Saturday, September 4, 2010

A painful wedding day

Let me start by saying that Jason and Sarah are great people and that the headline has nothing to do with them. I pulled my back out of joint two days before the wedding, and spent the wedding day feeling like any minute my back was gonna spasm. Fun. I was walking like an old man, but we struggled through, and ended up with some very beautiful photos.

My injury was not the only one. A week before the wedding, the groom Jason had been working with a piece of wire that sprang out and punctured his right eye leaving him temporarily blind. We were the walking wounded, but this wedding was going forward.

We did the formals at a beautiful house in Mount Royal and the weather totally cooperated with a slightly cloudy day that meant no harsh shadows. I dropped ambient light by about a stop and then had a shoot-thru umbrella on camera right to add the light. I made them put their arms around each other in cheesy poses and soon the laughing began and I got this shot. Natural smiles are always the best.

At the reception, there was a nice white 9' ceiling so I was able to bounce the flash and get a more natural look to the candid shots I was hunting for. This shot of the bride and groom laughing happened as the bride's sister told one of the best stories of childhood ever.

Later in the evening there was the customary first dance. A six-piece brass band played "It had to be you" and the crowd gathered to watch the newlyweds. This photo was done with a slow shutter speed so I could get the colour of the room, and then the flash highlighted the couple at the centre of the action. In the large version of the photo, you can see all the faces of their friends smiling at them in the background. Once I had this photo in the camera I knew I could relax as I had "the shot".

A beautiful wedding day, and I hope the Jason and Sarah like these photos as much as I do.