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Wedding Fantasy, Huntington TX

Emily and Dalton exchanging the rings!  We had a good old fashion country hoedown right after this.  It was an awesome night and I’m very thankful to Emily and Dalton for sharing their time with me and the amazing Sarah Williams.

I don’t usually spend much time processing ceremony photos, because I personally don’t find ceremonies very inspiring as artwork and stick to a more photojournalistic style.  It’s hard to get creative with “the kiss shots,” and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen 100.  But I do get inspired when the ceremonies offer wide and dramatic landscapes, and I like to complement them with dramatic postproduction.  We didn’t have very exciting lighting, as you can see by where the sun is in the sky, so that was my main focus in post.  I augmented the starburst and created a halo above the bride and groom make them stand out more than everything else in the frame.  And of course, I had to make the mood a little fantasy too, because every wedding should be a fantasy come true.  

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 19, 2013, taken May 11, 2013
Vintage Beauty, Huntington TX

I’m back to this stunning Southern belle’s bridal session.  It’s so hard to decide what photos to use from this shoot because Emily always looks so good!  But this photo has been one of my favorites from the start.  Her pose is just perfect.  Actually she was just walking to the car and I was tracking her with Sarah’s 70-200 at 200mm when she just paused and gave me this look.  How awesome!  She was definitely one of the sweetest and easygoing brides I’ll ever have the luxury of working with.  And just under two months later I bought my own 70-200!  

I’ve reprocessed this photo to make a more vintage look that I think better conveys that classic beauty emotion that the original just did not have.  Getting the skin tones to look good was the biggest trouble I had, because we were shooting with so much green light bouncing around.  It was very tempting to go black and white, but I just loved her red lipstick too much.  

If you haven't checked out my Montana wedding photography website yet, it's www.paulbellinger.com and www.facebook.com/paulbellingerphoto on facebook.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 18, 2013, taken April 26, 2013
A Romantic Dream, Huntington TX

Julie and Carsen had a vision for their fantasy engagement session.  They wanted an airy, bohemian, sun-filled, romantic dream.  This is what we gave them in return.  See more from this beautiful session on Sarah’s
blogpost.

As many of you know, I’m starting a wedding photography business when we make the move to Montana later this summer.  One of the things you have to think about when starting a business is your brand, and a common exercise is to come up with a list of words that describe your brand.  For a photographer you can think of your brand as your photographic style.  So far my list of brand words includes: dramatic, romantic, artistic, fantasy, dreamlike and grand.  I think about adding the words warm and colorful too, as my photos have a tendency to get both warm and colorful (especially colorful if you're familiar with my landscapes).  As I’ve been culling and reprocessing my portfolio over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to create a consistent brand focused around these brand words.  Of course not every photo I take at a wedding looks like a dreamlike work of art.  But I hope you think the photos in my portfolio do.  Let me know what you think or if you have any other brand words that you think fit my style.  My portfolio is on the front page of my Montana wedding photography website.

In this photo, all of the lens flare is real and I did some minor processing in Photoshop to add contrast, color and to bring the couple out.  The bright light on the far left and right of the frame are pieces of long grass/some other vegetation in the foreground.  I love to use foreground objects to frame my subjects.  I took about five or ten shots from this grassy perspective with tons of flare, but also took several of the standard straight on, no foreground, minimal flare shots too.  The grassy flare shots may not be as technically perfect, but to me they are better at conveying the dreamy fantasy mood I’m always looking for, and the lighting is certainly more dramatic.  So that’s my vision.  Getting the camera to focus while shooting into the sun with stuff in your foreground and loads of sweat in your eye and on your glasses/viewfinder is a whole different story!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 17, 2013, taken June 10, 2013
Circled in Light, Huntington TX

Julie and Carsen made their fantasy engagement session come true in the hills of East Texas.  They came all the way to Huntington from Houston just to work with the outstanding Sarah Williams, and to have a sunset session in the country.  They had props, including a bohemian tent and a book to read in the sun.  Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate and it was 95 degrees with insane humidity in the jungle of East Texas, but Julie and Carsen toughed it out and we made their fantasy come true anyway! 

When I’m shooting into the sun like this, I like to embrace the sun flare and let it work its magic.  In this case I managed to compose the blue flare circle right around the couple.

My blog is back in action!  It’s fully linked up to the new Paul Bellinger Montana Wedding Photography website here: www.paulbellinger.com.  Now I just need to start posting again regularly and I’ll have all of my online presence in high gear by the time I arrive in MT.  I can’t wait!

Happy father's day to all the dads out there, especially my dad Paul Sr., and my stepdad Brucey!

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week with a series of workshops on your “Lighting Toolkit.”  They are currently rebroadcasting three or four lighting workshops around the clock, so keep a browser window tuned in to creativeLIVE all weekend for a FREE lighting education:  www.creativeLIVE.com

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 16, 2013, taken June 10, 2013
Sala’s Puppy Artwork, Nacogdoches TX

Birds be warned, Sala can fly!  Our little boy pup is growing up and it’s been so much fun watching him come into his own in our pack.  He’s certainly carved out a role as the high flyer!  I love to play catch with the frisbee and Sala is the first dog I’ve ever had that wants to catch a disc, so I guess we’re a perfect match.  Pretty soon they’ll be calling him the Lebron of frisbee catching in East Texas.  He’s a beast.  I’m excited to see how he fills out in year two, which comes in September.

This is one of the first photos I’ve taken with my new 70-200 lens.  I’ve been using Sarah’s over the past few months and it’s an addicting lens.  But heavy!  I guess that’s good though because my arms are getting ripped just carrying it around!  I processed this photo in Photoshop.  This is my first time experimenting with textures and I think it made this otherwise boring green grass photo into something pretty cool.  It’s amazing how much more I can do now after having Photoshop for two months.

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week with a series of workshops on your “Lighting Toolkit.”  They are currently rebroadcasting three or four lighting workshops around the clock, so keep a browser window tuned in to creativeLIVE all weekend for a FREE lighting education:  www.creativeLIVE.com

If you haven't checked out my Montana wedding photography website yet it's www.paulbellinger.com
I'd appreciate the like on www.facebook.com/paulbellingerphoto if you have the time!  Once I get to regular posting on fb there will be a lot of photographer relevant information on there (as you would guess with me :).

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 15, 2013, taken June 12, 2013
Mr. Badass, Houston TX

Yes, we can make guys look good too!  Well in this case Hector was already looking good, I just made him look like a badass!  I set up the lights for an end of the night cigar smoking celebration, and a few of the groomsmen wanted individual portraits.  Guys always like the look of this lighting because it’s what’s in all of the sports magazines.  I had a blast with these groomsmen, they really know how to have a good time!  Thank you Hector, Randy, Raul and the groom Jonovan, for letting me hang with you!  Thanks also to the awesome Sarah Williams’ for letting me tag along and break out the lights!

This is the Joel Grimes three light technique that is used in a lot of sports portraiture and even some in enterainment.  The dramatic side lighting is from two 24” softboxes (with one speedlight in each) behind Hector at 45 degrees and one on camera speedlight zoomed to about 85mm.  The on camera speedlight was set about 1 stop lower than the kicker lights in back.  This lighting technique also looks good on women, especially if you make the kicker lights very soft so that the highlights wrap around farther.

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week with a series of workshops on your “Lighting Toolkit.”  Today’s workshop is on speedlights with the amazing wedding photographer Roberto Valenzuela:  www.creativeLIVE.com

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 14, 2013, taken May 17, 2013
Artistic Signature Edit, Houston TX

A screenshot before and after look at one of my favorite recent photos.  We shot Rachel and Ryan’s engagement photos close to high noon, and as you can see in the before photo, the sky was quite boring.  The lighting wasn’t too big of a deal for closer cropped engagement photos, but for a wide landscape like this, it pretty much rendered the before photo useless.  And for this good reason, the before photo did not make it to the amazing Sarah Williams’ blogpost from this shoot.  But I didn’t want to give up on this photo because it was one of the very few wide photos I took and I am always looking to give my clients at least one or two art pieces suitable for huge size printing and hanging in their homes.  It’s rare that someone prints a head, head and shoulder, or even close full body shot at 40”x60” for their wall!  So I gave this photo a little love and attention and my artistic signature edit was born.  Now I’m thinking about including a few “artistic signature edits” in my wedding packages.  What do you think?

I know this kind of edit is not for everyone.  But since it is the kind of artwork I like, and the kind that I’m showing on my website, I’m sure it will be the kind of thing my clients like too, if I ever get any!

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week with a series of workshops on your “Lighting Toolkit.”  Today’s workshop is on adding quick and easy flash on location.  www.creativeLIVE.com

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 13, 2013, taken May 24, 2013
Celebrating Nini, Nacogdoches TX

Well my beautiful wife has done it again!  First she’s taking us to Montana with her new job, and now she found out on Monday that one of her papers has been accepted for publication in one of the most prestigious journals in her discipline!  She is the best!  In her honor I went back and processed one of the photos she selected from our celebratory photo shoot a month ago.

I love my wife and I love portraiture!  It’s so fun to play with light in the home studio.  Shooting with natural light is fun too, but I prefer the control afforded by studio lighting.  I retouched this photo follow Sue Bryce’s two minute rule, but it took me much longer!  I need to get faster!  This portrait is lit with an Alien Bee 800 in one big four foot softbox right behind me.  The center of the softbox was about a foot above Nini’s head.  

Speaking of portraiture, the highly acclaimed Lindsay Adler will be on CreativeLIVE today with a FREE one day workshop on creative studio lighting.  Check it out at www.creativeLIVE.com.

UPDATE: Donna you don't need much space!  This is in an 8'x4' corner of our guest bedroom and only one light.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 12, 2013, taken May 10, 2013
Sala in Pink Haze, Nacogdoches TX

I still love taking dog photos!  I’ve been busy getting my new wedding and portrait business going, but I still love to shoot almost every day, and take lots of photos of the dogs and Nini.  Every now and then one catches my eye for processing.  For this photo, it was Sala’s inquisitive yet confident stance and the lighting on both sides of his face, creating a nice outline separating him from the background.  In processing I wanted an earthy film look and added a layer of pink toned haze because I like how it gave the shadows a magenta hue.

If you haven’t checked out my business website yet, it’s at www.paulbellinger.com.  It’s still a work in progress but I’d love to know what you think about the general layout, overall look.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 10, 2013, taken May 18, 2013
Wedding Fantasy, Huntington TX

Emily and Dalton exchanging the rings! We had a good old fashion country hoedown right after this. It was an awesome night and I’m very thankful to Emily and Dalton for sharing their time with me and the amazing Sarah Williams.

I don’t usually spend much time processing ceremony photos, because I personally don’t find ceremonies very inspiring as artwork and stick to a more photojournalistic style. It’s hard to get creative with “the kiss shots,” and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen 100. But I do get inspired when the ceremonies offer wide and dramatic landscapes, and I like to complement them with dramatic postproduction. We didn’t have very exciting lighting, as you can see by where the sun is in the sky, so that was my main focus in post. I augmented the starburst and created a halo above the bride and groom make them stand out more than everything else in the frame. And of course, I had to make the mood a little fantasy too, because every wedding should be a fantasy come true.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 19, 2013, taken May 11, 2013
Sarah Williams. I don’t usually spend much time processing ceremony photos, because I personally don’t find ceremonies very inspiring as artwork and stick to a more photojournalistic style. It’s hard to get creative with “the kiss shots,” and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen 100. But I do get inspired when the ceremonies offer wide and dramatic landscapes, and I like to complement them with dramatic postproduction. We didn’t have very exciting lighting, as you can see by where the sun is in the sky, so that was my main focus in post. I augmented the starburst and created a halo above the bride and groom make them stand out more than everything else in the frame. And of course, I had to make the mood a little fantasy too, because every wedding should be a fantasy come true. Critiques are always welcome. Daily photo: June 19, 2013, taken May 11, 2013" href="javascript:openLB(2584248823,'',XLarge,'',1024,683);">Wedding Fantasy, Huntington TX

Emily and Dalton exchanging the rings!  We had a good old fashion country hoedown right after this.  It was an awesome night and I’m very thankful to Emily and Dalton for sharing their time with me and the amazing Sarah Williams.

I don’t usually spend much time processing ceremony photos, because I personally don’t find ceremonies very inspiring as artwork and stick to a more photojournalistic style.  It’s hard to get creative with “the kiss shots,” and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen 100.  But I do get inspired when the ceremonies offer wide and dramatic landscapes, and I like to complement them with dramatic postproduction.  We didn’t have very exciting lighting, as you can see by where the sun is in the sky, so that was my main focus in post.  I augmented the starburst and created a halo above the bride and groom make them stand out more than everything else in the frame.  And of course, I had to make the mood a little fantasy too, because every wedding should be a fantasy come true.  

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 19, 2013, taken May 11, 2013
Wedding Fantasy, Huntington TX

Emily and Dalton exchanging the rings! We had a good old fashion country hoedown right after this. It was an awesome night and I’m very thankful to Emily and Dalton for sharing their time with me and the amazing Sarah Williams.

I don’t usually spend much time processing ceremony photos, because I personally don’t find ceremonies very inspiring as artwork and stick to a more photojournalistic style. It’s hard to get creative with “the kiss shots,” and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen 100. But I do get inspired when the ceremonies offer wide and dramatic landscapes, and I like to complement them with dramatic postproduction. We didn’t have very exciting lighting, as you can see by where the sun is in the sky, so that was my main focus in post. I augmented the starburst and created a halo above the bride and groom make them stand out more than everything else in the frame. And of course, I had to make the mood a little fantasy too, because every wedding should be a fantasy come true.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: June 19, 2013, taken May 11, 2013
Canon EOS 5D Mark III |
More details: exif |
Original size: 5760x3840 |
Current: 800x534 |
Share photo: links, forums, blogs |
Keywords: wedding texas wedding portfolio east texas silhouette studio sarah williams huntington wedding
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