Wedding at Testorossa Vineyard

Congratulations Shawn and Lori

Shawn and Lori were married at Testorossa Vineyards in Los Gatos. 
Testorossa is a beautiful winery with a great stone wine cave and stone
buildings that made for some great images.  They are such a cute
couple and the connection and love they have for each other really came
out in the images.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from the
day:








































-- Mark

Bay Area Wedding and Portrait Photography

Check out new website out here - FineArtWeddingPhotography.com

Engagement Sessions

Some recent engagement sessions

I always have fun at engagement sessions.  It is a good time to
get to know the couple more and I always meet such interesting
people.  The session is so relaxed and the couple can really be
themselves, and the finished images really show their personalities and
captures the love and connection they have.



The last few weeks have been very busy with engagement sessions, here are a couple shots from our most recent sessions:


















-- Mark

Fine Art Wedding and Portrait Photography

Engagement Party Photo's

Nick and Georgia

Nick and Georgia has such a nice engagement party.  Lots of family
and friends, good food and dancing all night  long.  Here is
one of my favorite shots of the night of the two of them during their
first dance.







Congratulations again, I am looking forward to the wedding!



-- Mark

What is wedding photojournalism?

What is wedding photojournalism?

With the trend in wedding photography over the last few years moving away from still posed portraiture to a more natural journalistic style of photography, it seems that all photographers are now photojournalists. But what does it really mean to be a photojournalist? You will find many types of answers to this question depending on who you ask, since there is so much confusion about this topic I wanted to provide some real information about what photojournalism is.

Here is the definition of photojournalism: "journalism that presents a story primarily through the use of pictures". The definition is very simply, but I think where people get caught up is in the simple word "story". A story is more than just candid photo's of an event, it is showing all aspects and angles of the event. For print Journalism to be good it has to be balanced, right? It should show all sides of a story and give you an in-depth look into a news event. Photojournalism is the same thing, the photographer should really try to capture images that show more than the surface of the event, they should show emotion, details and should all work together to tell the story of the day. When looking at the photo's you should be brought back to the day and all of the feelings should come rushing back to you. Unfortunately a lot of photographers that market themselves as photojournalists have been working for years as very traditional, formal portrait photographers. They are now trying to change the way they shoot by taking photo's of the people at a wedding not looking into the camera thinking that is candid thus it must be photojournalistic.

A true photojournalist not only has years of training as a photojournalist but also has a natural instinct to be able to scan a scene and predict where and when things are going to happen. A photojournalist will have a deep passion to be able to capture the essence of a day and capture all of the emotions of the day that will bring you right back into the wedding.

One of the best photojournalists of all time was Henri Cartier-Bresson, who coined the term the "Decisive Moment". Here is a quote of his that to me really shows everything a photojournalist must posses to be able to do his or her job well: "To take photographs means to recognize - simultaneously and within a fraction of a second - both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis." Cartier-Bresson recognized that a photographer must have a certain instinct to be able to predict the moment and act quickly. He also felt that it isn't just your eye taking the photograph but your head and your heart must all be working together to get the photo. If you are looking for a photojournalist to cover your wedding the most important thing to look at is their work. Check out their portfolio and see if the images tell a story of the day and really capture decisive moments. These photo's should show you the emotion and feeling of the day without ever being there. If the photo's are just a collection of candid photo's but you don't see the feeling and emotion of the day, then the photographer isn't really a photojournalist.

By Mark Stagi Fine Art Wedding and Portrait Photographer View our award winning photography online at: http://www.fineartweddingphotography.com
About the Author

Mark Stagi is an award winning wedding photographer. He travels worldwide for weddings and also does cutting edge wedding album design. His online gallery can be found at Fine Art Wedding Photography - www.fineartweddingphotography.com or at www.wedclix.com

Better late than never

Better late than never

Congrat's to all of the couples we have shot lately....

Matt and
Asia (getting married next year).  We had a great engagement shot
down at Baker beach.  It was a fun shoot and I was happy to meet
the two of you and get to know you a little bit. 



Nick and Georgia - you guys had the best Engagement party! 
Everyone was so much fun and the energy was great.  I can't
believe everyone stayed on the dance floor all night long. 

Connie
and Bruce (getting married later this year).  We had a nice shoot
at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz.   You guys are a sweet
couple and I wish you the best on your wedding day!

Shawn and
Lori, were married last Saturday at Testarossa Winery in Los
Gatos.  They had a very intimate ceremony and reception up there
with just close friends and family.  The wedding was so much fun,
you guys are awesome!  We got some great shots of the two of them
together you can just tell they are totally in love.

Andrea and
Randy are getting married later this year and we shot their engagement
photo's at the high school where they met.  It was a fun shoot to
be at a high school, we took a walk down memory lane with them and
captured some shots at their favorite hangout's.

I will post some images of these sessions up later.

Thanks,
Mark

New site is almost done!

New site is almost done!
We were planning on launching our new site today but got backed up this
week and weren't able to finish it on time.  It should launch at
the start of next week and once it is live we will be adding some new
galleries to it over the next few weeks so check back for more
updates.  The new website will be located at:


http://www.fineartweddingphotography.com/

This site will have new images and a very contemporary look to it, I am pretty excited.

Also it will utilize the newest version of flash so even though it is a flash based site it will load up very quick.



More updates to come soon,



Mark

First issue of our photography magazine is done

Our first issue of our client Magazine has been finished and we just
got it back from the printers.  This idea started out awhile ago
as a way to share some stories about the great weddings we get to
participate in and I have many more ideas on how to make this a
refreshing thing for everyone to read and get some great ideas. 

Look for it in the mail sometime in the next week, if you have recently
moved or we don't have your address on file just fill out a contact
form here and we will add you to our mailing list:



Contact Stagi Imagery



In our first issue we highlight Jason and Valerie's wedding, give an
intro into what we want to accomplish with the magazine, highlight
Thirst Relief International (a great new charity) and give some tips
on clothing for family portraits.  We welcome any suggestions for
new articles, just email them to me at mark@wedclix.com.

New Wedding photography Website

We have had the same website for awhile now and it is time for a fresh, new look.


Our new website is going to really rock, it will have a lot of fresh
new images but also have a lot of cool things like sideshows of
events.  The week after a wedding a slide show will be uploaded to
the site so the bride and groom and all of their family can view some
of the images set to music.  I am excited about the new site and
it should be launching within the next few weeks.



For  now it is going to be on a new domain name and the old site will remain where it is.  The new site is at:

http://www.fineartweddingphotography.com/