Hey there! So you found the most interesting page on my site. This is my recent Oahu wedding, Hawaii wedding, and...well..lets be honest, it's a blog. The story behind this blog, well, it started out purely about Hawaii weddings, then it evolved into everything and all of the above. Basically, ITS MY BLOG!! So I write about anything on here. I updated this blog "alomost" on a daily basis. You can learn more about me, my quirks, my style, and of course, you'll get wedding tips here.
Call me if you want to make me richer..I mean, book my services!
Most of my wedding couples usually book packages that consist of minister and photo services. Once in awhile, there's a few wedding couples who book my photography services only. And once in a LONG while, there's that one bride who books me just for video coverage. That one bride is Nam.
She came to me asking for a simple one camera video coverage for her ceremony, then asked later if I could upgrade the coverage to 3 cameras, and edit just the ceremony. I agreed, built her a customized package, and booked her officially with a down payment shortly after.
Nam's wedding was supposed to be an easy in-and-out job for me. I thought to myself, I would just set up the three cameras, hit record, then get out of there. Well, what I thought and what happened were two totally different things. To start, the original plan had called for Nam to get married near or on her vacation property rental. But I knew that wouldn't happen when I pulled into her property. Her vacation rental looked bad. The lawn wasn't manicured, the house wasn't in that great of shape, the housekeeper had his children toys thrown about on side of the lawn. I almost thought, I had the wrong address! But I didn't'!
I ended up shooting a few shots for Nam on my G10 SNAPSHOT.
I met Nam at her house and she told me the vacation rental was just a disaster, and that they were running behind schedule. Their new wedding location, Mokulei'a Beach. But even that didn't work out too well.
On the way there, it started to rain cats and dogs, so we moved the wedding location to a beach park further east, which was technically still part of Mokulei'a. Problem solved? Nope. Someone forgot the wedding bouquets at the house! So thirty minutes pass and someone shows up with the bouquets, so you would think by now, we would be ready to go.
Nope...not yet.
They forgot the groom's maile lei at their house.
Kalehua, the minsiter, made an executive decision for the couple. The show had to go on. He, myself, and the wedding singer, were running 3 hours late, and the show had to get going because the wedding singer had another gig. Kalehua, who I had worked with once before, quickly coordinated the wedding, even though he didn't need to, and we were on our way.
Once the wedding started, everything flowed pretty easy.
This is why it's important to hire a wedding coordinator. Stress like this, can be avoided..haha
Paul and his Groomsmen...THE BOY BAND SHOT
Now, you're probably wondering who took these shots in here because Nam only booked me for videography right? They look like mine don't they? Well, they are. I took these with my G10 snapshot camera. And I posed the couple as well. Why did I do that? Well, I felt kinda bad for Nam and Paul because their friend who was in charge of photography, really wasn't a professional. He was missing a lot of easy shots, and I just didn't want Paul and Nam to leave Hawaii without great pictures.
I don't want things to look as though I'm knocking Nam's photographer friend, because I'm sure he gets great photos. But for weddings though, I could tell it was his first, as he was struggling with ideas and composition, and directing family and friends.
I want to make an argument here to why it is important to hire a professional photographer for your wedding. Nam's friend is what I would call a techno-geek amateur photographer. He owns a lot of great equipment, probably knows how to operate them, and has also taken a handful of great photos. But, professional wedding photography is an entirely different beast. And only a professional wedding photographer will know how and what family photos to take, how to deal with families, how to pose brides, grooms, and to work with wedding dresses...etc...etc... It's worth the investment to hire a professional wedding photographer AND coordinator...trust me on this
Love this photo
I also love this photo
I took about about eight photos for Paul and Nam before I left their wedding, all at no charge. It gave me some extra time to practice taking photos on my G10, a camera I carry everywhere I go. That camera, was and is a great investment.
I want to take time here to also note that the reason these snapshots on my snapshot camera look professional is because it always comes down to the photographer, never to his equipment. Before shooting on a full-size SLR film camera, they photographer who trained me, had me shoot on a disposable film camera for 1 year, before I could even think about touching an SLR! I had to prove that I could get professional quality out of a disposable camera. I did....
Honestly, to me, it doesn't matter what camera I use to take photos with. It could be digital or film, a disposable snapshot camera, or my G10, I know how to get great shots no matter equipment I use. I like film better, because I can work with it better. Yes the quality is better. But I just have an easier time working with it.
I think the distinguishing character when it comes to classifying whether or not a professional photographer is professional or not, comes down to what he can do with what he has. It's never about the equipment.....
So back to Paul and Nam. Now you would think that Paul and Nam would be just at each other necks on their wedding day, given all the happenings. No. That didn't happen. Although they were concerned with all the "happenings" of their wedding day...they knew what was important. Love. And in the end, that's all what mattered. They had a great wedding, a great day, and a great funny story to tell their kids when they got older about mommy and daddy's wedding day.
So what in the world is "Precious Justice" you ask? Well, you got me. At the moment I think it's an oxymoron because I got a speeding ticket last month, cruising casually through one of those speed traps, and I did not get any favor from the courts when I wrote in my mitigating experience. In my sick conclusion, there may not be such thing as "Precious Justice" but there could be such a thing as Precious and Justus.
Precious is the last name of Kaye, my featured bride of the hour, and Justus, is the name my featured groom of the hour. By the way, Justus is not a typo. It's actually a play on words. Justus' mom was a single mother, and named him Justus, because it was "Just us." Pretty neat huh. They had been together for six years before deciding to take the plunge. They got hitched alone on the beach, here on Oahu.
Justus and Kaye are a cool couple and simple. They booked the eloping package with me, added an extra roll of film, and just added a few leis. They didn't though, decide to have those rolls of film scanned. So being that I had just purchased my G10 digital snapshot camera, they were cool enough to let me practice a handful of shots on them after I finished shooting my rolls of film. All the pictures here are snapped on my G10. Not too shabby.
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...also taken on my G10
To date, I have shot four or five weddings with my G10, all with patriot package. Now, I'm confident enough to shoot everything on manual on the G10, and can easily replicate the quality in each picture. Digital though, is still not as good as film. It really isn't...I wish it were, because it's kinda cool to see what you have when you shoot it. But even that preview screen is not a great representation of the quality you will get when you print those shots out. The LCD screen on digital cameras are contasty, sharp, and colorful, but the actual digital image is not. So in post production, you have to adjust the contrast, add color, sharpen the picture, just to come close to what film can deliver naturally or what you see on that preview screen.
Justus, Kaye, thanks for being patient with me as fooled around with my new digital toy. Stay super cool.
PARADISE COVE LUAU: MY REVIEW Very good, even for this local
This is going to be quick post here, as I am pretty much half awake right now. Yesterday was a pretty long day for me. I had a wedding at Ko'olina with a small party of 30 plus people in the day, and a reception at Paradise Cove Luau. I thought I'd take a jab at reviewing the Luau before I head to bed. So here's my quick two cents before I knock out at the computer.
The food, was pretty damn good. The menu consisted of local selections that were tailored to tourist. Local selections included: Kahlua Pig, Lomi Salmon, Poi, and Haupia. Missing from the menu were: Poke (raw fish), Lau Lau, Squid Luau, Chicken Long Rice). I have to say though, that the quality of the food was great. For the small selection of Hawaiian food that they did serve, they pretty much hit the nail on the head when it came to flavor. Everything else on the menu, was also very good. It really surprised me. Their chicken, by the way, is extremely good.
The entertainment was cool
Overall, the entertainment was...hmm...entertaining. As far as the Hula was concerned, it wasn't very good at all. In fact, the Hula downright sucked. I think all the great Hula dancers hang out at Germaine's Luau, as that's where my cousin works and he's one of the best Hula dancers in Hawaii. The fire-knife dancing and Tahitian women dancers were extremely good though. I actually think the Tahitian women dancers were a little too good. Talk about knowing how to shake their butt. Usually Tahitian dancers are a little on the hefty side, but these girls were all physically fit and down right beautiful. It's not right. One word comes to mind....dangerous. That'll be an image that sticks in my mind for some time.
Overall, I give my entire Paradise Luau experience a thumbs up, even for a local. It's not an actual Luau, because local Luau's are thrown at the beach or in your backyard with familiy you can yell at, and with a lot more Hawaiian food. And lets not forget, no Luau would not be a party without that dunk Uncle who spews out stock tips that are 100% right all of the time. But with that said, this Luau at Paradise Coove was fun, and that's what counts.
THE HURT LOCKER A very powerful movie that we should all support
I just saw the director of this movie on Fox News. This movie looks amazing from the previews and premise. It is based upon the Army bomb squad unit which was deployed the Iraq war, during year 2004, when violence was at it's highest peak. I believe if all Americans see this movie, it will remind them on how fortunate we are, and how we should truly give thanks to the true heroes who put their life on the line everyday, so we can enjoy the freedoms we always take for granted. Lets us not take our soldiers ever for granted.
Support the movie by seeing it, and don't ever forget to support our troops.
AHHH...JUST MARRY US ALREADY The extremely casual Hawaii Wedding of Dave and Krista
Dave and Krista's wedding has probably been the most casual and laid back wedding that I had ever planned and attended, in my life. Hands down. It was earlier this year when I got a call from Mya, who informed me that her friend, Krista was coming to Hawaii to get married. Now, normally, I would get a call from the bride herself, but not in this case. I sent over an estimate, and Mya worked as the "middle-woman" to figure out what Krista wanted for her wedding. And within a very short amount of time, they made a down payment to me to officially secure the date. Take in mind here, that I had not talked to Krista, the bride, on the phone, or had even corresponded through email. Usually I do. In fact, I always do! But in this one case, out of the literal thousands of weddings that I'd planned...I didn't.
Eventually, I did manage to talk to Krista, and she was so laid back, I just had to laugh.
She told me, "Yeah, the wedding package sounds good. I really don't care. Yeah, I guess we're going to get married finally, it's been awhile." She let out a little chuckle. Our conversation lasted a few minutes longer, and that was it.
A few days before her wedding, I gave her call again to make sure everything was on track. It was a good thing I did because she had lost her invoice, lost my phone number, and had no idea how to contact me. But the funny thing about it was that she wasn't worried. She didn't even have an idea of what we were doing for her wedding, or that she had ordered a bouquet. She just wanted to get married, that's all.... Casual as can be. Hey I love that type of client.
Always laughing, always adventurous
Krista's wedding day rolls around, and I finally meet Dave, her fiance. He too, like Krista is extremely laid back, but more so, he is extremely witty. Dave could have probably made a living as a stand up comedian if he wanted. His commentaries on life had me rolling. I can't repeat what he said here, but lets just say that his comments all were not G-rated. Dave tells me that he and Krista have been together for thirteen years, and also...that it was about time.
Krista pulled Dave on the rocks when I told them to do something fun
So, for thirteen years this day had been in the making. For thirteen years, Dave and Krista had endured the ups and downs to make it to this day. For thirteen years, you think they had seen everything problem....not so fast.
Houstan, we have a problem. The weddings rings are back at the hotel. I repeat, the wedding rings are back at the hotel!!!
Was it a problem for them? What do you think? For this laid back couple. There was no radioing Houstan. It was more of a matter of shrugging their shoulders.
Krista used one of her friends rings for the ceremony, and Dave used Krista's thumb ring for his. They had a great laugh about it, and went on their way.
Finally!
Fortunately, Dave and Krista didn't forget their marriage license. I always tell my couples, there are two things that they shouldn't forget when they leave their hotel: their marriage license and rings. That's it. Oh, and don't forget your significant other.....
But with that said, I could tell that Dave and Krista would be together till the end of time. When their rings weren't there, they both didn't freak out. In fact, they both shrugged, trouble-shot the problem, then moved on. I'm sure it's not like that all of the time between them, because all couples argue. But I have to say, the way they handled that moment, was inspiring. It could have turned into a disater. So in conclusion, that's what true love is all about. It's not about the rings, it's not about being excited for their wedding day, it's about the life long commitment that they had agreed to. And that's exactly what Dave and Krista expressed on their very special day.
SETTING THE BAR The Hawaii Wedding of Richard and Jodee
There are not many days in which I conduct more than one wedding, but the day that Richard and Jodee chose to make their relationship official, I actually had three weddings! One in the morning, Jodee's wedding, which was at 2pm, and another at sunset. Now most photographers say that noon is probably the worse time to get married because pictures taken at the wedding would end up horrible because the direct overhead lighting from the sun would cast shadows on your face and body. If I were shooting digital photos, I would probably agree with the pundits, but because I shoot on film I have to disagree. Shooting at noon provides some pretty cool looking photos. And as far as shadows go, that's not a problem for me since I use a flash unit on 100% power to drown out all of those unwanted shadows.
Just married! Check out the perfect lighting at noon.
Richard and Jodee did it the old fashioned way, and met at a bar. Since that fateful day, they have been together for over five and a half years. Richard and Jodee are like myself and sleep, made for each other. And they were similar in many ways, from their smile, to their sense of humor, to the fact that they both wore white. Did I mention that they also had two arms and two eyes too? haha.....
The palm tree shot...great at noon don't you think?
I promise Jodee that this shot would make her look taller. Promise fulfilled...
Now there is one drawback to having a wedding at noon and that is that the sand can get hot at times. But the hot sand didn't stop this cool couple. Speaking of cool, I have to say that both Jodee and Richard, were very cool, along with thier parents. I'm not sure if they have kids, or are planning to have kids, but I can imagine them being two very cool parents that their kids, and all the other kids would like. Just an observation.
Richard, Jodee, I wish you my best. I'll keep you in my prayers.
It was back in April when I got an email from Bryce, one of Roy and Rosalie's three grown-up children, who came to me with a cool request. He,his brother, and sister, wanted to surprise their parents, with a vow renewal. In a quick and brief email, Bryce summed up how special his parents are to him.
This is an excerpt from his email:
"My parents' lives have been centered around ohana. In fact, this was the central theme of their renewal ceremony for their 30th anniversary on Maui. This ceremony is a SURPRISE for them, so I don't have their own thoughts on what makes their marriage successful thus far. But I can tell you that the example they have set for their children provides plenty of insights. My dad is a man of tremendous integrity, who lives to bring peace, health, and happiness to his family. My mom is a free-spirited woman who gave of herself to raise three kids and she seems to find beauty and wonder everywhere (especially in Hawaii). They are best friends who love each other's company and enjoy taking life's adventures side-by-side."
I didn't want to paraphrase those sweet words.
Kalehua, performing a traditional Hawaiian ceremony: Photography by Bryce's family
Bryce requested a ceremony with a handful of Hawaiian traditions weaved into it, and nothing more. His family would supply the flower leis, the photography, everything, he just needed a minister. Most wedding companies out there would have turned down Bryce because the profit margin for a minister only package is very thin. That is not the case with me though. Small or large wedding, if I am available, I am always willing to help out. It's not always about the money. In fact, it's always about about doing the right thing.
The family. The tickle down morality was rather apparent from this bunch Photography by Bryce's Family
On the day of the wedding, everything flowed smoothly. Bryce met myself and Reverand Kalehua, cousin to Reverand Elias Parker, outside of his vacation rental. Bryce snuck us to a side corridor, where we anxiously waited for the thumbs up. His parents and family were busy in the backyard, enjoying the sunset at Lanikai, and having a nice glass of wine. Then, when the time was right, Reverand Kalehua, chanted and walked into the backyard. I'm sure Roy and Rosalie were thinking, "What in the world is this crazy Hawaiian doing in our backyard." But Kalehua quickly explained that this was a surprise vow renewal...
That day, Roy and Rosalie marked their 40th year anniversary, that's 250 Hollywood years by the way. You would think after 40 years of being together, that eventually, the flame between any couple wouldn't be burning as strong as it did when they first met. But it was. And probably burning stronger than ever, for when Roy and Rosalie looked into each others eyes and renewed their vows, they cried, and looked nowhere else except at each other.... It was rather sweet to observe this with my own two eyes, instead of looking down a lens.
Two words come to my mind here... "Simply Awesome..."
Paxton and Shelly's Awesome Hawaii Wedding Adventure
Paxton and Shelley, right at sunset
OH WHAT A FEELING! The Hawaii Wedding of Paxton and Shelley
Remember back in the day, there were those Toyota commercials that played on the box that ended with a satisfied customer jumping off his feet yelling "Oh what a feeling...Toyota!" Well, I wish they'd still run those jingles, because it would fit Paxton and Shelley, like a glove. See, Paxton and Shelley, currently work at Toyota, and met while working at a car dealership (not sure if was Toyota), and fell in love. Nine years later, they chose the island of Oahu to make everything official, but a wedding guy who owned a Toyota Tacoma. Fate....what can you say....
Rev. Elias making a funny face during their wedding, just kidding.
Paxton and Shelley are an extremely cool couple, and made my job feel as though I was on vacation. They not only got married at Ko'olina, but also stayed at the JW Marriot Hotel, which is just a walk away from where they got married. Paxton and Shelley actually paid Rev. Elias and myself a visit the day, at the cove, the day before they were going to tie the knot, just to say hi. How cool is that! It was rather funny, but the next day, when I met Paxton and Shelley in the lobby of the JW Marriott, I almost walked passed them. Paxton, I swear, had darker hair than I remembered, and I didn't recognize Shelly in that cool looking sleek wedding dress.
Renegade Shot#1:On the grounds of the JW Marriott Ihilani
So there was a little bit of twist to the photo shoot for Shelley and Paxton. Instead of shooting all of their photos at the cove, since they were at the hotel, they elected to snap a few shots there. Now, I don't have permission to shoot at the hotel, and Shelley and Paxton, sure didn't pay any $1000 shooting fee. So, we decided to shoot the shots, renegade style...which just happens to be my favorite style. I quick broke out my camera, and shot off four or five shots, in five minutes. They came out looking extremely nice.
Renegade Shot#2: Kissing without getting caught. Kinda like kissing behind the bleachers in high-school huh?
Non-renegade shot....
So there wasn't a clear sunset on Paxton and Shelley's wedding day, but you have to do the best with what you have right? Theses are the shots I were able to pull off, and I think the cloudy effect worked well... I actually prefer cloudy sunsets to clear sky sunsets. There are more colors when you have just the right amount of clouds.
This brings back memories for me. I'm going to go off on a tangent here, but I remember a bride I had about a year ago, who was so disgruntled at me because her pictures didn't have blue skies in the background, that she wanted a 100% refund of her pictures. I took a look at the pictures, and thought that although they didn't have blue skies that day, the pictures came out very well. In fact, they came out so well, I had no problem posting them on my website for everyone to view. I didn't blog about that couple since the bride would qualify as a bridezilla, but I dunno.....some brides think I can control the weather. I'm just a simple photographer slash wedding guy peeps....
These high altitude clouds always reminded me of 4x4 tire tracks....
I wrote down in my notebook here that they are both God fearing Christians, and that pretty much stuck with me. You know, it's one thing find a partner-in-crime who you click with, but it's also another thing to find someone who share the same political and religious beliefs with you as well, and I think it's cool.
There's this verse in the Bible that is read over and over at all of my weddings, even if they are civil weddings. It starts off with "Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy and love does not judge...." You've heard it before. This poetic set of words always gets my couples, and this is when the tears usually start to flow. This verse basically describes what love exactly is. That it is a commitment, not a feeling, not an emotion. Feelings come and go, turn off and on, but love is always there. I've heard the cliche before that starts off with "I have this love hate relationship with.. (fill in the blank). But every time I heard it, I always thought to myself, "Well that cliche is completely wrong, because love is a commitment, hate is an emotion. Love is not the opposite emotion of hate..."
I think it's extraordinarily cool that because Paxton and Shelley are both Christians, and that they understand the biblical definition of love. That makes me confident that they'll be together forever. Oh what a feeling? I think it's more about "Oh what a commitment!"
SLOW DOWN IS APPARENT IN THE WEDDING INDUSTRY Hawaii Weddings and Tourism definitely, at an all time low still
Sorry, not a wedding post, but more a post about what's been on my mind lately. I've been rather busy with back to back weddings this past week, I haven't had much time to blog about my wedding couples from a few weeks ago. I do have some fun love stories to tell though, so be on the lookout. Shelly, Paxton, I know you've been waiting for your blog, you're up next...I promise. I just write about something different than weddings
What do I want to write about, more so vent about? The economy.
Boy do I sound like an old fart when I say that, man, this economy is sucking wind. I've been getting more cancellations than every before, because my couples have been losing their jobs. More so, wedding companies across Oahu are going out of business! And these are rather big name wedding companies!! Luckily though, I am still kicking strong here. My bookings have been rather high, although cheap, people are still calling to get married. Hey, cheap or expensive, I don't really care. I'll do my best no matter how much a wedding couple spends on me.
Hand Dancing at the beach, while working... that's a light meter around my neck by the way.
I took a look at the housing prices here in Oahu. They have really come down. I swear, in some places, I think prices are down around 40%. Ko'olina, the resort where I do most of my weddings, they have luxury townhouses on short-sale, for around $398,000! I believe at the height of the market, townhouses were going for aroun $700,000! There are nice 4 bedroom homes for sale in Makakilo, for around $550,000. That means that if you are looking to move to Hawaii, now may be the time. What a great time to buy a house. Too bad mostly everyone is sucking wind, and the bank's want to only approve 1 in every 1000 loan applications....
So I'm not sure where the end is in sight right now. I don't believe Obama's spend-a-thon will help this economy roll around. Gas prices are heading back up and mum seems to be the word from his camp. I really feel as though Obama wants Gas prices to go up to force American's to buy those little Fiat's that he seems to love.
Anyway peeps. I have no weddings today! Yay! So I'm going to stay home, work on my some in office stuff, and probably practice being lazy...haha. I need to unwind a little before I head out for my next wedding, which will be on Saturday. Call if you want though, I'm like a doctor, always on call 1-877-WED-IN-HAWAII
At 32 years old, I'm considered a relic to my 50 year old competitors, because I am one of the few professional wedding photographers who still shoot on film. Since the invention of the digital camera, a very vocal war has raged between old school film photographers, and new aged digital photographers. The Internet is filled with forums that claim digital photography out performs film 10 to 1. Currently, the majority of film photographers have switched over to digital. Film is dead they say, I beg to differ. Here is my responses to common questions regarding the current film vs. digital debate, composed of questions asked by my clients and amateur photographers.
IS FILM REALLY DEAD? No. If film were truly dead, the movie industry would be dead, because the movie industry still shoots most of their movies on film, instead of High-Definition (HD) cameras. Even though studios would save millions of dollars if they shot their movies in HD, they don't. And this purely a quality issue.
WHAT ABOUT THE MEGA PIXEL RACE? ISN'T A 35MM CAMERA EQUIVALENT TO An 8 MEGA PIXEL CAMERA? No, they are not even close. Print out your best 8 Mega pixel image, and compare it to any of your 35mm prints, and tell me then if there is a difference. It will be quite apparent, with the 35mm camera winning the race by a landslide. The truth is that there is no true way to compare a mega pixel to a 35MM camera, and I'll get into that later.... Even my 15 Mega pixel G10, that I love, cannot outperform a simply disposable film camera when printed.
HOW LARGE OF AN IMAGE CAN A 35MM FILM CREATE? Lets go back to the movie industry once again. Picture in your head the largest movie theater you've been into, and that's about the size of a 35mm enlargement. Yes, a 35MM slide film can produce enlargements up to 80feet in width, and if they are shot on medium format film, such as IMAX movies like Star Trek, then you're talking about a 3 to 4 story tall image. If there were an enlarger and photographic paper made large enough, you could theoretically create a single image of that size.
Now, you could theoretically take a digital image and shoot it on a movie screen through a LCD projector, but the artifacts of compression will appear. More so, because digital images only consist of 256 colors, it is incapable of creating a saturated image good enough to be compared to projected film image. This is why even the best LCD pictures lack a punch even when compared to a mediocre film projector.
Next time, take notice of the lack of punch, when you view movies on your computer, or a power point presentation. The pictures are just bland, and it's very apparent. Movies on your computer don't look as good as those you see in the theater....and the reason is answered with the next couple of questions.
HOW MANY COLORS CAN FILM CAPTURE? Millions.
HOW MANY COLORS CAN THE NAKED EYE SEE? Millions.
HOW MANY COLORS ARE THERE IN NATURE? Millions.
HOW MANY COLORS CAN THE HIGHEST DIGITAL CAMERA CAPTURE? 256.
AH, I GET IT. SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT MOVIES SHOWN IN THEATERS ARE NOT ONLY BIGGER PICTURES, BUT A BETTER PICTURE THAN MY HOME THEATER? Yes. Since you are seeing an image captured by light, and then created by light in a movie theater, you are seeing probably the closest thing to what the human eye would see. When you see the same movie on DVD later at your home theater or computer, you are seeing a down converted image that is only comprised of 256 colors.
DO YOU OWN ANY DIGITAL EQUIPMENT? I actually do! Just recently, I bought a digital point-and-shoot camera, G10, which I love. The quality, ease of control, and portability is amazing. I also have a digital camera body, Nikon 3000, which I always carry just in case my film bodies go down on me. The G10, although a point and shoot, rivals the qualtiy of the Nikon D3 and the price tag between the two is around $2500.
I would recommend the G10 to every amatuer and professional photographer out there. There is a difference in the size of the CCD, between the Nikon D3 and the point-and-shoot G10, but I'm going to be straight with you here. In this case, it doesn't matter. The G10 prints are exactly of the same quality of my Nikon 3000. In fact, the G10, is less sensitive to blown out whites, than the Nikon D3. There is a difference in pixels when you zoom in, but to the naked eye, the G10, out performs the Nikon D3 in my opinion. I use the G10, for my patriot package, and not the D3. I keep that thing bundled up in the truck.
Taken on my Canon G10, with 100% fill flash. Nice shot, but lacks a "pop." This is touched up, and color also added.
SO YOU'RE SAYING DIGITAL IS NO GOOD? I love my digital cameras. They are fun to play with, and their quality is good, just not as good as film when it comes down to overall picture quality. I love the portability of digital cameras, especially when travelling. No more hand checking film. And digital is great for newspapers and magazine publications. For high quality prints though, I still prefer film, especially large format slide film.
Taken on my G10. Not too shabby..but again, no "pop." Touched up with color added.
Film has a look to it. Notice the "pop?"
WHY STILL SHOOT ON FILM? Time, price, and money. It probably takes a $10,000 digital setup to come somewhat close to a point and shoot 35mm camera. Also, I'm not into touching up photos. I just like to point, click, and develop my photos, then to hand it to my couples. No touching up in the computer needed. In the long run, shooting on film saves me a lot of time, and time in many cases is money.
Digital pictures always have to be touched up to look decent...remember that.
Also, film, in my opinion, just has a better look to it. The colors are brighter (naturally) there's more contrast, and to me, film looks 3-dimensional, and digital looks rather flat. Film has sharper edges than digital, yet it's smoother in areas where it should be, such as the skin. This means that even if a subject has bad complexion, I can choose a different type of film to make her look softer, yet I'll still get a sharp image, without having to touch up the photos on the computer.
And with film, there is such thing as color correction, which is done during printing. But with digital photography, it's not a matter of color correction, more so...it's color CREATION.
Paxton and Shelly, photo shot on film. Note the details in the whites, details in the shadows, and 100% blacks, and natural sunset colors. The photo just pops. No color correction needed.
They are the next couple I'll be blogging about!
STEVE, I'VE SEEN THE COMPARISONS ON THE INTERNET. THE DIGITAL PICTURES LOOK GOOD. Ever try to print out your digital photos that you take on your point and shoot and wonder why it doesn't look as good as what shows up on your preview screen? That's because your resolution, like your computer screen, is very low, around 72 dpi to be exact. Film, if scanned properly, can display a resolution of 20,000 dpi. Digital on the other hand shoots at around a 180dpi image. What does this mean? Basically, if you compare film vs. digital on a monitor, it's not a level playing ground, since you will be drastically down converting film and somewhat down converting digital images to 72 dpi.
If you truly want to do a side by side comparison between film and digital photographs, you can do this on your own. What you need to do, is to have similar images printed in their native format. This means, taking one digital photograph, with no touch ups, and printing it out.... and then take one film photograph, with no touch ups, and printing that out. The difference will be more apparent, in fact, night and day.
Think this is impressive? You should see the actual print. This image only shows 256 of the millions of possible colors in the print.
THE FINAL WORD Overall, it's the photographer, not his equipment, that determines the quality of his work.
I do though, have some trouble with many digital photographers, because a lot of them are not true photographers. The digital photography era has given birth to the new type of professional photographer who just points and clicks. I have a lot trouble with that photographer who doesn't take the time to understand exposure, and yet has the ego to jump into the wedding industry, without really knowing how to produce consistent shots. These amateurs existed when film photography was the norm, they are more in abundant now.
I remember at a wedding, a friend of the wedding couple kept telling me, "You can't shoot into the sun Steve, don't you know that! You'll get a white sky! See!" He insisted while showing me his shot. He then continued and said, "And you should turn off your flash, all your whites will get washed out."
I looked at him, "That's why I shoot on film."
That friend of the couple was blown away when he saw my shots, and went out the next day to purchase his first film camera.
Every now and then, I run into other digital photographers at our local lab, and they look at my pictures and ask me, "Wow, how did you get these shots on your camera? What type of camera are you using?"
I tell them, "I shoot on film."
And they smile and say, "I had no idea film looked that good..."
Personally, I believe film will come back strong in the next few years as many professionals will try to differentiate themselves from the over saturated digital wedding photography industry. Plus, they will have to finally admit, that film is not dead.
Check out the caricature invitations!!! Pretty neat, I have to admit!
CARICATURE INVITATIONS ...Hand Drawn and customized...
As you may have already notices by browsing my website, along with information on weddings, and my daily blogs, I also sport a rather diverse array of advertisers. My advertisers range from vacation rental homes to wedding invitation designers. One my latest advertisers is a company called rs2guru.com, whose factory is located in none other than China. Like many wedding invitation companies, they offer free shipping with their products, a wide and different array of wedding invitation designs, and great customer service.
The one thing that separates RS2guru.COM from other wedding invitation websites though, is for the fact that they offer customized caricature wedding invitations! Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool. And for that service, their prices are extremely reasonable. Check them out for cheap wedding invitations as well!
Vincent and Ashlei, "The Journey has been amazing..."
THE MOST UNIQUE LOVE STORY I'VE RUN INTO The Hawaii Wedding of Vincent and Ashlei
I've been in the wedding industry since I was 23 years old, I'm 32 now. And I've met a lot of wedding couples, coordinated thousands of weddings, and have heard almost every love story imaginable. Back when I first started putting together weddings, people met their loved ones through friends and setup dates. Fast forward to the present, most people meet their loved ones through the Internet. Well, Vincent and Ashlei didn't meet through the Internet, but they met because of the Internet. Confused? Read on.
It happened one fateful night when Vincent's cable modem broke, paralyzing his computer from accessing the Internet. Vincent called up his service provider, angry, but patient. The first customer representative didn't speak English very well, and Vincent's pateince flew out the window! We've all been there. He wanted to speak to someone who could understand him and help him now! He wanted to speak someone in this country! Not surprisingly, Vincent got put on hold.
Vincent and Ash, at Ko'olina, on the rocks
Meanwhile, in a cubicle far away from Vincent's house, Ashlei sat busily with her headset strapped to her head. She probably thought, this was just another day in the office filled with angry customers who wanted to to yell at someone. She was right, someone was ready to yell at her, but this wasn't going to be another day. This day, she would meet the man she would marry.
At that moment, a call came through, it was the customer service rep that was servicing Vincent. She couldn't understand a word that came out of that customer service reps mouth, and she didn't really want to take the transfered call, but she noticed that the phone number was coming from her area code, so she felt a little compassion. Good choice.
Vincent nervous, no way...
During the vows
As soon as Ashlie took Vincent's call, Vincent started to explain his situation. Lets just say, he explained like we would, rather harshly. Ashlei patiently listened, and genuinely wanted to help him. She offered that her company would replace the broken router immediately. Vincent though was still skeptical. He told her that he did not want to be tricked into extending his service, or purchasing a brand new cell phone, he just wanted his broken router replaced. Ashlei assured him that's what he would get, and that's all what he would get. Vincent, satisfied with her solution, calmed down, thanked Ashlei and hung up, content.
Vincent and Ashlei share their first breath as a couple, a Hawaiian Tradition
In a very short time, Vincent's router arrived on his doorstep, and he was happily surfing the Internet once again. He wanted to thank Ashlei for the great customer service, but more so to also apologize to her for being less than admirable over the phone, But there was a problem. He didn't have her phone number, or direct line. But Ashlei had his.
Soon enough, Ashlei gave Vincent a call to make sure that everything was okay. Vincent told her everything was fine, apologized, and asked for her phone number. There was a slight hesitation, but Ashlei gave him her number. Unbeknownst to Vincent, Ashlei had given her number to him because she was high on pain killers, as she had just recently gotten into a bad car accident. She admits, she was not thinking clearly.
Cut the cake!
Ashlei giving some attitude
From there it was destiny. One phone call, led to another, then to another, then to their first meeting sometime after. Their was a bit of nervousness in the very beginning. Ashlei, despite talking to Vincent for awhile, wasn't sure if he was a serial killer. So she told her friends where she was meeting him, and when, and also where to go to find her body (his address), if she turned up missing. Vincent on the hand, didn't fear that she was a killer. Like all men, his fear rested on how she looked. Well, Vincent didn't turn out to be a serial killer, and Ashlei turned out to be the cutest thing he had ever seen.
I don't usually do a shot like this, but I did this time around
Vincent and Ashlei were a blast to hang out with, and to marry. They both are football fans, witty, and have always something to talk about. They didn't rent a car, so I picked them up in the blue limo (my blue double-cab Tacoma), and drove them to Ko'olina. Elias performed a great Hawaiian ceremony of them, to top off the ceremony, Vincent and Ashlei cut a small wedding cake they had purchased for their wedding.
The only thing that was a bummer that day was the weather. The weather was perfect, except that it was a very voggy. Vog, is volcanic fog, and it has a habit of turning blue skies a little white. But, it also makes for very unique red sunsets. I actually like the whitish skies in some of these shots. I think it has a very nice clean feeling. Since they both are wearing white, it's quite cool.
So what do you think about their love story? Pretty cool huh?
Sunset at Ko'olina
I really like this shot here. This one goes on the wall
So in case you didn't figure it out by now, Ashlei works as a customer service operator. Vincent, well, you can basically stereotype him from how he looks. What do big strong guys usually do? Fight fire for a living, and save lives. What else do you think?
Vincent, Ashlei, it was a pleasure being part of your special day. Do keep in touch. I swear, you have some story of how you met. Keep on creating even better memories.
REALITY WEDDING TV SHOW TO COME TO HAWAII Hawaii Weddings on TV...give me a break...
So here's the new buzz in Hawaii. A new Reality TV Show, called "Wedding Day" will debut on the TNT network on June 16th. The pitch: "The weekly show will make a bride's wishes come true with the help of her family and friends." The genius behind the show, Mark Burnett, creator of hits such as Survivor and The Apprentice. You can read more about the show, by clicking here The Reality TV show is offering a "Dream Wedding in Hawaii" for free, to couples whose love story is appealing enough to air.
Here's why you should pass.
Mr. Burnett can contribute his success to his understanding of story, and that he truly understands that story equals conflict (unlike George Lucas) Every one of his reality shows, while the prize has always been extremely appealing (for example: an apprenticeship position with Donald Trump, A million dollars to the winner of Survivor) the majority of his series was rooted in conflict. There was backstabbing and chest-stabbing, airing of personal dramas on national television, and selective editing that made any average Joe or Jolene, look as though they had a personality disorder. Mr. Burnett will not change his format for his wedding show. Why should he? A reality show without conflict would be boring to the bone. More than likely, he will try to capture or create conflict on a bride's wedding day, then air it on national television for millions to see.
Even I'm guilty of creating drama...a fun posed shot like the 1st.
So the question is..."Is that really what you want? For your the world to see you at your worse, stressing out on your wedding day, yelling at family members?"
Even if you're a laid back bride, the television producers will definitely help create drama to your wedding day somehow. They have too, because most weddings are not filled with drama. Most weddings, and this is not a surprise, run very smooth, with no surprises. So what does this mean? If you win your dream wedding in Hawaii, the producer's of the show will conspire against you to have a wedding day, and planning, that is conflict-free! They will try to do something to make your planning and wedding day, much more difficult.
My two cents....avoid this contest like the swine flu. Leave this contest to bride and grooms who have an ambition to be celebrities.
