Check out the latest photos, videos, and adventures of international award winning photographer Aaron Watson. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aaron Watson Photography is available for hire worldwide and caters to all types of clients, although Aaron is most notably sought after to photograph Weddings, Sports, Entertainment, and Fashion.
I am happy to officially announce Eli Cook’s CD Release show for Static in the Blood will be at the IS Venue in Charlottesville, VA on Friday, October 23rd at 9PM.
He will be playing multiple sets, a solo set, a set with his band, and one with Book of Job. It promises to be one heck of a rock concert! Hope to see you there!
Recently I had the pleasure to travel to Ohio for my friend Daniel’s wedding. First year at UVA Daniel and I lived next door to each other in Lefevre (our dorm). So when I heard he was getting married and wanted me to photograph the wedding I was honored and extremely happy for him and his new wife to be, Ruth!
When Matt and I arrived in Ohio we had no idea what to expect! On our drive between the Toledo airport and Bowling Green (where we were staying) we stopped for lunch and happened to come across the Hillbillies Convention! No Joke! A nice big sign said Welcome Hillbillies! Outside were very colorfully decorated vehicles with animal furs, antlers, spray paint, and many other funny nicknacks! After getting some photos of Matt and the hillbillie princess we new we were in for a fun weekend!
Saturday we enjoyed a nice rehearsal luncheon followed by a trip to the famed Cedar Pointe amusment park! We heard stories from Ruth and Dan about how Ruth passed out on a rides during one of their first dates. After seeing some of them and taking what one kid proclaimed as “the worst ride ever!” I certainly could see why! I have to say my favorite was the dragster, which we waited in line for two hours to ride! The dragster rockets you 120 mph down the track in 2 seconds and then sends you 90 degrees spiraling up in the air for just over 400 feet followed by a quick decent down where you are perpendicular with the ground wondering why this was such a good idea!
Sunday was the big day, filled with some tears, lot of laughter and plenty of fun! Ruth and Dan were married at the beautiful Nazareth Hall in Grand Rapids, Ohio (not Michigan as so many people like to correct me on). When we originally drove up I thought we had found a castle in the middle of a bunch of corn fields, but later I found out it was a really nice military school that had been converted to a reception hall for weddings and other events. I think my favorite area was the grotto, which unfortunately we had less time in then I would have liked as it started to pour down rain! I also loved the elevator, which let me check off my list “Shoot a bride and groom in an old elevator that may or may not work”! 
I would like to thank Matt Ryb for being a fun travel companion and also for shooting the video. Also, I am happy to announce that Kelsey Pace has joined the team as our new editor! The film may take a little while to load so please enjoy some of my favorite pictures and other recent posts!
This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Annie & Robbie’s wedding (who are good friends of mine from UVA). As we all suspected it turned out to be a crazy night, and to commemorate it I thought I would share a few of the photos that were taken by my crazy friends in the photobooth!
I would like to thank Erica and Ryan for getting the props even though they spent $10 (of the $30 I gave them) on props and used the rest for themselves! I should have thought twice when Erica told me the government trusts her with money … it all makes sense now!
It’s no secret that photographers often photoshop their photos to make them look good. I am always asked if I retouch, enhance, or photoshop my pictures, and pretty much my answer is always yes. I think it is important that you make a picture look as good as possible! Although, too often I will see other photographers’ work and it’s blatanly obvious that they overdid it in photoshop. My rule of thumb is that if you are distracted by the work done in photoshop then the photographer/editor has either overdone it or not done it correctly. Most of the time I use Photoshop (or Lightroom) to make the pictures look the way I had originally intended, or to give them a little extra pop. I want my pictures to look natural so you shouldn’t be able to tell which parts of the image I enhanced or retouched.
Often I am asked what the difference is between proofs and reprints, and what the difference is between our “enhanced proofing” and straight out of the camera proofing. So I thought I would provide some visual aids. For the first set of photos you can see the difference between what was shot (straight out of the camera), the editing I did for the enhanced proofing, and then the extra editing I did for the final print. The second set of photos shows the difference between straight out of the camera and the final print.
Straight out of camera:
The enhanced proof:
The final print (darkened the background so your eye focuses on Daniel and Ruth):
Straight out of camera:
Final Print (Made B&W, lightened Mom’s face, selective focus on dress and Mom/blurred bridesmaids in the background, darkened distracting objects, and cropped):