On Saturday, September 29th, I went to an event at the Orange County Fairgrounds hosted by Samy's Camera. Naturally they had vendors of all sorts there, but that was not the main attraction for me. What I was interested in was listening to professional wedding photographer Mike Colon talk about how he does photography.
I'd seen Mike's name in all sorts of photography magazines at the back where they have all the seminars and workshops and list the photographers who will be speaking. Seeing as Samy's put this seminar on for free (although technically I think Mike was sponsored by Apple for their product Aperature), I thought I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him.
As I had hoped, the seminar was great! I was thrilled to learn that Mr. Colon has the same philosophy regarding philosophy that I do. The most important component of a photograph is that the "moment" is caught. The photo doesn't have to be technically perfect. What makes it a great picture is the moment it captures. That doesn't mean you don't do due dilligence to get a sound photo, but I think if you were to ask him, a technically wonderful picture with no emotion or feeling within it is soulless. Better a picture of a magic moment that isn't technically perfect than a perfectly technical photo with no magic in it.
Mr. Colon is also a big fan of using natural light whenever possible. He will even crank up the ISO to get the shot because he likes the grainy photo-journalistic look. I've always been taught that noise is not your friend, but he reminded us all that it used to be that film used to have that grainy look that was once considered "classic." If he does use flash, he tries to set it up so the light looks like it is naturally coming from somewhere, rather than an obvious use of flash. Hey - the guy makes a great living taking photos of celebrity weddings and shooting for major magazines and advertisers, clearly he's doing something right.
It was a great seminar, and I picked up yet more nuggets of knowledge I can apply to my own photography. In my opinion you can never learn enough...
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I attended Mike Colon's 4 day intensive training seminar this summer in August. It kicked my photography up several levels! My photos straight from the camera rock!
If you get the chance, do it. Yes, it is NOT cheap.... but you will never regret investing in your education.
marie
www.mariemoyers.com
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