Wedding Bells

Weddings are a lot of fun.  Sometimes they're also a lot of fun when you're the photographer at them (and scared to death you're going to mess up big time).  Today was one of those days where somehow I managed to have fun while shooting a wedding!

Sorry, you're not going to see any shots w/ people in them - it's only fair that the bride and groom be the first to see those.  Instead, I will share the shots that help set the mood for the wedding.

I was asked to take the photos by the bride, who is an aide at Mom's assisted living facility.  Having shot a few weddings before, and not liking being completely stressed out by it, I initially said I wouldn't do it.  However, I am blessed to know several photographers who have gone through the community college photography program, and asked one of them (who is The Other Joy) if she wanted to work with me on this.  She did, so we came up with pricing, got a contract off the Internet, and were in business.  Yikes!  WHAT was I thinking??  Was I thinking?

I go about taking pictures for an event as if I were doing photojournalism, and the event is my assignment.  The pictures, when used together, set the tone and tell the story.  For a wedding, there are many pictures you can't re-shoot; it's a one time chance to get the shot.  No pressure there!!

Shooting a wedding then, I don't want shots that are OK.  I want all of them to be fabulous.  Unreal expectation I know . . . people don't all look happy at the same time in a lot of group photos . . . sometimes you have an amazing shot lined up and somebody walks in front of the camera to block it and the moment is gone.

How many brides will admit they don't remember a whole lot about who was at the wedding or reception?  They are so stressed out about the day that they just want to get through it!  I've heard several friends say that it wasn't until they were looking through their photos that they realized Aunt Fanny and Uncle Ferd showed up.  There is so much going on for the bride and groom that they don't always get to see their guests are really having fun.

I like to get to the church or wedding location at least 30 minutes before the bride wants me there.  That gives me an opportunity to look around and scope out the decorations and read through the order of service, and get photos to help the wedding story unfold.

Sometimes the very unusual or little things strike a chord; other times the well known and expected grabs the heart.  I don't know why it's different at different weddings, but it happens that way for me.

Today's wedding was pretty small; I think we counted about 80 place settings in addition to the bridal table (which was about 12).  I liked the way they decorated, especially the centerpieces - they were similar, but not identical.  Tokens of thanks for the guests were decorated to coordinate with each other, but had slight differences.  It all tied together very nicely.

This shot is probably not one the bride or groom will be interested in, but I absolutely LOVE it.  Any idea what it is?  It's a chandelier, and I'm standing directly under it.

I loved the little crystal-like kisses used for decoration.  They sparkled and tossed the light around, and were just cute.  They added interest to some of the plainer areas, and the bride and groom are definitely "bling" lovers!

The boutonniere for the groomsmen.  I love this shade of blue.

Detailing on the flower girl's dress.  LOVED it.  She was adorable.

Just a small glimpse of the wedding cake . . . one small part of the decoration.  It was very pretty.  The bakery will provide the bride and groom a small fresh cake on their first anniversary!  No need to freeze the top section.  I like that!

I liked that the bride and groom decided to use their nicknames for everything but the official part of the ceremony.  I had to giggle though - the pastor couldn't remember the bride's official name and said it wrong twice.  Now see, don't those cute little crystal-like kisses sparkle nicely??

The photos are uploaded to my computer, and have also been saved to a memory card so The Other Joy and I can go through both hers and mine tomorrow and start making the hard decisions.  I guess that means I should go to bed and get some rest.  It was a long day.  But it was fun, too.

Taxing

 Tax Day 2012.  This year, the taxing part has nothing to do with paying the government.  It's been a physically taxing day . . .

Just finished mowing the lawns, so I figure that was at least the equivalent of a mile walk.  I'm seriously considering going for a walk around the 2 blocks that make up a mile in a little bit, and I walked a mile this morning.  Might as well do it while I feel up to it.  Oh, and I won't feel quite so guilty while eating my mushroom pizza later . . .

Back yard before mowing

Back yard after mowing

I'm not seeing a huge improvement between these two pictures.  But, I guess for that to happen, someone would actually have to work on pulling or killing the weeds!  Sorry, I don't do weeds (yet?).  I figure if I can mow them down, that's good enough for now.  The Queen of Procrastination shines.

Let's see . . .  I've walked at least 2 miles so far today, done two loads of laundry, mowed the lawns, and discussed photographing a wedding.  As far as stress levels, I'll take the physical walking, laundry, and mowing over the stress of photographing a wedding!

The person who asked me if I would considering photographing her wedding is an aide at Mom's assisted living facility.  I don't have a problem with her, or any of the other aides.  I have a problem with the level of stress I would put on myself to do a good job.  Since I love photography, I would want to produce excellent photos (each one,  not just a couple of them); if it were my wedding being photographed, I would want one beautiful shot after another and then have a difficult time deciding which pictures I liked best.  Those expectations are what I would want to deliver for someone else.

I have photographed a few weddings before.  I was a nervous wreck the entire time, each time.  The first two were with film cameras, so they were extremely high stress.  The last two were with digital and film cameras, and were in some ways easier.  For one of them, I wasn't the official photographer, so that made it a whole lot easier to deal with.  

My half-sister's wedding was a whole 'nother story!  Loved the pre-wedding and reception shots.  I'm not a big fan of posed photos, so I really didn't like that part.  Since it was family, there was a lot of grief from family members about how long it was taking, why weren't we finished, etc.  SO glad it's well behind me.  I did get a few pictures that I loved, but they were candid shots.  I need to find someone who likes to take posed shots . . . 

So, I'm waffling about this potential wedding "gig."  I know a couple of people who've gone through the community college photography course, and I like their work.  MAYBE one of them could join me and reduce the stress??  That's the most taxing thing I've dealt with all day!

Time to go walk around the blocks (pizza's due in an hour).