The imaginary moving van is packed, the imaginary neighbors are standing outside to wave goodbye. Today we metaphorically drive off to our new home at Altura Studio. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been cross posting so that most of our new thoughts show up in both places. But as of today, we’re unpacking into...
Category Archives: tips, tricks & good ideas
planning the work, working the plan….Valls Photographic is becoming Altura Studio
For about a year, we’ve been planning on evolving our name from “Valls Photographic” to “Altura Studio”. Our busy studio does two kinds of work; we shoot weddings, but we also photograph editorial assignments for magazines and ad agencies. It’s been a little confusing, for example, when the photo editor of Food & Wine accidentally...
A very interesting article by our colleague, Fritz Leidtke
A fellow wedding photographer and colleague, Fritz Leidtke, wrote this terrific article for WPPIonline (that stands for Wedding & Portrait Photographers Intl.). In the article he writes about the kinds of demands placed on wedding photographers. It’s an interesting read for anyone who is interviewing potential photographers–and also a good reminder of why chemistry is...
Revisiting black and white
You’d think from our website and our blog that we never present anything in black and white. Not true. In fact, a little less than half of what we present to our clients is monochrome. Simplifying an image to black and white distills it to the essential: whether it’s beauty, light or emotion. Pulling away...
color story: cream and green
One of the interesting things about this wedding at the Viewpoint Inn was how wonderfully beautiful yet uncontrived it was. While some couples use a color scheme as a starting point and then choose flowers, decor and perhaps even clothing based on that decision, I had the feeling that Roger and Lynn were guided by...
More simple weddings
This week, another post on the subject of simple weddings. If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m a big advocate of simple, meaningful wedding celebrations. It was fun to go back through the files and recall this sweet wedding that John and I photographed at Breitenbush during the winter.
The celebration was as much a retreat and...
Color story: apricot, coral and salmon
Certain colors like apricot, are real chameleons. This soft pale orange is one of the colors that can look soft or striking, classic or modern. It can “pow” or “meow” depending on how you use it. I think in this case, the look is fantastic. It’s fresh and modern-looking even though the shapes are quite classic. My...
12 kick-ass bouquets | a year of gorgeous flowers
I love wedding flowers! And photographing the bridal bouquet is fun from our perspective because, well, the flowers are so pretty to begin with. Picking out your personal flowers is one of the most enjoyable part of planning your wedding.
Here’s a year’s worth of my favorite flowers from our last season. I loosely named each photo based...
Beach wedding ideas
When months of rain and grey skies make me blue, I like to look back on this sunny wedding in Cannon Beach. Joe and Robin got hitched on a perfect, blue summer afternoon. Their florist constructed a simple bamboo canopy, decorated on each corner with a cluster of orchids, white roses, hypericum berries, grasses and a few...
color story: purple & green
You would never know from looking at these photos that is was acually 105 degrees on Brian and Stephanie’s wedding day at the Waverly Golf Club. Everyone looks so fresh and unwilted. It’s a darn good thing there are not any pics of John and I, since we were both looking seriously wilted. The color...
