Welcome to Michael’s blog. Michael Andrew, (aka Michael The Maven) is a freelance
producer, photography instructor, tech innovator, and when needed, disaster aid
specialist. Disclaimer: Michael is a participant in Bhphoto & Amazon affiliate programs
that provides an advertising commission if you purchase through links on this website.
I am coming to Utah for a few shoots in November and will stay extra days. I will be there from November 17th to the 28th. I know many of you have asked me to let them know when my next Utah trip is…..this is it! If you want to schedule a shoot, just drop me an email. 🙂
On my trip to PC and back I listened to the Audio Book “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt at the recommendation of my good friend Mike Madsen after I attempted to explain my clutter book to him. When I was in MBA school, one of our professors suggested we read it, but I was too busy with teaching freshman biology, genetics research and MBA classes to possibly even think about it.
This is a dang good book (or audio book) not for it’s story line, (because it is written in a fictional format) but because of the principles it teaches about bottlenecks and the theory of constraints. There are some similarities between The Goal and the Clutter book I have written, such as using the scientific method in practical problem solving (which I also use to teach photography) and workflow optimization but I will say that mine is very different in that mine deals with the management of thoughts in relationship to clutter as well as eliminating clutter causes and the Goal deals with management of dealing with bottlenecks in dependent workflows. Goldratt has written so brilliantly subtle (and deep) that I think most non-business minded people will miss what he is saying, as well as the potential for application.
The Goal isnt for everyone, but if you have a systematic mind and regularly battle dependant (step-by-step)processes in workflow, I highly HIGHLY recommend it.
I was going through Andrea and Matts pics today and realized there were a number of interesting Sub plots and pictures that needed to be shared. 
While Andrea and Matt have killer smiles, they also looked really really good not smiling- so I asked them several times not to smile. It was the first wedding when I found myself saying “dont smile”. 
While we were shooting the guys, I borrowed Matts Nephew for a few test shots. He was perfect- and I just loved this Black and White of him shot at 2.8. 
James, one of the groomsmen showed up in an Arnold mask, I thought it was hilarious and wanted a group shot with him wearing it after the ceremony, but somehow he said it just didnt feel right…for some reason- strange. lol
This was the big one of the day. 🙂 One of the bride’s maids had to be sewn into her dress! Somehow, for some reason, which I will not speculate as to why, or who it was…..when she zipped it up (or attempted to) the zipper broke! The solution? Sew her in! This is what you see in the montage when one of the other brides maids had a needle and thread. I loved how they came together to resolve it. 
Its real- No photoshop. It occasionally happens when I take a picture right as someone else is. 
This is James, AKA Bruce (as in Lee) without the mask. I always ask the guys for some GQ ishness. I think it looks great! 
Then I ask “Can anyone do any tricks?” Kyle, the best man comes over and says, “I can do one”- and then he does a flip…in his TUX!!!
And finally…what would a Michael Andrew wedding be without a little MA Blue STEEL!! 🙂
For those interested in seeing all the pics, they should be posted later Tuesday afternoon. yay!
Had a great trip home!
I feel horrible putting these regular entries in over Andrea and Matts wedding coverage, unfortunately I have to sooner or later. I will work extra hard to go through their photos this week and have them up for viewing as soon as possible. It was a very very good shoot. It was one of the few times I could look at the images I was taking and see I am getting better. Maybe that sounds odd, I know a lot of people look at my work and may not see the flaws I do. I ALWAYS want to be progressing forward and improving and pushing myself to get better and better, no matter where I am at now. This is what my father calls my two edged sword, I can never feel satisfied with myself, which is good and bad. Good because I keep pushing myself, bad because I can never feel content. I feel extremely driven in three aspects of photography:
1. Take care of my clients above and beyond what they are expecting
2. Push my artistic skills
3. Help and teach others in any way I can.
I am extremely critical of my own work, I usually critique them to pieces and only on rare occasions will I make big steps forward and think to myself, “you are getting better”. Its sort of like working out and because the progress is so slow in your eyes you dont notice it as much as others might, but then suddenly a day arrives where you notice it, and DANG it feels good. 🙂
Laura! I have tons of great pictures of Ashley, Clete and a few of Madison! You are gonna wanna see these!
The problem with weddings like Andrea’s and Matts…wayyyyyy too many awesome pictures. I took 3500+! Its been a couple hours since the wedding but I wanted to get this up as soon as possible. There are hundreds of fantastic pictures, but I had to narrow it down to about 60 for the slideshow. This was another of my favs.
And this one!
Thank you to everyone involved in Matt and Andrea’s wedding! It was AWESOME!
