loneman photography

Finally a couple with the guts to go black and white. Lara and Kyle has a vision from the start that their wedding would be black and white. Good idea, since Montana is mostly black and white in the winter. And their venue of the Gallatin Gateway Inn near Bozeman, Montana is great for the black and white look. It is also a great color pallet as well. It is the second wedding I have shot there this past year in black and white. Most of the couple's photos will be b/w with a few color images. Some images after all are best in only color. But the b/w shows so much personality and soul. It is always the best median for portrait and documentary photography. Lara and Kyle haven't seen all their images yet but I am sure they are going to love them.

Stephanie turned around and headed back up the isle to grab something from her mother. Sometimes a voice in the back of my head yells out, "Hurry up! Shoot that, it's going to look great later."

Michele and her groom Doug were an absolute privilage to photograph recently at the Big EZ Lodge in Big Sky, Montana. At 7000 feet in a snow storm Michele warmed the Montana mountain top with her love and warmth. She was like this photo below: giving, carefree, generous and joyful. Their families traveled from Miami and Louisiana for the wedding for what must have been a shock to their warm blooded systems. The Big EZ Lodge staff made their trip fantastic and served up some of the best food in the Big Sky area. What a great day and what a great place for a wedding. I say it often but it is true; I have the best clients. My favorite client is always the most recent client.

Sometimes I get caught up in trying each wedding or portrait shoot to do my best work for myself and my client that I forget why I photograph in the first place.

Stephanie and Brent's wedding reminded me when I recorded the image below of Stephanie looking back at her mother Andrea. Stephanie has to be one of the sweetest and kindest Butte, Montana people. Her mother Andrea has been battling MS for the past years. Our families have been friends for decades throughout the generations of the families. So I can see so much love in Stephanie's eyes in this image.

It is that way in many weddings: the smallest of looks mean so much now and in 20 years from now.

Montana winters have their own challenges with cold winds, snow and early sunsets. Thank goodness my wedding clients are adventurous and hardy. Megan and JJ were troopers last month: Megan standing bare shouldered on a hill top with bitter winds whipping her. She had come back home to Bozeman from Chicago and wasn't about to stay indoors; no matter. Her and JJ's spirit and love were abundant that day. It was a emotional day for the families and that never hurts for recording images.

With winter here we often get requests for portrait sessions people were too busy to schedule during the summer and fall when they would rather be playing or on vacation. So now is a good time for portraits. I can often take more time with each client and really explore the different sides of their personality. People have many dimensions and I like to photograph as many of them as I can. This client drove from Missoula for her session last year because she thought I was the only photographer who could "get " her. I don't know if that is true but we had a good time making these images and when it was done; she and her mother loved the images. I liked them, too.

I've been very bad about keeping the blog up to date. Very bad. Since last I blogged we moved our studio to a warehouse on the East Frontage Road. It's a very cool space; hip, modern and still comfortable. Our clients have so far loved the space. We moved in during the height of our busy season and I guess that gave me an excuse for not blogging. But Stana and I are back into our rhythm now and so it is back to blogging.

This week I've been in Florida seeing very little of the warm sun outside. Instead I have been in seminars and lectures on photography at the annual Digital Wedding Photographers convention. It's been a great trip and will undoubtably help improve my work in both weddings and portraits.

At LP we are doing many more children's portraits these days. Work I really do love. These meetings have given me many ideas on helping our clients get some wonderful products after the session.

It isn't so much staying ahead of the competition in Bozeman. There are so many great photographers in the area. For me it has always been about staying ahead of myself. I have always thought of myself as the competition. I just want to be better than I am now.