Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Wedding Photography...

Last month I shot my very first Wedding. I have to admit that the idea of shooting a wedding was quite stressful. It's not like other photo shoots. You can't stop in the middle of the ceremony and say, "Can you do that again? I wasn't ready." Or, "My battery just died." Or any number of other possible things that could potentially go horribly wrong.

Luckily, I had some serious help for the day. My sister Colleen (who has shot other weddings for friends) and my nephew Michael (who is an artist and budding photographer) were both there to cover all the angles.

One thing that I have found, not only in business but in life in general, is that organization is the key to success. My two eager assistants thought I went a little overboard when I showed up with a list for each of them. It was a "Shot List"... things that I wanted each of them to be in charge of. And I also had a Battle Plan for where each of us would stand during the important parts of the ceremony, as well as when we should be 'floating' to get some good candids. And when to check on the batteries and memory cards (in case anything needed to be changed out or recharged).

Not sure why they thought it was funny... They also got an e-mail the week before with a checklist of things to do the day before the wedding. Things like reformatting memory cards so that we would be working with fresh cards, cleaning lenses, recharging batteries and a whole host of other things.

I admit I felt a little like Vince Lombardi. But in the end... it was the right thing to do. We ended up doing a pretty decent job I think.

You be the judge...

I've got some of the photos posted here to give you an idea of the work. Colleen spent the pre-wedding hours with the Bride and her Court. The report I got back the following week was that she went 'above and beyond' the call of photographer duty. Even though I gave her strict instructions to be as invisible as possible. But according to the Bride, she was glad Colleen was there!

Michael and I hung out with the Groom and his Groomsmen. Our job was much easier. Guys don't take nearly as long to get ready... and are a lot less stuck on the "Traditional" things that are 'supposed' to be done.

So we went off to take some other shots of the accessories around the Wedding Site. Some background shots...

This, for example, is a Close Up of the flowers that were in one of the baskets that the Flower Girls were carrying.





And I managed to confiscate the Wedding Rings for a while to take this shot of the Rings in the Basket of Flowers:



We got a bunch of these kinds of shots. I will likely have an Album of many of these shots on the 3000 Words Photography website... as soon as I build it!

One of the things to be on the look out for: The Moment. And there are lots of them. People wiping tears, a tender hug, a kiss, a hand shake. And yes... we caught a bunch of them. Again, too many to put them all in this Blog Post. Keep an eye out for them on the website.

Here are just a few of my Favorites:


The moment the Groom sees the Bride:



Just look at him. It is so clear that he is in love. In fact, after spending a few days with the couple (rehearsal dinner, dress rehearsal, wedding day) it is quite clear not only that they love each other, but that they will indeed survive the madness of married life.

Another of my favorite Moments is the Bride walking down the aisle. This wedding was outdoors so the aisle was a pathway of rose pedals that the Flower Girls so skillfully left for her to walk on. The Father of the Bride was very instrumental in keeping the Bride from panicking (as Brides tend to do on their wedding day).




In this next shot you can see what a perfect setting they had for an outdoor wedding. The mountains in the background and the weather both added to the Magic of the day.



Of course, in the search for Moments, it's not just the serious Moments that make the day. There are a whole host of Fun and Funny things that happen that make the day memorable.

In this shot, the Ring Bearer decided to be 'helpful' and start to pick up the 'mess' that was left behind by the Flower Girls! In the middle of the ceremony he just started picking up the flower pedals and putting them back in the basket. I tried my best to stay focused on the ceremony, but decided that it was futile and had to snap this shot.



Speaking of Fun Shots... I love to get contrast shots in much of my photography work. In this shot, I actually caught a little foreshadowing. Here, the Groom is holding the Bride's Flowers. It made me think of all those future shopping trips. You know what I'm talking about. All those husbands standing outside the dressing room door, holding their wife's purse. Don't pretend like you haven't seen it before!




I caught another Fun Shot when one of the Flower Girls was either bored or feeling a little mischievous during the Group Photo Shoot of the Wedding Party. She is about to drop some of the left over rose pedals on one of the Groomsmen.




OK, I admit that this next one was staged... but I just wanted the Bride and Groom to have a photo of something unusual that they did on their wedding day.




And a little advice to anyone who wants to shoot a wedding. The wedding day is 99.9% about the BRIDE. So always be sure to get some close-ups of the Bride. And any shots that you take with a group, the bride must be in focus. Even if half of the people in the photo are out of focus (because you are using a wide aperture)... the Bride MUST be in focus. Unless of course you are softening on purpose for effect.

Here is a bit of a close-up on the Bride:



This shot was totally my sister's idea. The bride with all of the flowers from her Bridesmaids on her train:



And a close-up of just the Flowers on the train:



Another good idea to keep in the back of your mind when you are shooting, is to take a few shots with some space on the side so that you can use them later to add text. For example, this photo could be used as a Thank You Card or as an e-card to thank people for for sharing their day:



This shot is just for Background. Sort of a reminder of the Event. But if you can get a somewhat artistic shot it helps. And when the moon is co-operating... it is a good day to be a photographer.



And speaking of the moon... During the Dress Rehearsal I got this shot. In the scope of good photographs-- this shot is not special. The bride and her dad are kind of far away. And someone forgot to bring the rehearsal flower arrangement (so she carried a bottle of beer as a substitute for fun). But there is something about the Bride and her Father walking down the 'aisle' with the moon in the background that really moves me.



Here is a classic wedding shot of the Bride in the window. My sister got a bunch of these kinds of shots. In the mirror, in the window, with the Bridesmaids getting dressed, adding accessories, doing hair, doing make-up, etc. Again, many of these will probably make it to the website Wedding Album. But I'll put one up here for now.



Here is another shot she got of the Bride and Groom. She really got some great candids. My sister specializes in shooting people in motion. She does a lot of sports photography.



And she got plenty of the Kissing Couple:



My nephew on the other hand (as I mentioned earlier) is an artist. He has stacks of sketch pads with lots of original art. He doesn't just draw what he sees... he draws what is in his head. So he has an eye for finding the 'artsy' shots... like this one of the invitation:



And this 'artsy' shot of some of the flowers that were around the Wedding Site:



Here is a shot he got of the Ring Bearer upstaging the rest of the Wedding Party:



And to top it off, he got (what I call) the "Money Shot". We each got some photos of The First Kiss... but he was positioned perfectly to get the shot without interference. I was standing right in front of the Bride and Groom, but because of the 'head tilt' all I got was a lens full of hair, arms and veil. Michael was behind them and got the full on shot.



He also got some other great shots through the flowers from behind the Wedding Party that seem like goofy shots until you add the Ken Burns effect to the Slideshow.

If you are not familiar with the Ken Burns effect. That is when you take one photograph and start looking at it from one part of the photograph and then the Slideshow moves to another part of the photograph. Sometimes it pans from side to side or up and down or sometimes it zooms in or out. You have likely seen this effect used in documentaries (which Ken Burns is famous for creating).

All in all I think it's safe to say that my sister and nephew and I have a potential family business going on here. I am looking forward to other projects with them.

I would like to thank Cassandra and Pete for letting me share their Wedding Day. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony. And to make it even more enjoyable... it was well organized!

Keep an eye out for the 3000 Words Photography Website.

My main goal is to focus on Destination Photography. But feel free to keep me informed of any Events that are happening that would make good subject matter. And please forward my contact information on to anyone you know who needs photos taken.

The next post will be about a Family Portrait Shoot I did a few days ago. I'll post them when I finish with the post production editing.

Thanks. Enjoy the Photos.

Peace and Love,
-----Nick

Note: Just a reminder that you can click on any of these photos to enlarge them (to see more detail).

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