Wedding photographers have the honor—and the difficult job—of capturing the emotion and celebration of brides and grooms around the world. And increasingly, people are looking for wedding photography that moves away from the stilted, posed photographs of the past in lieu of capturing the candid moments that make up the day.

Fearless Photographers, a website that helps you find the best wedding photographers near you, curates a gallery of stunning wedding imagery every two months. These Fearless Awards, selected by a rotating panel of award-winning wedding photographers, highlight the best in unique, artistic images that weave the tale of matrimony around the world.

From tender black and white images of relatives to joyful photographs of the happy couple, each photographer places an artistic spin on their work. More documentary than posed, many winning images show moments we can all relate to, whether it’s welling up with tears during the ceremony or seeing a little one crashing at the reception after eating too much cake.

Take a look at some of the best wedding photography from the Fearless Awards, and if you’re searching for the perfect photographer for your special day, you can use their list to browse by location. You’ll then be able to see each photographer’s social links, rates, award-winning images, and reach out to them for availability.

Fearless Photographers—a website that connects you to top wedding photographers around the world—selects the best in wedding photography every two months for their Fearless Awards.

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I have decided to round up some of my favorite photo series with the hope that they may serve as inspiration and promote creativity. This selection is inspired by A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a book by Daniel Pink that has changed the way I think about creativity and what it means to us in this day and age.

This excerpt in particular has resonated with me: “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind–computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.”

These images offer great photo series ideas with examples of “big picture thinkers” finding their own, unique way to express themselves.

Highlight Your Kid’s Personality

With 6 stunningly beautiful kids, Michelle Dupont is not only blessed with a large and lovely family, she’s also a gifted fine art portrait and wedding photographer who gets to spend her days capturing other people’s memories.

Get Your Family Members Involved

A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot Grandma’s Superhero Therapy, a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling.

 

See the Fine Art in Animals

British photographer Tim Flach sees animals in a completely different way. Having completed postgraduate studies at St. Martins School of Art London, Flach shoots stylized animal portraits that look more like fine art than framed shots of puppies.

Take on a 365 Project

Like Valerie Chiang or Kalie Garrett, Alex Stoddard is one of those talented teenage photographers who knows how to express themselves. His striking self-portraits are incredibly unique, and, after viewing them, you’re left wondering where he’s going to take you next.

Celebrate Love and Romance

London-born photographer Chis Craymer recently launched his new book, Romance. Craymer wanted the book to be “essentially emotional rather than intellectual or fashion led.” He explains: “Romance for me was the perfect vehicle to make pictures which can covey a number of emotions . . . I wanted to try to make pictures which could be for example sexy, funny, joyful and also powerful and even soulful.”

Bring Everyday Objects to Life!

Artist Terry Border is one of those lucky people harboring a hidden talent. He can take boring, everyday objects and make them come alive. His art can be appreciated for the clever thought behind it.

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With almost half of both Oregon and Washington State’s landmass covered with forests, careful management of this resourceful landscape has always been of paramount importance. And, of course, fire management has long been a duty of the Forest Service in both states. Between 1933 and 1935, the Oregon and Washington Forest Services carried out a landmark project, collecting panoramic photographs from every fire lookout in the region.

Collectively called the Osborne Panoramas, a crew of three to six people—led by pioneering Oregon Forest Service employee W.B. Osborne—carried a 75-pound custom built camera across 813 sites in order to record these vital images. At the time, the goal of the project was to increase fire suppression effectiveness by aiding communication between fire lookouts and ranger stations. Now, these images are a valuable resource for understanding how the ecosystem of the area has developed in the 85 years since the original project.

In fact, photographer John Marshall has been working to reshoot panoramas of select sites. In some cases, this has proven to be quite complicated. Some of the lookout towers are now gone, others have trees blocking what would have been a clear view. But thanks to Marshall’s diligent work—he also scanned a good portion of the original panoramas at the National Archive in Seattle—it’s possible to see how time has changed America’s forests. One view from 9,500 feet on Mount Ranier clearly shows the disappearing Paradise Glacier in the center of the image.

We had a chance to speak with Bryce Kellogg of The Nature Conservancy Oregon about the history of the Osborne Panoramas, their importance, and what we can learn from them today. Read on for our exclusive interview and see all of the Osborne Panoramas on The Nature Conservancy’s website.

Can you tell us more about W.B. Osborne and his importance as an innovator?

W.B. Osborne graduated from the Yale School of forestry in 1909 and immediately started working for the Forest Service on the Mount Hood National Forest. His most lasting invention was the Osborne fire finder, which is still in use. He also designed a backpack-pump for carrying and spraying water while fighting forest fires, versions of which are still in use. Besides his physical inventions, Osborne was truly pioneering in his collection and analysis of detailed geographic information to aid decision making. Many of the procedures he used are easily recognizable by today’s analysts. And even more impressive since they were done by hand.

How were the Osborne Panoramas used by the Forest Service?

The images were originally used for two purposes. The primary use was communication between the fire lookout and the ranger station coordinating fire activity. Fire-lookouts at the time had land telephone lines connected to a Forest Service ranger station. Both the lookout and the ranger station had copies of the photo so the lookout using the azimuth marking on the top of the photo and the elevation markings on the side could communicate to the station where they saw smoke. This was in addition to the more precise angle measurements that were taken with the fire finder.

The second purpose was a systematic mapping of what parts of the landscape lookouts could see. The crew that collected the photos in the summer, spent the winter in the office mapping what parts of the landscape were visible from each lookout. Combining these maps from multiple lookouts the Forest Service could discover areas where they didn’t have adequate surveillance. This type of mapping would be called a viewshed analysis today and requires sophisticated software, this is the only time I have ever heard of someone performing this extensive an analysis by hand.

What do the panoramas from the 1930s tell us about how the ecosystem in Oregon and Washington has changed?

First, the panoramas show us that forests change, a lot. It is easy to imagine that wild places are timeless. But, forests have a history. They live, die, and regrow on timescales longer than our memory. This makes it difficult to appreciate the effects of time and our management.

The photos have the advantage that they are specific. Each part of the forest has a unique story of fire, timber harvest, and insects. I do see two general trends in the photos.

First, in the cooler wetter forests at high elevations and west of the Cascade mountains, the photos often show large areas of forest which burned in the early 1900’s. The photo showing the south side of Mount Hood is a good example. These large fires led to the Forest Service’s policy of aggressive fire suppression.

Second, in the dry fire-adapted forests east of the Cascades the old photos show a forest of large fire-resistant trees. The forest has an intricate pattern, there clumps and induvial trees with many small openings. In many of the photos, the differences between dry south-facing slopes and cooler north-facing slopes are very clear. Because of fire suppression and past logging, these forests today are much denser with younger fire-intolerant trees having grown up into the gaps.

These dry forests were historically maintained by frequent low severity fires that kill very few trees. Often these low severity fires were intentionally lit by Native Americans to improve hunting and favor desired food plants. This new dense forest is very vulnerable to uncharacteristic high severity fire which kills both the old growth ponderosa pines and the younger fir trees that have grown up in the absence of fire.

Why is this important for the public to understand?

It is important for the public to understand that fire is a natural part of forests in Oregon and Washington. Forests change over time and our management has had large effects some of which were unintentional. We will choose what our forests look like in the future and these historic photos serve as a good guide for what is possible.

The large fires this year and over the last decade in the Pacific Northwest show that a policy of simple aggressive fire suppression is no longer effective. The panoramas and the project they were a part of show how innovative, ambitious, and dedicated early Forest Service managers where. They were confronted with a problem of large destructive fires and set out to solve it using all the resources they could muster. Their efforts were remarkably successful for a time, but the forests they were protecting were still changing. And often becoming more vulnerable to the fire they were trying to stop.

Today we can take inspiration from these early mangers creativity and resolve but, will need to use our deeper knowledge of forest ecology and fire to develop new solutions. An example of these new approaches is careful thinning in dry forests to restore spatial pattern and species composition. Allowing for the reintroduction of prescribed fire and which builds the forest resilience to future natural fires.

The Nature Conservancy Oregon: Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by The Nature Conservancy Oregon and John Marshall.

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As a photographer, it’s always important to understand copyright laws in whatever country you’re photographing. For instance, most people know that you’ll need a model release if you intend on publishing images of people for commercial or editorial purposes. But what if you want to photograph, or simply use imagery of, a famous monument—one that’s outdoors in public space?

This is where things can get tricky. Half as Interesting has published a great video that gives a quick crash course on public domain, copyright law, and what you can safely photograph, using the Eiffel Tower as its lead example. Wait… does this mean you can’t photograph the Eiffel Tower? Not exactly, but it all depends on what time of day you are shooting the photograph.

In the European Union, copyright law states that an artistic work—whether a song, painting, photo, video, or building—is covered for the lifetime of its creator, plus 70 years. This is all well and good, but what if a copyrighted building is right in the middle of a beautiful skyline? Most countries adhere to a “freedom of panorama” law, which means that the shot is ok, as long as the copyrighted piece is not the main focal point of the image.

However, a loophole in the EU law allows member countries to opt out of freedom of panorama, and unfortunately, France is one of those countries. Italy is another country that’s also opted out, meaning you aren’t able to include more contemporary buildings like Renzo Piano’s Auditorium complex, in your images.

In the case of the Eiffel Tower, whose creator died in 1923, the structure fell out of copyright in 1993. This is why the Paris Las Vegas hotel, which opened in 1999, was able to construct a model of the Eiffel Tower in front of their building. But, photographs of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night are a different story.

The twinkling lights, a romantic icon of Paris, were installed in 1985 and are considered a separate work of art in their own right. This means you’ll be waiting a long time until you can safely, under copyright law, photograph the Eiffel Tower at night. And while taking the picture for personal use is acceptable, sharing it is what will most likely get you in hot water—though the copyright holder rarely makes a claim on non-commercial usage. Technically, any images of the Eiffel Tower at night must obtain permission from the copyright holder—in this case, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel. And yes, that means even sharing on social media.

What other sites can land you in hot water? Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome are just some other famous sites that have copyright restrictions based around commercial and/or editorial usage. Getty Images’ Intellectual Property Wiki is a great resource to see what usages are possible for sites around the world. And while you are at it, it’s also a good idea to brush up on drone laws. In 2016, several tourists were heavily fined for flying drones over the Colosseum in Rome.

Get a crash course in copyright restriction around the world and learn why you can’t photograph the Eiffel Tower at night.

h/t: [PetaPixel]

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Today, many photographers opt to forego realism for aesthetics more fantastic in nature. Though the fairytales and folklore that inspire them are centuries-old, many of these photographers seek to modernize them through their whimsical work.

Here, we present and explore a striking selection of fairytale-inspired photography. Each unique series showcases the photographer’s artistic approach to both the craft itself and to the storybook tales they seek to reinterpret.

Each magic photo in this selection of series offers an enchanting look at age-old allegories.

Grimm Compact by  Laura Zalenga

Inspired by the classic stories of the Grimm Brothers, this striking series by photographer Laura Zalenga presents the tales’ key moments from a unique perspective—literally. Minimalist in composition and cropped in a creative way, each image offers a one-of-a-kind interpretation of a well-known story, “giving it a new twist and really reducing it to the very minimum.”

 

Plein Air by Margarita Kareva

Aptly named for its outdoor settings, Plein Air by Margarita Kareva brings Russian folklore to life. On top of beautiful backdrops, Kareva employs surreal props, ornate costumes, and even live animals in order to capture the mystery and magic of each traditional tale.

 

Wonderland by Kirsty Mitchell

Much like Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole, Wonderland by Kirsty Mitchell takes viewers on a magical and mesmerizing journey into the obscure. Described by the photographer as a “storybook without words,” the series employs striking visuals that both tell a story and capture Mitchell’s fascination with the fantastic.

 

Autumn and Winter by Alexandra Bochkareva

In her enchanting series, Autumn and Winter, photographer Alexandra Bochkareva orchestrates dreamy scenes that appear to be straight from a storybook. Featuring two red-haired models and Alice, a color-coordinated fox, the images draw parallels between Bochkareva’s subjects and their natural surroundings.

 

Wearable Art by Rachel Sigmon

Specializing in “wearable art,” Rachel Sigmon designs, creates, and photographs dazzling headdresses. Each whimsical work of art is inspired by Elysian fantasy and fairytales—an aesthetic influence that is also evident in the magical makeup and captivating costumes worn by Sigmon’s models.

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Photographer Mark Laita has a career that spans over 20 years, with his clean, graphic imagery used by clients such as Apple and BMW. Bringing these sensibilities to a different arena, his project Serpentine saw him photographing a wide variety of colorful snakes. Intrigued by their contorting bodies and colorful skins, the series is a natural evolution of his work, which has also seen him capture vibrant sea creatures.

For Serpentine, which is also a stunning photography book, Laita visited zoos, breeders, and private collectors across the United States and Central America. He selected his subjects based on the most compelling species, often trying to photograph the serpents just after they’d shed their skin and the colors were most vibrant.

Handlers assisted him in laying each snake on a piece of black velvet, which slowed these fast movers enough to grab the photographs. The dark background also allowed the eye to focus on the form, texture, and color of the species. “By putting it on a black background, it removes all of the variables. It makes it just about the snake,” shared Laita. “If it is a red snake in the shape of a figure eight, all you have is this red swipe of color.”

Of course, the project was not without great risk—many species captured are highly venomous. And though Laita didn’t start the project with a fear of snakes, he used to catch them as a kid growing up in the Midwest, one event surely made an impression on the photographer.

While photographing a black mamba at a facility in Central America, the deadly snake struck. “It was a very docile snake,” he recalls. “It just happened to move close to my feet at some point. The handler brought his hook in to move the snake, and he inadvertently snagged the cord from my camera. That scared the snake, and then it struck where it was warm. That happened to be the artery in my calf.” Miraculously, though the blood soaked through his socks and shoes, he survived the bite.

Considering the black mamba’s venom is deadly and can potentially make a person collapse within 45 minutes, Laita is extremely lucky. In fact, he was so preoccupied with the shoot, he didn’t realize he’d been bitten until the handler told him. After 20 minutes of feeling ok, he decided not to seek medical attention—something herpetologists later told him was a big mistake because something could have happened even hours later. It was only the next day he realized he’d actually snapped a photograph of the bite as it occurred.

Laita still isn’t sure how he got so lucky—the black mamba didn’t have its venom glands removed. “It was either a ‘dry bite,’ which is rare, or I bled so heavily that the blood pushed the venom out,” he explained in a publicity interview. “All I know is I was unlucky to be bitten, lucky to have survived, and lucky again to have unknowingly snapped a photo of the actual bite!”

Mark Laita captures the vibrant beauty of snakes in his photography book Serpentine.

Mark Laita: Website | Facebook | Instagram 

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Mark Laita.

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In 1980, aspiring photographer Ryan Weideman landed in New York City from California, looking to make a name for himself. But he soon found himself focused on more practical matters, like paying the rent. Thanks to his neighbor, who was a cab driver, he found himself riding along in the taxi one night, and by the next day, he’d found both a way to pay the bills and the perfect outlet for his creativity.

Over thirty years, Weideman would continue working as a cab driver part time, photographing his clients has a way to view the changing city in a new way. “After the first week of driving a taxi I could see the photographic potential,” shared Weideman. “So many interesting and unusual combinations of people getting into my cab.  Photographing seemed like the only thing to do.  The backseat image was constantly in a state of flux, thronged with interesting looking people that were exciting and inspired, creating their own unique atmosphere.”

Not wanting to waste time turning around to capture the action, Weideman found himself both as subject and photographer. Acting as a visual narrator in the scenes, his appearance speaks for the viewer who is also looking in, observing the lives of strangers. From 5 pm to 5 am on weekends, the interior of his cab became is his studio,  where Weideman studied the backseat scene intently, just waiting for the right time to pop the flash.

Sometimes he asked permission, sometimes the flash “accidentally” went off. Notable passengers include Allen Ginsberg—famed Beat Generation poet. The photo now belongs to the Brooklyn Museum. Other passengers simply made an impression, Weideman sharpening his skills to understand who was interesting—or not—over the years. And occasionally, he would spot a face on the street he remembered photographing.

He recalls seeing a voluptuous woman walking down the street who reminded him of Ruby Dudy Do. Running to catch up with her, he asked if she remembered being photographed in the back of a taxi, and to his delight, she did. “I told her to meet me on the corner of 9th and 43rd the next day and I would share my pictures of her.  She was thrilled, and so was I.  When I gave her some pictures, she thanked me, and as we parted.  I watched her show the photos to the passersby as she walked away.”

Street photographer Ryan Weideman spent decades as a part-time New York City cab driver, where his taxi became his photography studio.

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

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