I couldn’t resist posting this wonderful, fun proposal on the London underground. Apparently the prospective groom, Adam, had to sabotage Lucy’s car when she considered driving to work that morning rather than take the train.
Archive: ‘Interesting Tidbits’
Super cool flash mob proposal
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011Good vs Great Wedding Photos
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010I read this article recently and thought it did a great job summarizing many of the things I try to communicate to the couples I talk to about choosing a photographer for their wedding. Hope you enjoy it.
Wedding Photography and the Difference Between Good and Great Wedding Photos
By David Freund
A couple of days ago I was involved in an online discussion about wedding photography and what makes great, soulful wedding photographs. I thought I’d share my thoughts on what takes good wedding photos and makes them great wedding photos.
A couple of years back I had 5 out of 6 straight weddings at the same location, same celebrant and same reception venue. My wife asked how I was able to do different work for each couple. It’s simple. I’m taking photos of two people on their wedding day. Not the venue, not the locations.
I believe there are 3 kinds of wedding photos. Who was there, where it was and what happened.
Old school ‘posed’ photography is often little more than a pictorial record of “who was there”.
The stuff that gets published in magazines and makes photographers famous is “Where it was”. The magazines want to see details of the decorations and locations so other brides buy the magazines for their own wedding research. When they show photos of a bride it’s normally only so they can illustrate what the dress looks like.
Great wedding photos are “What happened”. Photos that capture the unique nature of the couple. Their emotion, their personal connection.
It’s why people put awful, blurry photos of them drunk and stupid on Facebook. Those images have true meaning to the people in them and they feel an emotional connection to the time and place they were taken.
Same with wedding photos. The connection evoked by great wedding photos is one of love between the couple, their families and guests. Not a memory of a photographer telling them how to stand, where to look and how to kiss.
Originally posted at davidfreund.com.au
WPJA contest
Thursday, October 29th, 2009This was a very funny photo from a Chinese wedding that placed eighth in the 2009 BRIDES Magazine and WPJA (Wedding Photojournalism Association) Photo Contest in the customs/culture category. The groom and his groomsmen had to put on underwear outside their pants and dance and sing for the bride. I’ve always enjoyed the photos that come out of the games that are played when the groom and his entourage make their way to meet the bride and her bridesmaids.
David Griffin on photography
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009National Geographic has always set the standard for the highest quality photography and storytelling. In an era were the printed image has taken a backseat to the web it’s still a treat to behold those beautifully printed images in a copy of the magazine to truly appreciate great photography.
I discovered this video of a talk by David Griffin, the Director of Photography for National Geographic, on another photographer’s blog and thought it was worth sharing.
Health Care for the Uninsured/Time.com
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009Time.com just published my multimedia photo story on Remote Area Medical, a non-profit group based in Knoxville, TN that provides much needed health care services in the U.S. and overseas. They treated over 2,700 people in three days in Wise, Virginia. Mark Rykoff and Nick McClelland at Time did a great job putting the story together and it was a pleasure to work with them on my first multimedia story.
Puppies Behind Bars/Time.com
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009A story I photographed on a great program called Puppies Behind Bars was published today on Time.com. As a photojournalist I’m always excited to see programs that really succeed in changing people’s lives for the better so I’m very happy to see this story get some attention and wanted to share it with you. Many of the dogs are helping injured soldiers back from Afghanistan and Iraq through the Dog Tags project. If you’re interested in learning more about this you can take a look at the story on Oprah.com.
The Puppies Behind Bars (PPB) Program works with prison inmates in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to train service dogs, including ones who help injured soldiers. The puppies arrive at 8 weeks-old and remain at the prisons, mostly working with one inmate, for 20 months. Fishkill Correctional Facility is a medium security prison in New York with 22 men in the puppy program. The emotional element of caring for the puppies breaks down the hard façade that most prisoners create for themselves to survive prison life. Prisoners learn responsibility and pride in helping others. The program often gives them a new outlook on their crimes, their time in prison, and goals when they are released.
WPJA Contest
Monday, July 13th, 2009The judges of the Wedding Photojournalism Association (WPJA) selected this photo for recognition in the quarterly contest for 2009 from a wedding I photographed in March in Bangalore. I’ve been meaning to post a selection of the images, but in the meantime I thought I’d share this one image.
WPJA contest image