McLeod House Studios

Life moves so fast.  In my mind, there is no doubt that moving so fast affects our cultural view of beauty.  Unless something is fast, fierce, fabulous, or fashion-forward it somehow loses visual appeal in our culture.

Just a few weeks ago, I photographed a wedding in Virginia Beach that challenged this aesthetic.  It was a much-needed reminder for me that beauty doesn’t have to be fast and fierce. Beauty can also be peaceful, innocent, and even simple.

I met Heather and Jay, the bride and groom, several months ago.  They immediately struck me as kind and uncomplicated, and obviously completely in love.  After Heather and I became Facebook friends, I found a photo album of her acrylic on canvas paintings.  It quickly became clear from her work that she is a thoughtful artist.  Pieces called 19 Assaults to Your Self-Esteem, and Put On Your Face indicated to me an appreciation for the countless ways in which our “fast” culture has negatively influenced our ideas of what is beautiful.  I also came across a painting called Pioneer Meadow. It is a beautiful windswept landscape that uses a natural palette of mostly blues, grays, and browns.

Later, when Heather described the theme of her wedding as “country church,” I thought back to Pioneer Meadow and, in light of this piece of artwork, the theme made perfect sense.  The wedding was to be a celebration of love, simplicity, intimate connections, and careful details.

(To view more photos, see our FB wall album called Heather and Jay’s Wedding at McLeod House Studios).

The ceremony took place at Tabernacle United Methodist Church in Virginia Beach.  It is one of the oldest Methodist congregations in America, established in 1789, whose first two ministers preached on horseback.  The original structure had only three rows of pews, was lit by kerosene lamps that hung from the ceiling, and included a slave balcony.  In 1908, the slave balcony was removed, while wood floors, stained glass, new pews, lights, and a bell tower were added.  (http://tabernaclevb.org)

When I visited the church to assess the lighting, I met Pastor Davis, who directed me to just call him “Jack.”  He gave me a tour, along with a brief history of the church.  To a pastor, this church was an obvious historic and community treasure.  To a photographer, it was a visual one. Warm tones resonated from the wood floors and pews, and the stained glass windows allowed for ample natural light, and provided an arched visual that could potentially compliment my composition.

On the wedding day, I tuned my camera to the simple details, whether it was photographing the gown against the church’s wood paneling or posing Heather and Jay in a peaceful embrace.

In my post-production, I kept the “country church” theme in mind and added custom edits to reflect the overall mood of the wedding.

From beginning to end, this experience refreshed my visual perspective.  While I can appreciate many of our cultural views of beauty, I was reminded there also remains a place — within my art and in culture at large — to celebrate simple beauty.

To view more photos, see our wall album called Heather and Jay’s Wedding at McLeod House Studios on Facebook

Our entire portfolio can be seen at our website: McLeod House Studios

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When I am working with clients there is usually a certain degree of uneasiness they feel with the camera.  Most people are not accustomed to having their photo taken by a professional. They know they want to give their best expressions and form to the camera, but they are not always certain how to accomplish this.   This is where I step in as a coach, to skillfully position them in a way that captures their best features.      

Generally speaking, however, this uneasiness does not exist with couples in love.  Couples in love often display a relative comfort with the camera, as was the case with Megan and Andrew – a young couple I recently photographed in Virginia Beach.

When it came time for the photo shoot, we met at Sandbridge, which is a popular, local beach.  First, we took some shots on the fishing pier where I directed them to walk towards the camera.  As they did, I realized within minutes that they were going to be naturals.  Most engagement sessions are planned to a certain degree, but the goal is to have them appear somewhat unscripted.  As Andrew and Megan walked towards my camera they were obviously comfortable, and intuitively engaged the camera.

From here, we took a handful of shots in the dunes and nearby beach signs.  I made sure to get a few shots of the couple kissing beyond a sign that read, “PLEASE KEEP OFF DUNES.”  After all, what is young love without a bit of rule-breaking?

In fact, that romantic notion of two people, each captivated by the other and willing to take on the world together, is what impresses me most about photographing couples in love.  During other types of photo shoots one of my creative goals is to have my subjects appear to be center stage.  I love going to a busy public park or crowded cityscape and then to capture a client in a way that implies, “Yeah, I know there is a whole world around me, but I OWN it.”

The thing with romance, though, is that I don’t have to work to convince these two people that they own the world — they already believe they do.

There is an undeniable power and energy that comes from passion.  As a culture, we are fascinated with it.  It is, in fact, a pervasive theme in much of popular art — from movies to books to music — and yes, even photography.

This undeniable energy was clear, again, with Megan and Andrew, as we moved underneath the fishing pier to take additional photos.  As I was adjusting the settings on my camera, they were mostly oblivious to me.  They instinctively played in the waves.  They splashed, kissed, chased, held hands, laughed, and inevitably ended in an embrace.  There was an obvious contentment that each possessed being near the other.  They did not care that other beach goers were watching, nor did they care that the bottom of their jeans were becoming soaked, nor that the heat was borderline stifling.  They also didn’t mind much that I was a firsthand witness to their interaction.  In fact, they welcomed having those moments captured, which, in my opinion is another mark of a couple in love — that is, a sense of security that leads to courage or boldness.  Truly, love in all its forms, empowers us to feel unashamed and willing to be our radically unique selves.

Love also empowers us to take chances and moves us beyond our areas of comfort.  During the photo shoot, it became clear that Megan and Andrew were mostly comfortable engaging each other or else just smiling for the camera.  At one point I asked if they would, instead, either look toward or away from the camera with more serious expressions. The result is one of my favorite photos from the shoot.  The combination of the evening sun, along with the use of my portrait lens and their expressions created a lovely photograph.  I think they look like tee-shirt models in a magazine spread.

While this is among my favorite shots from the experience, I am also elated with how many other images turned out, which is a testament to this couple in love.  Megan and Andrew allowed me the privilege of capturing this special time in their lives and I hope these photos will be a constant and lifelong reminder of their affection for one another.

More photos from this shoot can be seen at McLeod House Studios on Facebook.

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I take my work as a photographer seriously and am never more pleased when I am able to take a subject, and with a bit of lighting, positioning, composition, and make-up, create a small piece of artwork for a client.  While I love creating drama and beauty in a photograph, and am adept at directing others, when the camera is turned on me, I often feel uneasy.

You know the scene in dirty dancing when Baby is on stage with Johnny for the first time and they are preparing to do the pick-up move they had practiced repeatedly?  Baby runs across the stage, but just short of the jump, she panics.  Instead of the dramatic jump, she breaks into an awkward jig of sorts — toes turned in, knees knocking, head-bobbing, elbows-out, and all thumbs.

This is exactly how I feel anytime I become the subject of a photograph.  When the photographer says, “smile,” for some strange reason, I instinctively want to do anything but smile.  Instead, I want to spontaneously vogue….or display the peace sign….or give my most absurd duck face…or my most serious….p-p-p-poker face.

Recently, the Virginia Pilot took an interest in writing an article on my photography work for their “close-up” section of the paper.  Of course, I was excited about the idea and welcomed the online questionnaire, as well as the interview with journalist Victoria Bourne.  But, when I learned that the paper was interested in sending a photographer of their own to my boutique, home-studio, and that I would be on the other side of the camera… a bit of panic ensued.

Rather than allow anxiety to get the best of me, I decided to embrace the experience and learn from it.  First, I took the advice that I give to clients preparing for a photo shoot and called in professional reinforcements with my hair and make-up.  I made an appointment to see stylist/spa tech, and friend, Beth Burzese, at Rumors Salon and Day Spa in Virginia Beach.  Beth’s creativity and skill in refining my look always provides me with an extra measure of confidence, no matter the occasion.  Next, I went on a small shopping spree to find just the right pieces for my wardrobe.

On the day of the photo shoot, Paul came home during his lunch hour to snap some photos as I worked with Virginia Pilot photographer Steve Earley.  Steve was a joy to work with and I paid close attention to how he directed me, as the subject.  

Mostly, he encouraged me to stand in ways that were most comfortable, with slight variations in weight-shifting and positioning.  Steve incorporated a technique I have never seen before, but piqued my interest.  I use a Nikon D300s camera, which has high-definition video capabilities.  Steve had me adjust my settings to “Live View,” then had me turn the camera on myself while he photographed my display screen.  I look forward to experimenting with this creative technique in the future.  We tried a number of other poses that included sitting, holding my camera, moving to various positions with respect to the lighting, etc.

The “close-up” article went to print last month and I was delighted with the results.  Not only did Victoria cover all the important aspects of my current projects and photography work, but also, Steve selected a photo that worked extremely well.  There was no knee-knocking, thumbs out, vogueing, duck facing, poker facing or any other awkward expression (Baby was not in corner).  Instead, I managed a reasonable smile, with camera in tow.  Phew!

More images from this photo shoot can be found here: McLeod House Studios on Facebook