Winners of the Huron Area Photography Club’s March contest, “Black and White Image,” were tied for first, “Immersion,” above, by Carolyn Stahl, and “Short Eared Owl,” below, by Sandy Uecker. Third place was Jim Schmidt, with “Eye of the Elk.”

The next meeting will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Nordby Exhibit Hall. The photo contest topic is “Letter A.”

With a unique merger of family, folklore, and nature, photographer Riley Goodman cleverly captures the soul-stirring, antiquated environment revealed in an Appalachian community.

In Goodman’s evocative photo series titled From Yonder Wooded Hill, the memoir-esque, part folklore-riddled image compilation gives viewers an intimate glimpse into the photographer’s artful upbringing while also highlighting a climate-changed terrain.

“By combining folklore and family with my relationship to the Patapsco River Valley of Maryland where I was raised, the photographic series was born. Additionally, a major inspiration for the work came in the aftermath of the 2016 flooding of Ellicott City, Maryland. Examining the cyclical nature of flooding in the river valley opened my mind to not only the effects of climate changes but also those same more metaphorical cycles that play out through familial generations” Goodman tells PetaPixel.

With a history as a creative aficionado stretching back to his childhood, Goodman became enthralled with photography, with it becoming his dominant conduit of creative expression during his freshman year at VCUarts,

“I was struck by photographers like Walker Evans and Alex Prager, and filmmakers like Tim Burton,[…] I quickly discovered the storytelling abilities that photography could provide to my practice […] I became fascinated with a way of communicating those mediums’ evocations through the use of a camera. From there I turned a hobby into my main artistic practice. My first photobook, From Yonder Wooded Hill, was published in April of 2022, which was a great moment in feeling like I made the right decision in pursuing the medium.” Goodman shares.

Inspired by familial folklore—which was rooted in a reverence for the landscape, working-class perseverance, promises of abundance, and a sensitivity to the ‘spirits’—Goodman also took inspiration for the project from the women in his family.

“[…] While I am not Appalachian myself, my upbringing was largely informed by the way of life and thus influential in my art making […] From Yonder Wooded Hill at its core was inspired by my family. I come from a lineage of strong women whose Appalachian backgrounds put folklore and storytelling at the forefront of my childhood.”

In the intriguing yet mindful curation of images featured in From Yonder Wooded Hill viewers experience a form of generational documentation, excavation of the communities, topography, and otherworldly atmosphere and ‘lore’ of the past, as Goodman explains,

“Lore is simply a historical account to a faction of folk whose way of life may not have made it into the history books […] By thinking of these stories we know, and maybe ones we infer from mere scraps or details of information from others, it becomes an enthralling line to tread as both a historian and an artist.”

Goodman adds, “Blending lore with historical accounts invites the viewer to question authenticity while still remaining in reality. Through this process the work remains grounded, but forces a second or third examination to determine what is “true” – if truth can even be quantified. I often strive to create a timeline that rather than occurring linearly, is happening simultaneously— with stories rippling out and bobbing to the surface when people choose to pay attention.”

Goodman showcases hauntingly beautiful shots of people, decaying infrastructure, and vintage heirlooms, all pointing to a subtle urgency to remember and appreciate elements of an unintentionally—and at times— intentionally forgotten past.

Images were shot in the Patapsco River Valley of Maryland and in Cass, West Virginia, the latter where Goodman’s grandmother was born. Archival Materials also depict a boarding school on a Native American reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina, Where his grandmother was sent.

To manifest the focused tone, mood, and overall vision for the series, Goodman positioned himself in familiar and unfamiliar sites. Locations that would best help him visualize the array of ‘supernatural’ stories that were told to him throughout his childhood. It also helped the photographer to re-approach familiar tales with new lenses, sparking his own distinctive and innovative approach to communicating the accounts.

“In this way, the photographic process became therapeutic as my family and I examined our heritage,” he tells PetaPixel.

Bright images of rubble, abandoned factories, and forestry engulfed in mist, delightfully plays with the dual mystique and realism of the environment, but also point to greater narratives.

The images—which were at one point an undergraduate senior thesis, that was to be a wall gallery— with the addition of archival materials, Goodman felt a book would better encapsulate the greater narrative or curiosities he hoped to invoke.

“This change in form allowed for a greater story to be told through the addition of archival imagery and text. Rather than variations, I think as I gathered content for the book I was more so surprised by new stories that emerged. Tales of ghostly encounters, customs, and distant relatives emerged and allowed for my imagination to further run wild as I compiled and constructed imagery to tell the full narrative.” he says.

Goodman began his series shooting with a Canon Rebel T3i, admitting it was a good starter, but shifted to a Canon 5D Mark IV, favoring the image quality,

“As someone who enjoys printing my photographs largely, it translates very well. I am admittedly not a gearhead by any means, but I enjoy a reliable piece of equipment that produces a great product– which the Mark IV has been for me.” Goodman says.

Picturesque and engaging, excerpts From Yonder Wooded Hill, not only manage to stir the imagination but beckons the embrace of a kind of borrowed nostalgia and lingering gaze of its viewers.

“From Yonder Wooded Hill tells the story of my family, and those who live and work in a specific region. I hope viewers take away a personal understanding in relation to themselves. We’re all privy to the universal experience of our relation to community and place, despite each of our unique differences. Additionally, I hope viewers ponder their relation to the supernatural. At the end of the day for me, it doesn’t matter to argue whether, for example, ghosts are real. Instead, I’m more fascinated by the cultural importance of passing down stories as such through generations.”

Goodman is grateful for the support and assistance from the community that has assisted in the construction of From Yonder Wooded Hill,

“[…] my family, and the wonderful folks at Fall Line, along with Megan Fowler of Brown Parcel Press, who worked collaboratively with me on the design and construction of the book. We wanted to reference familial photo albums and timekeeping books to put the book right at the intersection of a fairy tale and a field guide.”

As for what’s next on the horizon for the narrative photographer, since 2020 he has been working on a series that explores his relationship to his current home in Richmond, Virginia,

“Referencing the hardiness of its leaves in tandem with the delicacy of its flowers, To Cultivate A Magnolia examines the folklore and history of Richmond and greater Virginia, the endurance of the American Civil War, the complexities of queer identity, and the moments of reflection that come as we age.”

For more from Riley Goodman, make sure to visit his website and Instagram

From Yonder Wooded Hill by Riley Goodman is available from Fall Line Press for $65.

Image credits: Riley Goodman

Wedding photography is arguably one of the most important parts of a wedding, of course (though I’m biased being a wedding photographer and all). But at the end of the day when the music stops, the cake is eaten, and the honeymoon begins, the photos are what helps our couples relive the magic of their wedding day. This is why it’s important that you know how to make a wedding photo album your clients will love.

In the first few years of our business, we had wedding albums as an add-on, but now we include them in our packages and treat them as essential. Couples think they just need the digital files and that they’ll do something with their photos eventually. But life gets busy and photos sit on a computer much longer than they should have to.

In this article, I’m going to talk through the strategy behind including wedding albums in your packages. Then, I’ll talk about making the design and ordering process easy. And finally, I’ll walk you through some aspects of my workflow that help me deliver wedding albums my clients love.

Including Wedding Photo Albums in Your Packages

The first and most obvious reason to include wedding photo albums in your packages comes from the business side of things. The more value you build into your photography packages, the more your clients will be willing to pay which positively impacts your bottom line. Truthfully, value is a win-win because it helps you charge more but by definition it also means you’re serving your clients better.

Some photographers are experts at the upsell — they make a ton of profit after the wedding by selling prints, albums, and other products. For me, it works better to have my clients select a bigger all-inclusive package from the beginning. Then, designing a wedding album is simply part of my workflow and I know my couples will have something tangible after the wedding day. They want the wedding album, I just have to make it easy for them to purchase it by having them look at the whole picture and not the dollar signs.

With the state of the wedding industry, couples often pay a pretty penny for wedding photos so it seems silly for all those photos to just live on a hard drive without being seen or appreciated. And as much as we love our screen time, no one wants to come to your house and watch a slideshow of hundreds of images. There’s still something timeless about grabbing a wedding album off a coffee table or special place on the bookshelf, holding it in your hands, and flipping through spreads that show the highlights of such an important day.

Choosing the Wedding Album

The first thing you’ll have to do is narrow down your wedding album vendor. This is an important step because the books you choose will determine how your clients view them. You want something high quality that your couples can’t necessarily do on their own therefore persuading them to trust your expertise.

There are a lot of wedding album companies out there that have different strengths, weaknesses, price points, and styles. You’ll want to find something that fits your overall business strategy and your branding. That might be a weighty leather-bound album or a crisp photo wrap cover — what style of album will showcase your style of work and be appealing to your ideal client?

You’ll want to see a physical example so that you can see it and feel it. Similarly, when at all possible you’ll want your couples to be able to see it and feel it too. You know your wedding album choice is the right one if your couples want one and don’t hesitate to order it.

Wedding Album Design

Many of the wedding album vendors are compatible with album design software. I use SmartAlbums, but there are a ton of other companies out there. This is life-changing to anyone who remembers designing individual spreads on individual Photoshop files. It’s fast and easy to use for both you and your clients making the process quick and painless.

You’ll be able to import the photos into the design software and then design spreads that tell the story of the wedding day. Utilize your eye for timeless design by remembering things like white space, repetition, and symmetry. Then, you’ll be able to share that with your client in an online viewing platform where they can make comments allowing you to easily make changes.

Look for something that’s easy to use on both your side and the client’s side. Templates are a really nice time saver because I find that I love using certain layouts repeatedly anyway so why not make it easier? But customization is also important as you want to have the freedom to do something different.

Wedding Album Workflow

Wedding albums are a lot about design. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of telling a story with your photos. Each image has a story and then as you put them together they tell a bigger story too. Your wedding album workflow starts on the wedding day when you start documenting the story.

It continues when you’re culling and editing photos. You can rank or label your favorite images or the ones that help tell the complete story of the day. Then, when you import the photos into your design software, you can filter them to the most likely candidates to end up in the album and start there with your design. I choose the initial photos for the albums for my couples because they’ll either be paralyzed by all the decisions or want every photo in there when sometimes less is more.

I design a first draft of the album for the couples to see and my goal is that as they flip through it they feel the story. Sometimes they might want to add some of their favorite photos that weren’t on my own list of best photos. However, I use design techniques to both tell a story and highlight the style of photography they hired me for.

My style is photojournalistic but also emphasizes environmental portraits, Big dramatic landscapes that look great as full image spreads. I’ve seen beautiful albums that have a more editorial style and utilize the wedding details to help tell the story. Your couples hired you for your style, make sure that style continues into your album design and the result will be an album they love.

Wedding Photo Albums Your Clients Will Love

In summary, offering wedding albums with your wedding photography is a win-win. You get to add more value to your packages which serves both you and your clients. Be intentional about choosing the wedding album, designing it, and creating a seamless workflow.

Wedding albums are a tangible timeless product. It doesn’t make sense to me to spend thousands on wedding photography and then not print any of the photos. Encourage your couples to print their work by designing albums that they’ll love. Show them samples of what they’ll be getting and then focus on telling a story not only in the album but through your photography.

Another bonus: what about when your clients have their newly engaged friends over for dinner and they fall in love with the album? It’s happened before.

About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.

Landscape photography is arguably one of the most popular genres of photography while also being one of the hardest to find success in. After working full-time in the profession, I’ve finally found what the secret to success is.

If you’re a landscape photographer and struggle within your own work, you absolutely are not alone. Maybe you’re just a hobbyist on the verge of taking things more seriously, or maybe you’re toying with the idea of monetizing your time. Regardless of where you’re at, you’ve probably struggled with feeling successful in your work. These feelings go hand in hand with being an artist and generally drive many of us to improve on our craft.

Success can be defined in many different ways, and it’s mostly personal to your own journey. Success could be waking up for sunrise and taking a photo, success could be recognition from your peers in the field, or success could be monetizing your time and effort into a profitable way. Within the context of this article and video, I’m defining success as taking pride in your own work. You would be a successful photographer if you looked at your portfolio and could confidently think you take professional photos. 

Here’s the secret: volume. Maybe this is a boring and obvious answer to some of you but hear me out. When I was shooting as a hobby photographer I found that I really only took photos when I went on trips. I even pursued more trips just so I could take more photos, yet at the end of year, I still only had a few sets of images to work through. I would compare my work and my portfolio to a group of photographers I looked up to without accounting for the fact that they were taking images all the time. On top of that, they were being paid to do it! 

Some of them are doing repeated workshops in the same locations every single year, meaning they’ve got decades of images year over year in spots like Iceland, Patagonia, The Pacific Northwest, etc. I went to Iceland for a total of seven days back in 2017 when I was still shooting as a hobbyist, yet I was comparing my work to people going multiple times per year every year. 

When I started doing landscape photography full-time, living on the road eating and breathing photography, that’s when a lightbulb went off. It’s not about taking spectacular photos every time you release your shutter. It’s simply about taking a lot of photos, consistently being out there in case the conditions are good, returning to the same locations over and over. It’s a privilege to earn a living making images. 

The reality is that you just don’t take nearly as many photos as all the people you compare yourself to. The famous quote, “comparison is the thief of joy,” couldn’t be more true in this case.

So, what can you do to change? I know many of you reading this can’t instantly change your life to allow yourself to take more photos, to drop whatever responsibilities you have and just go out to shoot all the time. Something you can absolutely do, though, is continually work on revisiting your idea of what success is within your own work. Stop comparing yourself to people in general, which I realize is easier said than done. Don’t set expectations for yourself based on those around you. Try to direct your energy and enjoyment into finding improvement within your own work. Take the time to look back on your older work and realize just how far you’ve come.

Remind yourself that amazing images don’t come from the best camera, the most skills in Photoshop, or even a specific location. Amazing images come from being able to be at the right place at the right time with your camera ready.