Catherine Hall Studios

Award winning image is published in PDN

The below image was recently pubslished in PDN's Wedding & Events Issue.  It was a winner in the candid category of the annual Top Knots: The New School Of Wedding Photography Contest.  Click here to view all winners.

Tasmania Adventurer Catherine Hall in Marketplace

I am currently featured in Digital Railroad's Marketplace which is quite an honor.  You may view feature and comment on my work on the DRR blog.

MEMBER SHOWCASE:

© Catherine Hall/drr.net

Next in our series on the Digital Railroad sponsored Lightroom Adventure Tasmania photographers is Catherine Hall. Catherine has been capturing expressive images of people through her camera since an early age. She has been published in The New York Times, Elegant Bride, Grace Ormonde, The Knot, PDN, National Geographic Traveler, Rangefinder, The Tribune, The Sydney Morning Herald, and American Photo. Her clients include John Deere, News Corp, Reuters, and Goldman Sachs.

Catherine's photos from the Tasmania trip have just been published in Marketplace. The two images posted here show just some of the great range in her work. The examples combine her passion for people and portaiture with a strong sense of place.

Couple and Image featured in New York Times

One of my favorite couples, Sonali Das and Derek Theisen, were featured in the Weddings/Celebrations section of the New York Times.  They were so much fun to work with and so SEXY in front of the camera.  I will post some of their images shortly.

Catherine Hall in Grace Ormonde

This Winter Season my imagery is featured in Grace Ormonde, Wedding Style.  The feature can be seen in the New England issue or on line on the Grace Ormonde Website.  I will post print copy shortly, it is beautiful and begins with a double page spread of one my images.

Feature reads:

Catherine Hall is known for keeping couples “engaged with encouragement” and trying to keep things “fluid and fun.” One of the many ways she does it: “I will often direct, but won’t pose, in order to keep a lot of energy in my images.” Many times she will even share cocktails with a couple before the session giving them some time to “get to know each other in a relaxed, social environment.” She adds: “The more you know your clients, the better and more personal the images will be.”

Interview with Adobe's George Jardin is now published

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Adobe's George Jardin and he published a podcast about my vision and work.  Interview is currently posted as podcast #47 on George Jardin's blog .   

As written by George:

"The podcast was recorded on Wednesday November 21st, 2007 at Catherine's family home in Lafayette, Calfornia. Catherine sits down with George to have a conversation about how her personal work inspires her wedding photography, about her personal approach to working with people, and how having the opportunity to work with people from many different socio-economic backgrounds makes it all worthwhile.

Duration: 32:18

The podcast can be downloaded from my iDisk at:

http://idisk.mac.com/george_jardine-Public?view=web

This podcast is labeled “20071121 Podcast - Catherine Hall” in the Public directory.

Or, it can be found on iTunes by searching under Podcasts for “Lightroom”. The RSS feed is:

http://rss.adobe.com/www/special/light_room.rss"

Catherine Hall Featured in WEDPIX

This month I was featured in a WEDPIX article produced by WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association).  The feature focused on how to avoid trendy image manipulation that dates images and albums.

THE REAL THING:
TRUMPING IMAGE MANIPULATION

We’ve all seen them: vignettes and faux hand-tints; cross-processed images that overwhelm the senses with an unreal look; a heavy-handed use of flairs, starbursts and diffusion effects; cheesy frames. They cry for attention, hijacking the image in the photographic equivalent of a velvet Elvis wall hanging.

Where is the value, the poignancy, and the essence in these photos?

Today’s digital post-processing tools can be a force for good in the right hands, but can create visual mayhem when used without the proper judgment or in lieu of an essentially good image to start with.

Wedding photojournalism is all about the image and how it captures the moment and emotions. Any manipulation in post-production should be undertaken very carefully, beyond the temptation to incorporate trendy effects at the expense of the visual and documentary essence that make an image great in the first place.

“It is disconcerting to see mediocre wedding photography made to appear ‘fantastic’ as a result of drastic image manipulation,” says San Francisco-based WPJA member Catherine Hall. “Ten years down the road when the novelty of the current special effects fade, the images will lose their impact and become passé.”

A QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY

Wedding photojournalists have an obligation to help clients understand what is good and what is going to last. Certain effects are going to impress some people, especially a bride and groom who may not be trained in photography. As an accomplished professional, you have a responsibility to give them something that will resonate years from now with true quality.

Hall points out that couples are spending thousands of dollars on albums that are intended to last a lifetime, and sadly, some of the results are very gimmicky. “Many photographers abuse special effects such as image tilts, altered edges, and opacity fades. There is a time and a place for such effects, but one has to be careful not to overuse trendy techniques that will date the album. The most exquisite albums I have seen and produced are very simple and focus on the images.”

“Theoretically, I could probably give my clients an album that is over-designed and full of special effects,” she explains, “and they would probably like it because they have faith in me and at the time it looks fantastic. But the scary thing is what happens in five or ten years, when the novelty of overworked images is a thing of the past? We have a social responsibility to keep away from trendy effects so that the brides aren’t just satisfied when they’re writing the checks, but satisfied for the rest of their lives.”

TRENDS AND TIMELESSNESS

Trends in image manipulation are not unlike trends with fashion or anything else— they’re always going to shift and change. It’s therefore much better just to keep your photos simple, elegant and about the imagery itself.

“There are always looks that are in vogue, whether cross-processing or something else,” notes Pulitzer

Catherine Hall Featured on Women In Photography International Website

WIPI is featuring my work on the front page of their website.   Feature includes my biography and a selection of images.

Catherine Hall's shooting style is featured in Rangefinder Magazine

Rangefinder Magazine, recently published an article featuring my shooting style.  It is a great article, that even moved me to tears - there is some personal stuff about my how my mother has shaped my career as a photographer.  The writer, Michelle Perkins did an incredible job...

Adding Empathy to the Equation

Many people have asserted that a portrait says as much about the photographer as it does about the subject. Looking at Catherine Hall’s evocative images, it’s easy to see what they mean. Despite the diversity of her subjects, from upscale New York City brides to underprivileged Appalachian children, Catherine’s images reflect a consistency of vision that arises from her empathetic approach to photography as a whole and to her subjects as individuals.

To read the rest of feature: Download chs_feature.pdf

BIZBASH Features my Event Imagery in Times Square

BizBash.com is the world's largest B2B site for event planning professionals with over 350,000 unique users.  The site and the magazine allow event professionals to go behind the scenes of real events so that they can find ideas and resources for planning all types of corporate and non-profit events in local markets. The uniquely contextualized BizBash content has become an important tool for meeting and event planners, marketers, event producers, pr professionals, fundraisers, senior executives or for anyone who plans, designs, or influences corporate and nonprofit events.

Catherine Hall Studios Hits the Big Screen for the Second Time

You can see our images up on the Reuters Screen (largest digital display in the world) and NASDAQ Screen (21 stories high) in Times Square all week.  Images displayed on screens include NASDAQ and Reuters VIPS, NASDAQ Annual Closing Bell Ceremony, Reuters ReMix ReDux Annual Exec Party, and Band Members.

Overall, the day was a huge hit.  Particularly, thanks to event coordinator extraordinaire, Bethney Ruggiero from Strategic Event Design and Elizabeth Airhart from Reuters.

NASDAQ Screen Pre-Closing Bell

THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE CURRENTLY BEING SHOWN ON SCREENS IN TIMES SQUARE:

Lead Singer of Boys Like Girls

Boys Like Girls Band Members

Singer, Kevin Michael

Party Guests displayed on Reuters Screen

NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony

Chris Ahearn, President of Reuters Media

Inside the Party: