Tag Archives: fine art wedding photographer
Bridal Bouquet Photographs for Spring
Since we are now into Spring I thought that it would be a good idea to post some lovely fine art photographs of brides and their wedding bouquets. Flowers pay such a special role in any wedding. They really add beauty and some great smells, but they contain a great deal of historical meaning and semiotics. The tradition of the bridal bouquet goes back to Queen Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. She was one of the largest influences on modern day bridal traditions. Victoria is the main reason why brides still traditionally wear white dresses and why wedding cake is served at the reception. You can read more about these in my posts ‘Let Them Eat Wedding Cake‘ and ‘It’s All About the Wedding Dress.’ Queen Victoria ushered in a very modern age for the time. During her rein the industrial revolution was in full swing in Europe. She was very much a celebrity of her time and just like with celebrities of today, people followed what she did and wanted to be as much like her as possible. The traditions set forth at her wedding to Albert have remained strong even to this day. It is amazing how many influences from the Victorian era still exist today.
Prior to Queen Victoria’s marriage it was still common to have herbs and spices at the wedding. Remember that these items would have been a great deal rarer than today and they held a higher value in society. They were a sign of prosperity, fertility, and happiness. Victoria replaced these traditional items with fresh flowers, especially marigolds. At the time most of the components of the bouquet were edible. The bride carried her bouquet with her as she walked down the aisle. One component of the bouquet was dill. It was regarded as the herb of lust, and the bride would eat some of it was she walked down the aisle. Later, during the reception, the groom and the wedding guests would eat this dill also. This was to insure fertility in the marriage.
During the Victorian times flowers came to symbolize secret messages of love and each flower had a different meaning. This was based on a scientific language known as ‘Florigraphy.’ Many flowers were given means, both good and bad, that still remain to this day. This is where the concept of roses symbolizing love began and the idea of different color roses being used for different occasions. Today flowers at a wedding are chosen more for their colors and shapes than for their meanings.
I am still fascinated by all of the tradition and ceremony that surrounds marriage. I will continue to make posts that unlock some of the hidden meanings of the wedding ceremony. Stay tuned.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Building Loyalty is a Necessity for Photographers
loyalty is a great commodity in photography
Loyalty is a much prized trait in both business and personal matters. But unfortunately, it is often missing in many of the relationships that people engage in today. As a wedding photographer, loyalty is important to my business. I value my clients and provide them with top quality service to go along with their fine art wedding photographs and custom designed wedding albums. I go that extra mile all of the time, and I am sincere about it. I don’t go through extra work to make more money. I do it because I want to satisfy my clients. I am dedicated to the art and craft of photography and I want to preserve their special memories for them. It is my personal ethic. For me, it is my way of remaining true to them, loyal, and in return they are loyal to me. It is an integral part of my fine art wedding photography business. You can read more about this philosophy in my post ‘Fine Art Wedding Photography.’
Loyalty is an interesting commodity. It is very two sided. Like many other commodities you both give and receive. When you are nice to someone they are usually nice to you. The same is true for loyalty. People who are loyal to business will always get great treatment. Not that the other customers are ignored, but loyalty builds a deeper bond and a deeper friendship which naturally leads to a higher level of commitment.
Do not think that this idea just applies to business. True friends are loyal to you. They care for you and respect you and are there through the good times and the bad. Many of us have experienced friends who were mostly opportunistic and not loyal. They wanted our friendship for a period of time because they saw it as a way of getting something from us; love, attention, money, popularity, etc. Your true friends, like your true clients, are spending time with you because they value the relationship. And that brings mutual respect and a stronger relationship all around.
Many companies, and individuals, today are all about instant gratification. Unfortunately this usually pushes them into the opportunistic category. They will buy whatever item is the lowest price. They will befriend whoever will advance their career more. These are fleeting relationships and we all need to recognize them such. Once we can recognize them, then we can weed them out and find the genuine people that we want to spend time with in our lives.
We can learn alot from animals. They are loyal and they bring a great deal of happiness to our lives. We should be doing the same.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in digital photogarphy, fine art photography, philosophy, photography, photography techniques, wedding photography
Also tagged houston wedding photographer, loyalty, photography, wedding photography
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Becoming a Fine Art Photographer
It is great being a photographer. It is great to be a wedding photographer. But being a fine art wedding photographer really takes things to a whole different level for me. I have always loved photography, especially documentary style. I was fascinated by photojournalists from an early age and lulled into the mystique of the National Geographic photographer. I wanted to travel the world and photograph all types of people and culture. This was my initial drive and what originally led me down the photography road. When I went to graduate school, I was at a point where I wanted to continue making documentary photography projects, but by that time I was becoming more and more interested in the fine art aspect of the photography world. I noticed that there was a nostalgia and a romanticism that was creeping into my documentary projects. I was no longer satisfied with the ‘straight’, classic documentary photography that I was producing. For a long time Sebastaio Salgado was my lone photo hero. You can read more about that in my post ‘10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photos (Part 2).’ To this day I am still heavily influenced by him and his use of light and his brilliant black and white images. But my hero list has expanded and now I follow more styles than people.
Just prior to entering graduate school I took a few photography workshops. One of them was at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado. The workshop was on documentary photography and it was with Sylvia Plachy. If you are not familiar with her wonderful work you need to look at it. The first day of the class she asked us to bring in prints to display and then the class would review them. I brought in some very classic, Salgado-like work from Mexico. The class and Sylvia liked it, but she could see that I was not satisfied, that something was bothering me. The beauty of Anderson Ranch is that you spend all day with your classmates; class, darkroom, meals, lounging time. And the instructors are around and available most of the time. So after class, later that night, I had a chance to talk with Sylvia one-on-one. I told her that I felt torn. My mind was telling me to stay with regular documentary work. I wanted a magazine job, a career with National Geographic. But I was feeling that romantic, fine art component creeping into my work more and more. I thought that she was going to be very strict and make me stick with the safe road of photojournalism. But much to my surprise she told me to do whatever I wanted to do. This surprised me at first, but then it really made sense. Someone who I knew and highly respected just told me to follow my passion and to follow my creativity. It was so simple, but I just needed that outside push to make it sink in.
That week long workshop literally changed my life. I left and began graduate school where all I did was let my creativity flow with no regard for what I should be photographing or not. The more I let go the more my true style came through. I wrote more about this in my post ‘Finding Your Own Artistic Style.’ When I began my wedding photography business my first impression was to photograph what clients wanted, to be safe and do what everyone else was doing. But I soon found that creative, free side creeping in. And that is when I decided to follow my passion to create fine art wedding photography.
Following my creativity is one of the reasons why my blog posts are so varied. I don’t want to just show lots of images from weddings. I am more than that. I want to explore photography subjects and review my art projects, and anything else that comes to mind. We all need to follow our passions. If you are trapped in something else, well now is the time to do what you want to do. Sylvia told it to me, now I am telling it to you.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
It’s All About the Wedding Dress
One of the main focuses of any modern wedding is the wedding dress. It has served as a symbol of marriage since the 1840′s when the trend was begun by Queen Victoria in England. In 1840 The Times was ripe with a description of Victoria’s dress, “Her dress was a rich satin, trimmed with orange flower blossoms. On her head she wore a wreath of the same blossoms, over which, but not so as to conceal her face, a beautiful veil of Honiton lace was thrown. Her bridesmaids and train-bearers were similarily attired, save they had no veils. (The London Times, February 11, 1840). Her all white look changed the standards for wedding attire. Victoria’s high moral values and ‘purity’ gave rise to the idea of the ‘virginal and pure’ connotation of the white wedding dress. Prior to this event brides wore dresses of many different colors. There really was no set standard. Add to this the fact that up until the 18th century the groom’s attire was probably more elaborate than the bride’s. At Victoria’s wedding her fiance, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, wore a scarlet and white uniform of an officer of the British Guards. So his outfit began the trend of groom’s having more reserved clothing or military attire. Another component of Victoria’s outfit was loads of royal jewels. I think that there is many a woman today who would not mind the added weight of those on her special day.
Another point to note is that Victoria’s wedding also ushered in the idea of a special dress made for the occasion that would be worn only once. Prior to this time many women wore dresses from their regular wardrobe, often items considered to be their ‘Sunday Best.’ Few people could afford to have a brand new dress made for one day. Remember that the middle class as we know it today began to emerge after the French Revolution ended in 1799. Prior to that there were mostly two classes, rich and poor. It is interesting to look at the trend today amongst some brides to ‘trash the dress.’ I am not sure what has sparked this trend, but it is mostly a fad. Few women that I know, or photograph, would want to destroy their beautiful and expensive heirloom wedding dress.
Queen Victoria had a great influence on modern society and customs. She helped to form the Victorian Era (1837-1901). Styles of furniture, architecture, and a highly moralistic and religious society were just a few of the trappings of this era.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
The Courage to Stand Out
For most of our lives society and schools spend their time making us fit in. There seems to be comfort in being one in the crowd, one of ‘them’, and there are many institutions that encourage us to be quiet, sit down, tow the line, and be just like everyone else, a good, moral citizen. I think that this is one of the reasons why we see so much mediocrity. I wrote some thoughts on this recently in the post, ‘Mediocrity is Not Acceptable‘. Being average, being ordinary, fitting in, may sound safe, but it is a situation that strips the creativity from all of us and makes the world a place of human cogs in a machine.
Seth Godin speaks to this in his book ‘Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?‘ The world needs artists, unique individuals, to express themselves, to step out of the machine, and to become what he terms ‘linchpins’. Being an artist, in the broad sense of the world, means not being afraid to go against the grain, or speak out about a new product, or idea, or to be more you than you have been before. This is where I think that people need to abandon the shackles of society and to find the courage to stand out. This whole mentality of fitting in goes hand-in-hand with the mentality of being mediocre and it is a loose-loose proposition. You loose because you never get to reach your full potential, to express your ideas and passions, and to be a true ‘artist’. Society looses because you never reach your full potential and never contribute your unique ideas and ways.
I have always been an artistic person, but I was good at science and math too, the pillars of logic and education. I pursued science, and although I was somewhat creative, I was not contributing and making a difference each day. That is when I returned to my first love, photography. That is when I had the courage to stand out, and to become an artist. So I photograph, and I teach, and I try to make a difference each day by expressing myself any way that I see possible. I encourage you to do the same. It will make your work better and your life more fulfilling. Every time that I photograph I am making a unique statement and recording something in a way that no one before me has done. It is time for all of us to stand out and be great.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Welcome to the Red Photo Houston Wedding Photographer Blog
Welcome to the Red Photo Houston wedding photographer blog. Red Photo is a wedding photographer business specializing in fine art engagement, bridal, and reception photographs. Our mission is to create high quality fine art photos that will become memories that last forever. We are passionate about photography and it shows. Red Photo serves Houston and the surrounding areas: Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, TX. Destination wedding services are available.
This wedding photography blog has been set up to provide you with great images from weddings, my fine art work, and other assorted photographic adventures. Our style combines documentary photography with fine art and produces a unique photographic image that also preserves your precious wedding day memories. In addition to the wedding information and images I will be providing information on how to improve your photography with examples and simple tutorials. There is a dose of philosophy thrown in, all adapted from my 12 years of teaching experience.
Red Photo is Gary Miller and Jim Stevens. We are both highly experienced professional photographers and educators with years of expertise. Besides wedding, portrait, and fine art photography we also teach digital photography workshops to small groups. Keep watching the blog for more information about classes.
Please look around the blog as there is lots of information and plenty of photographs to see. We would love to hear your comments. Thanks again for stopping by. Enjoy your surfing.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in black and white photography, fine art photography, philosophy, photography, photography techniques, wedding photography
Also tagged blog, documentary photography, fine art, fine art wedding photography, houston fine art wedding photographer, houston fine art wedding photogrpahy, houston wedding photographer, houston wedding photography, photography, photography blog, photojournalism, wedding photography, welcome
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Our New Red Photo Wedding Photography Blog is Here
Welcome to the new Red Photo Houston Wedding Photography blog.
The Red Photo blog was created to share my passion about photography. I will be providing readers with images, quotes, thoughts, and occasional ramblings, all in the name of elevating photography, yours and mine. It is eye candy and brain veggies all rolled into one.
Our company, Red Photo specializes in wedding, portrait, and commercial photography. Based in Houston, TX, Red Photo serves the needs of clients throughout Texas and the world. Our experienced, professional photographers deliver high quality, creative work to suit each client’s individual needs. We can work in many styles including traditional and photojournalistic.
So please leave your comments and questions. We would love to hear from you!
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in black and white photography, fine art photography, photography, photography techniques, wedding photography
Also tagged blog, houston wedding, houston wedding photographer, houston wedding photographers, photography blog, Red Photo, wedding photography
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