David Wittig Photography

Dave interviewed by Ron Dawson on F-Stop Beyond

I recently sat down (virtually) for a conversation with Ron Dawson, a gifted film-maker and producer, on the state of, and future of the wedding photography industry. You can listen to our conversation here, but be sure to check out his other interviews with some of the leading talent in the photography world. 

shoot fashion with Carlos Baez in Chicago

We're very excited to finally announce an exclusive workshop with renowned fashion and wedding photographer Carlos Baez. 

Head over to this site to register.

Carlos has taught me so much over the past few years, so I'm thrilled that he's agreed to share his experience with a few others.Photographers with as much knowledge and experience as Carlos very rarely offer workshops, and never at a price like this. In a time when expensive, overhyped workshops by under-experienced photographers is the norm, I feel proud to be hosting this here in Chicago.

David interviewed on Pictage Podcast

I was interviewed recently by Sara France for the weekly Pictage Podcast. This interview will be of more interest to other photographers than our clients. We discuss topics like blog SEO, how my own wedding change my perspective on the products we offer, and a few other things. While you are there, be sure to check out Will Jacks' interview. You can hear the interview here.

Also, we just found out that I'll be featured on the Ron Dawson's very-cool F-stop Beyond Podcast and that should be out sometime in July. Keep an eye out for that, and in the mean time check out some very interesting conversations with Zack Arias, Cliff Mautner, Vincent Lafouret, and Robert Evans. 

Dave's work shown in "The Night Hope Won" exhibit.

A few months ago Doug McGoldrick, a friend, artist, and fellow wedding photographer saw the pictures I'd shot of Obama's inauguration rally in Grant Park and asked me to submit the work for a book and gallery show exhibit he was curating title "The Night Hope Won". He describes the impetus for the project like this:

"On election night back in November it seemed like the whole city of Chicago was in Grant park to listen the the results live, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The whole city became a community and everyone around you was your best friend. Among the crowd where many many photographers, not shooting for magazines, not shooting for preplanned projects, not shooting for ads, just shooting the event for themselves in order to capture the moment forever so they can show there grandkids they where there." 

After several months, and a lot of work, the exhibit opened at Will Jacks Gallery in Cleveland, MS (Will Jacks also happens to be a photographer who I admire). The show includes images from 15 different photographers who shot that historic evening. I'm grateful and honored to be among them. You can check out images from the gallery opening on Doug's blog,

These are three of my images that are being exhibited. Be sure to check out the work of the other 14 photographers at project's blog "The Night Hope Won." 

"DWP: an artists' portrait" video

Check out our new video for a little of our philosophy behind how Nancy and I do wedding photography. You can also view the promo for this video here. Thanks, once again, to Chris Scherf from Second Look Films for his excellent work on this.

New David Wittig Photography weddings site goes Live!

After months of work, we're very excited to have launched our new wedding photography website. Be sure to click on the "full screen" option for the full effect.

We were fortunate enough to have the site developed by Andrew Hargreaves, an incredible designer, who's work and resume blew us away. Not only has he worked for Apple and Adobe, but he has recently developed the industry's best photographic gallery tool: http://www.fotagraft.com

We wanted a site that let our images speak for themselves, unencumbered by gimmicky animation, yet one that balanced elegance with usability. Andrew did a masterful job at achieving that balance. We wanted a site that was all about our images and the less it looked like a traditional website, the better. 

If the technical details bore you, stop here and go enjoy our new website, otherwise read on to learn what makes this site tick...

A few days ago, I claimed that this would be one of the most innovative wedding photography sites, and I feel that claim needs some explanation as much of what makes it truly innovative is beneath the surface and may not be immediately apparent.  

The first element is that it can operate outside of a browser and full screen, appearing to be like a screen-saver or standalone application. This element of Andrew's development amazed us and fit our vision of a site where the user was so immersed in the photographs they forgot they were viewing them on a website. 

The second element is even further beneath the surface, but no less amazing. We've all been on websites that take so long to load that navigating it becomes a test of one's patience. Andrew has done a remarkable job of optimizing the code and efficiently using bandwidth so that the site moves along with almost no delay. Furthermore, by working closely with Andrew we were also able to optimize the images so that they would load quickly. 

The last innovative element is some excllent scaling technology that allows our photographs to expand to nearly twice their size without suffering the terrible loss of quality that typically accompanies this operation. 

Anyway, enjoy the site!

Sneak Peak #2: the new weddings website

We are thrilled to be on the verge of launching our new wedding photography site and wanted to share one more sneak peak. More details to come!

Sneak Peak #1: the new weddings website

For several months we have been working with an amazing web designer on what we believe to be one of the cleanest and most innovative wedding portfolio websites in the industry. We are very close to going live, so here is the first sneak peak. More will be revealed tomorrow... 

Dave teaches at 3 Day Intensive Workshop | Elora, Canada

Dave was asked earlier this year to speak at Davide Greene's Intensive 3 Day workshop.  We thought it would be a great opportunity to share and help other photographers, so Dave agreed, and last week we were off to Canada!  We decided to make it a roadtrip up north, and it was so fun to see the progression of fall as we got further north.  There were so many vibrant colors, but the bright red maple leaves from which Canada takes its flag were my favorite.

The workshop took place in Elora, a quaint town about an hour outside of Toronto. A waterfall runs through the middle of Elora, and it looks like an old European town with lots of beautiful stone homes.  We staid at the delightful Elora Mill Inn, which is where the workshop also took place. 

We were only able to be there for day 2 and 3 of the workshop.  On Day 2 Dave gave two sessions; the first on how to think outside the box when it comes to your wedding photography as well as business practices.  The second session was about how to grow and market your business when first starting out.  It was really fun to hear him talk! 

On Day 3 we went to two beautiful locations to shoot.  The first was a gorge under a bridge; there were these great rocks in the middle of the river that the model posed on, and while the river was wonderful to shoot, I was fascinated with all the cool trees on the banks.  The second location was a quarry; it was a unique location, and provided some great challenges for the attendees. 

Dave helped the workshop attendees with exposure in harsh lighting conditions as well as off camera flash techniques.  He demonstrated how he poses his subjects, and then let the students take it from there.  It was fun showing people tricks we use, and seeing how differently everyone shoots. 

Thanks to Davide Greene for having us out there!

Here's a few shots of Dave in action:

-Nancy

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But we did want to let you know we'll be out of the studio until Friday as we head up to Canada to speak at Davide Greene's 3-day intensive workshop. See our post here.