Who is Kern-Photo?

The International Society for Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) Summer 2010 photo contest results are in and I’m proud to announce seven of my images placed in the international contest. I am honored, as only two of the top 15 photographers in the contest were from the US. This wedding photography contest is among the toughest in the world. Top accolades went to photographers Tatiana Garanina (Moscow, Russia), Ray Semarsono from Apertura (Los Angeles, California), Alexandre Borges (São Paulo, Brazil), Daniel Aguilar (Monterrey, Mexico), and Marcin Labedzki, San Gdansk, Poland). These people create some of the best images in the world. Among the top 15 photographers, only two were from the US. Now THAT’S an international contest…. on par with Olympic standards, if you ask me. I’m giddy share the contest results:

8th place in “The Decisive Moment” category from Ellen & Dave’s wedding.

9th place in “Bridal Party Portrait” category from Jason & Gina’s wedding.

15th place in “Bridal Party Portrait” category from Ellen & David’s wedding.

14th place in “Venue’Location” category from Jason & Gina’s wedding.

6th place in “All About Light” category from Allie & Aaron’s wedding.

8th place in “Pure Art” category from Jason & Gina’s wedding.

19th place in “Pure Art” category from Jessica & Billy’s wedding.
Looking back at these seven images I can say each one represents my some of my favorite few minutes clients offer me on the their wedding day to create portraits. My advice to clients: trust in your chosen wedding photographer and give them the time they ask for. And photographers, never settle for sub-par work just because you have been given less time than you wanted: just work all that much hard. Each one of these images I had to ask only about 2 minutes of extra time from the bride and groom to create and they turned out to be my favorite images of from photographic style which I love to create & share.

What’s not to love about a dog named ‘Frog?’ Watching my hero MacGyver when I ten, my heart warmed up to one of the show’s dog seen in several episodes, ‘Frog’ the bulldog. Hanging with this trio last weekend in preparation for a Russian River wedding brought lots of laughs. Proof:

Our favorite ten minutes of shooting on a wedding day is what our clients hire us for. We know it the moment it happens: We chimp, then smile or celebrate with a Grand Fist Pump. Like diamonds, photographers must thrive under pressure to to create the images we love to share.

But how do we optimize this time? How can we learn to produce consistent results that speak to our creativity, regardless of constraints? How do you create important ‘art’ in such a short time and where does this creativity come from? 

I plan to discuss my specific answers to these questions on September 8, 2010 at the Blake Street Tavern in Denver, 6:30pm-dark. Be there, or be square.

What’s this gonna be about?
I plan to discuss how I create my favorite wedding portraits, which might involve inspiration from Pixar movies, MacGyver, and dreaded art history classes. I promise I won’t bore you with how my fine-art background influences a typical wedding day, but I will share how I specifically shoot and direct to get the images I want. I plan to cover the importance of being an artist in a saturated market and the role it plays in differentiating a wedding photography brand.

We’ll cover how to be as efficient and creative as possible on each shoot using non-traditional lighting tools and what works and what doesn’t with light-painting. We’ll cover the simple tools required to pull-off dynamic lighting tricks that will leave your clients astounded. After understanding the philosophy and approach to light-painting, we’ll cover nuts-and-bolts “learn-by-doing” opportunities that can extend your shooting into the night, illuminated by halogen flash lights, mini-LED keychain lights, Speedlights, blended with strobes. This workshop is intended for photographers who love seeing a magician reveal secrets.

What level photographer does this apply to? 
Middle Level & Seasoned Photographers either part-time or full-time.

What’s the cost?
Nothing. And you don’t need to be a Pictage member even though this is a Denver Pictage PUG meeting. Show up with a great attitude and be willing to have fun.

Why are you doing this?
Sharing and helping others has always been something I find great joy in. I’ve pitched a similar workshop proposal to share at Pictage’s PartnerCon 2010 in New Orleans. While I haven’t got confirmation on anything, I am planning on preparing as best as possible. This is my opportunity to practice and your feedback is greatly appreciated.

In the wedding photography industry, there’s no such thing as keeping secrets. There’s just things we haven’t learned yet. One of the reasons I love the wedding photography industry is abundance of opportunities for sharing knowledge with others… even with our ‘competitors.’

I’d like to thank Jensen Sutta for inviting me to host the Pictage PUG meeting. I’m stoked.

What will I walk away with?
I plan to share some of a few of my tips & tricks from my signature style and will demonstrate how I creates portraits with easy-to-deploy lighting tactics which require no assistants and can be done anywhere, anytime with meager equipment costs. Attendees will learn how to do more with less which helps to differentiate a photography brand and prevent photographer burn-out. The goal of this shooting workshop is to demonstrate how to produce signature-style results in challenging lighting situations.

A picture’s worth 1,000 words. Care to share?
Here’s an image taken last at Shireen & Robert’s mountain top Aspen wedding last weekend. Nikon D-700 at 15mm, 30 sec at f/16, ISO 100. Four different light sources were used to create this image, and while the exposure was 30 seconds, all I needed was 15 seconds of the bride & groom’s time (Figure that one out).