I have been honored and privileged to photograph the weddings of some lovely couples. While it is a lot of work – for the last one I essentially put in a 7-hour workday on my weekend – it’s also fantastic experience and, if you’re lucky, as I have been, a fantastic experience to be a witness to two people who are in love taking that next, hopeful step.
When photographing weddings – or any other special occasion, but especially weddings – my job is to be on the ball and to capture not only the big things, but all the little things I notice happening around me. The bride and groom are swept up in the excitement of the day, but when it’s over and they look back on it through my pictures, they see all those little, peripheral things they may have missed.
I am thorough, from getting together and talking with the couple ahead of time, to get to know them, to attending the rehearsal so I know where everyone will be. I also check out potential outdoor locations to photograph the wedding party after the ceremony and before the reception.
I photograph the day’s events starting with the bride and bridesmaids getting ready and stay for all the traditional activities at the reception – the first dance, the toast, the cutting of the cake, the bouquet toss, etc. I also photograph the hall, flowers, cake, the tables full of people and so on, and I ask the bride and groom whom they want pictures taken with.
Afterwords I crop and adjust all the photos to burn on CDs for the bride and groom to have printed at their convenience. I will usually do some special effects, such as spot color, sepia, a soft blur or some subtle sparkles, with about half a dozen of them. It takes me a couple of weeks, and in the end, the couple has 200+ photos of their special day on two disks to have as many prints or enlargements made as they want.
Please e-mail me if you have a wedding or other event coming up that you would like me to photograph.
Julie and Patrick, May 1, 2010
