Atlanta Wedding Photographers, Climie + Co News» Atlanta Wedding Photographers, Climie + Co News

Two years or so, a snapshot.

Climie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:41:58 +0000

I’m nearly finished laying out a massive new sample book. Images in here represent about two years of coverage by Climie + Co. To be fair, one of them is from 2005, but that’s what we’d call a Career Image, and it will never ever ever go away. :)

I hadn’t planned on posting this, but most folks will not see this book in person, so this is the next best thing. Fortunately, I had a helper (hi Brian!) who was able to make the initial selections, taking 41,000+ *final* client images down to I think about 1,100. Much much credit goes to him for this even being a possibility. I’m just now digging out from the spring wedding blitz, and I’d never have the time to go through all those images one at a time. Once he gave me the selects, I got it down to about 400 of my favorites, then setting about the task of laying out this book. It wasn’t easy!

I experienced, as most photographers probably do, a period of time where I just thought I couldn’t pull together a tight collection of images, that it was a complete waste of time. I wasn’t in love with our work early in the selection process. I’d seen it a thousand times. I was ready to scrap the whole thing and move on. But then as each subsequent edit was made and I started boiling things down, cutting images mercilessly, a great collection of images emerged. As photographers, we have to be very self-critical if we are to grow visually. We have to stand by our decisions, even when others disagree, that an image really is worthy of being presented. At the same time, we also have to know when we like an images for reasons other than that they stand on their own, and we have to cut them out, get rid of them. It’s an extremely difficult process, but one that teaches you a lot about yourself and your craft.

Anyway, I sit here immensely proud of the images we’ve gotten for our clients. We have truly enjoyed working with each and every couple. It feels good knowing we had a part in preserving their heritage, their moments.

On with the images already! Each image is a full spread (2 pages).

Take care, and see ya around!

ETA: I’m sure folks are curious, so I’m going to attempt to label the images with the image taker (me or Zack generally). Notes correspond to the above spread.

R: Marc Climie

L & R: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

R: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie (Turks & Caicos – apparently Baby Face was staying in the unit downstairs, and it was rumored Jay-Z was in the huge yacht anchored just off the coast – there for a wedding – NOT this one, lol!)

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

Marc Climie (the career shot, the one Brooks Whittington says I’ll never surpass, and that I should just go ahead and quit, lol)

R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias (likely); R: Steve (Steve is an associate that works with us. I tried to keep it to just Zack and myself to keep things simple, but I just love that shot so much!)

All: Marc Climie

R: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

L: I have no idea but either Zack or me.; R: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

All: Zack Arias (I think – the right hand one I’m not 100% sure of.)

Marc Climie

L: I have no idea.; R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

All: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

R: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie (Lit strictly by moonlight at about 11pm. Full moon, beautiful night!)

All: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie (A possibility the L one is Zack, but I’m pretty sure that’s my light.)

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

All: Marc Climie

All: Zack Arias

Zack Arias (I so love this shot! The people in the background totally make this shot. I actually like that it has motion blur.)

All: Marc Climie

R: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

All: Zack Arias (Not 1,000% sure of the L one.)

All: Marc Climie

Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie (I’m pretty sure.)

L: Marc Climie; R: Zack Arias

Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie (Probably. Not 1,000% sure on the R one.)

Marc Climie

All: Marc Climie

L: Zack Arias; R: Marc Climie

Nina Dances

Climie — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:52:21 +0000

This image is from the first of two wedding ceremonies Nina and Efiom had in Nigeria. This was her Igba Nkwu held in her family’s home village of Dikenafai. We had a few minutes between ceremonial happenings, so we did a quick portrait session inside. I can’t tell you how happy I am with this image, the color, sense of movement, happiness, grace, everything. That perfect shadow just puts it over the top for me. The color is just insane, and it’s straight out of the camera. Unreal. Ye Nikon D3 and your insane low light skills, I couldn’t have done it without you!

I feel so honored that people will go through all the trouble and expense of hauling me to such remote places to help document these very important family rituals. And I’m so happy there are people out there who see above the mindset of “it’s just pictures” and go through the trouble of making photography a priority. These images will outlive everyone involved in creating them, and I’ll have been forgotten the soonest, but my stamp will be on these images forever. And best of all, in two trips to document weddings in Nigeria, I’ve made many great friends I’ll never forget.

How did you know you wanted to be a photographer?

Climie — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:26:35 +0000

How did I know I wanted to be a photographer? This is a question I get from time to time from students attending the photo school from which I graduated. My answer is something to the effect of, “It’s not something I’ve ever had to question.” …meaning that it’s all I have ever done, I fell into it for the love of the art, and that I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. It’s part of my identity, not a hobby-turned-profession. I would eat photography if it went well with mustard. It’s at the center of everything I do and think and has been from the beginning. Technically, I have drank photography. That’s a funny story, but it basically involves a broken-in-the-middle-of-a-run Wing-Lynch processor, C41 Fix, and me, the only one willing to siphon the chemicals to put the brakes on the development process. You can picture the rest.

Just yesterday, I got back from three weeks in Nigeria to shoot a couple of weddings for a wonderful couple. You will see images and slide shows from Nina and Efiom’s wedding creep in over the coming weeks. I love doing stuff like this. Expanding the range and conditions I shoot in really strengthens the bond I have with the art. It’s how I get my thrills. The image above was taken as I was tagging along on one of their errands to the folks who would be making their wedding day attire.

So it was great to get back and find this gem by Joe McNally among some 500+ unread blog subscriptions. I don’t know him, never met him, but he would be a great photographer to get to know. He is what you would call an Industry Giant. He has quite a way with words, and I love to read his take on the things that drive photographers. Here are some great excerpts from his post, The Best Assignments Are Free.

“They are gifts we give ourselves…..

You already know the ones…the ones that really terrify you. The ones you think you can’t handle. The ones you think are way, way, beyond your capabilities. Gateway assignments. The ones you need to take. They come in on the phone (rarely) or in the email of your imagination as loud as the “TERRAIN! TERRAIN! TERRAIN!” warning in the cockpit. You must respond. You must engage.

Increasingly, these are the ones you give yourself.

On the other side of that job, win, lose or draw, you will be a different photographer, and presumably, absolutely, a better photographer. Like a redwood, you just accumulated another ring. You could liken it to a scar, the way things go in this business. I try not to think about it.

But here’s the beautiful thing about scars. They are on the surface. Not attractive perhaps, but at the end of the day, inconsequential. They don’t affect your core.”

…also:

“Like the boxer in the song, photographers remember every cut. I certainly do. (It’s just that way with the Irish.) Those cuts are the jobs, the frames. I can remember what I said before and after certain rolls went through the camera. I can remember what I had for breakfast that day and whether I was just shy of 5.6 at one twenty fifth. I can remember the smells in the air, and just how miserable, elated or terrified I was. Often, I can’t remember what I did yesterday, but those are yesterdays I didn’t make a picture.”

…and most profoundly:

“We run when others walk. We work when others play. We adjust our schedules to accommodate theirs. We present the flimsiest of reasons to insist that we be allowed to keep doing that which we need to do, something for us that is as necessary as breathing. Paid or not, it is what we do.”

Go back through Joe’s blog and read some of his amazing posts. You’ll be so much better off for it.

And now, for your viewing pleasure…

Climie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:28:47 +0000

We have made some massive gallery updates. We still have to get our Fall weddings online, but for now there is plenty to view! International weddings have the color thumbnail, while domestic weddings have a black and white thumbnail. Click “galleries” to the left to view these new updates.

I have to say, in going through this much past work at once, it’s very humbling to see all these amazing and most important moments we’ve been able to photograph. We adore every one of our clients. They place a huge amount of trust in us, and we give each wedding our all. All Zack and I have ever done is photography. Now, I’m not going to tell you, “Ever since my mom put a camera in my hand I knew I had found my passion.” (How many times have you read that one! LOL!) I mean, who hasn’t been taking photos since they were a child? We live, eat and breathe photography and always have for our adult life. Our identity is wrapped up wholly in our work. It’s not just a way to make money. Everywhere we go, we see photographs before us.

Going into the wedding, it’s all about who you hire to complete the vision you have for your wedding, which catering company, which florist, what venue, and on and on. Who is your photographer? What is their style? How many pictures will they deliver? What kind of album? All kinds of stuff. But once the photos have been delivered, all of that is kicked to the curb as you relive your wedding through all these slices of time that sit before you. The day has gone by so quickly that you remember very little, but now these genuine moments trigger memories, and those memories trigger other memories, and so on. You see things that you didn’t see the day of the wedding at all. It is your own visual diary of that entire day. I know this is the case, because it happened to me when I went back to pull images for these weddings, and these are not even my families! I instantly remember a bride overtaken by pre-wedding nerves and what that must have felt like for her. I choke up when a couple makes a special effort to include a parent who has passed. With each wedding, my daughter is a little older, and with each wedding, the father/daughter dance gets a little harder to photograph. This is why we do what we do.

Thanks to all our amazing clients. Thank you for allowing us into your lives to help you record those incredible times.