Without dreams that take you beyond the daily, the routine, the banal - art does not exist or have meaning.

Today is a good day.

a rare posed shot

It makes a pleasant surprise to deal with people who genuinely want to help photographers and photography.

people love doing photos with each other all day. no idea why they get me i do the backs of their heads and odd stuff half the time

Valery Lemberg-alternative wedding & event photography USA © All rights reserved

i look at Bride magazine and see what the local super rich get instead. i don't understand why they spend more on their handbags than they do on their photos. where is their style, their class, their taste?
it doesn't matter how much you spend in dior on a cocktail dress if your photographer is just another generic.
they won't understand my photos until i get famous. and at this rate its unlikely.

fortunately there are a very very few like the charming clients from this party who understand.
if it wasn't for them i would leave the country in search of couples with taste and soul.

no doubt some professional photographers will be horrified by this. people cannot believe i actually get paid for doing things like this.
i don't see why photos cannot have a sense of humour. if all i did was the usual stuff i would end up commiting suicide... in a big expensive house.

In the next 6 months I want to take better, more precisely thought out and executed pictures.

I have just destroyed 500 pictures that were in my web.
They will be replaced by pictures I haven't yet taken.

this year i am trying to prioritise my life.
wedding photos will come low down on the list of priorities.

real legs. no photoshop leg trickery

taking decent pictures is never easy. and trying to make money of trying to take decent pictures is a very bad idea

up to my old tricks. from a recent job. still on the feminists most wanted dead or alive list. they haven't shut me down yet.
Valery Lemberg- very serious formal photographer. New York, Miami since 1992.

Valery Lemberg-an alternative to wedding photographers - no faking the shots and no photoshop. All rights reserved 2011.

ps while I understand its well intentioned please don't send me links of wedding photographers to look at. i never want to see a wedding photographer's photos ever again. I have seen enough.
I think I like one in the world more or less. the rest I can really do without.

Please feel free however to send me links to any real photographers' books you like. There are some incredible books out there even by "non photographers" like harvey keitel, bryan adams or (the police's) andy summers. they put these horrible american cheesy wedding photographers (who less successful wedding photographers seem to look up to but outside of weddings are nobodies) to shame

Valery Lemberg-unknown amateur photographer © All rights reserved

female victims seem happy

it is harder to get shots like this but auto focus really helps. i may even start using shutter priority semi auto av mode to decrease my reaction times. I still lose stuff because i am too slow.

i am trying my best to take photos that look like movie stills from obscure art house european cinema. its not easy but i think thinking about the lighting can help a lot. very good models are essential.

Young lady, phone, chairs, table

photos can freeze moments

I want wedding photos in 2011 that look like italian films from the 1970's. the films used are almost from the 1970's as are the cameras.

Valery Lemberg - professional wedding & event photography for the enlightened few. All rights reserved

also thank you this week to the blogs that have suddenly all wanted to do features on my pictures and outspoken views. all publicity is good publicity and i need all i can get if i am going to take this stuff to the next level. photos alone are not enough.

i think really my pictures are not photos of specific people but ideas, situations and the idea of relationships. about 3am in NY

Valery Lemberg-almost conventional wedding & social events photography
since 1992
www.photoinstyle.com
www.nyhdmax.com

My aim now is to take party photos such that nobody will call me again for new bookings this year. with party shots like this on the internet i can guarantee getting no new jobs for 2009-2010.
Hot November 2009. Lawrence & Liza party.
i'll leave digiautofocus to the thousands of other local wedding photographers to compete over.

Leica MP/ Summilux 50mm

i think all cameras have their purpose. cameras this size you don't even need to look through allow people not to take you seriously. it makes the pictures look different.

i come back with rolls of this stuff. i shoot far too many pictures.
I like to see people happy.

Leica M8.2 Big zooms & flash stays home.

i can't paint, i can't draw but i can point-and-shoot.
I take 10 of these cameras on shoots on a special belt and i press the fire button all day on 3 at once.

i lost focus on her on the second shot but i don't think it matters

Hasselblad H1 Film: Kodak 400VC

The film images have more character.
To get the same quality digitally takes a lot of extra work and time.
Film gets great results right out of the camera.

That inherent texture and grain is what I fell in love with.
The way film renders the color spectrum and blacks
look different on film… it adds up to something you can’t get digitally.
I’ve actually tried to emulate it when shooting digitally.
I’m truly one hair away from selling all my digital gear and working in film exclusively.