Tag Archives: fine art wedding photography
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 photographer, 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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Service in the Photography Business
I have written before about the lack of customer service that I see occurring around us every day. You can read this little rant in my post ‘What Ever Happened to Customer Service?‘ I really think that service is the cornerstone to any successful business, whether it is a creative one like wedding photography, or a more mundane one, like accounting. Now that we are in an era when customer service is not highly valued by many companies, we should see this as an opportunity to set ourselves apart from the competition by providing real service to our clients. I know that in my business, Red Photo, customer service is vital to us and to our clients. We do everything possible to uphold our belief that people should be receiving better quality wedding photographs and albums. Our business is based on a boutique model where we provide fine art wedding photography and custom made albums. We are always aware of the needs of our customers because we listen to them. By asking questions of your clients instead of just treating them as an income source, you can learn a great deal about how you can help them with whatever needs they may have. Listening is key here. Too often photographers, and other business people, do not ask enough questions when they are meeting with perspective clients. Or they ask many questions but they do not really listen to the answers because either they are planning their next question in their head, or they are just asking questions to seem like they are interested. I learned a long time ago that listening is the key to a good relationship, whether that is a business or personal one. We need to stop thinking about selling something and more about providing help to our clients, to help them solve their problems. That is what service is all about. It is not about selling someone something, or showing up on time. It is about listening and giving your clients more than what they need and ask for.
Good customer service goes a long way and will help a business to be successful. I really think that it is part of the larger idea of transparency. The idea of transparency has become quite the buzzword since social media has grown. You have to be real and honest online so that you can build relationships based on trust and not on sales tactics, empty promises, or fluff. One great book that I recommend to learn more about this is Michael Port’s ‘Book Yourself Solid.’ He is a big proponent of the honest, service approach. Being true is the way to go across the board.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Solving Problems in Photography
bride and groom wedding portrait during their wedding reception
One of the keys to being a good photographer is to be a problem solver. I spoke about problem solving in my recent post, ‘Problem Solving and Leadership.’ That post spoke about the general idea of problem solving and how important it is in any field, not just in photography. Every day we are faced with various situations that need a solution. Some need a solution quicker than others, but the ability to identify a problem and then to come up with a solution and implement it are valued traits.
I was photographing a wedding for Kristi and Justin in Houston. You can read more details and see more images in my post ‘Kristi and Justin’s Wedding.’ Sometime between the wedding ceremony and the reception my photography partner, Erica Moncada, and I were taking formal portraits of the two families and guests. I am not a big fan of the ordinary, posed type of formal portraits. I admire them when they are done well, but they just do not fit into my fine art, photojournalistic style. I want to record the people at the wedding in a more editorial, photojournalistic way. Editorial photography is pretty much the style of magazine work. The editorial style, which is a branch off of the photojournalism style tree, is more casual. People are less posed and more interactive. It is a looser style and one that I, and my clients prefer. So I was thinking about ways to photograph the bride and groom that would break away from the ordinary. That was my problem. The couple wanted to be photographed outside. We tried one location behind the Houston Heights Fire Station, but it was either too sunny or too shady. I suggested that we go across the street where there were some run down stores and this beautiful old weathered home front. The light was much better over there. One problem solved. Then I saw the house and thought that it would be a cool idea to pose the couple in front of it to create a movie poster style photograph. Second problem solved. And everyone was very pleased with the results. There was a bit of post-production work to change the color palette to what I liked, but the result is a nice fine art style image that is not too posed. Yes they are all looking at the camera, but it is a looser style, a compromise between static, stiff, boring posed images, and candid photographs. In the end I solved a few problems and produced an image that everyone was happy about.
It is important to find your style and then to find ways to stay within it. Problems will arise but with practice you will be able to conquer them all. Thanks again to my friend Erica for her help and great photography at this wedding.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Fine Art Wedding Photography
fine art wedding photograph
When my friend Jim and I started Red Photo last year we wanted to be different from the rest of the wedding photography crowd. So we sat down and thought about what makes us unique and what we have to offer a bride and groom to be. For us it was experience. We both have been professional photographers for many years. Each of us has extensive experience in commercial photography. In addition I have been a fine art photographer for the past 12 years and have had my work displayed on over 100 gallery exhibits in the US and Asia. We both have a great depth of photography knowledge and each of us have been teaching for a number of years. So when we began our wedding photography business we wanted to create a fine art product, a customized product, one that would really capture the memories of that special day so that our clients would always have them. We create fine art wedding photographs and multimedia fusion presentations.
Many people have asked me what is the concept behind making these fine art photographs. Well there are several layers to that. I believe that fine art is a vision, a way of seeing the world in a stylized and unique way. Fine artists are not afraid to take risks, because the end result is a unique gift. Fine art can also be obtained in how the image is presented. We produce customize wedding albums for all of our clients and each image inside has been worked on extensively by me to add a new dimension to it. Every image is treated in its’ own way. What fine art photography is not is just a bunch of random filters or actions. Too many people get lulled into believing that there is some quick fix to make spectacular images. And they are wrong. You can’t just buy artistic vision and wisdom, you have to practice and gain it. Without a vision and an intent you are left with a lesser product. Art takes time, experimentation, patience, and courage. You have to have the courage to follow your instincts and be able to create. We appreciate clients who understand this and value art and photography.
Our wedding photographs are unique and so are our clients. We always go out of our way to give them a truly beautiful and unique product that will last for lifetimes. That is why we feel that the wedding album is so necessary and important, even in this age of digital photo posts everywhere. People think that the wedding photo market in Houston is conservative and that people will never go for something different. But there are many couples here who are looking for something that is extraordinary. They want a customized product that makes them stand out from everyone else. And that is where our vision of fine art photography comes into play.
People should not just follow the market. For more on this you should read my posts ‘Be the Leader, Not the Follower‘, ‘The Courage to Stand Out‘, and ‘Stand Out From the Crowd.’ Too many people are afraid to let their own style come out. They are afraid that the market will not accept them and then they end up being a ‘me too’ product. Your uniqueness is what people want. So develop your style and celebrate it so that your real customers will be attracted to you. For more advice on developing your own style you should read ‘Finding Your Artistic Style.’
Go out and do what you do best. The world is waiting.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Do You See What I See?
montmatre, paris
Do you see what I see? Definitely not. And that is not because my vision of the world is better than yours. It is just because everyone sees the world in a different way. My vision of the world is very attached to my photographic style. The way that I make my photographs is really the way that I see all of the time. It may sound odd, but I see the world in shapes and forms and compositions constantly. I have to fight to ignore my ‘vision.’ I have to turn it off. When I look into a room I see how all of the furniture lines up and forms designs, leading lines, shapes, contrasts, and a host of other compositional elements. When I see a person I immediately think about how to record their features and what light would look best. So when I go to take a picture I am just letting that vision through and using the camera to record it.
I am a big believer in previsualization. I mentioned this concept in my recent post ‘Don’t Forget the Details When You Photograph.’ It was a concept that I learned from reading Ansel Adams’ books. Because Adams was producing most of his work in black and white, a medium that is very flexibly from a photographic stand point, he developed a mathematical and scientific method of exposing his film and developing the negative to give him a certain look. This came to be known as the famous Zone System. A large part of this system of exposure and development to maximize the information on a piece of film is this concept of previsualization. Before Adams even took his photograph he would envision what he wanted the final black and white print to look like. Just like with film, black and white photo paper and chemistry is very flexible and can give you very different results depending on how you treat it. Adams was a master in the darkroom and if you ever get the chance to see his prints in person you should make a pilgrimage to see these beautiful objects.
When I saw the post cards above in the store in Paris I already had the nostalgic look in my mind. The subject matter took me back to the early 1900′s and the height of Art Nouveau and Impressionist art. I felt the age in that place and then I translated the image to get that feel. But there are many more things that give this photograph a unique vision including composition and juxtaposition. You do not want to imitate anyone. Just work on being yourself. For some more tips on this you should read ‘Stand Out From the Crowd‘ and ‘The Courage to Stand Out.’
Now go out and record your vision of the world.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Capturing Moments, That’s Our Job as Photographers
bride at her wedding reception
The essence of any photograph is the capturing of a moment. You can read some thoughts on this in my posts ‘On Being Obsessed With Photography‘ and ‘Photographing Effective Portraits – Richard Avedon.’ Both of these incredible photographers speak about capturing significant moments in their work. Photography is an art form that captures pieces of the world in fractions of a second. The moment we see something in the viewfinder and then push the button, we have captured a moment. Many times we missed the moment that we wanted to record. This happens often in action or sports photography. I remember one of the first times that I was photographing a soccer match. I thought that I was going to be so clever and get a picture of the ball just as one of the players kicked it. So I put on my telephoto lens, focused on the awaiting ball, watched with my other eye where the player was, and then the moment that he kicked it I fired away. At that time I was using film, so I was sure that I had the shot that I had envisioned; a compressed ball with a foot on it caught in mid action. Well, much to my surprise, when the film came back I had a lovely picture of the field. No ball, no foot, no nothing. I soon learned that to be a good sports photographer you had to anticipate when the action was going to happen and then trigger the camera a fraction of a second before. This took time and practice and can still be frustrating today. Now I can see my mistake on the back of the digital camera so at least I can get a second chance at it. To see some great sports photography check out the work of Walter Iooss here.
Documentary photography is the same way and weddings are events that are happening at the speed of light. I do not like to pose my subjects so I have to be keenly aware of what is going on, my surroundings, the lighting, and be able to predict what will happen. For the image above from the Crowne Plaza Houston River Oaks hotel I saw the bride struggling with her veil. I wanted to help her out, but I knew that if I did I would not get any real, candid photographs of the event. In documentary work you want to fade into the background as much as possible. You have to be really patient and wait for people to forget about you. When you first enter the scene it is like throwing a rock into a still pond. You cause ripples and therefore people are very aware of you. But if you wait, the ripples will calm down, the pond goes quiet again, and then you can create the photographs that you want. Patience young grasshopper.
Moments are so important. I think that the candid shots are always more prized in the future. People realize that these moments are real ones and that they happened so fast that even the people involved did not see them or remember them. Many brides and grooms are amazed when they look at the images from their wedding. They were present, but they were so busy with so many things and sensory overload, that they really did not get to experience the event. That is where a good wedding photographer comes in. It is our job to record those special moments and to preserve them for our clients. And that is the best part of our job.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Playing the Waiting Game
a groom waiting to go to his wedding ceremony
I have know RJ now for about a year or so. I have been playing in a band with his father so I was invited to the wedding. For me it was a bit unusual to be photographing a wedding where I was also a guest. But it presented an interesting challenge to me. RJ was getting ready at his parents’ house. That is where I went. His fiancee, Kathy, was getting ready at her parents’ house and Jim Stevens was there to record that. The traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony was held at Kathy’s parents’ house. This was one of those times where having two photographers was really necessary.
I like working more in the photojournalistic mode. So I spent time with RJ and his friends and family as he was getting ready. At times he was nervous, anxious, and happy. I am always fascinated watching the mix of emotions in both brides and grooms prior to the ceremony. As he was finishing getting ready, and in his clean white suit, I caught this moment of him and his close friends. I like the fact that he is looking off, looking to the future, and probably thinking about what it will be like to be married. Getting married really changes a person’s life. It must be even more of a change when you are young. The fact that I am friends with RJ and his family created an ideal situation for me to be in my photojournalistic mode. Many times when you enter a situation where most of the people do not know you it can be a little tense. All of a sudden you have this person around with a big camera and flash going off. It can be a really strange feeling. I find that even with people that I know they can have a strange reaction. So I do not know if it was the fact that I knew the family and RJ really well, or that he and his family were really caught up in the moment, but they barely noticed me taking pictures. Fading into the background is the goal for any photojournalistic photographer. This creates a great situation for me because I can capture those really natural and genuine moments. And that is the purest essence of photography for me.
Congratulations to RJ and Kathy and best of luck to them.
Gary Miller
Houston 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, photojournalism, wedding photography
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Photography Truths – Part 6
It has been a little while since I stimulated your brains with some photography truths. As we are into the new year I thought that it would be a good time for another installment of truths. Remember, that these are meant to give you something to think over in relationship to your photography and your art. You can read the other post in the series; ‘Some Truths About Photography‘, ‘More Truths About Photography‘, ‘Even More Truths About Photography‘, ‘Photography Truths – Part 4‘ and ‘Photography Truths – Christmas Edition.’
36. Push yourself out of your comfort zone
37. Emulate, but don’t copy
38. Gear is not the answer
39. Capture yourself in every image
40. Be like water (think Bruce Lee)
41. Never surrender to commerce
42. Never surrender to fear
Gary Miller
Houston 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, truths, tutorial, wedding photography
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Ashley and Steven’s Houston Wedding
what says love better than chocolate?
that's a texas sized diamond there partner
a beautiful wedding cake, and tasty too
groom's cake, chocolate and decadent
the happy wedding couple
These are some photographs from Ashley and Steven’s wedding held at the West Houston Church of Christ in Houston, TX. The couple did a great job and did not seem too nervous. It turned out to be a beautiful event with a bit of New Year’s Eve fun throw in. I always enjoy photographing weddings in my fine art wedding photography style. I want to bring something more to the table and capture the memories of a special wedding day with special photographs. At Red Photo Houston Wedding Photographers we specialize in producing these type of unique fine art wedding photographs for our clients along with custom made wedding albums and fine art wall prints. You can see more of our images on our Red Photo wedding photography blog and the Red Photo website. We would love to create some beautiful photographic memories for you too.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in digital photogarphy, fine art photography, philosophy, photography, wedding photography
Also tagged fine art, Houston, houston wedding photographer, houston wedding photography, wedding, wedding photographs, West Houston Church of Christ
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Why Wedding Photographs Are So Important
bride photographed in natural light
Photographs serve many purposes in our society. They can be a record of a building, or our family memories, or capture something that we missed with our eyes. Photography can be art or it can be a snapshot of your dog. It is many things to many people and in that lies one of the wonderful aspects of the medium. But because photography is so familiar to people and everyone seems to have a camera, many people do not appreciate how difficult and important it can be to take a photograph. This is pretty evident in photojournalism where an important event is occurring and we want to record it to save the moment in history or to inform the public. Photography is a way for someone to be anywhere in the world without going there.
When it comes to wedding photography many people make the mistake of not taking it seriously. I don’t mean that they ignore it, but because someone who is getting married has probably never before dealt with hiring a photographer, it can be a daunting task. I am a big proponent of having high quality wedding photographs taken by a competent professional photographer. WIth digital technology it is all too easy for someone to buy a camera, not learn much about how to use it, and then to claim that they are a ‘professional’ photographer. In many situations like a portrait of your family, or a photograph for a brochure or newsletter, hiring the wrong photographer or someone who will not do a competent job is frustrating, but you will get the chance many times to do it again. You can take your child’s portrait again or someone new can come photograph your business for that brochure. But when it come to wedding photography, that is a much higher stakes game. Hiring the wrong photographer can mean that you do not get good images and your wedding day memories will be lost forever. That is why part of my photography crusade is to educate the public about buying high quality photography and paying for it. Wedding photography is not something that you want to just buy based on price. In most cases the lower priced photographers are going to give you lower results. They are cheap for a reason. Either they are not competent, read my posts ‘Don’t Be a Lame Photographer‘, and ‘Mediocre is Not Acceptable‘, or they do not respect their services or are desperate. So here are a few tips to pick the perfect photographer for your wedding.
1. hire a real professional
You should look for photographers that have been in business for a reasonable period of time and have a track record. Look for affiliation with professional photography organizations and local business organizations.
2. look for knowledge
Now every photographer does not have to be a techno-geek, but they should know photography techniques and equipment. They should know how to photograph events, weddings, and other fast paced situations.
3. look at samples of their work
Make sure to looks at sample photographs. And not just those that are on their website. Look at their blog pictures and their Facebook or Flickr images. And don’t just look at wedding shots. Look at their other work to get a better sense of their style and personal aesthetic.
4. don’t just purchase on price
Hiring the cheapest photographer just to save a few hundred or a few thousand dollars may seem smart in the short term, but it is usually not wise in the long run. You cannot easily recreate a wedding. Things happen in a fraction of a second and then they are gone. There is a great level of skill involved in predicting these event and getting good photographs of them.
5. make sure your vision matches your photographer’s vision
I am not talking about the eye doctor here, but rather if your style is edgy then don’t hire a conservative photographer and vice versa. Make sure that your tastes and likes closely match your photographers. It does not have to be a 100% match, but you should both be simpatico and understand each other.
6. get reliable references
It is always a good idea to get references from people you know and trust. This will get you ahead in the searching game. But then you should still go through the other recommendations here and not just blindly take someone else’s word. Make sure that you mesh well with the photographer.
7. make sure they are confident and competent
Make sure that your wedding photographer is confident in his abilities and competent.
I hope that these recommendations will help you when you are selecting your wedding photographer. Take you time with this process, educate yourself, and make sure that your feel comfortable with them. Remember, these are memories of a lifetime that you want captured for a lifetime.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
