“flying is the ability to throw oneself at the ground and miss…” -douglas adams
The most recent conceptual shoot… Gina being so brave, daring and exceptionally gorgeous for us. Who knew she had such amazing abilities? Rachel and Robert were the final touch that helped execute this vision
The work is beautiful, this much we know, but it can be further enhanced by the presence of a male with great hair, such as me. I will wait by the phone and await your call for a re-shoot. All kidding aside, LOVE IT. LOVE GINA!, LOVE ALT-F!
The results of another Zero Package. As some know, amongst our offerings in our price list there is one package that is very special and very different. The Package Zero. What is Package Zero? The best way to describe it is to describe what it isn’t. It is never the same, and it is never what I normally do. It is a package that gives me total creative freedom to be an artist and to view a wedding day as the opportunity to make art that is considered as “one of a kind”. The clients that accept this kind of package have zero input on what I shoot, how I shoot, and what I produce for the album. My promise to them is that I will follow a style, genre, or theme that I have not done before and then once I do it, I will never do it again as coverage for any other wedding. In addition, I will build an ultra custom, one-of-a-kind album that I will not replicate, ever. The resulting trust that these clients give me to produce the final product often becomes a burden as my goal is to produce (what I hope will be) my opus of that time: the best piece that I have ever done.
The above video is just a quick glimpse of what my latest zero’s album looks like. It was shot and designed knowing that I would not be able to share the images effectively online since I shot the entire wedding in stereo and the results to be viewed as large format stereograms. Also included in the album is a 100+ year old stereoscope viewer. This was, by far, the most difficult wedding that I have ever photographed and its post production and album has been the most complex project that I have done to date. Although I can’t share with you the experience of the images online, the album in the above video represents (for now) my magnum opus.
John - I just don’t even know what to write in comments anymore cause I feel like I say the same thing every time. So I won’t say anything fancy, I will just say “Ditto” to everything I have ever told you in the past. Love ya.
WHOA! HOLY COW-PATTY! That is the most beautiful album collection. I am so so jealous it’s not mine. The recipients of that album collection are probably going to need to leave that to a museum after they die. TRUE ART!
wow! i just discovered your site and i must say that i am about to become a stalker you have taken the art of photography to a whole new level with this…it is amazing and beautiful and such an original approach. Kudos to you! Can’t wait to see how you can possbily top this one!
So, I’m a little slow. I didn’t know what “steroscope” meant until I Googled it and found it on Wikipedia so I could figure out what the heck your magnum opus was all about. Wow. Beyond cool. That’s quite a mind you’ve got there, JMC.
you are such an inspiration! i absolutely love and the idea behind your zero projects and totally envy the creative innovation of your mind. not to mention how much i want one for myself!
Wow,my dad and I shoot Stereo images and I can not even IMAGINE shooting a wedding in stereo! He’s been working on duplicating old stereo slides from the National Parks, mostly caves, and it’s been an intense project. I can’t even imagine doing it for something like this. Wow…. very very cool. I hope you know that they’re going to write books about you some day…
We have so many ideas written down, sketched out, just waiting to see the light of day. Most of the time these ideas take so much work and effort that I procrastinate and put off the project until the concept finally overcomes my laziness and pushes itself out into the real world. Below is just one of the many ideas that I have sketched out for a project to bring my conceptual “anti-bridal” approach to portrait and family photography.
above in tights our willing participants in our first antiportrait project: Kiera, Willie, Tivon, Randi, Autumn and Naazir
You are amazing- and not just for the unique concepts but for your ability to obviously describe them so well and convince clients that they will work- and work they wil!!!
That is the best picture I’ve ever seen. Love it! Love your techniques for capture too. I enjoyed your presentation at DWF so much I haven’t stopped talking about it!
Our most published image, the gatekeeper to our website. ”My Joan of Arc” has been published nationally and internationally in major photography and wedding magazines along with my version of “Ophelia”. These images have also been a part of the inspiration to the “Trash the Dress” phenomenon that has spread through out the world - pushing photographers to think well outside of the box. We don’t want these to become like those good songs that are overplayed on the radio, so we are taking them from the front of our site and burying them somewhere peaceful. We will no longer submit them to requests for publishing. At the start of the new year you will have to look hard to find the bride on fire or the tragic romance that consumes the bride in the water. This also means that it is time to put up new images and start to push the boundaries once again, reinventing ourselves and doing the unexpected.
When intitiating the “anti-bridal” project, I did not realize the paradigm shift that it would cause within parts of the wedding photography industry, nor did I realize the opportunities that it would open for altF - demanding speaking engagements around the world.
Thank you Joan and Ophelia for making such an impact in our career.
Take one last look… February being the end of the sale of these fine art prints on our site. If you want a piece of wedding photography history, you can snatch up your copy here until February 28th - a limited edition fine art print of each of these images as well as the black and white version are available. Prints are signed and only 250 of each will be printed - we are almost to that number.
I guess I was just in time! I just started my blog, and dedicated fridays to “trash the dress” photography, and of course featured your work, as my first TTD post Amazing images!
These images are AMAZING. I will be sad to see them buried away, but completely understand why. On to bigger and better things! I am so excited to see what amazing things are coming.
John - Can’t wait to see where your journey goes next. Ophelia and Joan will be missed. I think it’s time we finally get our copy of Joan framed and hung in our office, that way we can see her and think of you everyday.
Noooo! It’s one of those images that belongs now to the photography community. You freaked all us out the first time you showed it at DWF. 500 peopled jumped on their chairs. Thank you for that kick in the butt. Still feeling it.
Strange how some of my ideas get from my sketch book to reality. It was near the end of July when i just happened to be strutting through Elvis’s living-room pondering a peanut butter and banana sandwich when i mentioned to the noticeable pregnant McLellans that i have wanted to shoot a maternity bridal session in front of an old air stream, ala trailer park anti bridal…. well a few months later and the super cool McLellans flew out all the way from Nashville to let me play dress up with them… So while channeling a peanut butter and banana sandwich i give you the Fabulous McLellans as my latest anti-bridal “trailer park bride” .
big thanks first to the McLellans for flying all the way out here, 2nd for Mikka at Tuxedo Junction for supplying us with a vintage powder blue tux, and 3rd but not least Hoss for allowing us to spill beer on his driveway while also allowing us the use of a pre ’70s Silver Streak.**update…ok when i originally posted, i totally forgot to give proper credit to this last image. while shooting with the door open our daughter, Ros, said we should put them in door facing one another.. well i tried it out and just before i started to shoot someone said that it looked very Norman Rockwell-ish. Sorry Ros, i forgot to give you your due credit…. thanks so much, now if you can just be there for all of our shoots….
As always I love your work! I have been wanting to do something with an airstream too! btw your wife look awesome blond! I love her profile pic on facebook! i am thinking about what to call my antibridal section on my site? I went to your workshop in the ATL. I really enjoyed everything! Any Suggestions?
I see a new career for sean and mel. Sean reminds me a little of Johnny Depp in “Fear and Loathing…”. Melanie, as always, looks like a goddess!! I am not sure which is my fave….but the one with the slinging six pack and the movie camera are priceless!
30 Comments
March 11th, 2009
5:42 pm
wowow!!!!
March 11th, 2009
5:43 pm
love it….so cool!
March 11th, 2009
6:10 pm
You never seize to amaze us!! Amazing work.
March 11th, 2009
7:10 pm
Love it. I did a similar (yet opposite) thing last year.
March 11th, 2009
7:51 pm
we’re not worthy! we’re not worthy! i’m just sitting here shaking my head in awe. again.
March 11th, 2009
7:53 pm
Amazing JMC! My wife is wondering why someone would swan-dive a driveway
March 11th, 2009
9:42 pm
Thank you John for letting me be a small part in your amazing vision! I love your work!!
March 11th, 2009
9:52 pm
just when I thought you were great, out comes some sweet @ss magic.
March 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
AMAZING! I’m sitting here hurting my brain trying to figure it out.
March 11th, 2009
11:56 pm
This is the coolest thing ever!
March 12th, 2009
3:43 am
That is just so unbelievably COOL!
Very “Matrix”!
Never ceasing to amaze me JMC!
March 12th, 2009
5:45 am
I’d love to spend 10-minutes in your mind.
March 12th, 2009
8:47 am
Love ‘em! What a fun, creative concept!!!
March 12th, 2009
11:53 am
no freakin way!!! these are awesome!!
March 12th, 2009
5:47 pm
YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE! AWESOME
March 12th, 2009
9:57 pm
These shots are INSANE! love em
March 12th, 2009
10:28 pm
The grin on my face is just so big right now. That is too cool!
March 13th, 2009
12:42 am
The work is beautiful, this much we know, but it can be further enhanced by the presence of a male with great hair, such as me. I will wait by the phone and await your call for a re-shoot. All kidding aside, LOVE IT. LOVE GINA!, LOVE ALT-F!
March 13th, 2009
5:14 pm
This is out of control AWESOME!!!
March 13th, 2009
7:57 pm
your style is out of this world!!!
March 14th, 2009
4:48 pm
This is brilliant!
March 17th, 2009
4:40 am
These are insane! Great Stuff!
March 18th, 2009
1:30 pm
Fabulous! Made me laugh as soon as I saw it, then start to try and work out how you did it!
March 20th, 2009
11:37 pm
I especially like the top one. It’s very Park-Harrison -esqe to me . . .
March 21st, 2009
10:50 am
LOVE IT, YOU GO GINA FLY GIRL FLY. JOHN AND DALISA YOU GUYS ARE JUST PRICE LESS
March 26th, 2009
2:47 pm
This is hilarious! Love it!
March 30th, 2009
8:02 pm
Really now, how did you do this one?
April 1st, 2009
11:25 pm
wow, so cool!
April 8th, 2009
12:18 pm
I am your biggest fan..but also the biggest douglas adams fan.. thanks for quoting my man!
April 21st, 2009
1:02 pm
amazing work.