My dad and I have been shooting weddings for seven years now. We have met some wonderful couples and been very lucky to be a part of the most important day of their lives. There have been some funny moments, there have been some shocking moments and there have been so many wonderful opportunities for photos to put me into inspiration overload. Today was one of the days that I was incredibly inspired.
Dad and I tag team the weddings. He does the paperwork, he does the group shots and he does the shots at the front of the church during the service. As the second shooter, I get to mill around and take the behind the scenes pictures - the details, the candids and the stuff that most people missed. So now that I think about it, my dad does most of the work. ;)
It took us a while to get into a groove and figure things out and now six years in, we have it streamlined and the whole thing really hums. One thing we learned early on?
Make sure that everybody knows that we are a father-daughter team.
At one of the first weddings we did, we were forgotten on the seating plan, so we sat down at an empty table by ourselves. A man from the table beside us leaned over and asked us if we would like to sit at their table. His wife quickly cut him off and told him to leave us alone. We were at a table by ourselves and it was more romantic that way. She thought that my dad and I were married.
Now my dad is a handsome fellow. But DUDE. He's almost 30 years older than me and HE IS MY DAD. So now when we shoot a wedding, he makes sure he introduces me as his daughter and I make sure to refer to him as "Dad" several times and that other people hear it.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, today MY DAD and I shot our second wedding of the year. It was absolutely beautiful and we were incredibly lucky. The weather was overcast which is great for pictures, but they were calling for thunderstorms. Luckily the rain was light and we managed to evade much of it. Here are a few of my favourite pictures from today.
The bride and groom were fantastic. The groom was hilarious and brought the comic relief. He even read his speech from an iPad because he wanted to "get the most from his investment". After the wedding it was raining pretty steadily as we zipped through the family pictures. As we were heading for the house to escape the rain, I asked if I could get a shot of the bride and groom under one of the black umbrellas that was being used. I was looking for the classic bride and groom huddled under it to protect themselves from the elements. You know the one I mean. The romantic shot.
What I got was the total opposite and even better. Instead he gave me the obedient "yes dear" pose holding the umbrella over her while he got wet. The look on his face is hilarious. :)
The next shot is one of my favourite wedding shots ever. Weddings challenge you to think outside the box non-stop throughout the day. You have to look for the opportunities and jump on them because the moments are fleeting.
Today marked the first wedding we've done where the bride and groom's first dance has immediately followed their entrance into the hall before dinner. I've seen it on tv and I've heard about it, but today was the first time I saw it in action and it was AMAZING. From start to finish they had everybody's attention and it caught a lot of people off guard leaving Dad and I to roam where we wanted without everybody else in the way.
The light in the hall was beautiful with the couple dancing in the atrium. There were windows everywhere and the early evening light was surrounding them and very soft. The hall was small so the wedding party and family tables were actually outside under a small tent. The couple danced in the atrium where I was standing and right in front of the double doors leading to the tent.
Dad had the main action under control and was in the prime position for that. I knew he had the moment covered so I could look for my moment. The moment that nobody else was going to see. I saw the moment and I jumped on it. This picture is my *gasp* shot for the day. It was the picture that made my heart beat fast when I opened it up. It is the image that summed up the day for me perfectly and was my hands down favourite.
The bride and groom are dancing while the bride's father, groom's grandmother and parents look on from the tented area. There's just something about the looks on their faces as they watch their children dance.
