Here’s the album cover from Jeff & Zung’s wedding. I absolutely loved their cake and took a ton of detail shots. I liked this one so much, I made it the front cover. The back cover is a shot from a radio-remote camera rigged in the upper loft of the church.

From a photographer’s viewpoint, there’s one thing that goes consistently wrong in a wedding. The First Kiss. Sorry guys, but the groom’s usually the one at fault.

Over time, I’ve classified most of the problem grooms into three archetypes: The Cobra, The Zombie, and The Chimp.

I think the most common problem is The Cobra. The groom is nervous, tired, and just wants to get to the reception and take off his tie. He zooms in and back out so fast he looks like a striking snake. I’m lucky if I get one shot at all, much less a decent one.

Then there’s The Zombie. You’ve seen them before, it looks like a horror movie where groom is secretly a flesh-eating zombie who decides that the first kiss is the perfect moment to consume the bride’s face. Guys, you think it’s sexy and passionate. The rest of us are suddenly very interested in our shoes.

Finally we have The Chimp. He’s not as obvious during the kiss. But then you get back to the studio, look at the shots and realize that he’s technically kissing the bride, but his lips are so pooched out that his face is still six inches away from hers.

Ladies and gentlemen, some advice on The Kiss: Guys, keep your hands on her waist. Ladies, put your right hand on his collarbone. Have the bouquet in your left hand and put your left arm over his shoulder, but don’t wrap around his head. Approach slowly and bring your bodies together. Keep your lips relaxed and your mouth slightly open. Slow way down, even pause for a moment just before contact. Keep your tongues to yourselves. NO CHEWING! Break after around five seconds, pull back a little, and look into each others eyes. Savor the moment.

Folks, this is a pivotal moment in the ceremony. Slow down and enjoy it. Practice. A lot. Trust me, it’s fun.

We bought this really nice DLP television last year and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, the high-intensity bulb doesn’t last forever and it burned out last week.  Luckily, it’s still under warranty, because the bulb cartridges cost over $250!  I’ve located a source to get just the bulb for $165, but that’s still quite a chunk of cash to spend on your TV every 9-12 months.

The bottom line is that we’ve been without a TV for a week now and, honestly, we’ve barely noticed it.  If it weren’t for the fact that football season is starting, I’d be tempted to not put the new bulb in for a few more weeks.

Nikon has announced their newest professional digital camera, the D3. For the most part, it’s just a gradual evolution of capabilities. But the thing that catches my eye is the incredible low-light capabilities it has. As the light gets dimmer, a digital camera has to increase the sensitivity of the sensor to compensate. Because of inherent electronic noise just from heat, this causes the image quality to degrade and become grainy, like old-fashioned high-ISO film.

Nikon has helped this situation by increasing the size of the sensor elements (photosites) for each image pixel. The bigger the light bucket, the less it’s affected by random noise.

The net result is that (based on the sample shots I’ve seen) the image quality of an ISO6400 shot is equal to an ISO400 shot on my current camera, a Nikon D2Xs. In practical terms, that’s equal image quality in 1/16 the light!!!

For shooting weddings and sports like basketball, where the light is usually very dim, the D3 will be a fantastic tool. I’m looking forward to getting a pair of them when they ship in Nov.

Now, what can I sell to raise $9,999.90 plus shipping?