Dallas Fort Worth Wedding Photographer ~ Christopher Hartt Photography bio picture
  • Welcome to Our Blog!

    In 1988, after Dad (Christopher Hartt) spent 11 years as an assignment photographer for the National Geographic, he established Hartt Photography on Legacy Drive in Plano. Now, over 20 years later, the original Studio & darkroom has expanded to include a collaboration of family & friends who provide Wedding, Family and Portrait photography for area clients. Over 50 daughters of original Hartt Brides/Grooms have chosen Dad to shoot their weddings. While many blogs and websites talk about their "award-winning" photography, we choose to spotlight our years of excellent service and high quality photography that continues to win clients today, just like it did in 1988.

    In addition to a busy Wedding schedule, Christopher photographs for a wide variety of Corporate, Commercial and Editorial clients. If you're a reader of PEOPLE, USAToday, Texas Monthly, D Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Dallas Beauty, etc, you've probably seen examples of his photography. For more examples, we hope you spend some time here on the blog and then click over to our website and look at the pictures.

    I hope that you view our website, drop us a note, and feel free to send any wedding or photography related questions our way. With almost 1500 weddings to our credit, we're familiar with most of the area vendors, venues and "underground shopper" bargains for Wedding clients. And if you're interested in booking Dad for your wedding, remember that his schedule fills quickly and (usually) well in advance of the actual date.

    Happy Wedding Everybody!
    Amy Hartt
    February, 2010

    We look forward to hearing from you!

“Pure Photography” v. “Vintage” Photoshop Effects

Wow, it’s been awhile since our last blog post.  It’s not that we haven’t been busy.  The reason for radio silence is that we’ve been VERY busy.  In addition to Weddings and shooting Bridals and Family Portraits, I’ve been concentrating on my long-term project of applying traditional (film) photo techniques to digital photography.  Normally when I hear about the application of “traditional” techniques to digital, the discussion quickly transitions to some Photoshop effect that can be applied with a click of the computer mouse.  While Photoshop is an essential tool for modern photographers, that is not my ‘focus’.  Rather, I’ve been concentrating on what I term “Pure Photography”, i.e., images produced largely due to camera manipulation rather than Photoshop effects.

In the 1930′s the prevalent photographic style of the day was “Pictorialism”.  This was a style of photography that tried to emulate the paintings and etchings of the time. Most of these pictures were black & white or sepia-toned. Among the methods used were soft focus, special filters and lens coatings, heavy manipulation in the darkroom and exotic printing processes.  In Wedding Photography today, we’re seeing a lot of modern “Pictorialism”.  The vast majority of Wedding Photographers are using Photoshop filters and store-bought actions to create “Vintage”, “Grunge”, “Bright” and other image effects.  If you’ve surfed from website to website and noticed that most of the pictures look similar, it is because the Photographers are using the same Photoshop actions they’ve bought from vendors like Kevin Kubota or the Boutwells.  These effects seek largely to mimic the look of popular magazines – the “art form” that most modern Brides are influenced by.  Here’s an example that I produced upon request from my client Carole:

Carole took this image and had it pressed onto pieces of slate (Her father owns a slate company) which she used at her Wedding Reception.  Even though it mimics the Vintage, PS-effected images of so many other Photographers, I tried to add my own ‘take’ on the effects.  If any of you are wondering…”Yes, the original image is well composed & exposed.”  I just covered it up with PS’d effects.

Ansel Adams, the great(est) American landscape photographer spent the first dozen years of his photographic life shooting images in a style largely influenced by Pictorialists.  It was during the early 1930′s that Ansel, influenced by the work of a peer photographer, Paul Strand, decided to abandon the Pictorialism style of the day and commit to a style of “Pure Photography” which emphasizes ‘clear focus, high contrast and high quality workmanship’.

Here’s an example of “Pictorialism”  to illustrate.  The Pure Photography approach would look like this:

This b/w version of Krista displays a full range of tonal values and clear focus.  Applying a “vintage” (aka “Classic Pictorial) effect to the above picture, the result is something like this:

I imagine that if Wedding Photographers of the 1930′s had Photoshop, this sepia-toned version of Krista’s is what they would produce.

There are times when I really do like the “Vintage” look, but I have my own take on it.  Here’s a Bridal picture of Padma

Padma wanted an “elegant” b/w Bridal image that captures the look and “feel” of traditional images of her Mother and Father’s Wedding in India.  This image became a 20″ x 25″ Gallery Wrap at Padma’s Wedding and was projected onto the wall as a backdrop for her Father’s comments/toast about the couple.  As a side note, the texture and “feel” was a very artistic complement to the henna on Padma’s hands.  You can see that unlike the traditional “vintage” look, I’ve used an image with very clear, high contrast focus and applied the textured effect via a Photoshop layer.  Padma’s image, I think, has more presence and makes more of an impact on the viewer than Krista’s “vintage” look.

…So back to “Pure Photography” for a few moments.  ”Why” would a Photographer (ME) choose an approach of Pure Photography when it’s so much easier and trendy to produce the Photoshopped images?  Several reasons – but the most compelling for me is that I want images of my Brides/Clients to be unique, classic & elegant.  If a client wants pictures that look like a million other pictures…there are a million other photographers who can provide the service.

A second reason for me to concentrate on Pure Photography is that no matter how striking a Photoshopped image can be (and I admit, I’ve seen some very striking images), the flaw with Photoshopped images is that the “Luminance” of a naturally captured image is missing.  ”Luminous” (for my purposes, at least) is best defined as “softly glowing or radiant.”  It is the Luminance that seems to give a photo its “spirit” or “soul.”  Photoshop attempts to create an artificial luminance by applying color tones in computer-generated patterns, but the photos produced by that method seem, to me, to be inferior to the images in which natural light provides the luminance.

Here’s an example of a “mini-Bridal” image shot before Kaci’s Wedding at the 4 Seasons Las Colinas.

Using one of my favorite photo tools – a tripod, I was able to capture the glow Kaci seemed to exude that day of her Wedding.  I suggested she find a comfortable pose so Kaci just leaned up against the wall.  What I particularly like about this picture is the detail of her dress.  Do you notice how there aren’t any “hotspots” which are often caused by the flash or external lighting?  I knew the delicate layers of toule would be bleached out to a mass of detail-less white if I didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the lighting and exposure of this image.  This image of Kaci is a good example of Pure Photography.  The elements of the image were created largely in-camera.  I used Photoshop for slight cropping and straightening, but despite my competence with the PS software, I could not have produced this effect with anything less than careful exposure and attention to the image capture.

While I spend a lot of time discussing b/w images as a product of Pure Photography, the same principles apply to color images.  Here’s a picture of Kimberly illustrating the point

Kimberly’s Bridal picture is the result of “Plan B” for her shoot.  We had scouted a beautiful outdoor location which seemed like it would flatter her complexion and her dress.  Unfortunately, on the day of Kim’s shoot it was pouring down rain.  When we talked early the day of the shoot, Kim mentioned that she is an instructor at the Children’s Theater in Plano and that the auditorium would be empty that evening.  Upon our arrival, we found the lighting from an open door above the stage resulted in the dramatic effect you see in Kimberly’s picture.  I held the time of the exposure as long as I could to illuminate the bottom of Kim’s dress without clipping (making go completely white)  the portion of her dress facing the open door.  This is an example of a “full tonal” image in 64-bit color.  There is no artificial lighting but a hand-held reflector is used at the bottom-right.

The Pure Photography approach to a Wedding/Reception isn’t just for the Bridals or posed pictures.  Here is a candid (shot by Helen) from Bride Angela’s Reception

As I saw this picture come out of workflow queue, I thought to myself that 50 years ago or 50 years from now, this picture (finish, color, style) will likely be considered a “classic”, and that is exactly where I want the photography coming from Hartt Photography to be…

Here’s an interesting picture from Donna’s Wedding.  I used my 1Ds3 (which has a much faster  and larger auto-focus than the 5d2′s used by many Wedding Photographers) on a tripod and held the exposure so the colors could naturally saturate and be “luminous”.  Some of the better photographers would use a person holding a light to illuminate this scene, but that technique is a distant second choice to lower ISO setting, longer exposure and just capturing the natural beauty of the scene instead of trying to create it later in Photoshop.

There are some tell-tale signs of a slower exposure – see the light trails on the back wall?  Fortunately Donna & Steve were just enjoying the moment and weren’t moving a lot.  It took a few tries to get this picture right, but once I did, the scene “created” it’s own beauty and I didn’t have to use Photoshop effects to enhance it.

Just now – REALLY!  I just received a marketing email from Kevin Kubota’s organization announcing his new set of “Vintage Delish” Photo effects that will “turn your ho-hum images into shout-about images.”

And maybe that marketing tagline about the Vintage Delish Photoshop effects sums up what bugs me most about much of the new direction Photography seems to be taking.  ”Ho-hum images” might get spiced up a bit with Photoshop effects – but it’s like throwing Tobasco on a bad Burrito – it’s still a bad Burrito – but it’s been spiced up enough to distract many viewers from that fact.  The worst part about a bad Burrito is that it keeps coming up again and again…and not in a good way.

Happy Wedding Everybody!

Christopher

Kristin & Joe / Preview

When Kristin contacted me about shooting her Wedding at Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, I did a double take.  After all, I graduated from Saint Olaf in the late 70′s and have lived here in Texas for over 30 years.  I began to think that the annual contribution I make to the alumni network are finally paying off when Kristin said that she was surfing wedding photographer sites and really liked my style.  OK, it was just a fluke.

Northfield Minnesota.  The official DOT signs lining highways to the town say it all – “Cows, Colleges and Contentment”.

Despite what you think you may know from Betty White’s numerous references to this iconic bastion of Lutherandom, you may not know that Saint Olaf College is a very fine Liberal Arts College founded in the Lutheran tradition.  And yes, most of the students are blond, blue-eyed and Scandinavian – but that’s not all bad, right?

I want to post just a few pics of Kristin & Joel’s Wedding at the beautiful Boe Memorial Chapel.  Maybe because it’s sentimental to me…or maybe because it’s my home; I think this was one of the most beautiful Weddings I’ve ever photographed.

And now I have to work on processing the rest of the 1300+ pictures from Kristin’s Wedding.

Be it ever so humble…there’s no place like home.

Christopher

Kym & Paul / E-Pics

Today I received an email from Kym & Paul who I shot an E-Pic session for this past Fall during a trip to Los Angeles.  Kym has been checking on the blog and wondered if I would ever post shots of her Engagment Session on the beach.  Wow, the beach sounds great right now!  Since I’ve got a calendar filled with shoots and lab work here in Plano, it will be a while before I can play on the beach.  In the meantime, how about a few pics to put us all in the vacation mood?

Happy Wedding Everybody!

Christopher.

Amanda & Phil / A Quick Preview

May and June have been very busy Wedding months for us here at Hartt Photo.  Shooting the actual event represents only the tip of the iceberg in terms of overall time we spend on the images.  Processing, corrections, editing and cropping for final presentation represent hours of “backroom” work for every hour of photography at the event itself.  Fortunately, I have a lot of fun coaxing the best qualities from images and never seem to lose interest in this less glamourous part of the process.

I shot a quick Wedding this past week for Amanda and Phil.  Just a couple of hours right here in the neighborhood.  Amanda had several friends with very nice cameras…but she hired me to produce some “artistic” (her word) images in b/w and muted color.  Here are just a few examples:

“An intimate, classically elegant Wedding.”  If I were a Wedding Blogger, that’s probably how I would describe Amanda’s Wedding.  But since I’m a Photographer and not a Wedding Blogger, I feel unprocessed images calling me back to the lab.

Happy Wedding Everybody!

Christopher

Steph & Kirby / Second Shooting with Christine

One of my favorite Photographers also has the distinction of being Amy Hartt’s older sister.

Christine is a current shooter for Vogue, Vanity Fair and Victoria’s Secret.  As if that weren’t enough, she is also mounting an exhibit for The American Place gallery in New York City.  She is on anybody’s “Wedding Photography Dream Team” but still, when she asked me to 2d shoot for Stephanie’s Wedding, I was a bit apprehensive.

I maintain that my assistants and 2d Photographers are people who are qualified, experienced, personable and who are always on time.  I don’t know how many times I or Helen has been asked if we’re married or dating.  The answer is “No”.  I choose 2d Photographers because of their qualifications.  Helen is very qualified.  It’s hard for me to imagine having a spouse as a 2d shooter.  Objectivity and the freedom to “fire them” take second place when you live with the person you’re working with.

So when Amy’s older sister Christine asked me to be a second shooter for Stephanie’s Wedding, I felt compelled to consider the possibility that maybe I wasn’t a “Christine Quality” Photographer.  Would she tell me if I didn’t measure up?  I know Stephanie hired Christine because of the Vogue and Vanity Fair layouts.  What would Stephanie say if she learned that this slightly more ‘mature’ guy had a personal relationship with Christine?

Well, putting aside my fears, I decided to take the job.  I love being a 2d shooter to a qualified primary Photographer.  It allows me to concentrate on the artsy and candid shots.   Stephanie is a huge fan of b/w and landscape shots, so I devoted a lot of attention to capturing these for her.

Stephanie’s Wedding was held on a private residence overlooking Lake Dallas.  For those of you in the area, you’re probably familiar with the 78 acre “Mansion on the Lake”.  When I drove through the radio controlled gate, up the tree-lined drive, I was open-mouthed with amazement.  Wow, a huge, private, beautifully landscaped venue.  I could hardly wait to uncase my 1DS3 and the 70-200 f2.8 !

Here’s a few examples of my “second shooting” to Amy’s older sister.

Stephanie & Kirby were very happy with their pics and Stephanie’s sister Allison was favorably impressed.  At least that’s what she said when she reserved Christine & I for a repeat performance at her Wedding this coming year.  I guess…sometimes…working with “family” is OK:)

Happy Wedding Everybody!

Christopher.