I was asked to photograph a wedding last summer for a cute young couple. At this point in my career I had chosen not to do a lot of weddings because they were such a huge venture. I was so focused on families and boudoir sessions that I never made a point of even photographing weddings unless they were for close friends.
Alicia came to me asking me to photograph her wedding and when I knew what type of bride she would be I said absolutely. I knew she was going to have a beautiful outdoor wedding with horses and also had a super cute bulldog so that didn't hurt.
We started with their engagement session at Centenial park in Sherwood Park. They brought their little English bulldog puppy Roxy which made for a fun evening. It worked out perfect that she had her trial makeup done for her wedding right before our shoot. She went with Raw Refinement Makeup Artistry who I recommend and work closely with. Steph is a fantastic makeup artist who always makes my clients feel amazing.
Now for the big day.....I met the girls at Alicia's parents house while she started getting ready. My second shooter Savanna with SMcMillanPhotography met me there. Savanna and I have worked together many times and we always have such a great time. The house was packed full of people and it was a fun easy morning. Steph with Raw Refinement Makeup Artistry had a busy morning of makeup that is for sure but once these ladies were ready....look out!
One of my favorite moments to capture is the moment a woman gets into her wedding dress. I think this is when reality sets in and emotion begins. I also beleive it's one of the most beautiful moments.
After an amazingly beautiful ceremony the guests headed to the reception (a hall nearby) while I organized and rounded up family and the wedding party for photos. For those of you who know me. I can be kind of bossy. However this is very important to get the photos you want. Now for the most emotional part!!!!
The bride gets organized and I get prepared to do photos of her and her parents. Her mother comes over and quietly whispers to her daughter that her father was actually not doing well and was leaving in an ambulance from the neighbours since he didn't want to attract attention. Weddings are emotional days and this moment will stay in my memory forever. Alicia broke down. I asked everyone to give her 5 minutes and let her cry. I walked over to her and said "it's ok....cry. Let it out we will figure this out" As I walked away from her I began to cry. I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind. This is her one day! Her one chance for a photo of her and her father on such a special day. You can't just redo this day. So while organizing the rest of the wedding party and family I asked them to stay together. I walked over to Alicia as the ambulance drove past. I grabbed her hand and told her "this is your one day, your one chance, and I want you to have a photo of you and your dad no matter what!!!" Get in the car! We pulled up while the EMS workers were loading him onto a stretcher. Being the bossy photographer I am, asked them to stop for a moment. They looked at me quite confused as I'm sure they have never had this happen before. I had him sit up, and wrap her arms around him. (as you can see from the photos below you wouldn't know that's what was happening) I did have to photoshop his skin color a lot but this moment she will cherish forever!
You can see the emotion in this brides eyes, however what you don't see is while I was taking these photos I was also crying.
Now as I'm sure you are all wondering. He made it through! He recovered and has these photos to look back on of his daughters special day.
This wedding will forever be one of those extremely special ones. It taught me that emotion is ok. That the fact I was in tears made me so uncomfortable and I felt unprofessional. However, it was me. This is also another reason I do what I do. I capture moments! Happy, sad, emotional....whichever these moments are I capture them.
No comments:
Post a Comment