Who is Kern-Photo?

Old-fashioned is back in fashion, and this cute couple have vowed not to kiss until their wedding day… bringing back the whole meaning of ‘The First Kiss.’ Photographer’s rarely step on the other side of the camera, but Alyssa & Scott were giddy to do so yesterday during their engagement session in Denver.

All photographers start somewhere. It’s important to look back at initial learning experiences and to see roots & themes embodied in our work today. Understanding those initial learning experiences that shaped our style today goes a long way at understanding who we are as photographers. Lately, the trend I see among higher-end wedding photographers is the shift to go back to shooting film, go back to shooting photojournalism, or go back to shooting what they love, or go back to shooting (fill in the blank).

Looking back at a wedding images shot during my first year of weddings in 2004/2005, I got a kick out of seeing how things have progressed with images sharing consistency to what comes out of my camera today.

My first wedding I photographed was held at a Boy Scout ranch and it remains one of my favorites. It was at that wedding I quickly learned to trust instincts at predicting moments of expression, still a favorite part of the wedding day for me. While the bride’s dress caught on the floor, I focused on expression of the kids and groomsman.

Use reflections to capture surroundings in an interesting way… and don’t be afraid to leave a photographer fingerprint within the image (yes, that’s me wearing pink).

Details in weddings still are sooo pretty. Kids help keep weddings real and can help dissolve anxiety and bring out laughter in a big way.

Knowing where to stand is the secret to photographing toasts. You can’t go wrong focusing on the bride during a Father or groom toast.

Shooting available light during the ceremony has always been the way to go:

Details don’t just say 1,000 words, but show it. Unfocusing from the obvious subject is a great ceremony technique.

Have fun with the bridal party (taken with a fish-eye lens which we rarely use now, but at the time when shooting with the Nikon D-70 was the wide-way to go.

The groom’s first look at his bride is always a sight to see:

Dragging the shutter and bouncing a flash balances movement and excitement of the celebration environment:

My first rock shot brought great pride, as FINALLY all those vacations of taking pictures of bugs and flowers paid off. The rock shot, now, is an opportunity for 100% creative control brought to the next level, showcasing a bit more creativity that my first shot here:

While I’ve always been fond of photographing shadows, as shown from this 1998 self-portrait taken at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia while not-really studying on a semester abroad trip.

Sorting through old photos, I can across this favorite image taken in high school (circa 1994) with the camera my father gave me (which was the gift his father gave him high school). Then it dawned on me… noticed the similarity between the kern-photo logo and this image? I had no idea. Weird how subconsciously somethings work.

This Honeywell Pentax film camera got me started in photography. Today, it lives above my desk as a reminder of my roots in film.

Having just gotten back from Jeff Newsom’s very first workshop held in San Luis Obispo, CA, I pleased to say his learning experience was a mind-blowing and turning point in our business & art & life.

I have now been ULTRAMABRATED. And it was awesome. Proof: here.

The voltron of awesomeness is a genius. He’s the real deal. Jeff’s genius stems from his voltron of awesomness (If you remember the 1980s, those 5 technical cats turned into the Voltron). He’s got awesome creative guts, awesome computer skills, awesome Photoshop practice, and awesome photography genius.

While he may not write in complete sentences on his blog, this guy knows how to optimize RAID storage with 64-bit processors in his sleep, could color-calibrate a monitor while blindfolded, has some of the chillest personalities around, and knows how to connect with people in a genuine way… without trying too hard.

Photographers, if you are considering attending his workshop, just do it. He was well-organized, patient, and articulate in answering the hundreds of questions thrown at him — ranging from technical to artistic vision to business. He spoke candidly about his philosophy, shared his prints, packaging, albums, workflow, and workflow tricks. More importantly, Jeff highlighted the importance art plays in his work and how it shapes his business.
Photo by numbers: 1. Jeff Newsom, 2. Awesome visuals of learning 3. My notebook with about 10 dozen pages of notes. And there to heaps of awesome photographers there.

Jeff was an open book the entire workshop. He lead us through a typical shoot with one of his awesome wedding clients… in the rain.

Without going into great detail (not giving that away for free), I would like to share some of the special things I learned from Newsom-isms:

1. “If I wrote a book, It would be called ‘The 80-hour work week.”

I laughed when Jeff said this, in reference to Cameron Ingalls gifting him the Tim Ferris book, “The 4-hour Work Week, “Jeff believes in working hard, not nickling & diming his clients, and over delivering in a big way. He doesn’t outsource so he has complete artistic control from start to finish.

2. “I’m the world’s worst business person. I’m just lucky.”

Jeff Newsom shared some of his business practices about being an artist. Jeff has never been to a Photographer workshop before. He dropped out of Cal Poly after 6 hours. Yet, he finds himself in the right place at the right time all too often. How? By being open to what is around the corner, and being chill, and kicking stress down, Chuck Norris style. And he hates Canon flashes.

3. “Weddings are 90% people skills.”

Weddings brought out a social side of Jeff which clients love… but it wasn’t without lots of awkward moments, he admits. Rolling with the flow is how Jeff perfers it, especially when it comes to bridal preparations and family formals.

4. “I would love to shoot 70 weddings a year.”

The sole purpose of his website is to filter out “people who don’t get it”. They have to navigate through it to see what he is all about before they contact him. While he gets about 1500 requests for weddings per year, he’s happy to shoot 70 weddings per year and fears no burnout…. a number which many wedding photographers wouldn’t fathom. Jeff meets about 2 clients per year in person before booking and rarely meets clients in an home, studio, or coffee shop.

5. “If I’m not proud of it, clients don’t see it.”

Jeff remains selective about the images he shares with clients. Jeff is a one-man band. He outsources nothing, except for printing via ProDPI. That includes editing, post-production, you name it. He never relies on a second shooter, but does loves the company of having a second person along, just to have them along.

6. “You set it up, and I’ll shoot it.”

In response to a groomsmen request to shoot the guys jumping simultaneously. He’ll shoot it, just as long as they remember to make it happen. In evitably, it doesn’t happen. Thank goodness. But acknowledging the request is the most important and he’s happy to go the extra effort if it means his clients are happy.

7.”It doesn’t matter where we shoot.”

Rarely will there be a plan for choosing a shooting location, just as long as the light is good. This goes for engagement sessions and choosing where the line up the formals on the wedding day.

8. “Your clients feed off your confidence.”

Awkward clients, be not afraid. Photographers: if you overexposed the last 30 shots, don’t fret. Just keep up the momentum and clients won’t notice. Just don’t freak out when you look at the back of the camera and a white screen.

9. “I’m shooting art for the both of us.”

Jeff observed photography industry is sharply divided between two camps, defined by purpose: Art vs. Buisness. He is an successful artist first and a business person later. The later is more important to Jeff for reasons he can only explain. Jeff’s portrait art drives him at every wedding. While many photographers are after the high-end bride, or scaling their business so they actually have to work less and make more money, Jeff is all about shooting more weddings, spending more time with awesome people, and in the end, all about improving his art. Jeff’s clients are the subject of his artwork and he makes not qualms about it. While Jeff is a natural photojournalist, it is his artistic portraits which he loves create and share on his blog.

10. “My sense of humor is internal.”

If you follow Jeff on Twitter or facebook, you might wonder the context of what he’s saying… often he’s generally laughing at himself when posting.

11. “When I edit photos, I edit the way I remember.”

With an emphasis on feeling, Jeff is a master at Photoshop, even though he rarely uses it in his photography post-production workflow. His magic sauce? Adobe Lightroom.

12. “If I see an awkward photo, it’s because of the hands.”

Posing hands naturally is super important to Jeff and he makes certain hand gestures don’t detract. Even just the slightest gesture of picking up the dress or wrinkling a pant leg does wonders for eye.

As for Gold records, that’s the only secret he won’t share.  But he got his LED lightpanel uses for his light-paintings here.

Here’s Jeff’s awesome class photo: