A Puerto Vallarta wedding

A few months ago I was asked by my friend Jeanne if I wanted to photograph her wedding in Mexico. Well... let's see... ummm... YES. To be able to spend time with my friends, at an all-inclusive resort and shoot a beautiful wedding is pretty much the best way to spend a week in my opinion.

July in Mexico is the rainy season, which means overcast days. That also means great light to shoot a wedding with as the wedding party will have no shadows on their faces and the sky can act as a huge soft box. In the days preceding the wedding, the weather was cooperating with overcast days and the odd drop of rain here and there. Then the night before, the clouds opened up and we had to discuss alternative wedding plans. Luckily, that burst of rain was gone by morning and we had a dry wedding and a perfect day.

This shot of Jeanne laughing is a good example of soft light. She is lit only with the natural light falling on her, and I overexposed the background so that she is the sole subject. I used my 70-200mm 2.8 and shot long for most of the wedding so that I didn't intrude as space was at a premium inside the small gazebo. This photo where they are saying their vows would feel different if I was in close with a wide-angle lens.

Later in the evening as the light slowly faded from the sky, we had a small miracle as the sun popped out for a very fast sunset. I quickly metered the sky, put my flash on a cord to get it off the camera and then overexposed my flash compensation by about one stop. We were able to shoot about ten photos before the sun was gone again.

Jeanne and Scott chose a beautiful location to have their wedding and I can't thank them enough for allowing me to the opportunity to come along for the ride. Thank you, thank you, thank you.