Chris Maxwell photography California weddings

[bean]

How about this one?

"Tongs resting in steaming dishes."

[PrairieGirl]

Well, he got the "steaming" part right.

[ViolaSebastian]

Ah, yes. I can't tell you how many times Mr. Sebastian and I have been looking over our wedding photos, reminiscing about that memorable day, when we remark on how we wish someone had captured a photograph of those lovely metal tongs the caterer used. If only we'd hired Christopher Maxwell. Sigh.

[albanuadh_1]

That is a rather unfortunate modesty panel sewn into Lexi's wedding dress. Spoiled the entire dress!

[bionicmlle]

:worship: Just interjecting to say that this is currently favorite thread (eleventy!!!!11!!!). :clapping: I love you guys. NOW LET'S DO IT!

Carry on.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

It occurs to me that we could collect all of our musings about what NOT to take pictures of, publish it, and we would have a much better book on wedding photography than anything that Christopher could write.

[moreorlessnu]

:worship: Just interjecting to say that this is currently favorite thread (eleventy!!!!11!!!). :clapping: I love you guys. NOW LET'S DO IT!

Carry on.

Can "NOW LET'S DO IT!" become one of our post count labels?

[twin2]

It occurs to me that we could collect all of our musings about what NOT to take pictures of, publish it, and we would have a much better book on wedding photography than anything that Christopher could write.

Meanwhile, somewhere out there in Levenworth KS, an amateur photographer is looking at his web page hits thinking, "Praise Jesus! He has laid it on the hearts of flocks of young goodly courting Christians to my site! My 2015 will be booked!!"

Little, does he know the truth...

[nokidsmom]

Don't just press the shutter button, Christopher. The devil, errr, god is in the details.

The more I look at his photos, the more I think that's exactly what he does. Sure there's the posed formal ones and the ones with the groom and groomsmen jumping (uh, hate those), but these more candid shots, he doesn't see vents, arms, cords, signs, things in the way, and other stuff that's well, obvious. He shoots the pic, calls it good and fixes it up with effects.

[singsingsing]

I know I love to play devil's advocate, but not this time. There is nothing good about Christopher Maxwell's photos. If I were him I would be embarrassed that I was asking people to pay me for it. But as others have mentioned, this is classic Maxwell. The blind arrogance is incredible.

[usmcmom]

Putting my mother of the bride hat on again...

Here are things I better not see when reviewing my daughter's wedding photos:

a fan

a bathroom

her gown hanging on a rolling clothing rack bought at Target

the parking lot

numerous photos of guests in church pews

more than one photo of the "get away" car

close up photos of anybody's dinner plate

Seriously, photography is expensive and families shouldn't pay for that kind of trash. It occurs to me that maybe Christopher knows he's bad at photographing people. Maybe that's why we see so many photos of parking lots and church buildings.

Adding to my list: "hot steaming tongs."

I think I need to have a talk with our photographer:

"Yeah, just wondering if you've ever heard of a...um...'photographer'..." (and here I'll do air quotes with my fingers)"...named Christopher Maxwell??? 'Cause we want the complete opposite of what he does."

[singsingsing]

Ugh, I HATE those pictures with the groomsmen jumping. It's got icky gender implications (men are wacky and super excited about getting laid, but we don't take them of women because they only want to look pretty!) But it also just looks so stupid and forced. Can you imagine having to literally jump up and down for a photographer on your wedding day?

Well, this is weird. I feel like I've seen a million wedding photos of the bridesmaids jumping, or of the entire wedding party jumping, but never just of the groomsmen jumping!

[Hane]

Apologies to the Mamas and the Papas:

All the pics are brown

And the sky is gray

I went to a wedding

Somewhere down the way

East Buttmunch, California

So far from LA

California wedding

Done the Maxhell way.

Walked into the church

And heard Stevehovah pray

Authority was transferred

The super-Christian[tm][/tm] way

The bride's gown had a tee shirt

So Steve's eyes couldn't stray

California wedding

"Nobody" there was gay.

[Odd1Out]

Christopher, lay off the sepia!!!! And vignette. People want Black & White!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

What kills me about that picture is not just the arm but the hangers and the support rod in the front blocking the view. If you are going to snap a photo of the dress hanging up at least make it a clear shot and position it differently.

Seriously. I pretty much only take pictures with my cell phone, and yet I will take the time to remove random cruft off the counter or otherwise out of the scene. The picture might just be a boring snapshot, but it will be a boring snapshot of a CLEAN area so you can see the thing I was actually aiming at, rather than remarking how messy the bathroom is.

How hard would it be to take 2 seconds to remove the extra plastic hangers and just put the stuff on the counter away behind you while you take the pic? Then you can move up to the next level (!!) and maybe just rotate that hanger bar thing so you get an unobstructed view of the dress? You can keep the whole "reflected in the mirror" thing if you desperately want it, just by moving the bar!

...maybe his whole thing is "just take pics of what is there, never touch anything"? But it can't be since so many of his other pics are extremely rigidly posed.

I'm laughing at the one outside the bathroom too - really, you can't find anywhere else for that? This stuff is beyond photography skills, I can't critique anything photography at all, but just basic WHEN to take a pic stuff!

[Soulhuntress]

There is software you can use to get random stuff out of pictures. And if I pay you to take a picture I expect a minimum level of professionalism. But I also wear pants and work full time. :roll: Those are horrid pictures.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Well, this is weird. I feel like I've seen a million wedding photos of the bridesmaids jumping, or of the entire wedding party jumping, but never just of the groomsmen jumping!

Huh. I guess I don't look at a lot of wedding photos (one of the perks of bot having facebook!) But in Maxwell's pictures it's always the men. Maybe he's trying to copy a more mainstream trend but doesn't want to risk showing the ladies' ankles?

[Green Glass]

Wow, his pictures are truly terrible. There are a few that aren't as bad, but I think they are more due to accident than anything else. I can't imagine having a friend or relative send me a link to their wedding photos and seeing these; I would be so sad for them that they had spent money and gotten such shitty pictures of their wedding. I really do think having a random person going around taking cell phone pictures would be just as good, if not better. The one with the focus on the yellowed, dirty fan... What would ever make him think that was a good photo??? I can't understand it. He probably does take more pictures than are posted, but you'd think he would post the best ones. If these are the best ones, I'd hate to see the ones that don't make the cut :?

I think whoever said he's afraid of having "impure thoughts" around the bride and other women is right. He probably takes the minimum number of pictures of them so he can gtfo as soon as possible, before satan takes over his mind by showing him a bra sticking out of a bag or the bridesmaids before they've covered their arms or something stupid like that.

[PecanShanty]

Just wow. I'm sure the happy couple will be quick to frame this thoughtfully captured shot of the groomsmen. :doh:

[twin2]

^^^^^

The fourth one from the front is not even facing the right direction?!?!??!?!

[sparkles]

I love the guy who's checking his cell phone.

CHRISTOPHER! PAY ATTENTION, DUDE!

Clearly, for many of these couples, faith not only trumps fact, it trumps talent as well. Who cares if your photographer is good as long as he's godly.

[moreorlessnu]

I'd be curious how much Christopher charges for those photos.

I didn't realize how expensive professional photography can be. If you caught this slate.com article (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear ... ingle.html, fourth question down), a part time photographer wanted to charge $1000 for the cd containing a photo shoot for a newborn.

I wonder how much less Christopher charges, and how he arrives at his pricing.

[nelliebelle1197]

^^^^^

The fourth one from the front is not even facing the right direction?!?!??!?!

And you cannot even see most of the ones in the back. If he was better educated, I might think he was going for some sort of naturalism, but I just don't think he has enough critical thinking skills to do something for a reason. He is just the Sarah Maxwell of photography.

[nelliebelle1197]

I'd be curious how mucuh Christopher charges for those photos.

I didn't realize how expensive professional photography can be. If you caught this slate.com article (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear ... ingle.html, fourth question down), a part time photographer wanted to charge $1000 for the cd containing a photo shoot for a newborn.

I wonder how much less Christopher charges, and how he arrives at his pricing.

He has a flat fee. It is on his website but I can't access it from my tablet right now cause the internet is slow in my car!

[twin2]

He has a flat fee. It is on his website but I can't access it from my tablet right now cause the internet is slow in my car!

$1250 + travel. Not sure where that falls in the photography world.