Mariah and Anthony's Small Town Wedding- Columbus, Indiana Wedding photographer

I am so excited to share Mariah and Anthony’s small town wedding in Loogootee, Indiana! It’s been a difficult year to plan a wedding with Covid looming over everyone’s heads. I think people needed this celebration, and Mariah and Anthony are the perfect people to celebrate! They are so sweet to each other, and you can tell they are so in love just by the photographs. The reception was at a nearby beer garden and it could not have been a more perfect day! It wasn’t too hot or cold, we had cloudy weather earlier in the day and then beautiful sunshine for some backlit photos in the evening. Please enjoy these photographs from this lovely wedding day!

Thanks for reading! To see the full gallery go here.

How to Photograph a Silhouette

A silhouette is where your subject is mostly or completely dark and the light behind the subject is exposed correctly. Silhouettes are very easy to photograph.  

First, put your camera in Manual mode if you haven’t already done so.  This will help you to expose behind your subject rather than for your subject. If you are in automatic mode, make sure your flash is turned off.  

Next you need to place your subject with light behind them.  This can be a sky or if you are looking out from a building, cave or alleyway that will work too.  You will just need light behind them. Then expose properly for the light behind them.  If you are in auto mode you will want to point the camera at the brightest part of your picture, so it will meter for your light source rather than your subject. This will severely underexpose your subject.  Which is exactly what you want.  When looking through your viewfinder or on your screen if you are in live view mode, you will want to check your light meter.  Make sure it is reading 0, and you are not blowing out the sky or light source.  You can get away with underexposing quite a bit as long as you are not losing detail in your sky.

There are a few things to think about.  It helps to have a recognizable shape.  So, if you are photographing a person it helps if their limbs are visible.  The simpler the better! Don’t be afraid to increase the contrast in post processing.  You can even play around with the colors that you have captured to make your silhouettes stand out even more.  It helps to shoot in raw to really bring out those details. 

Try it out! This simple technique can really give you new possibilities with your photography.

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Why I love photography

1. I need time to slow down.  I honestly think this is the reason everyone initially gets into photography. Photographers have a compulsive need to preserve time.  We feel it slipping away and life is like a vapor.  Here one minute and gone the next.  Time only keeps speeding up and I want to remember, document and cherish every detail.  Time is precious, and it feels like the older I get the more quickly time passes by.  Things change and happen so fast!  Sometimes I feel like I’m hurtling through life.  I love the slow days.  I love time to think and create.  Photography helps me to do that.   

2. I love the technical and artistic challenge.  Guys, you have no idea how short my attention span is.  I love art, and have always loved art.  But I get tired of different mediums rather quickly.  I have plowed my way through learning ink, watercolor, pencil, charcoal, oil paint, oil and chalk pastels, sculpting, woodburning, hand lettering, calligraphy, acrylic paint, marblizing and making paper, collage, cooking, sewing, poetry- you name it! Photography has kept my focus for soooo long.  And that is because the possibilities are endless!  From editing, to film, to getting things technically right straight out of camera, from learning my settings and gear.  It is a gold mine of endless learning!!!!! Photography is such a good fit for me.  Since I have an automotive background, I love the technical aspect of photography.  Since I am an artist, I also love the control and artistic view you can infuse into every photograph.  Since I am somewhat of a perfectionist, I can work hard to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in camera every time.  I love learning and trying new things, and I have yet to reach any exhaustive point with photography and I have been actively absorbing everything I can for at least five years.    

 3.  I love observing people.  Photography has helped me to become more thoughtful and observant.  It has also helped me to consider how I can become a better visual storyteller.  I love unique quirks and small ticks.  I love seeing different personalities. I love expressing myself through photography in a way that will honor the person I am photographing, and best tell their story. 

 4. I feel that it is an important craft to learn.  Photography has been around and changed a lot in its lifetime.  There are skills to be learned from photography.  I think it is important to see beauty in the mundane.  I think it’s important to study the masters.  Learning photography has improved my ability to see light.  It has improved my ability to capture dynamic skin tones when I paint. It has taught me to look for design and composition in everything.  I can see things in a new way, and it has sparked my curiosity about the world.    

 Thanks for reading!!!