Tag Archives: photojournalism
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, fine art wedding photography, houston fine art wedding photographer, houston fine art wedding photogrpahy, houston wedding photographer, houston wedding photography, photography, photography blog, wedding photography, welcome
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The Allure of Black and White Photography
black and white ambrotype photograph
I really love black and white photography. I had a recent post that was my ‘Ode to Black and White Photography.’ For about ten years I was exclusively a black and white fine art photography, shooting primarily film. Some of you may actually remember film. There are definitely things that I miss about using it. I have nothing against digital, but the hands on nature of film really added another quality to the work. I felt more connected to the piece since I exposed the film, processed it, made contact sheets, and then made fine art black and white prints. I talk about this more in my post ‘The Visceral Nature of Film.’ Many of my students are interested in black and white photography. About a year ago I noticed that several of them were handing in black and white images for some assignments. But the conversions were weak and the images did not really fully exploit the abstract and graphic nature of the medium. So I created an elective class for them, ‘Black and White Digital Photography.’ Those that take this class really show improvement in their work very quickly once they learn to see in a monochromatic way.
When the digital age roared in many of the software and printing manufacturers went after the commercial and consumer photography markets. For many of the last 12 years making good black and white images on the computer or creating a nice, fine art digital black and white print, was very difficult and disappointing. It was so disappointing that I abandoned black and white all together when I was using my digital SLR. In an ironic twist, as I was entering the digital SLR realm, working more with Photoshop and other software, and using the digital media to its’ fullest, I began to become very interested in the historical, or alternative processes. I was especially enamored by platinum printing and I spent several years perfecting the artform. It was laborious, but there was something magical about all of the time and effort and handwork that you had to invest to get a stunning print in the end. I still believe that nothing can match the sublime beauty and tonal subtly of a fine platinum print. There are inkjet prints that look like it and press printed pieces too, but nothing has that texture, that feel. If you have never seen a platinum print up close and personal then I recommend you search around at your local galleries and museums. You will see what I mean.
Now digital and printing technology have caught up and you can produce really nice black and white images. There are printers that contain gray inks or you can buy special ink sets that help create the subtle tonality of a fine black and white photographic print. There are many great fine art papers on the market. Photoshop has a good black and white adjustment layer built in and there are several vendors producing plug ins and stand alone programs for converting color images to black and white. One of the best that I have found is Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2. It is a stunning piece of software. Nik Software makes some of my favorite plug ins and I am not a plug in type of guy.
So if you are interested in making black and white photographic images, good images, the technology exists to do so. But I encourage you to learn the medium. Too many people are just taking the color out of their images. That usually does not produce a true monochromatic image. It is important to utilize previsualization to get the best results. You can read ‘Do You See What I See?‘ to find out more about that concept. I have begun using black and white imagery more and more in my wedding photography business. It really fits my fine art, photojournalistic style, and there is a timeless nature about that you cannot beat.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
7 Steps to Better Street Photography
italian market, philadelphia, pa
Street photography is a wonderful part of the photojournalistic tradition in photography. Along with documentary photography all of these areas share the common ground of the images not being set up. The true ‘hands off’ approach is what gives the journalistic purity to this genre and also creates a challenge for a photographer. I am primarily a documentary photographer. I began more as a traditional one and then later branched off into what I call a ‘fine art’ documentary photographer. I still follow all of the tenants of good journalism, but my images have more of a romantic and artistic feel to them. They may have some post processing effects added to enhance my artistic vision. But for the most part they are in the pure ‘hands-off’ style. You can see and read more about my work in my posts ‘Photographs From Riding on the Marrekech Express‘ or ‘How to Get Motivated.’
Here are some suggestions to help you improve your street photography work.
1. Get in the action
You want to be close, close enough to reach out and touch your subjects. So you will want to favor a wide angle lens, like a 35mm (full frame) or 24mm (cropped sensor). Some famous photojournalist, I cannot remember who, once said that if you can’t touch it you shouldn’t photograph it. Good advice.
2. Use a wide angle lens
Like I mentioned above the wide angle lens allows you to get in close but still see the surroundings. That is why the 35mm equivalent lens has long been the photojournalist’s choice. It gives you a bigger picture, literally, and allows you to see the setting. With that in mind play attention to the setting and make sure that it is adding to your image not taking away from it.
3. Make it real
Remember this is photojournalism. Don’t set it up. Don’t ask your friends to do something in the image. Hands off! And making it real means very little post processing work. Most journalistic agencies will only allow basic retouches like dust and spot removal, conversion to black and white, sharpening, and contrast enhancements. Toning would also be permitted.
4. Look for light and shadow
This goes for all areas of photography. Light and shadow are some of our most important compositional tools. Subject matter and emotion are great, but don’t let that overshadow good, interesting, or dramatic lighting. Most images will benefit from this extra layer.
5. Include people
Including a person just draws people in more. We are programmed to look at other people and when we see them we are drawn into the scene. Our curiosity takes us on that journey and we can more easily create a narrative, a story, that goes with the image.
6. Take us there
You want your viewer to feel like they are standing where you are. That is why being in close is so effective. I want to know what it was like to be at that place at that time and with those characters. Make this element seamless. People should not notice it, but they will notice it if it is not present. This will strengthen your narrative.
7. Be respectful
People on the street do not want to be hassled. Today, may of them are very distrustful and afraid that an image of them is going to end up on some weird website. You need to respect people, their dignity, and their privacy. Make sure, either through words or gestures, or eye contact, that it is fine for you to be there and taking a photograph. Don’t let this hinder your work. Just have a respectful attitude and you will be surprised at how many people respond positively.
So now that you are armed with some advice go out there and do it. Practice and practice some more. You have to know your camera and its’ settings very well because most of these images happen very rapidly. With practice and experience you will begin to anticipate things. Good luck.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in digital photogarphy, fine art photography, philosophy, photography, photography techniques
Also tagged digital photography, improving your photography, photography, street photography
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How to Get Motivated
san cristobal, chiapas, mexico
Many times during my photography career I have been in situations where I have seen a great photograph but I was afraid to take the picture. This can happen because I want to photograph a person unnoticed, or maybe I am somewhere that I feel it is inappropriate to be photographing. I had this type of situation come up one time when I was photographing in San Cristobal, Mexico in the Chiapas region. I was down there to take a one-on-pne workshop, but also to spend a few weeks on my own photographing in the surrounding area and living with a native family. On the first day there my instructor, Craig Dietz, took me around the town to show me various sites that I might be interested in photographing later on during the trip. He ran me all over town and in the late afternoon, when we both were pretty tired, we ended up at this beautiful rustic church. We went inside partly to rest and partly to marvel at it’s simple architecture. The church was active with several native people praying. I felt a little invasive at that point. I always feel a little hesitant when I am thinking about taking a photograph inside a church or other religious place. It was not too bad for me because we really were not there to photograph, but more to scout. I loved the look of the church, the rustic feel, and the local people were wonderful to watch. I knew that this was a place that I wanted to return to for photographs. The light was beautiful inside.
The following day I returned to the church at about the same time in the afternoon because I knew that the light would be nice. I arrived and looked around, then headed into a side room. The room was really amazing. There were tables with candles burning on them and one of the side walls was covered with soot from the years of candles burning in this room. I sat down in the back to take in the scene. What I had my eye on was this old woman who was praying. I saw the image that I wanted, but I could not get myself to take it. I was frustrated because I knew that it would be a great image, but I wanted to shoot with a wide angle lens on my medium format camera. This meant that I had to get close to the woman praying, probably within a foot or two of her. So I was stuck between seeing a great photograph and not being able to take it. I knew that I had to come up with some strategy to get through this block. I thought for a few minutes. I did not have much time. The woman could stop and leave at any moment. Then I hit upon an idea, my motivational idea. I pretended that I was down in Mexico on assignment for National Geographic and that I was covering the local people, their culture and their customs. And that was the key. With that thought I slowly got up from the back and moved within a foot of the praying woman. I took a few photographs. She did not react at all. I still do not know to this day if she say me or heard me.
Many times we run into road blocks in our lives. I encourage you to find ways to get around them. For me I was motivated by seeing myself working in my dream job. And in that moment it allowed me to capture a great photograph. The image above is from my time in San Cristobal. I did not post the photograph of the woman praying because it would take me days to find it and scan the film. That’s fine with me, because my memory of it is strong enough to still cause a reaction. I have hundreds of images from my three week trip to the Chiapas region of Mexico, but I rarely show them. I am not sure why.
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 Chiapas, Craig Dietz, digital photography, documentary photography, Mexico, San Cristobal
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A Photograph From the Iowa State Fair
iowa state fair, des moines, iowa
I had a great time a few years ago photographing at the Iowa State Fair. If you have not been there you should add it to your to do list. State fairs have always fascinated me. They are nostalgia, tradition, fun, and great people watching all rolled into one. Where else can you eat great culinary delicacies like corn dogs, turkey legs, and cotton candy. My stop here was a part of my larger amusement park project. I spoke about it before in ‘Amusement Park – Ocean City, NJ‘ and in ‘Amusement Park – Wildwood, NJ.’ A brief history for those who do not know. I have been working on a fine art project on amusement parks all over the world for about 10 years now. It started as a project in a graduate documentary photography class and then grew out of control. Just when I think that I am done with the project I end up stumbling upon another amusement park. This is what happened during my trip to China last June. You can read more about that adventure at ‘China Trip (Part 1)‘ and ‘Part 2.’ I still have to post more images from that trip. It is really amazing how quickly the number of images I have increases. I have always loved to shoot photographs. Even with film I was always the one in the group burning through three times as much film and paper as the rest of my colleagues. With digital, it is even worse, because it does not cost anything extra to take more images.
One of the things that I really love about digital photography is the ability to reinterpret images. When I began the fine art project on the amusement parks I was shooting black and white film. With digital I am shooting in color, but then I can convert it to black and white and tone it and put a border on it. This is a very nice tool and allows an artist to revisit older work and reinterpret it with fresh eyes. I have always used Photoshop to play around with images. That is how I started out and I am still do that today. Many people are afraid to explore the possibilities and they are missing out.
I encourage everyone, no matter what your level of skill, to take digital photographs and then play around with them in the digital world. Just try anything whether you think that it will work or not. You might be surprised at the result and this can trigger new ideas and new inspiration.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in digital photogarphy, fine art photography, philosophy, photography
Also tagged amusement park, China, digital photography, documentary photography, fine art, fine art photography, Iowa State fair
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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 fine art wedding photography, houston wedding photographer, wedding photography
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Photo of the Week – Third Baptist Church, San Francisco, CA
third baptist church, san francisco, ca
This week’s photo is from the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, CA. I was really intrigued by this particular church where one of my friends was a member. She had told me of the great outfits and especially the wonderful hats that the women wear to Sunday services. Once she mentioned it to me I knew that I had to go and photograph during a service. The people at the church were very accommodating to me. I was able to go anywhere that I wanted at any time. This included back stage and even on the stage while the choir was performing. As luck would have it the day that I showed up to photograph was the same day that Rev. Jesse Jackson was giving a speech. I had no problem working with him. His people let me freely take photographs.
I have always been attracted to the documentary style of photography. Documentary photography and photojournalism go hand in hand. But for me they are different entities. Photojournalism deals with events or news. These are things that need to be photographed for the newspaper or a magazine. Photojournalism is very time sensitive. Photographs often have to be sent to the newspaper right away from publication. So in my case photographing Jesse Jackson would be a more photojournalistic pursuit. Documentary photography is more long term. You would follow a story for much longer than a few minutes or hours. Many documentary projects can last for years. My amusement park project, which you can read about in, ‘Amusement Park – Ocean City, NJ‘, and in ‘Amusement Park – Wildwood, NJ‘ has been going on for more than 10 years now. I was photographing at the church in more of a documentary vein because I was working it into a larger project on religion and the way people worship. I wasn’t there just to cover Rev. Jackson’s speech for some media outlet.
While documentary photography and photojournalism are often lumped together they really are two different things and different personality types are drawn to each. You have to have a great deal of patience for each and be fast with your camera. I think that this type of photography has been very underrated throughout the years. You are not allowed to set up shots or alter them afterwards. You are not supposed to bring in any type of lighting or intervene with your subjects or the scene. I think that the skills that you learn as a documentary type photographer really help in other, more controlled, types of photography. I have always had the highest respect for this genre of photography. My favorite photographers, like Andre Kertesz, Sebastiao Salgado, and Henri Cartier-Bresson are all great photojournalistic photographers.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in digital photogarphy, fine art photography, philosophy, photography, photography techniques
Also tagged Andre Kertesz, California, church, documentary photography, fine art photography, San Francisco, Sebastaio Salgado, Third Baptist Church
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Mississippi Delta Photojournalism Project
mississippi delta portrait
This image is from a documentary photogrpahy series that I am working on about the Mississippi Delta region, in the Northwestern part of the state. I am documenting the history, culture, religion, and music of the area. This is an ongoing project for the past 3 years and I can’t wait to return there.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
Posted in black and white photography, fine art photography, photography
Also tagged blues, Delta blues, documentary photography, Mississippi, Mississippi Delta, photo story
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