This blog is kinda unique because it covers three different things: my dear friend Stacy, photographer and owner of Three Winks Studio based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, the wedding of Ben + Kaylie married in early January 2011 + how cool being a second shooter REALLY is. So first lets start with Stace.
Stacy + Three Winks Studio (www.threewinksstudio.com): I met Stacy this summer by chance in Times Square New York. She and her friend + now my friend Tara of Winsor Photography (winsorphotography.com) were there shooting a engagement session when Isaiah spotted them in the crowd with their gear (every once in a while Isaiah will stalk photographers to see what they are carrying, more in the past then now). After watching them in Times Square for a while– I approached them, introduced us and we agreed to kinda keep in touch. After months of getting to know Stacy on Facebook- she agreed to let me come out and shadow her for a few days. I spent the first week of the new year in SLC with Stacy hanging out and learning a little bit about what makes Stace the incredible artist that she is. I love Stacy’s style so much! Although very different from mine, her composition is incredible and the shots she gets just move me. She does very classic and clean portraiture and I am always excited to see what she’s working on and posting. Stacy has become one of my favorite photographers in the game and I am honored to have had the chance to join her on a few of her jobs. You can check out Stacy’s work at the link web address above + check out her blog about Ben + Kaylie’s wedding here: http://www.threewinksstudio.com/blog/2011/02/17/kaylie-and-ben-at-the-oquirrh-mountain-temple/
Ben + Kaylie’s Wedding: I have very little info to offer about the bride + groom except they were SO obviously stunning + treated me very kindly. I did not get this wedding and was not hired to shoot this wedding along Stacy-this was Stacy’s gig and I was merely there to assist. I learned alot from Stacy by helping her hold her off camera flash while she shot inside of a beautiful train station. I learned a lot about moving slow and thinking thru the shot, not rushing it. Stacy is very tactful in her shooting and make subtle moves when adjusting her couple. It was really a serene experience, much different from my ALWAYS directing loud way of doing things. I have already been able to apply some of the things I watch Stacy do to my own style of shooting. While in SLC, I also learned a bit about the Mormon faith. Ben + Kaylie were married in this beautiful LDS temple just outside of the city. It was snowing that day and really super cold. We arrived at the temple and did some portraits with the couple and then they went in and were sealed as a family and we went and took a break. While Stacy worked on a slideshow for the afternoon luncheon, I unloaded and recharged and then about 1.5hrs later we went back. After Ben + Kaylie were sealed we took some pictures of them with their friends and family and then headed to lunch. It was much different from any of the other weddings I attended and I kinda liked the simplicity of all of it… made it much easier and relaxed to get the awesome portraits of the bride and groom that you need.
Second Shooting: Again, while working this wedding with Stacy I felt more like a assistant then a second shooter. I was able to help Stacy hold her off camera flash and bring things to her when she needed them. It was only after I knew that she was good that I would try to sneak in and grab a shot. The cool thing about second shooting is it challenges you to think outside of the box, to work a little harder to get the shot when you aren’t he main focus of the bride and groom. A lot of the shots below are the same or dont vary much but I think they are fun and wanted to share them with you. One it shows that its possible to second shoot and get awesome fun + candid shots that a main shooter might not be able to get because there focus is elsewhere. It also is my interview to any person who might need a second shooter in the future to consider me ( cough cough: Laura Marchbanks or The Popes?? LOL).
Another really COOL FACT about this post: these are pretty much SOOC (straight out of camera): they are merely color and exposure corrected and resized for the blog. No actions were used or any other tool that PS provides. Made me pretty stoked to see that I did that well out of camera.
At any rate, I totally enjoyed my time with Stacy learning from her, about her and about her faith. Salt Lake City was beautiful, even with the smog and I got some really awesome shots for my port.
