Julia (and Max, too),

 

Thank you both so very much!  The pictures from our wedding day are fabulous, but most of all they captured all of the happiness and excitement that filled our special day.  We cannot begin to tell you how much the pictures mean to us; they brought all of the memories and crazy moments back to life!  Thanks again...

 

Much love,

Bailey & Ryan

 

By the way, without you two, we would not have known we had a break dancer at the wedding!  HaHa!

By the way...I think they came out great!! Your editing is WONDERFUL!!!!

~Erin

Julia, I just got the link to the nudes and the pictures look so unbelievably gorgeous!!!! They are just incredible!  thank you so much!!  The sunset lighting and balcony look awesome too!  Anyway, I am thrilled.

everything looks amazing and I'm so happy you're shooting our wedding!!!

Talk to you soon!!! Thanks again!
Rebecca

Julia,

You've out-done yourself again!! They are of course phenomenal. You are so good at capturing the real me : )

Thank you again for capturing moments that will be cherished forever. 

Sincerely,

Erika

(I cant actually reveal the bridal's yet)

Following is a slideshow of the images I have edited so far. New images will appear as I add them (as time permits). I hope to make a slideshow of the images from the attendee's in due time, provided they agree to it. Im telling you, I had some great talent in my class!

Max was wondering if our attendee's had learned anything at all from the day. It was not as if I was teaching them. We simply invited everyone into our crazy brained world and spent the day in play. I think Joellynn summed it up nicely in a recent reply to his inquiry...

Max - Sorry I didn't learn a damn thing from the whole day.... seeing how that was your question all evening. As if. I learned to step out of my head and into the scene, I learned to forget what people "would think of these pictures" and just enjoy the art of it, I learned to relax and ask questions instead of fretting about not knowing, I learned to enjoy the rain again, in fact I don't really remember it raining! I learned to live with the stinky mud oozing between my toes cause it meant I was getting "the" shot I wanted. and I also learned that I would smile when I heard the reaction/shock of seeing gore instead of pink princess pictures... I learned to live versus follow.

As for wedding related work that I am doing, I think I will be taking a hiatus from posting such things. My clients know I love them and I do not find it necessary to announce that fact to the world after each event has passed and images delivered. Such images I make are for the client, not my ego, not the world, and certainly not for feeding into the immediate homogenized mixture of the wedding industry. I am hoping a nice little break from posting my own work will bring about a fresh perspective from myself. Somehow I find the need to distance myself from viewing too many wedding images as a means for cleansing my visual pallet. All future image related posts will have to do with artistic side projects. (when I can find the time for such things)

For the moment, I bring to you "Big SILLY"...

Yes, "Big SILLY". We pass it every day. It is spray painted on the wall of our nearest grocery store. We love seeing it...because its so..silly. Not exactly what you would expect from graffiti, right? The grocery store paints over it, but that doesnt stop them...Big Silly appears again and again and again. I still want to do a self portrait in front of that wall. Big SILLY.

I found this site that talks about the art of graffiti. I was intrigued. I have to quote some bits about style vs. Technique. It applies to photography as well... especially the booming wedding industry of photographers. 

If you read anything....read this...

At this point it is important to clarify the difference between technique and style. Technique is a means, not an end. It is the hammers and saws with which one builds the house - not the house itself. Technique allows one such freedoms as to blend colors cleanly, to draw letters that work in terms of classical perspective, or to outline without dripping. One of the potential drawbacks of technique is that it enables one to exactly replicate the work of others if one so desires.

Technique is something which can be taught, but style is something which must be discovered within one's self. Technique is universal, style is personal. Because technique and style are separate to some extent,this often creates confusion as to which to learn first. Technique is undoubtedly easier to learn, and will be developed naturally if one paints a great deal and constantly tries new ways of painting.

Individuality is hard, lonely work - and to the writers out there who may be reading this: if you have not gone to the trouble of developing your own style and are content to make pretty pictures that feed off of the work of so many others, consider yourself a cultural leech. You have no business in this vital art form if you do nothing to keep it vital.

However, there have been many who have said "fuck convention, I'd rather be original than good." Through hard work, these writers have developed personal artistic voices with which they can say anything, and have given their work substance which will last throughout the ages. These people are those who have truly given back to their culture. These graffiti writers, whether famed in our circles or not, have truly earned the respects to which we all aspire.

Many graffiti writers make the mistake of learning technique first, in order to make their pieces pretty, and think that style can somehow wait until they have the means to express it in a way that is technically pretty. This is a grave mistake. The first thing any writer must do is develop their own style, for without it they will create shallow artwork, regardless of how technically advanced it is.

Of course, everyone copies style at the beginning, and that's okay. There are "basics" to learn in graffiti, just like any other art form. Many great graffiti writers got their start by basing their work on the style of their local heroes, but then, initial lessons learned, they moved on to establish their own. It is indeed a beautiful sight to see individual writers make leaps and bounds as they develop their own voice and build on the work of their elders. However, what is infuriating is when graffiti writers young or old think that their success can be achieved by creating a collage of other writers' styles. These people only fool the ignorant. A classic trick of the style-less writer is to pick one of their favorite graffiti heroes and shape into their own name the letters that their hero has worked so tirelessly to perfect in an individual style. This is degrading on many levels. It degrades the copier for obvious reasons. It degrades the copied as well.

Copying someone else's style objectifies them and renders them artistic commodities who have lost control of their work. This is not something which any true artist would want for their heros.

One of the first works we found, a marching band, had already been painted over with gray paint by the building owner. I couldn't help but feel the sentiment of art being silenced.

Following is the result of our scavenger hunt...