Though I have checked and rechecked all my gear the days prior to photographing a wedding I can’t help but feel anxious the morning before a wedding. I look everything over, oddly enough it’s as ready as it was the day before. But still I check. A little nervous I guess. It is a wedding after all.
Then I drive to the location, I’m early. Really early. Cause you never know, I could have gotten a flat on the way, there could have been a great storm, who knows? But I’m not going to be late, there are no reshoots. I walk around taking a look at the location, though I’ve scouted it all before. Then, like clock work, everything starts to flow. People are arranging flowers, friends and family are reviewing notes for the poems and stories they will recite during the ceremony. I hold my camera to my eye and start to find images, create images. From then on things may move fast at times but there is a certain calm in creating images, in seeing people enjoy a day that is as important to them as a day can be.
I photographed my first wedding in 1998. I love the images I shot that day. Sure there are things I have learned since then that I wish I had known. But I love those photographs. That day, and every time I shoot a wedding I look for different and untried compositions. I use the experience I have gained yet avoid the formulaic approach. After photographing a wedding I come away with new and different images that my clients and I find unique and exceptional.
~ David