Entries Categorized as 'wedding'
October 14, 2008
October 14, 2008
This weekend was the third and final time I will have been a wedding guest in 2008. We traveled to New York City for Jason and HyeYun. Although Jason had always said he wanted to hire me to photograph his wedding, as I predicted, in the end they chose a Korean team of photographers to document the day.
I will admit I was aghast at the aggressive style of shooting employed by the Korean photography team [observe]. Two photographers were literally onstage, walking around and getting inches from the couple during important moments of prayer, vows, and ring exchange. The principal photographer (who, incidentally looked and carried himself like a Korean soap opera star) blocked the congregants’ view of the kiss and rings, which is a personal pet peeve, and continuously followed up his very obvious photos by conspicuously checking the image on the back of his camera (we call it ‘chimping’). He even walked between the two mothers who had done the unity candle thing, almost knocking them away from the altar in their elaborate Korean dresses after they had delicately bowed to the congregation… because he suddenly noticed that the bridal party was coming into the sanctuary. In a major moment of faux pas, he stuck his camera over the shoulder of the pastor while the pastor was praying and shot close in at the bride and groom’s face. I was later told that this is a normal way for a Korean photography team to act.
This entire experience caused me to think about being a wedding photographer who was NOT asked to photograph a wedding. As part of my daily routine, I am in contact with large networks of wedding photographers. There are camps on either side of the “will you photograph your friends’ or family members’ wedding?” question (my answer is yes, I would love to… but not for free) and it is often discussed whether as a wedding photographer we would bring our gear to a wedding we attend as guests.
Some heroic individuals claim when they attend a friend’s wedding they just want to drink and dance, and maybe bring a point and shoot camera to take arms’ length selfies with their spouses. Some of us don’t even own a point-and-shoot, and would never attend a major event without camera in tow. A passionate group of individuals, few of us wedding photographers will ever admit to ego issues on the topic of our relationship to images from the wedding day.
I think it’s kind of inevitable… most of us bring our gear to weddings and think in the back of our heads that we’re going to get much better photos than the chump our friends hired, even at times we are determined to take the day off. Since photography is our life, it is natural that we would continue taking photos of our friends as usual and we want to give our photos as a wedding gift, which cloaks our real intentions. Subconsciously, we’re either offended we were not asked to shoot the wedding, or want to save the day if the hired photographer messes up or appears to be doing an inadequate job. Which of course, they always are. And thus we wedding photographers as wedding guests often ironically become our own nemesis… the friend with a camera (or ‘uncle bob’ in industry-standard terms).
I say most of the above tongue-in-cheek - my friends hired talented artists to document their day and I am confident all got beautiful images and albums. I do not presume that I am the best photographer or that everyone should hire me… also, not every wedding photographer has ego issues. My own realization and the point of laying this all out there is to share my self-discovery - I have become more astutely aware of my own ego as a wedding-photographer-turned-wedding-guest. And also more aware of my own dedication to unobtrusive wedding day coverage.
In preparing for the wedding, I decided to bring only one lens. Since I shoot with prime lenses I had to decide which focal length would suit the day adequately. I chose to bring my new 35mm lens which is a current favorite… this also meant that I lost the opportunity for tighter detail shots from far away (such as from sitting in the middle of the congregation during the ceremony). And then I took my personal challenge two steps further by bringing only a 2GB memory card, and then limiting myself to taking only 50 images throughout the entire wedding and reception (even as a guest I go into default photographer mode and usually end up shooting 500 or so on several 8gb cards!!!). I got the 50-frame idea from brilliant Vegas photographer John Michael Cooper, and I actually succeeded in limiting myself… except for blowing the image quota when they busted out the traditional Korean bowing ceremony at the end.
This wedding was a wonderful but mixed experience. As mentioned above, I did have a really difficult time watching the photography team throughout their work. My stomach was clenched and I felt a little nauseous after the ceremony - a physical reaction to the felt horrors of what I was seeing. From my perspective, the wedding threatened to become all about the photographers getting their images rather than a natural progression of traditions and community centered upon the actual covenant and the joy of the couple becoming one. The images I linked above aren’t even the worst - I was limiting myself to only take a few photos and didn’t do the in-your-face photography justice. During the reception, traditional moments were paused, posed, created. This is so different from my own candid editorial style during the course of a wedding, although I did appreciate that they were giving the couple something they obviously wanted and I could not provide (macro shots of the ring exchange, for example!).
"Wait... where are they? I can't see because there are FOUR photography people in that small room."
Limiting my own camera use was a really interesting and humbling exercise. It forced me to choose my shots carefully. One go at everyone walking up the aisle, only a few images to represent the beautifully choreographed first dance. I did in fact end up dancing with friends during the after party because I wasn’t guarding a bag full of equipment or trying to hide behind my camera.
There were a few images from the 50 that I absolutely adore. And there are 30 images I have chosen to represent the experience from a guest’s perspective. More on that in the next post.
Posted in ethnic wedding, for photographers, personal, wedding 
9 Comments »
October 11, 2008
Ok, so here’s a quick update before we hop in the car for our friend’s wedding in New York.
1. My wrist is getting better, but I am still trying to rest it as much as possible. I’ve been doing processing/email response at a significantly slower rate than normal.
2. Yesterday I had a fantastic experience getting a haircut (yep, the infamous ‘post-wedding chop’) from Sarah at Athena Salon on Boylston. Go! She will treat you right. And she’s not even that expensive.
3. We will be in NYC / New York for the next three days (looking forward to that drive today with the autumn new england colors!). My Sunday engagement session was canceled, so I am actually looking for an engaged couple to photograph on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn or Manhattan. Call me at 857-233-0810 if you want a complimentary session.
4. The weather has been so nice lately! Yesterday I had a playdate with some of my favorite kids, and we explored Franklin Park - the area with the abandoned zoo structures from 1913. So cool.
Posted in destination, personal, travel schedule, wedding No Comments »
October 7, 2008
Hey Rachel -
Wow. We LOVE our wedding photos — we spent an hour and a half looking at them last night! We couldn’t believe how well you captured the the spirit of our celebration and our guests. Our wedding was anything but traditional, and we felt lucky to have an artist like yourself there to document it all.
And you are such a blast to work with! So many of our guests commented on how you fit right in with everyone, and made them feel perfectly comfortable. You’ve got a real knack for blending in to capture the unplanned, uninhibited moments, AND the artistic direction to pull off uniquely composed group shots. What a dynamite combo!
And the fake mustache pics? Downright laugh out loud!
Thank you for being such a perfect part of our hoop-la!
Erin and Jared
Posted in accolades, clients, destination, wedding No Comments »
October 7, 2008
“Our ring bearer, Andy, age three, was nervous about walking down the aisle. After a few steps he turned around, ready to bolt. His mom, standing up front, pulled out a bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies and started shaking it. Andy heard the sound, saw the cookies, and sprinted down the aisle.”
-Samantha, 27, Indianapolis
from Brides (July/August 2008)
Posted in inspiration, wedding, wisdom No Comments »
October 6, 2008
October 6, 2008
Erin’s green Betsey Johnson dress gave her a rockabilly look and made her feel like Cindi Lauper. When we were doing a few more portraits together right after the ceremony, I wanted to use the dock and water, but also wanted to do something a little different, so I asked Erin to bop over to Jared like Cindi would. It was so funny! I was definitely hooting and hollering, and we were all laughing pretty hard.
view the post with links to all wedding photos here.
Posted in clients, destination, wedding 3 Comments »
October 2, 2008
Erin and Jared. If you know them, you know what I mean by that. These two people - real and talented about life and love - are not afraid to demonstrate their fondness toward one another or to their friends and family. I’d be jealous, except they’re the kind of people who you can’t possibly be jealous of. Their circus-themed wedding was basically the event of the century - they rented out cabins for everyone at a campground way up in Maine and invited everyone they love out to party with them for the week. It oozes out of their veins that this is not only one event, but symbolic of their lifestyle of love and laughter and generosity and community.
Citizens of the creative class, Erin and Jared are themselves and have surrounded themselves with Makers. Musicians, visual artists, poets, dancers. The music of their day was crafted for them and played for them out under the birch next to the lake where they were married and in the warm barn where the party commenced. Circus-theme invitations with admit one tickets indicated to everyone months ago that this was not a wedding to be missed. Hand crafted posters that Jared the Illustrator screen printed not only graced the walls of the barn, but served as a parting gift for all of their guests.
There’s an extremely tangible bond between Jared and his brother. I love all three of these images as they prepared for the wedding.
Erin and Jared chose to meet each other for a few minutes of personal time before photos and before the wedding ceremony. It was beautiful to see them reacting to one another and having this time to themselves.
Wedding party = awesome. Erin’s twin sister was wearing cowboy boots!
Special music composed and performed for Erin and Jared at their wedding ceremony.
It was awesome to see Erin escorted through the woods, past the cabins and up to the wedding ceremony by her father. What a setting!
Does this image look posed? Because it isn’t. Erin and Jared enjoyed watching all of their guests head over to the reception after the emotional ceremony, from a semi-secret spot by the dock.
Jared, a talented illustrator, designed the fresh ink they both took on with symbols for their wedding and commitment.
Erin’s father wrote a song for them and played it in front of everyone at the reception.
Want to know more about the moustaches? There’s an entire gallery dedicated to the photos…
Aquafina product placement?
I had some assistance with this shot - someone was in the barn holding the video light to create more extreme backlighting on this cool guy in a hat.
Did someone say Cindi Lauper?
[ photos here! ] [ and all of them here ]
[ their engagement photos in Chicago here and here ]
Posted in clients, wedding 3 Comments »
October 2, 2008
I just found this company through a facebook ad (!!!). Thought some of you gals who want to clean your dress might be interested.
PERMISSION TO GET DIRTY
slate. [blog]
Posted in fearless bridals, random links, vendor, wedding No Comments »
October 1, 2008
I have just had a chance to start working on Erin and Jared’s wedding photos, and can I just say, they’re going to be spectacular. Out of all the offbeat weddings and funky artist couples I have photographed, Erin’s was the first nonwhite wedding dress. Hooray for spunk!
Posted in wedding 4 Comments »
