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COVER FEATURE

Curt Littlecott's
New Wedding Visions

Curt Littlecott got involved in wedding photography because he was fed up with wedding photographers. Or rather, because he was fed up with pushy wedding photographers.

TEXT BY DAN HAVLIK • IMAGES BY CURT LITTLECOTT

One of the "joys" of running a small business is that the owner often has to wear several hats. In Littlecott's case, the chauffeur's hat was one of them.
"While I was chauffeuring the brides and grooms around, I got a chance to observe these photographers, and I saw how intrusive they were. Sometimes it got to the point where they became quite obnoxious, actually," Littlecott recalls.
"I just thought there must be a better way to photograph a wedding, a way to be less intrusive and to better catch the spirit of the day."
So, on something of a lark, Littlecott turned his limousine service into a limousine/wedding photography service. His first job was a bit nerve-racking.
"My girlfriend drove and I photographed in a terrified state. I shot dozens of rolls of film, hoping to get the right photos."
Instead of hunting down the bride and groom and forcing them to stop the ceremony for conspicuous poses, Littlecott quietly stalked the outskirts, grabbing tons of candids with a long lens.
As it turns out, the "on-the-fly" style Littlecott stumbled onto during that first wedding had already been popularized by wedding photojournalism pioneer Denis Reggie.

Littlecott learned quickly, purchasing Reggie's videos and books, and sat in on one of Reggie's workshops at the annual WPPI wedding photographers' convention.
"We started off at the very bottom end of the market and those brides actually tend to be more demanding and want more of a conventional style.
"But after being exposed to Denis Reggie, a whole world of photography and a whole new high-end market opened up. When I learned more about exposures and composition from taking his classes, I could finally present the images I saw in my head in a far more polished way."

It's a far cry, however, from what he saw other photographers doing during his chauffeuring days.
"We try to create images that are similar to the wonderful editorial photography the bride and groom see in popular magazines."
Littlecott has long since dropped the limousine side of his business to concentrate on photography. He now works with a full-time assistant, Ginger Schmidt, who has been with Nu Visions for the last five years. Littlecott calls her "more of a second photographer than an assistant," who begins the wedding day photographing the bridal party so nothing will be missed.