wedding

Wedding: Joanna and David


I had the absolute pleasure of photographing the wedding of this lovely couple in June. Look familiar? You may recall their engagement photos ;)


Never know when you'll need a swiss army knife... let's just make sure the earrings don't impale the bride. Consider this a necessity for every wedding photographer's bag, along with 3 safety pins, 5 bobby pins, 2 extra batteries and 2 extra SD cards. :)


The lovely bride arrives!






Yes, it's possible. Add one of the people who set them up :)






A poem!





After their first kiss as a Mr. & Mrs.!














Best wishes and congratulations!


What I learned: First Wedding

An incomplete list: 

1. Don't leave ISO on 100. If you're shooting manual, set it to go up to 800 or so, to get some light in the dark interior shots.

2. Shoot at least 1/60 inside, unless you're tripoding or freaking steady handed. 

3. Need front focus? Flip that setting on your camera. Need back focus? Flip that setting on your camera.

4. How far back to you need to be to see everyone in the wedding party? Find out at the rehearsal.

5. Shooting outdoors? Say it's 7pm, sun's down - shoot 1/80 or faster with visible. If the sun's still up and visible in your shot, shoot at least 1/100, if not faster.

6. Shoot people you don't know. Know the bride? Good job. Shoot people you don't know. 

7. Get more close-ups. I know you love the epic landscape. Shoot close-ups anyway.

8. Get some cool shots of the bride and groom. Bride looking away, Groom looking at camera.

9. Need the pastor to move for a cool shot? Have him practice getting out of the way during the rehearsal.

10. Get some shots of the B and G not smiling. Go all arty.

11. MOVE. Eye level is great. So is ground level. So is bird's eye view.

12. You think 1/160 is good enough to shoot dancing? Think again. Think faster. 

Want the basics, like ALWAYS HAVE A SECOND CAMERA, or more from experts? 

Read up like this or this.

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Finale

centerpiece

bouquet

sunset after setup

let them eat cake!

new name

getaway dress

getting ready at the church

exchanging letters
In case you missed part of the series: 
Part 1, Rehearsal  
Part 2, Bride and Groom
Part 3, Wedding Party
Part 4, Ceremony
Part 5,  Wedding Party
Part 6, Bride and Groom
Part 7,  Reception

mr. & mrs.
Best wishes to the happy couple!

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 7


The mother-son dance warmed things up, and the guests took it from there :)



Can you believe I got that shot? Me neither :)





The football is the small yellow smudge at the top of the tall tree in the second shot (right, above).




Cowboy boots abound - cupid shuffle to cha cha slide and back to country...


I'll finish this out tomorrow, for real. Just a few still lives you have to see!

Missed part 6? Why'dja do that? ;)

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 4


You know the shot you want to get, and the moment you realize you didn't get it? I've been going through that this week. Then I went back to my files today and find that I *did* get it, above. You don't get those moments every day, friends - what you thought was lost was never lost at all. 

I've added a few gems from the ceremony below. I'll be trying to keep myself to a theme each day for the rest of the week. If all goes well, we'll have some wedding party shots ready tomorrow...




People loved this, still laughing as the flower girls finish their walk down the aisle :)



I'm realizing that I love epic photography. 
I want the Moment, 
the expansiveness of the church where all lines lead to and focus on 
the bride, 
making her entrance. 

If only I'd shot this in manual. How'd we get down to ISO 1600 when we're at 5.6? C'mon. Open it up.

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 2


So happy to be part of my cousin Elise's wedding this weekend! Congratulations to the happy couple! 

We managed to miss the rain twice - it started coming down just as wedding party pictures were wrapping up, then cleared up for the reception and began seconds after the bride and groom departed. This photographer was more than happy to work with the epic storm clouds in this bridal shoot :)

See part 1 from this weekend here - stay tuned for more this week!