Rangefinder Magazine
April 2006

Click Here for printable version of this article.

At the Heart: Marcus Bell Jo-Ann Sparrow
 

After the wedding, this bride plans to move to America to make a new home with her groom, an American naval officer. Knowing the importance of the father’s relationship with the daughter, and knowing the father was not only giving his daughter’s hand away but also saying goodbye, Marcus captured this beautiful moment between father and daughter.

Lost couples dream of one day sharing their story with children and grandchildren. They imagine children crowded beside them on a well worn couch, looking through photographs and listening to stories of the past. Handing down our histories once depended on the clarity of memory, but with photography, things have changed.

Photography is an amazing medium that can encapsulate a time in our lives, memories and feelings. Wedding photography plays an essential part in capturing important moments, and over the last decade has come into its own. Leading the way is a photographer who shoots from the heart and has a special gift of recording magical moments and creating art.

Marcus Bell, owner of Studio Impressions, has revolutionized wedding photography with a style steeped in raw emotion and supported by classical technique. He is part of a new group of wedding photographers who bridge the gap between the photojournalistic and traditional styles. The Australian photographer is unashamedly a sucker for all the romance of weddings. He drowns in the emotion of every wedding he shoots, and is drawn to the little moments that make the day special. He combines an innate ability to capture the emotion in a look—a touch or a moment shared—with years of experience and technical expertise to produce remarkable images.

When watching Marcus shoot, his passion for his craft, his respect for his subject and his technical expertise are evident. He is lightning quick, purposeful and completely absorbed by his work. His Canon 1D Mark II is always in hand, with a pocketful of Sandisk Extreme III cards at the ready. Marcus has a remarkable ability to disappear into the background. Rarely orchestrating shots, he instead relies on experience, preparation and observation to guide him through the important moments, allowing the natural emotions and interactions to unfold. Having mastered lighting, composition and his equipment, he can deal with the technical aspects of his work quickly and concentrate on “seeing the decisive moment.”

This image of the old man looking into the camera as the bride and groom are congratulated behind him encapsulates the uniqueness of family. Everyone can see a member of their own family in this image. The photograph captures what weddings are about: beautiful people that mean so much to us enjoying one of the magical days in our lives with us.

Marcus says, “I noticed the couple coming down the dunes sharing a fantastic moment together. All of a sudden the groom noticed my presence. That split second summed up exactly what he was feeling and the conversation he was having with his new bride.”

The shoot itself is only one part of the months of preparation. Genuine and courteous, Marcus begins to develop a bond with his clients from the moment they enter his studio. Over time he becomes a close friend to his couples, learning how they met, why they fell in love and what is important to them about their wedding day. Marcus uses this knowledge as a framework to seek out the elements that make the romance come alive, and to capture them for eternity.

“Really getting to know your clients is an invaluable tool when it comes to shooting their wedding,” Marcus says. “Time and time again my couples have inspired me to find the most amazing images, images that sum up who they are to each other. These images will become priceless.”

Allowing his clients to express who they are is paramount in his images. Marcus is constantly on alert for images that will capture the relationships he has already heard so much about. He watches for the grandmother who is glowing with pride as her granddaughter gets married, the special look that passes between the bride and groom as he hands her a Tiffany box away from the crowd, the flower girl who sheds a nervous tear before the ceremony. Marcus’ trained eye sees it all—not just how a grandmother hugs the bride, but also their family ties and long history together.

This image is testament to the power of observation and the many years perfecting the art of watching for just the right moment. As Marcus explains, “Over many years I’ve learned to use my intuition and to make sure I take the time to look at what is happening around me. While the bride and groom were signing the certificate of marriage, I noticed the children start to tease each other in a fun way. I immediately decided this image would be more important than the signing of the register since it represented the coming together of the children from previous marriages to form a new family.” This image sums up the coming together of more than just two people. This marriage means more than what just signing the certificate of marriage represents.

Marcus describes his decision to become a photographer as “an awakening.” Feeling disconnected in a banking career, he finally picked up the camera left to him by his late father and began to learn the craft, finding inspiration in the works and speeches of great photographers and painters. In the beginning, photography was no more than a part-time passion. After many years of part-time photography and a yearning to do more, he and his wife, Penny, packed up their lives and put everything on hold to travel overseas for six months. It would become the most influential decision of their lives.

Throughout Europe and Asia, Marcus photographed everyday, capturing images that would go on to become his first solo exhibition back in Brisbane and earn him his first photographic titles, Queensland Landscape Photographer of the Year and Queensland Editorial Photographer of the Year. Since then, Marcus has gone on to be one of the most consistently awarded photographers in Australia, recently adding the coveted titles of AIPP Australian Wedding Photographer of the Year (2005) and Queensland Photographer of the Year (2005), and winning WPPI International Portrait Photograph of the Year (2003).

One of the first decisions he made on his return to Australia was to launch Studio Impressions as a full-time photographic studio. Steadily building an impressive wedding, portrait and commercial clientele, Marcus became frustrated by how little time he had to photograph his personal landscape and editorial work. The solution came when he approached Denis Montalbetti and Gai Campbell after hearing them speak at a seminar. Marcus asked how they found time to shoot their personal work. “They just smiled politely and said that the work they did for their clients was their personal work,” he recalls.

This one sentence completely altered Marcus’ perception of his business. “I saw that if I put half as much of the passion and love into my weddings as I put into my landscapes, I could create something amazing. From that point on, all of my photography became my personal work.”

His photography began to show hallmarks of a unique style that has become a Studio Impressions trademark. Dubbed “Weddingscapes” by some in the industry, Marcus describes his style as “very natural. It is more about capturing the moment and less about the technique, even though technique is a vital ingredient.

This image of the groom waiting for the bride to arrive shows the anticipation of the moment, summed up in one image.

It’s more than simply capturing the beauty and fashion of the day.” Marcus views weddings as opportunities to capture portraits that depict people’s spirits and the relationships between loved ones. He believes that this “will in turn provide more information about their lives than anything else.”

Marcus’ passion for creating masterpieces has resulted in praise from around the globe, including numerous international awards and joint speaking engagements alongside such revered photographers as Joe Buissink and Bambi Cantrell. His images have been heralded as a “new approach to wedding photography,” and he has become a sought-after speaker on the international convention circuit. He has also produced two books of images and currently has a how-to book in production.

Six Key Elements to a Marcus Bell Wedding

1. Have a passion and love for what you do.

2. Learn everything technical that you can.

3. Listen, listen, listen, and watch your subjects.

4. Study and document how the couple “loves” and how they interact. Understand their history and their family histories.

5. Concentrate on capturing how the bride and groom feel about each other and about their family and friends.

6. Dedicate yourself to capturing the extraordinary, not just the ordinary.

These elements may seem simple, but they require the intense mental focus Marcus has become known for. “It would be easy to follow the trend of high fashion poses outside your local landmark, but my clients demand more from their wedding images; they want to feel themselves in their photographs and reflect back on a magical moment.

The bond between the grandmother and her granddaughter bride (not pictured) is evident to anyone who looks at it. Marcus says, “When I was talking to the grandmother after the wedding, she told me it was the proudest day of her life to see her granddaughter marry.”

“As a professional you need to always exceed in what you do, clients deserve more than just a proven formula. It’s about going about every shoot as an individual project with everyone being as unique as you. Being a professional means you do not meet expectations—you exceed them each time. I have always worked by three rules: 1. You can always have an off day, but your clients will have to live with that for the rest of their lives. 2. You’re only as good as your last shoot. 3. Why be ordinary when you can strive to be extraordinary?” While planning and preparation are key elements to the shoot, another key element is the magic Bell brings to the printing and presentation of each image. His average clients are in their late 20s to 40s and come to Marcus because they want wedding images that are also works of art.

Every image is handcrafted in the studio and printed using the highest quality techniques and papers. A key component to producing master-quality prints has been Marcus’ use of his Epson 9800 and 4800 printers , combining Epson’s UltraChrome K3 inks with archival papers to produce an unsurpassed quality.

When the photos are ready, his clients are treated to an audiovisual masterpiece: The couples and their families are invited to a cocktail viewing session with champagne and finger food. This attention to detail and quality has led to Studio Impressions to the top of the field. Clients know they will be treated to an outstanding experience from beginning to end and leave with the finest quality artistic imagery.

A self-professed dreamer, Marcus acknowledges that much of his success is thanks to an unshakeable belief in his talent, vision, products and dreams. This passion steers his determination to continue to produce great images. Marcus gives the advice to believe in yourself and in everything you put your mind to.

By surrounding himself with people that share this vision and dedication to excellence, Marcus has been able to grow and expand Studio Impressions without diminishing the experience for his clients.

The studio experience, techniques and technology are only a small part of what makes Studio Impressions unique. At the end of the day for Marcus, it comes down to the couple—it begins and ends with their story, their lives and their memories. He remains, simply, a romantic dreamer at heart.

Visit www.studioimpressions.com.au for more on Marcus.

Marcus Bell will be presenting a program along with Joe Buissink at WPPI 2006 later this month. The program is entitled “The Art of Shooting from the Heart.” The program will be held in BALLY’s Platinum Room on Saturday, April 8, from 8:30– 10:30 p.m.