Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Portraits/Wedding

Whether you realize it or not, each of you is familiar with Annie Leibovitz. She is famous for environmental portraits capturing not only the persons but the personalities of celebrities. Her work has sparked awe and controversy for decades. We have three links for you to look at about her, because we had trouble finding just one with all the images we want you to look at. The first is a link to her bio, the next two show her work.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/annie-leibovitz/life-through-a-lens/16/



This week we will be also looking specifically at wedding photography. Wedding photography is a lot of hard work! You have to deal with a bunch of people who want everything perfect. You must capture not only the people and events but the emotions, feelings and personalities involved. Addison and I each picked out a photographer that we want you to look at as examples. The first is Tara Kneiser, a photographer based out of Knoxville. Please look through her site paying special attention to her wedding photography.

http://www.dixiepixelphoto.com/

The second is Greg Allen a photographer in high demand all over the country and in Europe.

http://gregallenphoto.com/

Don't forget your papers are due this week by class Monday! See you then.

8 comments:

  1. It was great to get back to pictures that focus on people rather than material things. All of the photographers had great pictures of individuals, groups, and weddings. Good wedding pictures are something to be cherished. People should remember that if/when they get married

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  2. I definitely enjoy Annie Leibovitz's work because she doesn't stick with typical "paparazzi" shots of celebrities. It is obvious that she takes the time to communicate with and get to know her subjects. I also thought it was neat how when she takes personal photographs of herself and her family, she uses her older-fashioned 35 mm instead of a fancy digital which she probably uses for her celebrity shots.

    -Megg Rapp

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  3. I agree with Megg, Leibovitz's photos communicate something about the people she's photographing. These photos reflect elements of who they are, not just a clever snapshot. The wedding photographers were both excellent, but had very different styles. Tara's photos captured a lot of emotions you don't typically see in wedding photos like humor & nervousness. I don't know that I'd want some of those photos in my wedding album, but she's definitely got an edgy style of wedding photography. I really liked Greg Allen's photos, they're crisp and capture beautiful moments. Some are artsy & less candid than Tara's but I think there's beauty in those kind of pictures for wedding photography.

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  4. I really like these photos. The Annie Leibovitz celebrity photos were cool because you kinda got a feel for their personalities rather than a character. some of the nude pics were odd though, I don't think I like those as much, but they were very artsy.
    Greg Allen's photos were beautiful. I loved the outdoor wedding and engagement pics. the lighting of the sunset and even the one were it was really cloudy outside and the couple just popped! they were really beautiful.

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  5. Allen's photo i thought were just beautiful. the outdoor wedding pictures were so pretty. the way the photo's were set up was just perfect the sunset was just so pretty. i am sure it made the couples wedding day even better knowing they had those beautiful pictures. i loved looking at the wedding photos

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  6. Leibovitz's career certainly sounds like an interesting one, particularly with all the celebrities and famous people she has met and worked with. She seems to have an incredible ability to get people to take their clothes off, for one thing. The photo of Whoopi, while a bit disturbing, is also quite interesting with the contrast of black skin and white milk. I like the way Yoko Ono disappears into the trunk of the tree in the one of her alone (I almost didn't see her).

    Tara Kneiser really takes wedding photography to the next level, in my book. Her photos range from classic portraiture to dream-like images. She has a knack for framing shots through mirrors and through tight spaces, which lends the images an air of communal intimacy that one likes to believe will exist at their wedding. One of my favorites was the photo of the groomsmen in Converses: it's almost a mix of classic gangster photos and the Last Supper. Greg Allen takes the dreamy quality to a higher level. His images are even more surreal between the focal blur, the contrast of colors, and the long waving bridal veils and dresses. I'd have a hard time choosing between the two photographers.

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  7. I thought it was cool to read Leibovitz's biography. I think it's encouraging and refreshing to here about people like her who were older when they got into photography. SO often you here, he knew he wanted to do this since he was a child or i talk to so many people now who have taken photography classes since middle school but its nice to hear of people who were older than me or my age when they first got into it. I also loved Leibovtiz's pictures. I loved the creativity behind them. Some are just so eye-catching because of they're unusualness.

    I was also pleased to see the wedding photos. I am getting married this Saturday & I certainly noted some things down! :) I think with the wedding though I found my self liking just the opposite of what I liked in LEibovitz's pictures - I really liked the candid ones, the ones that really capture so many special moments and show geniune emotions

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  8. the holga wedding pictures are incredible i was seriously like WOAHH

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