Weddings again

Thanks in part to my short-lived career at the Calgary Herald, I have received a lot of requests to shoot weddings from friends who know me and recommend me to everyone they know. "He shot for the Calgary Herald" they say, and people figure ..."well, if he's good enough for the newspaper, he's gotta know something about photography."

This wedding is thanks to my good friend Jolene (first photo, right) who acts as a model for me from time to time, and whose brother Brent (second from left) got married this past weekend. The wedding and reception was held at a hotel and thanks to the slushy warm Chinook-y conditions outside, we took all the photos indoors and didn't have to travel too far or fight with the strong winds outside.

It was a perfect wedding ceremony from my point of view. It was held in a room with no natural light, and had a white ceiling only 7 feet high. This allowed me to bounce my flashes up and create soft white light that fell on the couple rather than blasting them with direct flash and creating harsh shadows behind them.

With the wedding ceremony shot, we moved upstairs into the main foyer of the hotel and set up two lights with umbrellas to shoot the formals. The light that the umbrellas produce is soft and even and they tend to increase my "street cred" as people usually look at my set up and say "Wow.. that's so professional." I love that.

After a few moments taking photos, the flower girl made it clear she loved to have her picture taken. Once she saw the camera was pointed in her direction, she would pose herself and sit there like a princess with a perfect smile on her face. I showed her this first photo of her and she seemed to be very happy with her effort.

If you look closely on the last photo on the sofa, the bride and groom are talking happily with their friends but that little girl is all business. She's found my lens and she isn't letting go anytime soon. BTW... I love this shot of the newlyweds on the sofa. Everyone seems to be so relaxed during one of the happiest and most stressful days I could imagine.

Clearly, I am still single. More to come..