Posted on September 27, 2010
One of the happiest days of my life, so far, was my wedding day. Let’s face it, weddings are about the bride. Women want their dream day! They want to be the most beautiful, most important, most admired woman in the world for one day of their life. It’s a day where dreams come true. Every woman who’s walked down the isle knows exactly what that feels like.
Weddings become a long, high stress day for everyone involved…the bridal party, the parents, the catering army, the cake maker, and let’s not forget the hardest working person there, your photographer. For me it’s like a half day math quiz. I smile on the outside and I do have fun, but those gears are turning in my head faster than I can explain. Lighting is about ratios. It would be easier for me to set my camera to ‘auto’ and just snap away, but that’s not going to get me the best results. I don’t let my camera control me. I must calculate in my head with every shot I take. It is a mentally exhausting day. This is one of the reasons I limit the number of weddings I take each year. I save up all that creativity for a few special couples.
A lovely location in the fern covered forest. These are tender moments. The ceremony is over and nerves are calm. For a few minutes they can just BE together away from the crowd and noise. It’s something special that I’m often the only one to witness.
Because we were in a park for this wedding, the Father of the Bride had hand made signs to direct guests on the property. When the groom pulled up this sign and started to walk with his new bride, I loved it!
Posted on November 28, 2009
Weddings always make me cry. They are such happy days for everyone involved. This October wedding fell on a gray, cloudy day. It made a difference in a good way. The church was beautiful dressed in red brick surrounded by a gray sky.
For me, a wedding requires a whole different approach to photography. Everything is fast paced. I’m still looking for the unique and different at every turn, but I have only seconds to capture it. It’s an exhausting day, but always satisfying. Weddings come with lots of pretty details.
We did capture a few formal group shots, but this impromptu pose was my favorite of the girls. On this day, it was about 30 degrees cooler than it had been the day before. Those lovely bridesmaid gowns needed a little more fabric to ease the drop. Once one maid grabbed a grooms mans coat, we all had a good laugh and ended up with this fun image. A great reminder of the conversation, the weather, the laughter, and the fun everyone was having.
This lovely bride and groom travel together quite a bit. One as a pilot at one as a flight attendant. Congratulations Betty Rae & John. Travel safe! Save me a first class seat!
You’ll see this couple again! We completed a “Day After” Bridal session this week. It technically wasn’t the ‘day after’, but it did include the wedding dress and the groom. Look for a post in the next few weeks!