When I decided to devote most of my professional life to photography, I realised that photographers really need to specialise in a particular niche of photography, and get really good at it, rather than just being okay in several areas. As a result I chose not to do weddings – as there are lots of really good wedding photographers already – and I always thought it would be so stressful (e.g. trying to get lots of people herded around in a short space of time etc.) that I wasn’t suited to that branch of photography.
However, when I have been asked by good friends if I will photograph their wedding (or that of their offspring) it’s surprisingly hard to say no.
Almost immediately though, the stress and panic begins to set in! Even though the wedding might be months away, I’m already thinking about what might go wrong and how I can mitigate against it.
Recently a good friend of mine asked me to photograph his daughter’s wedding. He likes my photography (although he is an excellent photographer himself), but the real reason he asked me is because his daughter has had anxiety issues in the past and he felt that having someone known to the bride on her big day might help reduce her own nerves and so allow her to enjoy the day more.
As time marched on, we met so that the bride could tell me what kind of photography she wanted (lots of pictures of her!) and so she could give me a list of the required shots.
A week before the wedding we visited the venue and checked out the best places to shoot the happy couple, and to meet the wedding planner. Some examples of the results below:
Black & White
I really like black and white photography – especially of people so I selected a few from this wedding and edited them in black and white too.
