Maxwell 58: What Will Anna Do? Plus Anna Marie Gives Birth

[catlady]

And then there's this:

Rufus bless, Mr. Maxwell; could you not crop out the plastic bag?

I get that this was meant to be a candid shot, but a professional could have composed the background a little better.  The coat rack and the gear on the other two tables don't distract me as much as the tied-off yellow bag tied that looks like trash.  I would have tried to take the photo from the right and get the table with the flowers in the background instead.

[Giraffe]

I suck at taking photos. What's incredible to me is he advertises himself as a professional photographer and yet his photos look exactly like the crap I take!

[Sops2]

Happy couple, but some awful photographs- this one is especially bad

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

It makes what is probably something very tasty look disgusting.

I swan it's like Christopher isn't even trying to do a mediocre job.

[theologygeek]

21 hours ago, formerhsfundie said:

Definitely shows off their height difference (or is the groom seated?). Not something I'd be stoked about as the couple.

Why would any couple who love each other care either way if a photo showed a height difference?  If you're a woman married to a man who is shorter than you, and the photo makes you feel a certain type of way, then you should not be married to that man.  

20 hours ago, formerhsfundie said:

 The photographer is going out of their way to accentuate it, though. Made me think of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and how there are angles you can choose to minimize the difference rather than highlight it.  

I have no words...  

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, Giraffe said:

I suck at taking photos. What's incredible to me is he advertises himself as a professional photographer and yet his photos look exactly like the crap I take!

Honestly, I feel like I take better pics with my phone that these Christopher creations--because I love to crop stuff out (like distracting yellow bags!!)

[JermajestyDuggar]

I guess if they want to embrace the height difference then I think that’s great. Because fundies are insane about gender stereotypes. The male always should be taller than the female in their minds. So if they embrace their height difference, I think they are at least going outside that particular norm in their culture and embracing it. As they should. Height in marriage really is no big deal. And I think some people make too much of a big deal out of it. I say this as someone who towered over the boys when I was 13 so I hunched. A lot. I wish I had been more confident in my height back then. 

[FishOuttaWater]

1 hour ago, Sops2 said:

Happy couple, but some awful photographs- this one is especially bad

Looks like carne guisada and that's VERY good!!!!  Roll that up in a fresh flour tortilla, add some salsa and sour cream and yippee yummy!

[Maggie Mae]

It's still a bad photo. It's blurry, there's not very much contrast or height. It would have made more sense to plate it and garnish it, then photo it in natural light. At least wipe the side/rim of the crock pot. 

4 hours ago, AverageGiraffe said:

I was also thinking it would have been nice to get that first reaction but in the next few where he's looking at and adjusting her dress, all I could think was "that man LOVE loves her". He looks like he won the lottery in every picture.

He looks ecstatic for sure.  I'm not getting the same level of undying love from the bride, but I don't know their story, and I don't like to read emotions from still photos. 

Too bad the photographer prefers to focus on a support beam, instead of the beaming couple. Does he even need a watermark? Who is going to steal this photo? 

[Coconut Flan]

8 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

It's still a bad photo. It's blurry, there's not very much contrast or height. It would have made more sense to plate it and garnish it, then photo it in natural light. At least wipe the side/rim of the crock pot. 

That's a good idea, but far too much work and thought for Christopher.

[Hane]

I mean, I’m the opposite of a decent photographer, but even I know the importance of cropping! For instance, the pic below, which I posted in one of my cooking groups. I realized my audience didn’t need to see all the rest of the stuff (a candelabra, some Christmas knickknacks, and a just-knitted scarf on a blocking mat) on my dining room table:

 

[mango_fandango]

The person I mentioned previously who got married last summer did have a photo of her wedding dress on a hanger. It’s probably a fairly standard shot. But it looks better than Chris’s photos, which isn’t hard. 

[hoipolloi]

15 hours ago, Hane said:

I’m the opposite of a decent photographer

I say that I "take pictures" - I am not a photographer.

That said, my comments as an enthusiastic picture-taker:

Christopherʻs work, especially this latest wedding gallery, looks like he just pulled the images off his memory cards, slapped his watermark on them, and posted them online. No post-processing or editing at all, which -- as most professional photographers will tell you -- is as important as being able to frame & take a photo in the first place.

ETA: Check out Sarahʻs photo & description of her workflow (from Taylorʻs & Susannaʻs wedding last summer). Note her explanation of how post-processing works:

Not coincidentally, the balance in the final image is excellent. She has the focus on the shoes but even with the bokeh, or background blur, the bride & groom are clearly recognizable. 

Again, Sarah is a far better photographer.

Edited January 12 by hoipolloi

[Brittany15]

You know why I think Sarah is better? As a fundie woman she’s been taught to listen. She listens to her clients and finds out what they actually want. She listens to people who have told her what to improve on. As a female her ego isn’t above hearing criticism and improving herself. Christopher is an all important penis bearer and therefore knows better than everyone. He doesn’t need to listen to anyone (especially the bride and what she may want) and he doesn’t need to listen to criticism. 

[Melissa1977]

Why do people hire Christopher services? There's plenty of Christian photographers. Maybe Christopher offers very low prices, but I think a random guest with a smartphone would take better pictures of the wedding. Like a 6 year old flower girl, for example. 

[hoipolloi]

3 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

Why do people hire Christopher services?

Beats me. Itʻs truly a mystery because heʻs not that good and probably not the only low-priced Xtian photographer out there.

Took another look at his website and he claims to do a lot of post-processing. Could have fooled me. Thinking he needs a refresher course in Photoshop. 

 

 

[Maggie Mae]

I wonder when the last time he compared his rates to the market was.  I also don't really see the value in the digital photo frame and "DVD." 

Most people do online albums now, as computers don't have disk drives anymore. How do you even get images off of a DVD? 

He's obviously post processing (the boring, repetitive filters give that away.) I don't think he's even done the adobe tutorials, though.  Again, I'm awful at photography.  But I'm not the worst at photoshop. (Even though there are millions better than me.) However, if the initial images are bad. sometimes there's not a lot you can do. 

[Sweetpickle]

Looking at these photos I think Christopher wanted to be a crime scene photographer. He documents the weddings instead of capturing memories. There was meat in a Nesco. The bride sat on a chair. There is a Bible.

[theologygeek]

6 hours ago, Brittany15 said:

You know why I think Sarah is better? As a fundie woman she’s been taught to listen. She listens to her clients and finds out what they actually want. She listens to people who have told her what to improve on. As a female her ego isn’t above hearing criticism and improving herself. Christopher is an all important penis bearer and therefore knows better than everyone. He doesn’t need to listen to anyone (especially the bride and what she may want) and he doesn’t need to listen to criticism. 

I agree.  And if he does get criticism, he chalks it up to coming from heathen haters.  But if a photographer presented me with those pictures, I would be inconsolable and think that they ruined my wedding.  Those pictures are so bad that they are embarrassing.  I am being honest and would say if I liked them.  I would call him every name in the book.  I would demand my money back. I would put him on social media blast.  I would be livid because that is all a bride has to look back on after the wedding.  You can't get a do-over on weddings!  He took a picture of a dirty crockpot, a plastic bag, and blocked out one side of a picture with a paint program.  That is just unacceptable and he should be ashamed of himself for advertising as a professional photographer and robbing people blind  with that garbage.  

Edited January 13 by theologygeek

[nelliebelle1197]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:54 AM, Hane said:

Several years ago, Stevehovah and Co. piled into Uriah to do a road show the next town over from me. I regretted that I couldn’t pop in because I had a dress rehearsal for an ungodly musical theater performance (playing a nun, a lesbian, and an indecorous little old lady in “The Producers”). I often wonder what the reaction would have been if I’d strolled in wearing my nun costume.

An indecorous old lady is how I shall forever hold you in my heart. 

[Melissa1977]

8 hours ago, Sweetpickle said:

Looking at these photos I think Christopher wanted to be a crime scene photographer. He documents the weddings instead of capturing memories. There was meat in a Nesco. The bride sat on a chair. There is a Bible.

You nailed it! Plus the cold greyish tone gives a CSI vibe!

CSI Kansas, where Christopher, a dull fundamentalist crime photographer works. Her sister Anna comes from college and joins the police. There's a lot of tension between then because her independent life. She investigates a crime which evidences involve her brother and a dark religious cult. Christopher's wife is sick and expecting the 10th child and Anna has a lot of doubts between her professional duty and her duty to protect her family. Then, her SIL Melanie calls her, because her eldest girl has joined an antifracking group and is in a demonstration in the middle of the highway. ...

[JermajestyDuggar]

Chris should do real estate photography instead of weddings. As many fundies before him, he’s not good with people. 

[ifosterkittens]

According to Chris's website he does (some) real estate photography.

Directly from Chris's website: "At this point I am working exclusively for realtor John Maxwell. If you want your listing to stand out from the crowd at no additional cost to you, contact him. If you are a realtor and want to see if I am now available to photograph your listings, feel free to contact me."

I wonder if Chris has rules about what types of homes he will photograph, like he does for weddings (no alcohol, no dancing, modesty). 

 

[Brittany15]

On 1/12/2024 at 2:04 PM, Melissa1977 said:

Why do people hire Christopher services? There's plenty of Christian photographers. Maybe Christopher offers very low prices, but I think a random guest with a smartphone would take better pictures of the wedding. Like a 6 year old flower girl, for example. 

Really though I don’t think he does actually get hired very much. He seems to only do a few a year. 

[Cults-r-us]

On 1/12/2024 at 12:23 PM, Brittany15 said:

You know why I think Sarah is better? As a fundie woman she’s been taught to listen. She listens to her clients and finds out what they actually want. She listens to people who have told her what to improve on. As a female her ego isn’t above hearing criticism and improving herself. Christopher is an all important penis bearer and therefore knows better than everyone. He doesn’t need to listen to anyone (especially the bride and what she may want) and he doesn’t need to listen to criticism. 

     Sarah had years of experience listening and compromising to get a creative product right during her years of publishing the Moody adventures. She is able to transfer that skill set to photography.