Devony & Ryan
Sometimes Things Go Against You, But Donuts Remain
Life happens, I get it. We do dumb things, we're human.
Yesterday afternoon I found out that some pretty intense fog was going to roll in (which doesn't happen often in Florida) and I immediately wanted to gather some friends and go make photos. I rushed to put together a post on Social Media and it wasn't until about 11PM that I had some friends lined up.
This morning, the drive over was iffy... cool patch of fog // blue skies + sun // cool patch of fog // blue skies + sun. I started to doubt that the fog would hang around and the look of photos that I wanted to capture would vanish. The traffic to where I was going was the WORST. I got there 30 minutes after call time. When I finally get to the location.. and I LOCK MY KEYS IN THE TRUNK OF MY CAR. Are you kidding me?! Literally the first time I'd ever done that. I clipped them to my bag, scouted, came back to my car, threw everything in my trunk to head to the restroom and CLUNK. Keys locked inside of car. Thankfully, AAA got there reasonably fast, but the fog still died in the middle of the shoot.
I'm enjoying the ability to go out and shoot at the drop of a hat, and I'm thankful for friends that want to come along with me.
HUGE THANK YOU to Rachel, Lauren, and Andrew. You guys rock.
I photographed Rachel and her bae, Jonathan, on their wedding day last year. I worked with Jon back in my days with Apple. View their photos here.
I worked with Lauren at my previous job before going full-time with my photo work. Andrew is a rad dude who plays drums and we both share the same love for coffee and donuts. I had the honor of introducing them to The Donut Experiment, and words weren't needed to know that it changed their lives.
Enough words. Here are some selects from this morning on Anna Maria Island.
It's the sticks and stones that wear us down that often save our lives.
-MUTEMATH
If you're interested in getting together and making photos, click here.
If you know someone who might be interested, share this with them on Facebook by clicking the "Share" button below.
#letsmakephotos
A Master's Game
Over a long period of time, these golf balls were collected by my father-in-law. I'll never know the stories behind them, but collectively they come together to tell a story of a life well lived.
Shot on a Canon 5D Mark III - 50mm 1.2L @ f/5.6 - OCF / Speedlite 600 - Kodak Ektachrome 64
A while back I came across a short post by a guy whose work I've been following for a long time; probably the longest of all the photographers I currently follow. It was titled "Photography is Hard." by Jeremy Cowart. I saw the title and thought.. "GREAT, a professional photographer telling me that what I want to do is HARD. How the heck am I ever going to make it?!"
Go read it real quick, then come back. (Here's the link.)
About a year ago I started playing golf. I was hilariously terrible, and Jeremy's article suddenly became very real. Before I first picked up a club, I had no idea how many complex factors went into a golf swing. I immediately had a new appreciation for golf, and now I love watching and playing the sport.
In these first few weeks of being my own boss, I've noticed the strange relationship that photography and golf have (at least in my mind). There are so many factors that play into being successful, and the journey will never be over. The most reassuring thing that has come to mind is that the pros also have their good days and they have their off days. Tiger didn't put up a "W" at every course. Jordan Spieth has had a monster career already in his first few years as a pro but he's been struggling as of late. Some play until they retire, and even in their retirement they still play for fun. Those that make it to that point have spent their lives devoted to becoming the world's best. I see photography in the same light. Some days are harder than others, but every day I get better. It's what I want my work to be. It'll never be perfect, but there's this cheesy photography saying that "we develop from the negatives", so if in every session I get just a little better than the last, I'm super stoked to keep going.
Just keep trying.
Just keep fighting.
Just keep going.
Just keep surviving.
Just keep walking.
Just keep breathing.
Just keep holding.
Just keep believing.
- MUTEMATH - Remain
"What someone unfamiliar with the process may see as simplistic — simply hitting a ball or pointing and shooting a camera — takes years of practice and is extremely complex to master."
- Jeremy Cowart
#letsmakephotos
#letsplaygolf
Apple Watch & Wedding Photography
"Oh, cool! You have an Apple Watch!" is (most of the time) followed with... "How do you use it?" .. "What does it do?" .. "Do you like it?" Or more frequently from my photographer friends: "I want one! ... (But I don't know why!)"
Before we go any further, one thing I heard from the photographers when I was out at Heck Yeah Photo Camp was that there's no right way to do things. IT WAS SO GOOD TO HEAR. We all develop our own styles and that's what makes the photo industry so great. There's no right way and there's no wrong way. This definitely applies to this blog post. You can adopt techniques and processes and take little "nuggets of knowledge" based on your own tastes and preferences to develop into who you are as a photographer.
So what does this little gadget do for me as a wedding photographer? I'm glad you asked! It keeps me sane.
"You stay SANE on a wedding day?! Tell me more!"
Don't mind if I do..
In a nutshell: I use a wonderful little app called Clear.
The lovely thing about Apple's hardware/software environment is that everything just simply works; and works together.
When I get a timeline from one of my brides, I copy the entire document into Pages and create line breaks for each line item of the day.
Here's where the magic happens. I then copy the timeline from Pages and paste it into Clear.
Boom.
Every line item is made into it's own "to-do" that can be checked off. So as things happen, you can check them off. You always know what's currently happening and what's next without losing your mind!
I always know what's happening, even in the midst of chaos.
Once I have everything configured within the Mac App, it automatically syncs over to the Watch (and my phone, of course). I manually set Reminders in Clear on my Mac, which then syncs to my iPhone and then to my Watch, so I get notified when an event on the timeline happens, right on my wrist! Hello, Star Command!
Some huge things that I've noticed since I've introduced the Apple Watch to my workday:
- I always know where I need to be.
- I know how much time I have in every shooting situation.
- I'm able to reassure Brides of how we're doing on time (and to keep them calm if their coordinator is missing).
- Not that we should ever play coordinator, but simply having the timeline on my wrist at all times without having to pull out my phone -- get back to the email/pdf app that contains the timeline -- find the spot where we left off -- and finally figure out what's next, has been a life changer. Sidenote: I say the same thing when people ask about my Holdfast MoneyMaker. "It's been life changing". That's all I have to say about that. (I love when people say it looks like a gun holster!)
- I'm not on my phone.. ever. I never have to worry about other people seeing me on my phone and thinking "Why the heck is he on his phone?!".
- It's a conversation starter, everyone loves it!
- It helps me make my coffee. No, seriously, it does.
This isn't just for timelines either. If you have a shotlist or a personal "I want to work on ...this..." list, you can put them on your wrist too. I always have 1 or 2 things that I either want to work on or try with my couples every time I go out to shoot. Things that if they don't happen, no big deal, but if I have the chance, I always want to push harder and experiment to grow as an artist, and it's right there on my wrist to remind me.
One last bit -- I make another list for Family Photos! Just create a new list the same way as the timeline, just substitute the events of the day for the different family arrangements! It makes that obligatory post-ceremony Family Photo Session just a little bit easier and go by a tad faster.
Smaller notes:
Sunset times. (Native on the Watch.)
Rain alerts, with a little help from Dark Sky.
How do you use your Apple Watch?
Thinking about getting a Watch? Did this post help? Let me know!
As always, I'd love to answer any questions! Post them below!
Thanks so much for reading!
Heck Yeah Photo Camp
Last month I went out to Joshua Tree, California to join a few fellow photographers as they shared their stories and wisdom at Heck Yeah Photo Camp. I bought the ticket compulsively, which is something I never do. The day that I found out about it was the same day the tickets went on sale. I bought my ticket and two hours later, it was sold out. I (thankfully) had my wife's support. So on I went.
I was nervous, quite honestly.
I never do workshops. But when I saw the list of who was going to be there (guys like Benj, Jonas, Gabe, Dylan, and Ben - whose work I've been following since I picked up my first camera) I knew that this was the one that I had to go to. It was a little out of my comfort zone, but I was okay with that knowing that I'd be learning from the best photographers in the wedding and portrait photography industry. They had a ton of experience and knowledge and they were willing to help me.
These images are different from my normal style, but I intentionally shot and edited this way for fun and to experiment. Here are a few of my favorites. Which ones do you like best? Comment below! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
"If it doesn't make you nervous, you're doing it wrong."
Every Future Starts Somewhere
This week I start a new journey. A scary one. An exciting one.
It was one of those future, responsibility, “what am I going to do with my life” type conversations. I still remember telling my dad right out of high school “I want to be a photographer.” He had a puzzled look on his face. I’m pretty sure neither of us knew what that truly meant. I simply knew that I wanted to create photos and make a living doing it. I knew photography was expensive. I knew the industry was highly competitive. But I also knew it was highly rewarding. I didn’t know how difficult it really was. How much time and effort it would take.
That was almost 10 years ago.
Fast forward to now. I’ve put a lot of time in between the many things of life over the last 4 years trying to build upon taking my photo work full time. The time has come. I’m cannonballing into this, and I’m hoping my friends (you) are jumping in alongside me. Here I am. A full-time photographer!
I used to be SUPER hesitant in calling myself a “photographer”. There are so many stellar "professional" photographers creating breathtaking images, and there are others that are not so good (no offense) that also deem themselves photographers (you've got to start somewhere, right?). I think that's where it came from; this reserve. The wide gap of "photographers" ranging from hobbyist to pro was confusing, quite honestly. So I never pegged myself as a "photographer", I just told people I take photos on the side. This got me thinking...
Consider this:
A Major League Baseball player. He grows up dreaming of becoming a professional baseball player, watching his heroes on TV. He goes through Tee-Ball. Little League. High School Ball. Gets a scholarship to play in college. Gets drafted to the Majors. Is voted Rookie of the Year. A few seasons later helps his team to the World Series. They win the World Series. He's the MVP.
That doesn't happen overnight.
It takes practice. It takes a TON of dedication. Countless late nights/mornings, blood, sweat, hills, valleys, and dry seasons to get there (wherever “there” is). Mastering gear, fostering relationships, researching techniques, mimicking processes. It has all brought me here. And it's not over. It'll never be over. And this excites me.
I’ve never been one for sharing many words, I feel like the vulnerability is much greater there. So I mostly show photos and let the emotion be open to interpretation. I want my work to be about relationships, and this is where it starts. With words.
"Believe your voice can mean something."
If you have a friend that is or just got engaged, tag "@benjaminhewitt" in their posts. I'll take care of the rest.
Join me on this journey. Follow along here:
#letsmakephotos
B
