Casey and Fred, Beth and Ken
I have been super-duper busy the past two weeks. On top of my usual load of sporting events, I shot two weddings, one each weekend over the last fortnight (sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity to use that word in a sentence).
I shot my very first wedding in the summer of 2005, and have been gradually doing more and more every year. I actually first got into shooting weddings solely for money's sake. And while admittedly it is still a large factor (duh), I have found that I do enjoy covering them. At first glance, you'd probably think weddings are the exact opposite of sports, but when it comes to photographing them, I think they are very similar. Both are all about capturing the peak actions and emotions of the event as they happen, preferrably on a clean and beautiful background. But really, the very core of both fields are the same: you see it, you shoot it. Simple.
That said, I have really come to respect those who shoot weddings full time. A lot of time and energy is spent just shooting one wedding not only because of the long hours the day of, but also all the image editing required on the back end. Because this post is going to be a "double-post" of two weddings, I will save going into what this "back end" involves (at least in my workflow) for a future post.
The first wedding I did was for Casey and Fred over the Memorial Day weekend. Plan A called for an outdoor ceremony in Grant Park's rose garden. Plan B - the weather plan - called for an indoor ceremony at Hotel 71, where the reception was going to be held. Unfortunately, the weather leading up to the weekend had been extremely rainy, so I was kind expecting to be holed up inside for the entire day. However, Casey decided the day before the wedding (which was also a rainy day) to say screw Plan B, and to do it outside in Grant Park rain or shine. It ended up being a great call, because come the big day, it was mid-70's and mostly sunny. You can't argue with the backdrop!
However, it was almost too nice out because there were just too many tourists milling about, especially since it was also a holiday weekend. I had already sent my assistant back for cocktail hour because we were a bit crunched on time, so I had no way to control random park visitors from creeping into my larger group shots (bridal party, etc). Oh well, still a fun shot though...
The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly. Just the usual toasts, dancing, etc. Here's a shot of the father-daughter dance:
The second wedding I shot over the past two weeks was down in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. I knew the bride Beth from college: I was actually her RA (residential assistant, now called community assistants) back in the day. Just knowing who she was, I knew this wedding would be a very nice.
There were a couple of really fun, cute kids at this wedding. The one thing I quickly learned throughout my experiences is that if you follow kids long enough (ok, so it usually doesn't take very long!), they will give you a fun picture!
I shot my very first wedding in the summer of 2005, and have been gradually doing more and more every year. I actually first got into shooting weddings solely for money's sake. And while admittedly it is still a large factor (duh), I have found that I do enjoy covering them. At first glance, you'd probably think weddings are the exact opposite of sports, but when it comes to photographing them, I think they are very similar. Both are all about capturing the peak actions and emotions of the event as they happen, preferrably on a clean and beautiful background. But really, the very core of both fields are the same: you see it, you shoot it. Simple.
That said, I have really come to respect those who shoot weddings full time. A lot of time and energy is spent just shooting one wedding not only because of the long hours the day of, but also all the image editing required on the back end. Because this post is going to be a "double-post" of two weddings, I will save going into what this "back end" involves (at least in my workflow) for a future post.
The first wedding I did was for Casey and Fred over the Memorial Day weekend. Plan A called for an outdoor ceremony in Grant Park's rose garden. Plan B - the weather plan - called for an indoor ceremony at Hotel 71, where the reception was going to be held. Unfortunately, the weather leading up to the weekend had been extremely rainy, so I was kind expecting to be holed up inside for the entire day. However, Casey decided the day before the wedding (which was also a rainy day) to say screw Plan B, and to do it outside in Grant Park rain or shine. It ended up being a great call, because come the big day, it was mid-70's and mostly sunny. You can't argue with the backdrop!
However, it was almost too nice out because there were just too many tourists milling about, especially since it was also a holiday weekend. I had already sent my assistant back for cocktail hour because we were a bit crunched on time, so I had no way to control random park visitors from creeping into my larger group shots (bridal party, etc). Oh well, still a fun shot though...
The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly. Just the usual toasts, dancing, etc. Here's a shot of the father-daughter dance:
The second wedding I shot over the past two weeks was down in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. I knew the bride Beth from college: I was actually her RA (residential assistant, now called community assistants) back in the day. Just knowing who she was, I knew this wedding would be a very nice.
There were a couple of really fun, cute kids at this wedding. The one thing I quickly learned throughout my experiences is that if you follow kids long enough (ok, so it usually doesn't take very long!), they will give you a fun picture!
posted by Jerry at 9:48 PM
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