Membership Has Its Privileges

Andrew Russell Photo

I put a lot of consideration into whether or not I should even make this post. I'm really not concerned with what other photographers do, or don't do.

But I hate to see the actions of a few feed the perception that everybody - including those of us who work hard to provide great photography, customer service, and value to their clients - operates in an unprofessional manner.

After speaking with a number of brides - it goes with the territory - it seems that just about everybody has a story of a sister or friend who got burned by their photographer.

There's a lot of talk about people entering the field of wedding photography since the start of the digital revolution. While there are no doubt some talented individuals getting started, there are plenty of horror stories about photographers delivering poor-quality pictures, or flaking out and not delivering photos at all.

I come to a wedding with my Nikon D3 and D700, lenses, several flashes, and other gear. They're professional grade cameras and give outstanding results.

Big deal. You can get great photos with a Nikon D90 or Canon Rebel - both of which are less than $1000. The barriers to entry into the field are fairly low.

What happens if one of my cameras breaks? Well, I've still got the other one AND I've got backup equipment in the car.

It's part of the preparation that goes into properly covering an event: My gear is insured. I back up my digital files in several places. I carry liability insurance. My business is registered with the state. I pay taxes on income. I collect sales tax. Etc., etc.

The point is that there is a lot more to being a responsible business person than having a camera and a website.

To that end, I'm pleased to say that I've recently joined a couple of professional organizations.

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP.com) is an exclusive directory of wedding photographers. They require references from other professional photographers and recommendations from brides before you're allowed in. ISPWP is only open to professionals who have shot at least 50 weddings as the primary photographer and they review your portfolio before approving membership.

There's also a code of conduct that members must abide by. It's really about the things I was talking about above - applying the industry's best practices to your business.

I'm also excited about being among the first to join the newly-formed Pittsburgh chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES). ISES is all about raising the bar for all members through education, cooperation, and cultivating high standards of business practices.

This is great news for brides, and really anybody who is planning a special event with vendors who are ISES members. It means that your photographer and other vendors are operating according to professional standards and as a result are comfortable working with one another.

That's it for now. I've got a great wedding this Saturday with Kristin and Justin that I'm really excited about. I've got a new assistant, Caroline, who I'm very much looking forward to working with. The ceremony is at beautiful Heinz Chapel and the reception aboard the Gateway Clipper. Check back on Sunday by which time (hopefully) I'll have posted a couple of my favorites from the day.

Joe

New Church (for me)

I had a great time photographing Amy and Jeffry's wedding.

It was the first time I shot at St. Anne's in Mt. Lebanon and I liked the church very much. It was built in the early 1960's in a modern style that I usually find cold and unattractive. Not so, here. The area around the altar is very spacious, and the decor is bold and graphic.





The way the light entered from the high windows in the nave provided some nice illumination as Amy's dad walked her down the aisle.



For those keeping score at home, I added to the natural light by aiming my flash towards the wall to my right. The wall was of a neutral color so it didn't color the light as it reflected off of it. I think the results are much more attractive than direct flash.

Joe

Sunset

Here's another photo from Amy and Jeffry's wedding last weekend:



It's always sunny in the South Hills of Pittsburgh!


Joe

First Dance

One of my favorite things to photograph during a wedding reception is the first dance. All eyes are on the couple and it's three to four minutes of them alone. I'll work the different angles in relation to my lights and take some wide shots of the whole scene. Then I work my way in a little bit closer, and finally I try to get some very tight shots of their expressions.

I took this shot of Jeffry and Amy towards the end of their first dance last Saturday. I saw this in the viewfinder and was very happy when I checked it and it was in focus.



Please check back for more photos, I'll be posting them as I edit.

Joe

My New Toy

I shot my first wedding of the season yesterday and brought along my new toy. It's no toy really, but a Panasonic Lumix LX3.

This pocket-sized camera is amazing. At the heart of this little point-and-shoot is a Leica lens that is phenomenally sharp and capable of focusing at 2cm. I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks and decided to take it with me to Amy and Jeffry's wedding to try some detail shots.

Here's a shot of their rings:



I'll be posting more photos from the wedding over the next couple of days, so please check back.

Joe

Little Black Dress

I really had a good time working with my beautiful friend Caroline on a recent fashion shoot. The story was about how to accessorize that little black dress every girl owns in order to make it work both during the day and in the evening.

It's pretty amazing what a different pair of shoes, jewelery, and a hat can do.











Wedding season is kicking in, so check back for photos. As I shoot them, I'll be posting some of my favorite images.

Joe

Through Their Eyes

There's a really cool exhibit at Artspace 105 in Homestead. Entitled, "Through Our Eyes: Life As Seen By Young People With Special Needs" the exhibition features photographs taken by five people, age 6 to 20, who have disabilities.

It gives one an idea of the perspective of these young people. The kids pointed their cameras at what is important in their lives - family, pets, and friends.

Photography can offer a window into others lives in a way that other mediums cannot.

Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com

If you want to live to be old and wise...

...first you have to be young and foolish:-P

I was walking through Frick Park the other day when I came across Max Loewenstein jumping his mountain bike off of the cliffs above Tranquility Trail.



He's a really nice kid who thought nothing of dropping 7 feet off of a cliff on his bicycle.

The light was so crappy that I decided to use a couple of remote flashes to give the photo some texture. I set one flash off camera to the left to illuminate Max and another below the cliff so that it wouldn't be lost in dark shadows.

The result was pretty cool light which, combined with some good timing, made for an interesting picture.

Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com

March Madness

Congratulations to the Robert Morris University men's basketball team on their selection to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

The atmosphere was very upbeat at the Sewell Center this evening as RMU learned they'll face Michigan State on Friday in the Midwest Region.



After showing what they're capable of in the regular season, I'll be making RMU my Cinderella pick when I do my bracket for the NCAA pool.

Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com

Fleetwood Mac

Rege Behe reviewed the show for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and noted that since Fleetwood Mac is a staple of classic rock radio it's easy to take their talents for granted. But they kicked off their new tour in style by rocking the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

I agree. The band was terrific, even without Christie McVie.

People who know me know that I have an affinity for music from the late 60's and early 70's, so it came as no surprise to me that Lindsay Buckingham is a monster guitar player. Before they joined Fleetwood Mac he and Stevie had Buckingham Nicks. Great stuff.

Others who were at the show agreed that the experience was evidence that they're still a great band - not a bunch of geezers playing their hits to make the cash back that Bernie Madoff swindled them out of;-)









The only way I could figure out to get Stevie and Lindsay in the same shot was to wait for the big screen monitor to fade between the two. Otherwise they didn't go anywhere near each other:


www.joeappelphotography.com

Vacation

For those of you suffering through the cold end of February here in the north, well, I'm sorry.

My wife and I took the kids to Florida for a week, and the weather couldn't have been nicer.

Since we were on vacation I didn't take any gear besides my wife's Sony point-and-shoot. But when I saw the rainbow above my kids playing in the surf I couldn't resist:



After a couple of days at Disney, we went to Daytona Beach. The Southeast Center for Photo/Graphic Studies is where I went to school to learn photography. The school is now a part of Daytona State College.

One of my classmates, Tariq Hamid, is teaching there now. It was my privilege to be able to speak to his and my old professor Eric Breitenbach's classes. I learned my trade back in the days of film and darkrooms, and was really impressed with the ability of the students to shoot assignments and have them critiqued in real time thanks to digital technology.

Afterwards I checked out the Southeast Museum of Photography's exhibition of documentary photographer Alex Harris' photos from Cuba. Really inspirational stuff.

It's good to be back. I'm energized, but a little tired. Tomorrow night I'll be photographing the Fleetwood Mac concert. Stop back to see those photos.

www.joeappelphotography.com

DJ E-Z Lou

Unless I'm shooting a wedding, I can be found at home most Saturday nights. My nights of pub crawling and dancing in clubs are long gone. Call it a function of having kids, or maybe I'm just getting old - whatever.

A few Saturday evenings ago I was at The Smiling Moose Lounge on the South Side of Pittsburgh to photograph Lou Ortego, a.k.a. DJ E-Z Lou. Instantly I was transported back to the 1980's as Lou spun hits from The Clash, The Cure, and Depeche Mode while kids danced or hung out sipping beer and smoking clove cigarettes.












Here's a link to a slideshow with more images.

So if you're in the mood for a night of dancing and carousing 1980's-style be sure to check out DJ E-Z Lou's show on Saturday nights.

www.joeappelphotography.com

Wyatt Gets a Haircut

This is a rare event that needed to be documented.

My kid likes his hair long and we're indulgent parents, but sometimes the mop needs a trim. Stephanie did such a great job on Wyatt that I got one too!

www.joeappelphotography.com

Strike!

This image of bowler Timothy Pfeifer was shot for Robert Morris University's Foundations Magazine. The story is about athletes participating in sports that are less heralded than football or basketball. Pfeifer, a member of the RMU bowling team, is nationally ranked.

The fun thing about this shot was having the freedom to spread out a little bit without worrying about other bowlers. Bowling alleys are difficult to photograph in. The lanes are brightly lit while the area leading up to the line much darker.

I used three lights for this shot. A main light in an umbrella illuminated Tim from camera left. I positioned another flash to rim light the pins since I wanted them to be separated from the background.

After reviewing the image on the back of my camera I felt that Tim needed a little lighting on the opposite side from the main light. I duct-taped a drink menu in front of the flash to shield the light from spreading into the foreground. That really made the image pop.

All I had to do was time my shot so that the ball was just striking the pins. Easier said than done because I was sitting in the alley about 10 feet behind the pins. The author of the article, Mark Houser, was standing off camera to kick the ball to the gutter before it hit me.




Equipment: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200/2.8 lens, 3 Nikon SB-800 flashes fired by CyberSync radio triggers.

www.joeappelphotography.com

Pittsburgh Wedding Essentials

Check out the current edition magazine Pittsburgh Wedding Essentials which features a few of my photos in an article about fall weddings.

Fall in Pittsburgh is a great time to have a wedding. The trees changing colors can offer a spectacular backdrop and the temperatures are usually a lot more comfortable than the middle of the summer.

Congratulations to Allison and Brennan for having their photos chosen for the article. They did a great job planning and decorating for their wedding. The weather meant that they had to change some plans on the fly, but they handled that so well that I don't think anybody really noticed.

It was such a lovely wedding that I made my own copy of their album (look back 4 posts). Give me a call if you'd like to see it.




http://www.joeappelphotography.com

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go!

Superbowl frenzy has set upon Pittsburgh and the Steeler Nation. I was happy to have had the opportunity to photograph the AFC Championship game last Sunday.

I hope Hines gets back to full health soon. For sure we need him.





It was fun to listen to Ben and Troy talk about the game afterwards.





http://www.joeappelphotography.com

Squirrel Hill Fire

The Burton Hirsch funeral home caught fire early on Saturday morning. Nobody was inside (no, no corpses either) and by the time the fire department got on scene the fire was too involved and deep in the structure for them to safely go inside to fight it.

So they let the building burn for several hours, making sure that none of the nearby buildings caught fire.

Lots of residents of Squirrel Hill spent time watching the fire. Including these young guys. I saw the hats and the snow and knew that there was a photo. All I had to do was find the right moment and angle.



The blaze finally got to the point where firefighters were able to put it out using aerial ladder trucks.

http://www.joeappelphotography.com

Another Album

I liked the design of the last album so much that I got one as a studio sample. This is a 12x12 FinaoONE album with an Armour cover with "Suspicion" leather back and spine.

The photos don't really do the Armour justice, it's a photo printed on metal and it shimmers as you look at it. Way cool.

Give me a call if you'd like to see it and the rest of the albums I offer from Finao and Asuka. Contact info is on my website.









http://www.joeappelphotography.com

For Those About To Rock...

We salute you.

Talk about a dream assignment, I got to photograph AC/DC tonight. The band that provided the soundtrack to my misspent youth.

I was leaning on the stage while I shot these!











http://www.joeappelphotography.com

More fun from last Saturday

So if you plan your wedding for December you might want to have a pair of boots available for the formals. And while your at it check Victoria's Secret for some thermal underwear;-)