New Mexico Weddingscapes - Photolog for the Wedding Different

Sunset Weddings a Must?

2009-02-13T16:32:00.009-07:00

My optometrist once told me that all his daughter ever wanted was a sunset wedding. Never mind that a morning wedding with a luncheon reception would be so much less expensive at the country club, she was heartset on filling her wedding album with the reds, hot pinks, and golds New Mexico sunsets are famous for. Dad gave in.

Right on time, the photographer stole the couple away for some romantic shots on the golf course. He had his camera and lights set up and the couple posed just right – then the sprinklers turned on. The photographer quickly grabbed his costly equipment, while the groom scooped up the bride in her costly dress, and they ran for drier ground. (Yeah, but did he get the shot? No? Those grab-and-dash moments make for some great candids.) What's more, there was no sunset that evening.

Does Farmer's Almanac keep records of sunsets in New Mexico? Don’t know, but conditions have to be just right. There can be no clouds right on the horizon where the sun is specifically setting or the colors will be dull. But there do have to be clouds or lots of dust to refract the light. The most exquisite sunsets are during monsoon season (July-August) when the billowy cumulus clouds can paint a Renaissance painting. Of course, one runs the risk of having their wedding rained out during monsoon season.

Sunsets in New Mexico can be so spectacular that when growing up with my photographer father, we were always on watch. When they'd happen, we'd run through the house yelling, 'sunset alert.' New Mexico usually has two sunsets at a time, one in the west and the other reflected on the adjacent mountain. There's always a mountain somewhere in this state to reflect the sun.

Glorious, epic sunsets are not rare but they are hard to predict. If a couple isn't attached to the sun producing dramatic colors, the so-called magical hour around sunset does produce beautiful lighting for photography. The half hour prior to the sun set turns the light golden, and the half hour after the sun sets provides diffused lighting with no shadows. The five minutes or so when the sun is actually disappearing below the horizon turns the subjects a dull color. With pushed ISO speeds, the photography session can last into the darkness when the sky has turned a dark blue. Timing is everything in this case.

But why chance it? The solar industry claims that New Mexico has 310 energy-producing days per year. The sky is almost always a deep blue, patterned by an array of clouds -- a colorful backdrop for foliage and adobe buildings.

Yes, I Do Facelifts, Tummy Tucks, and Wrinkle Softening

2009-02-12T10:20:00.003-07:00

This is a tricky subject, and I hope you'll understand why there will be no accompanying images with this entry.

One reason to choose a professional photographer is to make sure you're photographed in the most flattering of ways. All brides are beautiful, right? Under the best of circumstances, there will often be, well, some areas that can be improved. Even models and celebrities on glam magazine covers don't start out looking that stunning.

A bride I recently photographed was an absolute knock-out, and though photogenic, her complexion underneath layers of liquid make-up and powder was marred by huge pores that didn't look bad in person but would look terrible in print. In the good old days of film, the skin might have been airbrushed, but it still would have looked obvious. Digital brings multiple techniques and software to adjust flaws in a way that looks natural.

Young women with otherwise beautiful complexions will sport untimely blemishes or have dark circles under their eyes from all that wedding planning commotion. Even middle-aged women will continue to have blemishes, and they're more likely to have deep, unflattering lines. Still older women will worry about age spots and wrinkled skin. It is easy to go in on a photo and lighten the circles, lines, and age spots, and soften the wrinkles.

The lens does lie. Camera distortion can make the butt look big -- at least 15 pounds will be added depending on the angle. Software allows the photographer to correct the distortion and also take 15-20 pounds off the bride, or the groom for that manner. Grooms are not exempt. They have pot bellies and beer paunches and love handles. I have a software tool for tapping some of that back into place.

There are many techniques at the photographer's disposal to render a flattering image suitable for framing, but I would not want you to look unnatural or like someone even you would not recognize. The trick is subtlety. We want to enhance, not to perform plastic surgery, to work with what you were born with, rather than to remake you.

Most of the touching up I do is part of the package – you probably wouldn't even notice it. Occasionally, I will be asked to remove a shadow that makes the nose look bigger than it is or to remove an exiled relative from a group shot. I have to charge for these types of things.

Along these lines, when photographing groups, I take multiple shots, with and without glasses. When the camera shutter and the eyes blink at the same time or the flash makes ugly glares on glasses, the eyes can be replaced by opened eyes and the glare can be softened. Incidentally, camera flash glare isn't a problem with lenses that have an anti-glare coating. One groom went so far as to take the lenses out of the frames when it came time for formal portraits. He didn't have anti-glare and didn't want to be photographed without his glasses. Red-eye is rarely an issue with professional equipment.

What can you do to help? If need be, look for dresses that elongate the figure. One bride wore a long, crocheted sweater jacket over her dress to, um, cover up parts of herself she didn't want made public. The jacket did give her a streamlined look when it was in place, but it didn't stay in place as she moved, and the flip-flopping jacket made matters worse.

For the complexion, I recommend avoiding too much sun before the wedding -- redness is bad for skin coloring. Avoid lotions and make-up that brightens the skin and overly reflects the flash. The lens likes a defined facial structure that it can focus on, and those of us who have softer, lighter features (including me) should work to create more contrast in the face, eyes, and lips.

The best thing you can do is relax, enjoy the moment, and flirt with your new spouse. That's the only way I know to capture your inner beauty.

What is "The Wedding Different?"

2009-01-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

Santa Fe, New Mexico has long been known as the City Different for its rich cultural, artistic, and relaxed ambiance. Perhaps this is why the city is such a popular wedding destination. Couples who marry here often incorporate the local customs – some traditional and some New Age – into their ceremonies. They also bring their own unique flair to their New Mexico wedding.

One November afternoon, a couple from Connecticut showed up elegantly dressed, him in a tuxedo, white shirt, no tie, her in a burgundy chiffon cocktail length dress, a flower wreath crown. I looked at their feet – no shoes. "We wanted to go barefoot because it's Santa Fe," the bride explained. We typically wear our shoes to all events in New Mexico, but this couple obviously felt comfortable enough to suspend with formality. Though no other couple has gone barefoot during their ceremony, some come in interesting footwear. Emily married in late June, easily the hottest month in New Mexico. Rather than wear shoes, she decorated pink flip-flops for her bride's maids to match their hot pink gowns and a white pair for herself. It had a sort of an elegant Ghandian look to it.

At one of the first weddings I shot, the couple both handed their guests bright yellow sunflowers.

It isn't unusual for the bride to wear black, purple, or turquoise, though most wear the traditional white. It is also quite common for the couple to have no best man or maid/matron of honor, and one couple stood up with their beloved dog. Of course, the dog didn't witness the license.

So, with the gamut of wedding styles, I do not try to press couples to purchasing pre-set wedding packages with cutesy names. Instead, I charge by the photographic hour, with minimum requirements, and always deliver a generous number of 5x7 prints per hour. From there, the couple can order a photobook or simply just take the prints a la carte to create their own album. They might also purchase a DVD slideshow of all the prints, or a printable CD of the prints.

Why I Wrote the Book, "100 Best U.S. Wedding Destinations"

2009-01-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

I came into destination wedding photography in 2002 quite by accident. Irene Swain, a wedding officiant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, mentioned that there was a need for someone to photograph elopements and small weddings. Most photographers were charging upwards to $3,000 for weddings (and that didn't include the pictures!), far too much for a small wedding. I had been a photojournalist since college (I won't tell you how long ago that was), and I said, “I can do that.” (As a writer of books, my income relied on royalties few and far between.) She recommended me to a bride and groom practically the next day. I shot the wedding, had the film (yes, film) processed at Walgreen's, and handed over the photos to the surprised couple within an hour.

Having completed the first gig fairly successfully, I felt encouraged to develop a web site advertising my newfound services, and almost immediately began attracting clients from out of state. Then, as now, the Internet was their main access to wedding vendors and venues, an avenue many local photographers had yet to discover. The veil slowly lifted to reveal the cottage industry that destination weddings were in Santa Fe. Long before the term “destination wedding” had been termed, florists, musicians (from the Santa Fe Opera, no less), hotels, B&B's, and wedding officiants had arranged their businesses to cater to out-of-state couples.

And what a beautiful altar Northern New Mexico is! From salmon-colored prehistoric ruins against azure skies to historic hotels, there is much to choose from year-round. This region is slower-paced, the service industry is ultra friendly, and the sites just as exotic as Jamaica or the Bahamas where the term “weddingmoon” was invented. Travel to the Southwest was far less expensive and stressful in a post-terrorist-attack world than leaving the country. The idea quickly came for a pictorial review on wedding destinations in the Southwest. For me, such a book was a no-brainer.

But the editors at Globe Pequot disagreed. They countered with a different book idea: A book on wedding destinations across the entire country, to be printed under their 100-Best series (i.e., 100 Best Ranches, 100 Best Cruises, and the like). I signed up without having any idea how teasing out a hundred locations could be accomplished.

Just imagine how difficult planning one wedding is, especially long distance. We planned a hundred weddings, complete with recommendations for sleeping accommodations and receptions. I personally visited many sites in Colorado, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, and California. I even even visited sites in Juneau, Alaska while on a cruise of the coastline with the family. After about six months and several travel sweeps, the impossibility of visiting every site became apparent. I hired two people to help with research and telephone interviews. We scoured the Internet and travel books and magazines, but not all locations had web sites or could afford advertising. Besides, an advertising budget did not equal excellent service or ensure a non-leaky roof. We contacted local photographers and ministers for their recommendations and cross-checked references with site reviews from travel web sites like TripAdvisor.com (there were few blogs then). We had a list of criteria that had to be met: picturesque, some kind of edge that would provide meaning to the couple, a range of affordability, and accessibility to vendors. Above all, the on-site coordinator had to be cordial and professional. Every coordinator received a phone call and if they were snippy to us, they didn't make the book. If the vendor couldn't be kind for the chance of free publicity, then they wouldn't be easy for the bride and groom to work with either. You'd be surprised at how many people came off the list.

Most venues are on the Internet, but it is still difficult to weed through the ones that happen to rank higher in search engines than others. Once you've found a site that looks promising, can you trust it? I suggest calling local vendors and checking web sites and blogs for reviews and references.

I would say that the most surprising location for weddings was Santa Barbara, CA. One summer weekend we sighted a dozen or so weddings in progress in parks, terraces, beaches, and cliff-side perches up and down the coast. A couple could apply for a marriage license at the historic courthouse, with its classic whitewashed walls and red tiles, and then walk out on the lawn and marry for free. There is no waiting list or size limitation to marry at the courthouse. Its common practice for a couple having a large wedding to send someone out to set up a hundred chairs and hold the place until the wedding commences. If you plan on marrying on the court house lawn, ask the clerk for a list of officiants. Contrary to what one might think, they don't hang out all day waiting to catch the occasional wedding. The downside of marrying in Santa Barbara is that hotel rooms are incredibly expensive and usually sold out by the beginning of the summer.

Of course, I'm partial to New Mexico. Apart from the beauty, pace, and affordability, it is easy to plan a last-minute wedding. Remember Julia Roberts getting married in Taos, New Mexico, a few summers ago? She didn't even tell her guests until the midnight ceremony was about to happen. The county clerk, in on the secret, drove the license out to her that night in order to help maintain the ruse. Now, I can't promise that the clerks in Santa Fe will be that accommodating, but they will be expedient and friendly. And you can literally fly into New Mexico, obtain a license, and get married that night, provided you have your vendors in place. That's where the book comes in.

Unfortunately, some of the venues mentioned in the book are no longer current due to property sales, change of management, divorce, or even death of the owner in at least one case. If you use the book, which was published in 2006, please make a phone call to update the information.

For more, see: nmweddingphotos.com/destinationweddingbook/