David LaChapelle

     At the beginning of the school year my friend Tiffany introduced me to her favorite photographer David LaChapelle. I was blown away. The first thing that pulled me in were the colors and his use of saturation in his photos, it's like looking into a candy store. Then you see his often  crazy, bizarre and unusual subject matter, mixing the ordinary with the fantastical, the beautiful and the ugly. His sets are amazing they are works of art in themselves.

      Recently in my photo seminar class at school we watched a documentary on LaChapelle that was really interesting. I didn't realize that Andy Warhol was his mentor and gave him his first job as a photographer in the 80's at Interview magazine. David LaChapelle has now photographed for many large publications including French Vogue, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone he has taken pictures of iconic celebrities including Cher, Courtney Love, Britany Spears, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Eminem and Michael Jackson just to name a few. He has also branched out into film work, documentaries, and has done music videos for many big name celebrities.  More of his work can be seen on his website: http://www.davidlachapelle.com

Visiting photographer Janelle Brooke

     Recently in my Photo Seminar class at Suffolk Community College we had a professional wedding and portrait photographer, and alumni of the photography program offered at Suffolk, Janelle Brooke come and talk to us. Some of the things I wrote down:

- Her most common wedding package costs $10,000 This includes:

                 1. A full 10 hour day of coverage with two photographers
                 2. $350.00 print credit
                 3. 40-50 hours spent editing and retouching the pictures
                 4. An engagement photo session for three hours at two different locations
                 5. Within 6 weeks the CD of edited images from the day will be given to the couple
                 6. Guarantee that the couple will get their completed album by their one year anniversary


- Marketing and Branding are very important, make sure your brand ties everything together.

-She spends about $10,000 a year on advertising, this includes magazines ads, ads online, maintaining her own business website as well as a website that clients can view their photos on, business cards and other promotional pamphlets and cards. 

- She also maintains a blog and facebook page for her photography which she said is a great way to get free marketing and promotion.

     I really enjoyed having her come and talk to us, especially since she is a graduate of Suffolk.

Janelle's website: http://janellebrooke.com/

Wedding Photography Fact Sheet

                                                Factsheet

1. You must invest in a professional wardrobe suitable for attending weddings while not being overly dressy or unpractical.
2. You must have a personable and friendly demeanor with clients and guests while remaining professional.
3. There are several categorizes of wedding photography, most photographers use a combination.

                         A. Traditional, consists of classic posed wedding photography. These would be the pictures of the wedding party posing either after or before the ceremony and other classically posed pictures of the bride and groom. 

                        B. Photo-journalistic, these are the candid not posed pictures that help to tell the story and atmosphere/mood of the event from a more journalistic point of view.

                       C. Studio, this is a more fashion based style where the bride and groom would come to the studio or an on location spot, not necessarily on the same day as the wedding, to take contemporary posed well lit and thought out photos. and sometimes the studio will provide hair and make-up. Often Couples will meet in the studio or on location for engagement photos.