Last week I was in Tampa visiting the Tampa Museum of Art with my mother. The museum just re-opened this year, after relocating, and is an absolutely beautiful space. A must see if your in the area. Gary Winogrand had a body of work hanging, which included 85 photographs, entitled Women are Beautiful. I was first turned on to Gary Winogrand’s street style of work in college. In regards to the work, he commented, "I don't know if all the women in the photographs are beautiful, but I do know that the women are beautiful in the photographs." Anyway, what does this have to do with this week’s blog entry? Our most recent sunrise engagement portrait with Jamjuree and Andy was taken on the beach in Union Pier, Michigan. We have known Jamjuree for a number of years now, and I have to say that she is, without a doubt, a beautiful woman who looks beautiful in these photographs.

While we are talking about beauty, why not consider for a moment our perception of beauty. Always slanted by perspective. The human perspective, while believing it finds beauty most definitely a visual perception, is overwhelmed by the presence of beauty, at the higher level, held within our spirit. The beauty of our spirit is the most important beauty, from my perspective. With this beauty, emotions can overpower the visual sense and cause the most visually vacant of scenes to fill with amazing power and energy, leaving the viewer a bit bewildered in their love of the view.

The spirit of joy exhibited by Jamjuree and Andy, expressed a spirit of beauty that when combined with the amazing visual beauty of the two of them and our surroundings, made for some images that sell the lifestyle as good as any pure Michigan ad I’ve seen. Thank you guys, for being there at sunrise and spreading your joy on the beaches of Harbor Country.

Also, on a personal note, I would like to thank my mother for making my day while viewing Gary Winogrand’s work. She randomly made the statement, and was quite serious I might add, “now why is his work hanging here, and yours isn’t”? It’s such an awesome thing to have a mother who believes anything is possible!

Yes, it is true, on a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline from the shores of Southwest Michigan. Of course a telephoto lens is required to really see the city well. Here in this image, we used an ultra wide angle lens to capture the bride and groom, at just the right time. The rain started just a couple of minutes later. Less than an hour earlier I photographed the city, with a 300mm telephoto lens. When I blend the two together it seems very natural, and in fact, if you were on the beach and saw this, it could actually appear this way. I'll bet if I had not told my secret, many of you would not have even questioned it...

If you analyze these images, I am sure that you will be able to tell which one was the original capture from the camera. But now how do I decide how I want the final color? contrast? density? saturation? clarity? sharpness? smoothness? hue? flare, or no flare? etc. etc. etc.

One of the greatest challanges we face as photographers when trying to capture the truest image possible, is dynamic range. What is dynamic range? You may ask. Simply put, dynamic range is the range of color, or density, that our camera can capture in one burst. This is especially critical when photographing something that represents each end of the spectrum. Here you will see the most beautiful skin of our bride Nadine, in complete contract to her dress. The challenge doesn't get any tougher! Let's see how I did...