Bold Talent: Three Contemporaries Turning the Wedding Industry On Its Head

JEFF NEWSOM
Ignoring the Hype
With a photo blog named the “Voltron of Awesomeness” and a mind-bending shooting style, you might think that Jeff Newsom has a big, bold personality. In reality, he’s a quiet family man who loves people and gets pumped by seeing the world from a different perspective. Breaking almost every rule for marketing his business (Newsom ignores Google, doesn’t answer his phone, and couldn’t tell you anything about his competition), he concentrates on one thing: making better art.

When Newsom first picked up a camera, he was studying mathematics and was well on his way to becoming a physicist. Recognizing a new path, he put down his textbooks and set his mind to photography. It’s the mathematically adventurous side of him that plays with light and sees shapes and patterns that others miss, and the sweet father, husband and animal-lover side that makes him connect so well with his subjects. “I’m a huge fan of available light, but if I can’t find available lighting that is interesting, I will mix and match my lighting gear with whatever I can find, hoping to create something fun and original,” Newsom says. “I also look for patterns and opportunities to change things up through double exposures, long exposures or playing with depth of field. I don’t have a formula; just curiosity about what might work next.”

Newsom shot his first wedding in 2004 for a couple he didn’t know after asking all of his friends and acquaintances to let him shoot theirs and getting shot down. Now, he approaches every assignment as “an opportunity to see the beauty in people and overcome challenges as they unfold,” and most of his clients are photographers and artists who beat a path to his door for some serious “how did he do that?” images.

Ask Newsom about his press and awards and he’ll tell you “they are hard to remember, but I know I have lost more than I’ve won.” In truth, he was named one of the “Best Wedding Photographers of 2012” by American Photo, and he’s won two dozen awards from Fearless Photographers while being published on every major wedding and photography blog.

He’ll be at WPPI this March, as well as giving his Ultrameggedon workshops in his hometown of San Luis Obispo, California.
—Blair deLaubenfels

In Jeff Newsom’s Gear Bag
Cameras: Two Canon 5D Mark IIIs
Lenses: Canon 24mm f/1.4, 16-35mm f/2.8L MK II, 45mm f/2.8 TS-E, 50mm f/1.2, 135mm f/2.0
Lighting: Two 600EX-RT speedlites, Litepanel Micro Pro LED light and occasionally a very small projector

Photo © Gabe McClintock 

GABE McCLINTOCK
Embracing the Dark Side
Wedding photography didn’t always come naturally to Gabe McClintock; the Calgary-based photographer’s first wedding was that of his wife’s best friend, and “it was brutal,” he says. “I was good for about 80 percent of it, but the posing part was so awkward.” Instead of throwing in the towel, McClintock took encouragement from his wife, Jen, and did some research: he paused movie scenes to analyze the actors’ poses and interactions, he pretend-posed with Jen to figure out how to direct couples, and he kept shooting weddings of close friends until that 20 percent of uncertainty disappeared.

Just finishing up his sixth year as a full-time wedding photographer, McClintock says he used to look for “grungy” backdrops like back alleys for shoots just to be different, but after the birth of his first daughter, Aisha (who, along with his second daughter, Ella, continues to inspire him, he says), he became fascinated with capturing real, honest human connections and natural interactions. “I almost never have a couple looking into the camera,” he says, “because I find that faces can distract from what’s happening in the photo.”

With a documentary approach (stemming from his photojournalism studies) that veers on the darker side, McClintock strives to shoot “what the day actually looked like,” he says, “not what I wanted it to look like. I want couples to look back and remember that moment for what it was.” He sticks to natural light and ditches lighting gear, saving his rare use of flash for dark reception rooms.

McClintock shoots alone, outsourcing his editing to Aussie-based RAW Digital & Film Lab, which helps him keep up with his workflow (though he usually caps his weddings at 20 per year, McClintock is now taking on more to contend with demand). Shifting his branding slightly toward destination weddings, an Icelandic elopement made the viral rounds last summer and is still pouring in clientele for him. But McClintock isn’t overwhelmed: “Don’t just pay attention to what’s trendy or you’ll burn out. If the work you are creating makes you happy, it will attract the right clients, which will allow longevity. Shoot for yourself.”
—Libby Peterson

In Gabe McClintock’s Gear Bag
Cameras: Two Nikon D750s
Lenses: Nikon 58mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4, Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art
Lighting: Nikon SB-910 flash
Other: Five SanDisk 32GB Extreme SD cards, Advil and Pepto-Bismol, three Clif Bars, bottle of water

Photo © Cinzia Bruschini | www.cinziabruschini.it

CINZIA BRUSCHINI
Eyes on Cinema
Photographing weddings in locations like the 16th-century Masseria Potenti estate in Puglia, Italy, certainly doesn’t hurt one’s portfolio. But Italian photographer Cinzia Bruschini adds a certain cinematic mood to her images that makes them truly definitive.

“I’m always inspired by films,” says the 38-year-old, who’s been shooting professionally for five years. “I was about to sell my 24mm when I saw Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder—and of course, I didn’t sell it! I love how Wes Anderson is able to mix poetry and irony, as well as the power of imagination of Michel Gondry. The Italian cinema of Pasolini, Bertolucci, Visconti and Fellini has had a great influence on my vision, these are films I usually watch again and again that offer answers that solely looking at photos wouldn’t be able to.”

Photography didn’t begin as a career for Bruschini. After graduating with a law degree, she worked in events and fashion, playing around with photography in her spare time. She shot with toy cameras and Polaroids, frequented exhibitions, and read biographies of photographers who caught her eye. “It was a beautiful place where I could hide myself, my fears and my rage,” she says. “It wasn’t a hobby, but a sort of therapy.”

The idea to be a wedding photographer never occurred to Bruschini until a friend asked her to photograph her nuptials. After an initial panic, Bruschini says, “I Googled something like ‘wedding photography ideas,’ and I discovered a world that I never knew could exist. Now I feel like I have found what I was looking for.”

Taking on no more than 25 weddings per year (her “magic number”), Bruschini now markets through social media or blog features, and is primarily hired by couples from abroad who are using Italy—and other European locales—as their destination. Bruschini describes her approach as “honest, emotional, playful and—I hope—storytelling.” She uses Lightroom for all her photos but keeps editing simple and organic—the goal being to be as consistent as possible.

Her advice for up-and-coming wedding shooters is simple: “Put people first, then photography. Work hard. Be curious. Don’t compare yourself with others,” she says. “This may seem obvious, but it’s the most real and sensible thing I can think to say in a few words.”
—Jessica Gordon

In Cinzia Bruschini’s Gear Bag
Cameras: Canon 5D Mark III, Pentax 6×7, Polaroid (sx70) and Holga toy camera
Lenses: Canon primes—50mm f/1.2, 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 135 f/2, 45mm TS-E

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