Good enough for you?

I hired another photographer to work with me for a beautiful wedding at Sage Chapel and the Statler Hotel on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca last weekend. At the rehearsal, he asked the question that always confounds me and (pardon the neurotic drama of the following statement) causes a great deal of introspection and soul-searching.

"So, like, what's your style?"

I've thought about this question forever, and never produced an answer I'm content with. I've tried to pin it down in an "artist's statement," a "philosophy," a catchy blurb that looks good on business cards and promotional materials ... I just never can seem to craft the words, written or spoken, that sum up my style. It's much easier for me to tell ya what I ain't.

I ain't a "fashion" photographer. I'm not "ethereal." I am not an "artist." And, despite my college degree and many years as a news photographer, I am no longer a "photojournalist." I am a wedding photographer, damn it. And that's good enough for me.

Okay, so, undeniably, the sexy pose of the bride wedged into the splitting trunk of a willow tree, her back arched and hair spilling onto the soft earth below is beautiful, but does it really tell me anything about the bride? Okay, I get it ... the table settings were really, really cool. How many black and white images of the bride's silhouetted back do we really need? And who, who I say, actually hangs these photos on their wall, anyway?

This is my bone of contention with the "artist" set and the "fashion photographers" ... Others take the shots that will impress potential clients viewing their portfolio galleries. Others wait for the opportunity to make a work of "art" for competition and accolades. No doubt about it ... some of these images have everything going for them ... mood, technique, composition, perfect lighting. Your wedding rings nestled inside the sultry folds of a calla lily looks great printed poster-size ... but you know where it looks great? In the window of the photographer's studio. Not so much over your couch. How long will you keep it there? Maybe until your first anniversary? Maybe?

Oh, I beat myself up as much as any neurotic artist. I pour over the websites and blogs of other photographers, looking for insight and inspiration. I always see images that take my breath away, really knock me out, make me shake in my boots and wonder if I chose the right profession. But a lot of times, when I attempt to recreate the images I see, I feel just plain silly. Because what I see a lot of lately is photos that just plain lack relevance.

I know several photographers who make images so ethereal and beautiful that the subject doesn't even matter ... they could be stock photos for greeting cards or boutique ads. But where's the fun? Where's the personality? They fill the viewer with the essence of wedding, but they do nothing to describe the actual man and the actual woman who were joined together on that one special day. 

My ever-evolving answer to the "What is you style?" question currently is this: I photograph the pictures you want. I take the shots that you want to give to your children someday. I photograph the pictures your mother and grandmother want right now. I photograph images that bring tears to your father's eyes. I take the shots that show you how much in love you were on your wedding day. I am a wedding photographer, damn it. And I make shots for no one else but you, your family and your closest friends.

I make the subject matter. Maybe I won't enter any contests, but that's enough accolades for me. Is it good enough for you?

View my wedding photography, portrait photography, commercial photography and sports photography at  www.strinnistudio.com

Fleeting Moments, Precious Imagery

The wedding of the lovely Valerie and Robert at beautiful Belhurst Castle in Geneva this past weekend has left me with two pieces of indelible advice for future brides-to-be: plan your time and plan your moments.

Not that every moment can be, or should be, scripted. That's no fun. And a little annoying, actually. But there are many little things a bride can do to help create not just good photo opportunities, but enduring memories.

Example: Valerie had each of her bridesmaids and her mother perform little tasks during the dressing of the bride. Her sister sprayed a fine mist of perfume over her. A bridesmaid clasped her necklace. Another bridesmaid fastened her bracelet and yet another helped her slip into her shoes. Valerie's mom laced her dress and her dad poked his head in for a first look at his daughter. All are such little mundane gestures but each task gave Valerie a special moment with her most dear friends and family, and provided excellent opportunity for the photographer (me) to make special images of bridal preparations.

I don't know if Valerie did all this by design or if it was just a happy accident. What I do know is that great wedding photography can occur when these gestures and moments just naturally happen, allowing the photographer the opportunity to capture them as memories. And good photography comes from TIME- enough time to get a myriad of portraits in a variety of places, and enough to time to relax a bit and take things slowly so the wedding party is not rushing from Point A to Point B.

That's another matter of high importance - Point A and Point B. Your wedding venues and portrait locations are crucial to amazing photography. I hate to say it, but I'd be lying if I told you your getting-ready pictures in a dark church basement are going to be as lovely as the getting-ready pictures in a nice room somewhere. I'm not saying you have to go all out for some fancy inn. Not everyone wants to plunk down the change for yet another wedding day expense, and let's face it, some people just don't care all that much about photos from this portion of the day.

But if this IS a priority for you, a good preparations site will give a wonderful backdrop for touching moments, provide a relaxing environment in which you can begin celebrating your day with your girls, and provide a place for us to make portraits of your family and bridesmaids before the ceremony. This allows us to achieve your bridal portraits while your hair and make-up are fresh and it saves you precious time we can use for the full bridal party and couple photography between the ceremony and reception.

For obvious reasons, your ceremony and reception locations are critical. Look for natural lighting and nooks and crannies that could be good portrait backdrops. Architectural lines such as arches and beams, and interesting windows and details, add to your backgrounds.

All of this suggested, rest assured that every Strinni Studio bride- no matter how grand or simple your venue-  will receive my 100-percent devotion to ensuring your photo opportunities are maxed. And most important, you should feel comfortable with your locations and situations. Don't do anything that feels like a "set-up" or "acting." Don't force anything. Take my advice into account, but do what feels right for you. I want to wow you with my pictures, but it's equally important that you look back on your day and remember it as an enjoyable, true expression of your self and your love.

View my work at www.strinnistudio.com

What they mean to me

Why do we cherish our pictures the way we do? We keep credit card-sized point-and-shoots in the diaper bag and snap tiny low-res images with our cell phones. Some of us even spend thousands on wedding photography and baby portraits. Why?

I was thinking the other day about my childhood. What I did back then. What people looked like. Who mattered. How I got where I am now. And one thought in particular struck me - nearly every memory I have of early childhood is tied to a photograph. I simply can't conjure many memories without first starting with an instant that was forever frozen in time by a picture.

That's why wedding photography is so important to people. Wedding photography not only documents a special day in our lives but it cements our memories of the way we were, the way we felt, the things we dreamed. It shows us at our best. And it not only preserves that for ourselves; it provides keen insight for the generations to follow, for our children and grandchildren.

That's why unlimited photography and rights to all images is so important to me for my clients. I've run into a few clients who initially tell me, "I really don't think I need 1,000 pictures. I just need some good shots of us and our family and friends."

But, trust me. All too soon after the cake is eaten up and the flowers wither away, those memories begin to fade. If we're lucky, it's because we continually make wonderful new memories and our brains can't store it all, though our hearts might want to.

So, ten years, twenty years, fifty years later, we pull out our wedding albums and we marvel at the outdated fashions and archaic photography techniques and we remember, no, feel, how we felt that day. And we simply can't believe how much we've forgotten. Oh, just wait 'til you have kids. It's even worse! It's a heart-breaker when the vividness of those soft round cheeks, tiny baby toes and that one special smile that melts your insides begins to fade way too soon. But the image takes us back, and the laughter and the tears and the stories come rushing forth.

And that's why we love our pictures.

 View my work at www.strinnistudio.com

Who am I?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I am as a photographer. It's one of those things that happens from time to time; when things are not as busy as usual, when I've seen some work that excites or intimidates me, or when I've had a couple margaritas. All three of those factors apply lately so the introspection is on full-force.

I just ended my busiest work season ever, starting with seven weddings last August. September and October brought a manageable wedding load but collegiate sports and high school teams kept me hopping. Throw in the commercial work, a little freelance writing, gymnastics portraits and sick children and it all adds up to exhaustion followed by neurosis over whether I'm doing what I'm doing to the best of my ability.

Things finally cooled down in February so I've been travelling with my kids these last few weeks in the St. Louis area. I finally did something I've been wanting to do for a while - had my kids photographed at Ridgeway Portrait Design in O'Fallon, IL. This may sound weird, being that photography is sort of my thing. Why spend a bunch of money at some ritzy studio?

I must say, I had several motives, not the least of which is that it's nice to be "just mommy" sometimes. I have a really hard time with my own kids in the studio. My daughter gets her goofy faces going and my little guy is in constant motion. Don't get me wrong - I have thousands of great candid photographs of them from around the house, at the park, the pumpkin patch, the lake, wherever. And I really prefer this type of portraiture anyway. But you gotta have a few really good formal portraits to mark childhood, and this was my chance.

And then there's the industrial espionage factor. I've admired Ridgeway for some time now. They do beautiful work and I wanted to see firsthand how they do it. That's a major way photographers get better, by looking at others' work, trying to emulate it and developing their own style with fresh insight.

There's no question that the husband-wife Ridgeway duo has this portrait thing down pat. The studio is breathtaking, the work is magnificent. Cheryl is all business and John is all rapport and creative ideas.

It makes my portrait skills feel small and insignificant. It makes me want to amp it up to provide that kind of portraiture, which is severely lacking in my part of central New York. I get all kinds of big ideas about how I'd do it and how rewarding it could be, financially and artistically.

But I have to pause and reflect ... do I really want to do that kind of photography? Do I want to be that kind of photographer? If not, what is my real aim in doing what I do? Who do I want to be and how will I make my mark?

It's enough to make my head spin. I haven't figured it out yet. Right now, I get a taste of everything - weddings, portraits, sports, commercial and even a little writing. But it prevents me from being the best-of-the-best, a specialist in any one area. The variety, though, of what I do keeps me fresh, I think. Every day is different and I never get bored from day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month.

Please view my work at www.strinnistudio.com

Joining the 21st Century

Well, I've gone and done it. And now there's no going back.

Not only have I taken control of my own website, I have embraced Facebook with enthusiasm; I can Blackberry with the best of them; and now this, the unthinkable - my own blog. This from the person who mourned the death of her Star Tac cell phone, rolled her eyes at texting and wondered how grown adults could possibly find the time for My Space.

Facebook is what really opened the door to my demise; the deconstruction of the Luddite. I signed up one day last month on a lark, to see what it was. The instantaneous flood of friend requests was overwhelming. Like an addict jonesing for the next fix, or a kid at Christmas sliding one finger gently under the Scotch tape holding closed the carefully-folded paper, I could not keep myself from obsessively checking my e-mail inbox for word of new Facebook activity.

The realization that people might actually want to hear from me was intoxicating. The responses to my status updates were enough to send my heart soaring. In a matter of days - and all online - I buried the hatchet with my high school best frienemy, exchanged pleasantries with three old ex-beaus and caught up with a couple of college classmates I'd been wondering about for 10 years.

What was going on with me? Who had I become? How far I had fallen from my lofty pillars high above the fray of meaningless, consumeristic, mindless technological drivel!

I fell hard and fast and, in doing so, realized that I have something to say. And other people do to. And though it's far from my roots in good-old-fashioned print, a lot of what's out there in Internet-land is really worthwhile. And while it's far from face-to-face, this stuff out there -here - has the power to inform, enlighten and brighten our lives.

What I want to share here is my thoughts on the work I do, and all the lovely - and sometimes wacky - people I meet in doing it. For most of my life I took it for granted, but now realize I am truly blessed to have a passion for something and make a living doing it. In this log, I'll share my thoughts on the biz, tidbits from the work I do and introduce you to some of the characters I meet along the way. Thanks for giving me a forum. Now, where's my Blackberry and Bluetooth device?

Please view my work at www.strinnistudio.com