Sam's Wedding... A further extension of truth. Part 2 of 3

Ok.. this week I want everybody to get the song for this post..... it is essential to this week's theme. It is by Dave Brubeck... DOWNLOAD: "Take Five"

We last left Sam's wedding looking like this.... A full-blown Hollywood party was underway. Dancing, Drinking..... people just having fun.
Kinda looks like something from an old James Cagney.. or Humphrey Bogart film..

Hey just for fun... let's pick on the guests this week....... Suppose we were photographing famous detectives back in the 1940's or 1950's....

Wow... "Ok.. copper.. I surrender"

Or maybe..... There are cheap black & white photos of people doing things they shouldn't, like being drunk in public or committing unsociable acts...

yeah right, ......at a wedding?

I'll bet that some of the guests are actual private eyes.... yea, they wear their private eye smile, and dress in their detective style clothes and...

they are even accompanied by their beautiful detective type girlfriends.

Sometimes an actual crime is about to be committed....

This is Sam's new boss and his wife.... now suspiciously....they left the party right after eating diner... no goodbye, no farewell, nothing! ....I never even got to dance with his wife.... Nor did I get to harass them much.. But her face is saying two things... either something about the guy taking photos is an asshole, so let's leave or..

"you wait 5 minutes... till that "Chicken Kiev" takes effect hubby dear..."

Hey guys..

This is Katie...... I have tons of photos of Katie... in every damn one she has a drink in her hand....

Now Katie is very attractive and photographs very well.... even with a drink in her hand.. but I wanted to make her more than just a cheap black & white image... and go back to the glamour of Hollywood for just a moment.....

The 2006 Best Actress Award Winner.....

"Way to go Katie.... let me buy you a drink".

Notice that I used color...... ewwww, aahhhh. The photo is an obvious fake and you can tell.. but what if I take someone who is very likable... someone like Brian's brother Leo....

Well damned if he isn't a dashing fellow!! Very charming indeed...
But given the right circumstances......

"Waaaassss Uppppp"

Ok.. I have to ...No... I want to be nice... for just a moment. Because we take time in our presentation to pay homage to... Sam's Mom.

If you look closely at Glennis you see Samantha......

Right... homage over....... This is Baylee... Sam's nephew and a highly active "little person" ... what's more he is a professional Hollywood dancer.....
Photos don't lie.... do they?


See ya next week..... oh yea.. please leave your comments below <- This line

Sam's Wedding... an essay on reality (Part 1 of 3)

I'm not much for marriage... I tried it once and it broke. But don't let me stop you .... everybody aught to try it at least once, because no two are really the same. That whole "Wedding" part though... Man... I love weddings... hey we all do, especially if the food and drinks are free... well not quite free... they generally cost me the price of a high-end toaster... Hey, admit it ... some of you did not even go to the church, just the diner (Remember...I have photos).

Canadian weddings are all pretty much the same... ok, minor differences in getting the "Principle couple" to kiss, but the goal is the same.... the pomp and cerimony are relatively standard fare.... Everybody has and Aunt or an Uncle that dance to a beat that has is far different than the song the DJ is playing..... and people like me, stay though the entire thing and consume far too much alcohol... and do things that someone with a camera might capture....

This is my friend Sam...

I never thought about her as being "beautiful" before... she was a buddy, a pal and someone you would work with and then go party with her and her friends for hours. But after seeing her dressed up I must admit, she is probably the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.

Now Sam and her new playmate/husband Brian.. who is the most beautiful groom the teenage girls in my house, have ever seen... had "Real" photos done by a very professional photographer (hence forth know as a VPP).

I'm just not much into pre-positioned, "pretty" photos that we get from a VPP.... don't get me wrong, I'm sure every VPP can be creative and do some great stuff that I would bow down too...And the VPP gets paid BFB to take photos... I'm lucky if I get invited to the event.

This blog is about experimentation... and I wanted to do something different with the photos I took at Sam & Brian's wedding. Imagine if the wedding was on July 22, 1957 instead of August 12, 2006.. would you know the difference?

Think again......

Somewhat of a different reality isn't it...
Hey, you know what?... this page needs a song..... yea, we need a song to go along with our reality trip.... DOWNLOAD: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" this is done by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole..... Oh yea, like you actually pronunciated that name!

I like the 40's and 50's photos .. black and whites.... tons of grain... Shots taken by a guy with a camera the size of a compact car. What if Sam and Brian were the A-List, hot Hollywood couple........

"Hey, I didn't know those two got married........"

I was trying out some film with an ISO rating of 3200... the stuff is really shitty and has little use other than to get shots without bothering folks with a blinding flash (sorry to the lady who got blinded on the stairs, I hope the stiches don't scar). After getting the negatives back, I noticed that the shots look like they were taken off of an old 1950's style, black&white TV...

How do we know they were not.....

"Hi, there.. Tony Falconi here, and welcome to Dancing with my Aunty and Uncle"

"Our contestants are all waiting for the music to start"

"Oh boy!.. look at them go... One or two seem to be falling off the beat"

"Wow, I think we have our winner here folks"!

Now I did not mean to slam the VPP. Most VPP's are butt ugly.. that's why we pay them to take our photos, and we don't shoot theirs. In this case though the VPP was attractive... had a great smile... ooopss, was that my finger that hit the shutter button?... sorry. But this page can also change things around a little.... change perceptions, change realities.... I wasn't shooting a VPP at a wedding.... No, No, No my friends... I was back in the Sixties.........

VPP Lisa Drenters

See ya next week!

Oh, please leave your comments right below this line!!

A Night, A Bar, A Couple of Tunes

I love a good tavern. I love the smell of the drinks and the smoke.. all mixed in with the various food being served along the front of the bar. Given the right setting, mixture of people and music.... a feeling of tranquility slowly comes accross anyone sitting back after a few drinks... and just observing the detail.

How do you explain what it feels like, what it sounds like, and what it looks like? To do this.. I slowed up a camera to mimic the effect of alcohol on my concience... things get slowed down... throw on the music of The Counting Crows DOWNLOAD: "Perfect Blue Buildings" ... and now you can hear what it is like.


You wander around .. not paying attention to the action directly.. but you notice the less subtle stuff.. the noise in the background... that is what has your focus. You notice that when new people come in they are immediately greeted by those they know, the voices adjust in volume as each person competes to be heard.. It all piles up in the background.....


You wander aimlessly, without a specific purpose...


You may need to move, weave or fumble around various people as you try to find a place to stop, and get another drink... you want to examine the place more closely.... from a more stable position...

You find a nice spot and you look around and notice small collections... where the interaction includes each person in the group. Their body posture takes on the same relaxed atmosphere of the place... you decide to look around some more...

The alcohol mixed with the environment makes you and those around you feel totally relaxed....

You consume a couple more drinks, and join in on the conversation...

For any number of reasons, it does not hold your interest long and accross the room you find anoher invitaion to join...

The alcohol is taking its desired effects and you realize that the focus was on the consumption, and you need to make room for more... you head out again.. on a different search... you may try talking along the way.. but something inside you reminds you to complete the search.


You then find the prize....

...and return back to the same cycle.