Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone has a great and joyous Holiday!  Just saw this and wanted to share.  I don't endorse this place but their ad is really pretty funny.  Enjoy!!

Santa gone bad

Random notes and Old Blu

Tis the season for my head to spin.  I've been grinding out project after project after project trying to get as much done as possible before the holidays.

This year I've had many blessings with an incredible number of great commercial projects.  One such shoot occurred a few weeks ago and, of course, the client ordered image files (all to be done ASAP or faster).  OK, so far not too unusual, but these folks REALLY LOVED the photos and ordered big, really big -- 940 unique views!  Long story short, that's immense.  For me, uber immense.  Believe me, I'm not complaining, I've been doin the Snoopy happy dance!  I should, err, will be done by the end of this week.  Then I'll sleep, err... shop.

# # #

Details are coming together nicely for the opening of my Italian photo show at The Sewickley Gallery on March 20, 2009.  It's going to be off the hook!  Mark your calendar now.  I'm so excited and can't wait to share all the details, but until everything is signed and sealed I gotta keep it under wraps.  Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this one!

# # #

Weddings bookings for 2009 have been coming in at a real nice pace the last few weeks.  Early indicators look like next year is going to be absolutely incredible.  Booked one in Philadelphia last week.  Really looking forward to their wedding!  I LOVE Philly!!  And YES, I do out of town and destination weddings!!!  Have passport, will travel : )

# # #

That's about all for me folks.  Sorry I've been such a bad blogger of late, but it's all good, busy is good, real good.  I'll leave you with this image I made recently.  I don't normally shoot a lot of bets, but Old Blu has a lot of character.  And he's also quite a character, too.  

tech notes:  Canon 5D MKII, ISO 2000, 24-105 L lens @ 1/60 f/4.  Window light.  This camera is insane!

Canon 5D Mark II is coming!

GEEK ALERT.  

I found out today my first of two Canon 5D Mark II camera bodies is on its way!!  Woo HOO!!  

When Canon first announced this 21 megapixel monster I called my favorite camera shop, Midwest Photo Exchange, and got on their priority list.  Ironically, I called Dan this morning just to check since I heard a rumor the cameras had started shipping.  This afternoon it became official, the first one is rolling out of Columbus and should arrive at my studio tomorrow.  Believe me I can't wait!  

OK, I know, the camera doesn't make the picture, the photographer does, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Maybe it's a case of 'big boys and their toys' or just keeping up with technology (yeah, that's it, that sounds good) but whatever you want to call it this camera ROCKS.  

So who needs 21 megapixels?  For weddings, nobody really.  That kind of resolution is insane.  Let's be honest, 21 megapixels will create a 63 megabyte file -- SIXTY THREE MEG!  Do you know anyone who wants a 40x60 (or larger) print from their wedding?  Not to many, but this camera could do it with ease.

But I do a lot more than photograph weddings.  I do a lot of commercial and advertising photography.  Ahhh, this is where a file that big will SHINE!  Now I can deliver enormous images to art directors who will stand in awe of their size and revel as they reduce the photo multiple times to fit the page layout.  Yes, I said reduce.  Except in rare circumstances the images coming out of this camera will be reduced for use.  Sigh.  

But wait, there's more!  It's not all about megapixels.  This camera has a load of advanced features like high ISO with little to no grain (noise); increased color bit depth; self cleaning sensor; espresso port!  OK, maybe not the later, but a caffeine addict can dream, right?

Anyway, I was excited and wanted to shout to the world.  For me, this is really a wonderful early Christmas present.  And no danger of putting an eye out.  Hopefully.  Sure glad I added two more terabyte drives this week...

Fun with iPhone

I have to admit, after less than a month I am in LOVE with my iPhone! 

OK, so the service (AT&T) leaves a lot to be desired (dropped calls) but the phone itself is a technological marvel.  It's a fun toy, too.  I've just started to play with the camera and while it's only a measly 2 megapixel it really allows for some cool, unencumbered image making.  Here's one I made over the weekend while traveling the subway.

OK, so I did play with it a bit in Photoshop, but that's part of the fun.  Shooting with a camera phone reminds me of working with a Diana camera in the film world, only I don't have to duct tape the phone to prevent light leaks.  

Now back to my regularly scheduled lab day.

Email is now working

Thanks to marvelous technical support my email is now back up and running as it should.

EMAIL ALERT!

I found out today that all emails sent to terry@terryclarkweddings.com and info@terryclarkweddings.com are getting bounced back to the sender.  This is VERY distressing because I have no way to know how long it's been going on.  

If you have sent me emails recently and I have not responded, or worse, they bounced back please send them again using one of the following addresses:  terryclark(dot)photo(at)verizon(dot)com or terryclark49(at)gmail(dot)com.  

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.  Tech support will unfortunately not be able to address this problem until Monday.  

Amie & Harvey, October 18th

Amie and Harvey were married at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Oakmont with the reception following at the Oakmont Country Club.  It was an incredible day in spite of some rather brisk temps in the morning.

I would be terribly remiss if I didn't give some love to their very cool band, A Kool Nights Band from Alliance, Ohio.  Great job!

Thanks so much guys, the day was absolutely perfect.  I had a blast!  See you soon.

Here are a few scenes from the day...

Being stabbed with a vail comb hurts!

Final moments before vows

Harvey got a little emotional during the ceremony

Must have been an allergy, Amie's dad had pretty red eyes during the ceremony ; )

And what was the surprise?  The amazing limo Amie found -- a 1929 Oakland from Elegant Rides.

First dance

Father's dance, with a very proud dad!

Mom's dance

Let's not forget grand dad's turn on the dance floor!

After the party we went out into the beautiful late day light for some special pictures around the country club.

A beautiful couple, late day autumn light and a super high speed 1.2 lens for a painterly effect -- a photographer's dream combination!  

Team picture Strobist Style

Wow, what a crazy time I've had since coming back from Italy!  Just before flying off I shot a super wedding, then only a few days after my return another fantastic wedding and last weekend I was honored to photograph the brother of one of last years brides as he tied the knot.  As if that wasn't enough, I've been absolutely slammed with commercial assignments.  It's a good thing I love what I do because the long hours working into the night lately to "almost" keep up have been totally nuts!  I'm not complaining, it's good to be busy!  

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph an awesome group of young people at the Rolling Hills Country Club.  They are the WPIAL Championship Golf Team.  It would have been easy to show up, line them up and shoot them in a row.  But that's not me!  Instead, I came prepared to make something memorable for them and their coach.

After scouting the course we decided on one particular green based on the location of the sun and the surrounding trees.  Setting up two battery operated strobes (Dynalite Uni-400 units with Jackrabbit packs) I arranged the golfers in a semi-circle.  One strobe was used as a main light while the other was positioned just off camera to the right of the group to add dramatic rim lighting.  Both strobes were set to full power and fired with Pocket Wizard Transceivers.  Because of the high ambient light I could not rely on the units built in slave eye.

The ambient light was under exposed by about 1.5 stops with my Canon 5D and 16-35 mm Mark II.  ISO was set to 50.  The ISO extension is a great feature of the Canon system because it works for both high and low ratings, although it's most useful to me on the low side.  To further enhance the scene I set my shutter speed to 1/250th second, even though the "correct" sync speed is 1/200th second.  By over clocking the sync of the camera I effectively darkened, or vignetted, the bottom of the frame.  

Once the lights were in position and my exposure set I dropped to the ground to take advantage of the long shadows created by the late day sun.  I tweaked the group by asking the gentleman on the left to come a few steps closer so his head blocked the sun.  Snap, snap, snap and done.  A dramatic, yet quite simple, group photo.

Buon giorno!

What an amazing week!  Italy is one of the most magical places I've ever experienced.  The Italian people are warm and friendly, the scenery is incredibly and the food is out of this world.  Oh yes, and the wine isn't too bad either ;-).

When all was said and done I shot just over 6,000 images covering everything from street scenes, portraits, food shots, vineyards, sunrise, sunset and a whole lot more.  Most of the time we spent in small towns -- the kind that don't get mentioned on highway directional signs.  We did go to a few larger towns, Bologna, Sienna, Pisa, but the time spent there was at the absolute minimum (usually just a few hours).

Even though I took a laptop on the trip, yesterday was the day for a first edit.  Laptops are fine, but I like my dual 23" cinema screens for serious work.  Below are a tiny selection from the first round of editing I hope you enjoy.

Ciao!

It's Italy, fashion is everywhere

Italians don't need gyms to stay fit, they have the landscape of Italy.

The most famous butcher in the world, Dario Cecchini

Did I mention the food?  

Did I mention the grapes and the wine?

And did I mention the tourists??? BLINK

More to come...

Italy!

So many awesome things are happening these days it's been impossible to keep up with blogging. For those who have been stopping by expecting to see new work, I'm sorry.  Right now I'm literally on assignment somewhere every day and processing every night so the projects stay on track.  But it's all good.  Very good.  And coming up it's going to get even better! 

So here's the "official" notice... starting October 6 through the 16th I'll be traveling through Tuscany, Italy.  Vacation?  Work?  Yes, both.  How can you go to Italy and not be on at least some vacation?  Once I return I'll be bustin it to process what I anticipate will be about 10,000 to 20,000 images.  What will I be shooting?  Everything, but more specifically I have a couple of magazine assignments as well as a few special projects to complete.  One of the galleries that represent my work has already committed to a show.  It's gonna be a blast!

Unfortunately I may not always have internet access even though I'm taking my laptop.  So, if anyone emails and does not receive a quick response please understand I'm not ignoring you, I'm just out of touch.  Same goes with telephone calls.  I'll return both as soon as possible.

Until then, Ciao!

Trash the Dress

Wow, I can't believe it's been ten days since I last blogged.  My bad!  

Yesterday afternoon I went out with my good friends Nick and Sarah on an uber cool "Trash The Dress" session.  We didn't totally trash her dress, not this time at least ; )  But we did visit several great places with the most awesome light!  After that nasty fog finally burned off about 3:00 PM it was incredible.

Anyway, here are a few from the 800 + images we made in a couple of hours.  We're already planning our "next" session!

Relaxing Saturday

Yes, after a very busy few weeks with tons of assignments and many weddings I get a rare, relaxing, kick back Saturday to recharge my own batteries.  

Well, almost... something big is afoot.  I'm doing leg work today for that project.  Stay tuned for more details.  This is going to one of those jobs of a lifetime!

The last several weeks have been insanely busy.  As most know, I also do commercial and advertising photography.  During the week I could be found anywhere from a boardroom to a steel mill to a college campus.  I like a mix of assignments -- it keeps me fresh for everything else I photograph, including weddings!  By far the majority of my work centers around people.  I'm not much for shooting products sitting on a table.  It's hard to interact with something that can't talk back.

So, on my "slow" Saturday I thought I would post some recent "other" shoots.  Some of these projects have been completed while others are still "in progress."  There are several more projects I've been working on not pictured, but those haven't progressed enough to be shown to the public.  

Enjoy the day!  

National Aviary Wedding

I'm so excited today because soon I'll be heading off to photograph Teresa and Eric's wedding at the National Aviary.  What a cool venue!!  When they first told me about their plans I KNEW I had to be their photographer.  Last night I dropped in on their rehearsal to scout some neat locations for shots after the service (and snap some birds).  It's a gorgeous place and I can't wait.  Check back tomorrow for some cool pics from their special day!

Photo Plug

Hey everyone,

I know a bunch of fellow photographers follow my blog postings so I just want to give a major plug for a great guy doing some great things for our industry, Christopher Becker, Becker, or [B] as he likes to be called. You know, like Bono, Cher, the artist formerly known as Prince, and all those other one name and symbol people. Anyway, this guy is really cool, a great photographer and he's doing some awesome stuff for the photo community so check it out.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...

Montour Heights Country Club Wedding

On Sunday, August 24th, I had the pleasure of photographing Barbara and Jeremy's beautiful outdoor wedding on the grounds of the Montour Heights Country Club in Moon Township. The country club holds a special place in their heart as it is the site of their first date. It was a truly International wedding as many of Barbara's family traveled from Europe and South America to join in the celebration. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed Aruba! I'll see you soon.

Heinz Chapel Wedding - Megan and Matthew

Megan and Matthew were married August 16th at the always beautiful Heniz Chapel with their reception following at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. Everything was absolutely stunning. Even the weather cooperated with a relatively cool day in August!

For me it was a bit of Deja Vu all over again -- my last wedding reception was also at Soldiers and Sailors and Megan was the third Megan I photographed in a row! What are the chances??

Thanks again guys, it was so much fun. I hope you had a great time on your honeymoon and l look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy the show!

Megan and Ernie's Wedding Show

I had so much fun photographing Megan and Ernie's wedding! Everything was absolutely perfect throughout the entire day. Thanks again guys for allowing me the honor of sharing your special moments. Hope you enjoy the show.

Megan and Bill's Wedding Slide Show

Megan and Bill were married on July 26th at the Duquesne University Chapel with a reception following at Durante's Restaurant in Oakland. I hope you enjoy the show...

St. Paul Cathedral Wedding 08.02.08

Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing Megan and Ernie's great wedding at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland followed by their reception at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial HallS. The CommonPlea provided outstanding food while Bethel Bakery created a lovely cake.

Joining me in covering their wedding was Anne Marie of Ambiance Video Productions. Anne Marie is one of the best around and it's always a pleasure to work with her.

Megan started her day at Ulta in the Waterworks plaza for hair and make-up. It was a great choice because both looked awesome all day!

Between the wedding and reception we had a lot of time (about two hours!) so we took advantage of it by going around the city for a series of fun shots. It was so nice to have time to be creative without feeling rushed!

Thanks again guys it was a blast! Hope you have an amazing honeymoon in Europe!


Megan has the most amazing blue eyes!




A tear before walking in


I love it when the wind blows the veil








Thriller, of course!


Oh man, could he bend it!


She was SO sleepy

Megan and Bill's Excellent Wedding!

Wow, where did THIS WEEK GO? My sincere apologies to all who have been waiting to grab a sneak peek at Megan and Bill's awesome wedding, so finally and without further ado, here are a few of my favs.

Thanks again guys, it was so much fun. Enjoy your honeymoon!






This little guy was out like a light during the ceremony.


One of my favorite shots of the day, and I wasn't even behind the camera (and no, I didn't have an assistant either).














This series is so fun! Give a boy a mirror and watch him go to town making faces.