Newton-Proctor Wedding Album

I mentioned a few posts ago that I would pick some of my favorite individual photos from each of the slideshows I posted and present them here. Next up are some photos I took from my aunt’s wedding last summer in Wilmington, N.C. She essentially hired me out to be her wedding photography. (It was free labor, of course. That’s what family is all about.) I tried to convince to hire a professional, telling her she’d want fantastic photos of her wedding to remember forever. But she said I’d do well for her and insisted that I shoot the wedding. I obliged, with a healthy dose of skepticism in my abilities. But it was a fun experience, and I learned, which, I guess, is what benefitted me the most. I took a few low quality photos, some decent ones and a couple of good ones. Here are a few of the photos that I really did enjoy.

My aunt B.Jay and her husband, Graham, after the ceremony and the reception had ended. It's just a happy photo of the two them that was taken crisply and cleanly in a dark party room. I like that the lighting turned out well here.

The big lesson you learn from doing wedding photography: Follow the bride. Here, I caught my aunt in a candid moment, as she shares a loud, long laugh with a friend of hers.

My aunt B.Jay slides the ring onto Graham's finger. As I mentioned, the room was dark, so it became difficult to get great shots. I kept taking photos that were either too dark or too exposed by the flash. Occasionally, I would get the mix right, and something nice would turn out. This isn't necessarily one of those circumstances, but it is a photo of the ring sliding onto Graham's finger, which I enjoy.

Here are my Dad and my sister. Want to forget about the rule of thirds? Then just zoom in tight. I like this photo because it's exposed well and because both my sister and dad are photogenic.

This is simply a candid shot of one of my aunt's friends at her wedding. I caught her in a moment of emotion, the photo was lit well and the picture is clean.

Here's Graham with his sister Margaret. She's scratching his beard, and you can see his reaction. A cool pic, I think.

Ainge Children

I mentioned a few posts ago that I would pick some of my favorite individual photos from each of the slideshows I posted and present them here. Next up are some photos I took of my niece last summer when I visited Las Vegas with my wife. These were just some typical family photos, but I took a few that I really enjoy. In fact, there are two shots here that are a couple of my all-time favorite pictures. It doesn’t hurt that my niece Madison is uber-photogenic.

This is one of my all-time favorite photos. I can't fully explain why. But here she is peering from behind a couch. You can really only see the left eye. The rest of her head is obscured. It's her at her most innocent. She loves having her photo taken, but at this moment, being photographed wasn't something she really wanted to do.

Here's Maidson kicking at some palette's outside the new house here parents were building. She didn't really want to be there. It was hot, and she was tired. And I think that comes through in this photo. It's my other all-time favorite.

This is similar to the other photo, but she's more squared up. I know angling the camera like I did is a bit gimmicky, but I think it works here.

Madison was brushing my wife's hair here, and I just turned the camera upward and shot. It's a nice shot to me because of the dark lighting. I know it would be more effective if she were standing through a bright blue sky. But this one touches me anyway.

Paris Slideshow

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I would pick some of my favorite individual photos from each of the slideshows I posted and present them here. Next up are two photos from the trip my dad, wife and I took to Paris. There weren’t too many that were great photos. Just a lot of family and touristy stuff. But these two weren’t so bad.

These two random women are standing in the atrium of the L'Ouvre and looking at a map of the massive museum. I like catching random people in normal moments. I happened to catch these two. There's not much depth of field, and it doesn't follow the rule of thirds. But it's not posed.

A random tourist does a sketch of a sculpture in the L'Ouvre. My dad is in the background.

New Blog!

Pardon this brief interruption …

Hey, everyone, let me hype you to new blogs I’ve helped start that you definitely need to check out.

1. Pick and Pop. (http://pickandpop.wordpress.com/) I started this blog with my buddy Justin from Maryland. It’s going to be a sports-centered blog, but we’re going to make it interactive. We’ll post polls, you’ll vote and we’ll discuss the topic of your choosing. We also plan on adding some audio and video elements to the blog to make it more dynamic and unique. Be sure to swing by and check us out. We’re ranting on the NBA draft at the moment. But with football season about to gear up, I’m sure we’ll shift our focus in a month or two.

And, of course, Prolix Prone is still open for business. I’m going to use this to write about all the other stuff that Pick and Pop and Colin Donohue Photography don’t cover. And never fear, Prolix Prone will always be the home for your LeTravel James degradation.

Thanks, everyone.

Holiday to London

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I would pick some of my favorite individual photos from each of the slideshows I posted and present them here. Next up are some photos from the trip my dad, wife and I took to London. There were several pictures I enjoyed, but these five are probably my favorites.

Here's Big Ben at night. I like the effect the flash had on the branches. Gives it a different kind of look.

These clovers atop a gate at Buckingham palace were pretty cool to see. There's not much that fills the frame here, just the four clovers all in a row. Something strikes me about the photo.

This is a photo of my father sitting in a Tube car in London's Undergound. I like the shape of the photo. It seems circular, even though the photo itself is rectangular.

I like this photo because of the foreground/background battle. Clearly, the feet are in focus, but the out-of-focus background is commanding your attention, too, because of the shimmering gold gates. I also like the mystery of the feet. I look at it and wonder what the rest of the sculpture looks like.

Nothing too groundbreaking photo. I just like the way the light bounces off the snowman.

Hason-Collins Weddings Favorites

I mentioned in my last post that I would pick some of my favorite individual photos from each of the slideshows I posted and present them here. I’m going to start with four of my favorite shots from my sister-in-law’s wedding. There were several pictures I enjoyed, but these four are probably my favorites.

I like this photo because the background, while out of focus, is plentiful. There's a lot going on here. The flowers are in focus, but the Peabody Hotel is not. It's a colorful shot that took advantage of some good light and a dampened blue sky. The angle of the photo works well, too, as you appear to be looking up at the flowers and the hotel.

This is a row of chairs, pushed to the right of the frame, that's a simple exercise in focus. The chair at the front is more focused than the ones behind it. But what I like is the dullness of the picture. I know that sounds weird, but it sums up the weather for the day. It was alternatingly dark and stormy, and bright and clear. This was a dark, dull moment, and because there really isn't much color here, the picture captures the mood and feel at that exact moment in time.

Just like the chairs explain the half the story of Amily's wedding day, this photo provides the story for the rest of it. This shot came during a bright moment, so the colors pop a little more. But the water dripping from the fountain foreshadows the storms to come. And there's enough going on in the background here to make it a fairly interesting picture.

This shot of Amily hugging her Dad is one of my favorites because it captures their emotions in different ways. You can see the happiness on Amily's face, and you can tell that her father is excited about the day despite never seeing his facial expression. You can just tell because of how he has embraced her and how close he is to her.

Slideshows

I went digging through the Interwebs to find the links to some of the slideshows I’ve put together after trips to London, Paris, Las Vegas and Chicago and after a couple of weddings that I was asked to shoot. (Let me also add that I, in no way, fancy myself a great, or even good, photographer. I enjoy taking pictures, but I truly am a novice. Still, I had a couple of family members asked me to shoot their rehearsal dinners and weddings, and I happily obliged. In one case, I was the official photographer, and in the other I was a secondary photographer. I felt more comfortable being the sidekick picture taker.) Below are the links to the slideshows. You can view all the photos. Some, I think, are great. Some aren’t. But that’s OK because I’m learning. In the coming days, I’ll highlight photos from each of slideshows that I particularly enjoy. For the time being, have fun flipping through all the shots.

• Hanson-Collins Wedding (Photos chronicling the rehearsal dinner and wedding of Amily Hanson, my sister in law, and Brian Collins)
• Holiday to London (Photos from a trip to London that my dad and my wife, Alyssa, enjoyed)
• Two Days in Paris (While we were in London, we hopped a train to Paris and these are the photos from that excursion)
• Ainge Children (These are photos of my niece and nephew, Madison and Hunter, from last summer when Alyssa and I were in Vegas)
• Newton-Proctor Wedding Album (Photos chronicling the wedding of my Aunt B.Jay to Graham)
• Chicago Trip (I went to Chicago last summer for a conference and spent some time taking pictures)
• Las Vegas (These are photos from my trip to Las Vegas last summer)

Photos from Los Angeles

I recently made a trip to Los Angeles to visit the Elon in L.A. program that’s in its second year of existence. I took a few photos while I was there, so check out a couple of my favorites.

I was just messing around with focus in photos and took this shot. There's nothing too special, but I like the in-focus lamp in front of the out-of-focus lamp. I also like that it's a darker shot.

I was playing with focus again here, but I liked this one because the grills are pushed off to the left, which gives the picture a long, unending feeling.

Actress and acting professor Marilyn McIntyre (right) reacts while teaching her acting course. It's not the most spectacular picture, but I love the counteraction of the incredibly black, dark background with the lighted faces of the people.

Quick Shots from the Apartment Complex

Here are a couple of quick hitters from a walk around my complex tonight.

Just a quick shot of the sun setting behind the trees in Whitsett.

A man holds his cigarette loosely.

A man holds a cigarette loosely ... again.

Welcome

Welcome to my brand new blog. (My regular blog is HERE.) I thought I’d start one as a place to showcase some of my photography. Within the last year, I’ve become more interested in shooting photos and I wanted an outlet for my work. I am, by all means, a novice. I’ve learned a little about how to take good pictures, but I’m learning on the go. I have a couple of books that I’ve started to read, but most of my stuff is a result of me experimenting with the camera, shutter speed, exposure and lighting. As a result, I’ve lucked into some really nice shots and also taken some truly awful ones. But that’s OK. It’s all part of the process.

But I figure it’s time for me to start shooting a lot more. So whenever I take some new ones, I’m going to throw them up here. If you stumble onto the blog, feel free to leave some comments, good or bad, about what I’m doing. Tips and suggestions are appreciated. Enjoy.