Neil March 25th, 2008
Tammy and John’s wedding album custom designed by Neil Cowley.
Tammy and John’s wedding was held at the Genesee Country Museum and this natural organic album design flowed from their gorgeous event. Read the extended post below to see the full design and read Neil’s discussion of the design elements.
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Neil March 24th, 2008
I listen to the Camera Position Podcast by Jeff Curto and thought listening to it and thinking it through would help all of you making decisions about what type of wedding photographer to hire.
Entry #62 poses the question - Is Beauty Enough?
Visit his page to download from his site.
“Why do most great pictures look un-contrived? The deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached. Only pictures that look as if they have been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.“
This simple quote strikes to the heart of the struggle of ‘choosing a wedding photographer’ when the issues of budget and beauty, of posing and photojournalism collide in your mind.
I hope you enjoy the podcast and this bit of art theory and criticism as you contemplate your photography investment and how it might pay off for you in the future. I hope our pictures look easily made to your eye, because the beauty I see is all around me.
For us, beauty is not in the way your wrinkles can be erased out of the way, but how they can so easily be overlooked when the picture is of a genuine moment or thought - and thereby looks so easily made. While photojournalism is a good word for what we do, it’s become an overused catchphrase in the wedding industry - but an understanding that we strive to make our work as ‘un-contrived’ as possible every time we shoot is probably the best way to understand what we do. The most common, and the most satisfying complement we get from our photos is “it feels just like we were there!” And that complement may not be coming from someone who attended the wedding!
If you are considering spending 5-10,000 on wedding photography and are unsure of what style photographer you want to go with, maybe you should consider reading Robert Adams short collection of essays on Beauty in Photography to find your personal preference for beauty and meaning in photographs. Maybe you’ll even decide the most lasting perspective or approach for capturing your family memories. I would not wish for you to have a personal preference of ‘romanticism’, where you prefer imaginative poses or very stylized images, and hire someone who spends their time finding unique moments of personal interaction. I would equally regret for you to be enticed by overtly romanticized wedding photos and 10 years from your wedding regret that a more inclusive approach had been taken that captures how much your grandmother appreciated being a part of your wedding.
I intend for you creative blessing and peace in your choice,
Neil March 21st, 2008
I developed this multimedia presentation to share with all my clients where art comes from:
So do you know where the best art comes from now?
I didn’t include the story of Courtney and Charlie’s first date, but if you’d like to listen to it here:
…you can see how their engagement shoot reflected their first date and how tucker got included.
In case it’s not totally clear, the framed photos are the shadowbox that I made with Charlie’s input. The frame is antiqued barn wood, and it has a two inch deep sealed wooden shadow frame. The glass is painted from the inside to harmonize with the weathered edges of the photos and handmade paper in the backing. The photos are mounted on raw nails to avoid adhesives which lower the archival stability of the piece.
I look forward to blessing more and more of your lives with joy, strength, memories and moments
Neil February 2nd, 2008
Tanya’s thank you card design:
When Tanya ask me for ideas for her thank-you card I recalled the sign welcoming her guests to her reception tent shown in unaltered form below and above cleverly pixel pushed to show a “Thank You” where it used to say welcome (and the pole disappeared).
I believe that the long-term value in my photographic services resides in their documentary strength. To expand that thought I believe that the images you will cherish in 12-13 years when your daughter finds your wedding album will be the gestures of love and tenderness your family extend, and the details captured at your event from every angle with those acts as the centerpiece of the stage. It’s somewhat funny, and somewhat depressing, but I often ask clients what their favorite image is from their wedding and it always surprises me! Every wedding I’m proud of a few images for artistic reasons, documentary reasons, and unintelligible reasons. But after a few years of entering contests, and winning, I quit entering for these last two years because I felt ’shooting for the contest’ was warping my approach, and could take me too far away from the images my clients hold most dear.
Out of this breakdown, came the new business and redoubled approach that I needed to re-build our business into “Make Love Real”. The pictures my clients love most are the simplest ones, the truthful ones. So is PhotoShopping an image truthful?
Neil December 21st, 2007
Call: 1(641)985-7878 ex*4210197 - leave me a message about your favorite photo!
One of the challenges I face is how to know what to photograph, so to make myself better by understanding your perspective I’ll give you a free enlargement (whatever size you request) if you call up 1(641)985-7878 ex*4210197 and leave a message describing to me what was your favorite picture, and why. No, easy answers like ‘Neil you’re a genius’ don’t count - you really have to tell me what’s important to you and how it made you feel to have it captured….I know you can do it….just look at the picture while you call and it’ll be easy. If you’re having trouble getting started then just think about what happened leading up to the image, and tell that story starting there and then your thoughts will flow out.
If the groom has a separate favorite image, then he can call in on his own and leave his story for a second print.When I hear it, I’ll know the picture - or you can e-mail me the number and I’ll get an enlargement made in the size you request in the e-mail.
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