anything including flash as long as you don't stand on the
alter.
Older Christian Religions: Stand in the back of the church, can't use flash, don't make any noise.
In Bryan and Pam's case I had to stand in the back of the church and reenact things at the alter
afterwards.
The traditional family portrait at the alter
Mission Impossible........
Thinking back, one person I wanted to photograph but didn't was the limo driver. She was in her
twenties, wore conservative yet short skirt, and stylish Ray-Ban's, more or less she looked like an
assassin. The idea was to take a few pictures down by the beach. Great idea except it was labor day
weekend. The option was for me to strip down to the most basic gear, just enough stuff for me to
carry, and throw it in the back of the limo. As soon as the alter shots were done, I jumped into the
back of the limo to head over to the beach. Pam went with Bryan and the groomsmen, and I was
alone with all the bridesmaids. Oh yeah, being a wedding photographer does have its perks.
Anyway, our limo driver was the assassin, and she was driving down these small curvy sides streets
in La Jolla like she was driving a roadster. The entire time she was on her two-way radio talking to
the other limo trying to guide them to the right spot in La Jolla. It wasn't hard to find, it was the same
spot that everybody else in La Jolla was at as well.
We had to block traffic to get this shot.
Once out of the car we assaulted the beach with a demeanor like we wanted to get there, shoot
quickly and get the hell out. As we were setting up people were walking in front of the camera, they
simply didn't care. It became so bad we had to block traffic on the boardwalk to prevent people from
walking in front of the camera. A group of people 100+ stood around and watched. When it was over
we all left as quickly as possible. It almost felt like we got away with breaking the law!
A couple other shots from the beach at La Jolla
Sunset just took place a few moments before I took these images. I like the afterglow of a sunset, it makes for some remarkable images.
1940's Noir
Every once in a while I get struck with an image that I just love and for some reason even unknown tome I am very proud to display. This is one of those images. It reminds me of classic movie star photographs the studios would put out back in the golden era of movies. The contrast between expressions in the image is one of the things that I feel make it interesting. Its not a flattering image of the couple, there are better ones. It is however none the less, very different.
I would love to tell you that I spent hours setting up lighting to get just the perfect amount of lighting to
set off the image. In reality I had a few frames left on black and white film and I vaguely remember
taking this image. You can say its a lucky shot. It was a candid while they danced. I brought the image
into photo shop did some minor clean ups on their face, and gave it a gray border and printed in on
glossy paper, it looks neat!