I thought I'd share a video I shot a few months ago while I was hanging out in Chicago.  On this trip I decided to focus on creating more landscape/cityscape images, and through my research on google maps I found this small beach by the Navy Pier that proved to be a great setting for an early morning photo excursion.

At the end of the video you'll see all of the individual exposures that went into creating the end result (click to see larger version):

Copyright © 2010 Christopher Clements.

The individual exposures were imported into Lightroom. I used Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro to do the exposure blending.  From there I exported the image to Photoshop for some additional cleaning, dodging and burning.  I then used Nik Color Efex Pro to tweak the color and mood of the photo before importing back into Lightroom for some final tweaks to get to the final image you see here.

Katie and Chris had a wonderfully ornate russian orthodox ceremony at St. Michaels in Cleveland, OH. The church was beautiful and full of opportunities to capture incredible detail shots. The brilliant thing about russian orthodox ceremonies is that all of the 'major' events are repeated three times.  So in the off chance that I am not in exactly the right spot (wait...me!? not be in the right spot? yeah right.....) you have two more chances to get it right.

I love photographing weddings where I know the bride and groom as well as a lot of the guests.  It creates such a welcoming atmosphere and gets me pumped up to do some really creative work.

Here are a few of my favorite shots of the day as well as Katie and Chris' animoto video.  If you'd like to see the full story, head on over to www.kkpphoto.com/lamparyk which will take you to their Pictage event.

I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat if you gave me the chance. I suppose that the only thing I would change is I would wear my swim shorts. : )

Our session began down by the lakefront by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH and progressed to several other prominent downtown locations. 

I have to say that my favorite part of the session was the very last part when we busted out the umbrellas and shot in the East 4th Street neighborhood (http://www.east4thstreet.com/) At this point in the session I was soaked, the camera was soaked, and the client was soaked...but here's the thing...nobody cared.  We were all having so much fun creating some really unique images that we stopped caring about the rain and concentrated on the photography.

Who could ask for more than that? Enjoy the Animoto and images.

I could tell from the very beginning that Mary and Ben's wedding would be a fun-filled day.  We all hit it off at the Salon on Mill in Gahanna, OH with some getting ready action with the girls.  With a larger bridal party comes more time at the salon...and we definitely took advantage of it to create some stunning natural light portraits of all of the ladies.  Everyone was in high spirits as makeup was applied and hair was curled.

Later on in the morning, Brad headed off to meet up with the guys at the hotel. I stuck with the girls and headed to Mary's parent's house which, by the way, had a wonderfully quaint porch where we took some more individual shots.  After all the girls were ready, we headed down the street (literally) to the church.  Before we knew it, time had flown by and it was show time.

Mary and Ben had a full Catholic ceremony, which we love because it gives us even more time to work to create beautiful images.  With more time comes more opportunities to capture moments, experiment with angles as well as focus on capturing the emotions of the people closest to the couple.

Post-ceremony we knocked out some great formals and headed out to shoot at a few locations in Gahanna.  Of course, no Ohio wedding would be complete without it's share of rain.  When the rain started we headed inside at the hotel for some casual formals in the front lobby area.  From there, we headed to the reception hall where the party began...and boy was it a PARTY!  Everyone was in on the action and having a great time.  There were even bagpipes...checkout Mary and Ben's Pictage event to see the full story:

www.kkpphoto.com/dumek

Congratulations to Mary and Ben on a wonderful wedding full of emotion and laughs!

Let's get one thing straight...any wedding that has a gold Plymouth Prowler in it is guaranteed to be awesome!

The day started out at Splat Hair Designs in Ashland, Ohio where I met the girls to capture some getting ready shots.  All of us were in for a big surprise when we found out that Michel was the very first customer that Matthew Sours (owner) had at his brand new salon.  It was certainly a bonus when Michel handed Matthew the first dollar the business ever made.

Shortly after, we met up with Jeremy Kester from Kester Imagery, who was helping me out by second shooting for the day. We love working with Jeremy because of his seemingly endless supply of energy, enthusiasm and drive to try something new and different.

We met up with the guys at the church for some pre-formal action and then it was showtime!  Michel and Aaron's ceremony was short but ever so sweet.  There were certainly a few tears in the crowd.

Post-ceremony we knocked out some great formals and headed off to the reception hall, which offered a seemingly endless supply of creative fodder for Jeremy and I to take advantage of. Old libraries and tall windows allowed us to create some classic and modern portraiture that the clients love!

Congratulations to Michel and Aaron on a beautiful wedding!

Steve and I had a great time shooting Sarah and Michael's wedding a couple weekends ago. The sun was shining, and everyone was in great spirits! Sarah and Michael got married at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio.  Shortly after, their reception was held at the Ohio State Bar Association which was very close by.

The day went very smoothly, and everyone enjoyed the down-time before the ceremony.  Everyone's nerves were calm, which made our job that much easier and allowed us to produce some beautiful photography for a lovely couple.

The night ended with several formal dances at the reception hall.  Lots of guests got involved in the dancing, which proved to be a lot of fun for everyone.

Congratulations to Sarah and Mike!

On a hot and humid 90˚ day in June (the 26th to be exact) we had the distinct pleasure of photographing Andi and Nick's wedding in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The day started with the girls at Andi and Nick's house, getting ready and drinking mimosas.  Andi had some great surprises in store for her, and she soon found out that Nick had gotten her a Burberry watch and a Louis Vitton handbag!

As the morning drew to a close, Steve stuck with the girls as I ventured off to find the guys at the Hilton in downtown Columbus.  I found Nick and his guys relaxing and enjoying a brand new bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in their hotel room as they reflected on their recent trip to Las Vegas for Nick's bachelor party. Nick was pleasantly surprised when he was presented with Andi's gift, a beautiful Tag Heuer watch.

In the afternoon, all of the families and both sides of the bridal party met at the church for some last minute prep work and some pre-formal action.  Soon after it was ceremony time.  We really enjoyed shooting at The First Congregational Church because we had a lot of freedom of movement and were able to capture some nice angles on the couple during the ceremony.

After a few more formals, it was time to party. Andi and Nick chose the Columbus Athanaeum as their reception site, and it proved to be a very beautiful location with plenty of room for the live band, large projector screen and hoppin' dance floor.

Congratulations Andi and Nick, we had an amazing time capturing your wedding day! 

One thing that was unique to this session is the time that it was shot.  We shoot a lot of our sessions in the evening, but every so often we like to change it up and shoot during the middle of the day.  Many photographers would say we are crazy for doing this, but I say that it gives us the opportunity to stretch our creativity and place ourselves in new and different lighting situations.

We like to change it up.  We like to do things a bit differently.  Hope you enjoy!