Merry Christmas and Barb Extravaggannzzzaaa!!!!

This is an old timey effect.

Getting the vows ready.

I really love this relaxed pic.

Merry Christmas everybody! I'm back in So Cal for a couple weeks after a whirlwind of last minute work...which is still ongoing, a lot of it. Like Vanilla Ice so eloquently asked: Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know.   During the plane ride back I finished some work early so I spent a little time fixing up some pics, so far I have around 75 retouched.  Anyway, here are some more pictures of Barb - I hope she's not sick of seeing herself.  I must apologize to Mike, Barb got most of the attention that day :)

I missed being back .. I brought my big camera back so I'll be making my rounds while I'm back and if I'm not too busy.  Also exciting news - I have some fast Internet again thanks to AT&T DSL back at my apartment.  Shhh...I'm supposed to have crappy DirecPath cable which is sloooooow.  I mean 56k modem slow.  Also, I'm finally buying furniture while I'm back and having it shipped to the ranch - a couch, couple of chairs, couple of shelves maybe.  After I get that paid off, then it's TV time :)  I'm hoping to have the "man cave" completed before I post some pictures of it.  Well that's my life for now without going into detail.

More pics (that's not of Barb+Mike) soon.

Today was the lighting of the Christmas tree here at TCU - which is a HUGE deal. A few hundred people showed up in the cold (it drops into the upper 30s at night this week) and were treated a cool lighting complete with music and light show.  TCU loves celebrating being TCU.  Anyway, just a couple of quick snaps.  It was way too crowded and cold to get anything that great or to tweak camera settings.  I can't believe this year is almost over!!

Ray Bradbury's All Summer in a Day

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

I stumbled across this Ray Bradbury short story "All Summer in a Day" short film that I watched in grade school.   I've been looking for it for a long time.  These are the 3 parts that are incredible and definitely something you should add to your cultural literacy.  

Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving - I was stuffed.  I went over to my chair's house for some turkey dinner with all the fixins.  I fixed up a few more shots of the wedding and I should be posting that very shortly.  Also, it is beautiful here in Texas - believe it or not - there are a lot of fall colors and nice leaves.  I might have to take my camera out this week.

Awesome decor.  Very classy.

Lake Arrowhead was absolutely beautiful that day.

A few more shots trickling in.  I've been super busy and out of town last week but I'm looking forward to thanksgiving.  I shoot all my reception shots using just one lens:  The 16-35mm 2.8 which gives me a great wide angle when used on the D3.  What I really want to get are some pocket wizards to do some remote lighting shots.  Nikon's Creative Lighting System simply does not have the range to do what I want so I end up hauling my light stand setup for unreliable shots.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm going to take some new shots soon - there are a few cute little girls here I have to shoot.

Wedding Weekend Edition

Lake Arrowhead Spa and Resort all decked out

Mike waiting for his new wife

A little black and white artsy action

Christine, Barb and Dana all dolled up.

Beatrice, Barb's sister getting ready.

I hope Barb doesn't mind me posting of pic of her in rollers.

Trick or treat!!??!!  Anyway, more pictures as I spend a little time each day fixing up a few.  These are just in random order.   I just pick out whatever catches my eye.  I'll post some before and after shots soon so you can see what a big difference some digital retouching can make, especially with the colors and that "wow" factor that I strive for.  It's going to be a few days for the next update because I got a lot of stuff to do this weekend that's non-photo related.  More then.

Oooo La La

Dana requested VERY little makeup in the morning from the makeup artist Jeanne.  I asked her why and she said that's not her thing - she's not very fussy.  I can see why, she doesn't need any!  

Barb looking incredible.


I love the lighting in this shot.  File this under Johnny's favorites.  

I'm back from Houston, which is a great city but reminded me of LA in terms of traffic.  I went to the River Oaks Country Club for a meeting and that place and the surrounding area is RICH.  I'm talking about mansions and estates that were built in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  They look like something out of Casablanca.  I can imagine looking out on the 3rd floor "green room" seeing a plantation outside.  

Anyway, here are some more pictures.  I often think after a shoot that I nailed it then I'll look at the pictures afterward on my computer and think they're pretty terrible...then after a few more looks I'll pick out a few with potential ones I can work with.  Then I'll start liking them again...then I'll find some gems I missed earlier.  These are it.  Again, it's really easy when you have good looking people like Barb and Dana, a beautiful place like Lake Tahoe, and some perfect evening lighting with perfect weather conditions :) 

More Wedding Pictures

A view from the DJ booth - Kyle Brown of Good Time Entertainment

The picture-perfect Lake Arrowhead backdrop. The weather was perfect.

Ring time. This was an old-timey faded effect.

Here comes the bride!

Mike with best man Travis.

I really miss the clean crisp mountain air of Lake Arrowhead. It was just a picture perfect day - just a week earlier it was foggy and overcast. The resort itself, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, reminded me of the California Grand Hotel in Disneyland. It was woodsy and warm while modern and luxurious. Just an awesome place. Anyway, it was just a fun day and personally, I think the pictures turned out great thanks to some good lookin people in a beautiful place. I need to get the ball rolling in Texas and start booking some weddings here. Once I'm done with these photos, I'll put together a little video slideshow for the blog. More soon.

Update: http://goodtime.ca/testimonials/MichaelandBarbaraHeyman/ 

Check out this linky link. It's Barb and Mike's wedding page from the DJ Kyle. It's got a great song sang by their friend Molly Gutman that was recorded live at the wedding. Very cool.

B+M Wedding - More Pics

Awesome soft natural lighting during my favorite time of the day to shoot.

The train.


Barb changed into a red Chinese dress for the reception.  This was the first dance.

I frequently peruse through wedding photography sites and blogs looking for some good tips and styles but I would say over half of the stuff out there is borderline crap, very expensive crap.  Personally, I think anything associated with weddings is a ripoff and that includes the pictures.  

Anyway, enough of my rant.  I must give credit to the D3 which was an absolute pleasure to work with (besides the weight).  It worked like a champ in low light and I love the colors.  I haven't shot a wedding with it before but I was very confident the pictures would turn out nice and if it didn't, I can't blame the camera.  Even though it makes my life a lot easier, I still have a lot to learn about photography.  I'll trickle more pictures soon.  

B + M: Part 2

Barb looking radiant.

Believe it or not, Mike doesn't think he looks good in pictures.


Just a very cool spy shot and effect reminicent of Gene Hackman's "The Conversation"

On to the ceremony. Emotions were running high - in the high resolution picture you can see tears...notice the tissue ready for Barb...just in case.

My absolute favorite shot of the entire wedding.  I love the fall colors.  


The moment.

Yep...it's official.

Some alone time after the ceremony.  

It was party time after dinner.

*out of breath*  I'm back in Texas.  Congrats to Mike and Barb who have been together for 11 years??!!   It was nice to get some fresh air up in the mountains and to bust out my camera for once.  Hopefully these pictures captured the mood because both Mike and Barb and a lot of guests were just overwhelmed by emotion.  It was incredible.  Also, during the reception - I've never seen a wedding people party so hard!  They even had drinking games!  Awesome.  Anyway, more pictures to come when I get time to fix some more up.  There's a huge problem:  I have waaaay too many picture (itchy trigger finger + 9fps sports camera = ??? GBs of pics)

Barb + Mike = Married !! (Part 1)

She was definitely having a good hair day thanks to Jeanne San Diego of Sexy Graffiti Hair and Makeup
 

Some detail shots.  

A quick glimpse of the bride.


Mike was looking great.

This is a tiny preview of Barb and Mike's wedding yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day in Lake Arrowhead, California.  Speaking of gorgeous, Barb was looking incredible and so was Mike as you can see by the pictures.  I have a TON of pictures to get through before I can even think about retouching them.  These were some that caught my attention that I wanted to spruce up.  I'm pretty busy these days so the pictures will be trickling to the blog.  Stay tuned - the blog drought is over.