I’d love to take credit for it. But really what can I say?
It happened all on it’s own and I was simply there with the know-how to capture it in it’s fullness.
It’s funny because I went through my motions and I was outwardly calm but I knew what was happening was special and I was a giddy little school boy inside.
I posted a preview a few weeks ago of the pictures. Many of the brides friends wondered where we got the backdrop.
I had to play with the WB a little because there comes a point where the camera is fooled… it must believe that nothing can normally be that color and wants to soothen it.
But i told that camera, this is real baby, bring out all the color you can.
You know it was something special when the toast at the reception 3 weeks later they make analogies to the sunset.
If your life is anything like that sunset on your wedding day… well it’s gonna be something special
You can see here during the ceremony the sun was setting and it took some time for the color to really expload a few minutes later.
So what’s our lesson as photographers: be prepared to take advantage of amazing things.
It was a wonderful moment for me… one of the best. But had I been ill prepared it could have been amongst the worst experiences of my photography.
So what’s the lesson for the Photograph-ees: You can’t just expect things to happen, you need to be willing and creative enough to put yourself in positions where things can happen, if fate smiles down on you as well.
And if possible pick a photographer that can help play with that fate just a bit more and improve those odds.
Let this be a lesson to never cancel just cuz of weather.
Just be prepared.
Know how to make it work.
It might mean you have to different stuff than on a more normal day.
But that’s how a good photographer and a good photo shoot goes… Roll With The Punches.
This was slated as an 8 hr formals shoot.
I didn’t realize it was a 2 and a half hour drive so it ended up being 6 and a half hours long.
I had several people asking me how in the world we’d be able to go for that long when most times it’s more like 2hrs.
Well I just told them several times to be prepared to work hard too… that’s 6-8hrs of modeling, it’s a two way road.
They were naturals and since they knew and picked how long it would last they never once complained and were totally into it.
What an awesome photo shoot.
By the end her hair was totally wet and nothing like when they started… but we adapted and adjusted just fine.
And we actually all stayed pretty warm.
We had a lot of traveling in between spots… abt 2hrs driving in the car… that was the saving grace.
Being able to warm up from time to time and to reset and find new places with new pictures.
Just cuz it’s snowing doesn’t mean you’re excused from not laying on the ground.
You better have prepared for what you’re wearing to get down and make the shot happen.
If she’s in a wedding dress in 6 inches of snow you can lay down once or twice.
Thank goodness for a lightstand so that the assistant can park the car while you take advantage of the last reminents of twilight.
On the left is a spot he was planning on for a while and very excited about.
On the right is a spot he’s probably past a hundred times and never even noticed… but I saw on the way down and new we’d need to stop there. Both winners!
I took 1400 pictures many reasons
They were really good looking
We shot for so long
I loved the locations
When snow is falling you have to take a bunch to avoid the snowflakes showing up in bad spots like in front of their eyes.
But the picture above was in the first minute of shooting and is amongst my favorites.
They did a great job at expressing emotions in their pictures… and that’s something you can’t really pose.
In the last post we showed some of the regular pictures
In this one I’ll show a series of pictures taken in a 90 second span.
And Normal
This technique involves the following:
Tell them each click they need to do a different face.
They can’t coordinate. (Because it’s funnier that way and it goes faster that way… they’re more spontaneous)
This is a good exercise to loosen them up for the rest of the photoshoot
or a good way to finish up a night on a really fun note.
We came back later in the day… Thus no one around.
I think i’ve seen every schedule possible for a wedding day… but I must admit this was the first time I took group pictures and then left for the luncheon and then came back for the couple pictures.
I liked it… a bit less rush.
For those that didn’t hear it last time… Sacramento LDS temple is probably one of my favorite temples to shoot at!
My philosophy on group pictures is: Let them decide, I’ll just make it look good.
I don’t want to put groups into situations they think are gonna be terribly cheesy.
But if they think of it themselves they’re probably good with it.
This way I get new ones each time and if they’re a more traditional group I’m not putting them into some elaborate set up they won’t even appreciate when a straight line is probably all they want.
Sometimes the good ol’ fashion jump is amongst the best… and this is amongst the most entertaining of them… as far as faces go.
Leave a reply