A couple pictures from Alli and Scott’s wedding
Alli and Scott Get Married
Alli and Scott had a very nice wedding at Crosswater in Sunriver. It was a super windy day. One of Alli’s bridesmaids won my all time “Best Bridesmaid” award when she hiked up her dress and walked into the river near the footbridge to rescue Alli’s veil that had blown off.
A couple years ago I was putting a group of pictures together for a joint website and have a pile of pictures all pre-sized and adjusted for that now defunct venture. More than a few weddings produced a handful of contenders for the site and I discovered the folder about a week ago when looking for weddings to blog about. What I love about these is they’re mostly my picks for the pictures people might love. The group had a few detail shots, which I wouldn’t normally pick for anything except giving to the bride or putting into an album, but they’re included in the mix.
I frequently read the blogs of wedding photographers and wish I had the personality to write flowery prose in a long ode to each and every wedding. But I don’t have that in me for whatever reason. It has something to do with my training as a photojournalist and working as a newspaper photographer for 15 years. My personal goal is to do the absolute best pictures possible and primarily be happy for myself with the work, then hope they couple loves the pictures too. As a photographer I truly believe that’s all any of us can do for a wedding or portrait session. I can only control what I’m doing and thinking while working. I can’t control what any other person thinks of the work and can only hope they love the pictures as much as me.
I’m a photographer first and foremost. When I work I’m usually so focused on looking for the decisive moments of a wedding day that my hearing shuts off. What I’m seeing and experiencing is totally different from what the guests are seeing and experiencing. I’m watching moment to moment and trying to anticipate the next moment. It’s very Zen and makes me very happy. I get into a zone and it sparks joy in me. So please forgive me, as a photographer, for not noticing or writing a ton of flowery language about a couple or how much fun each wedding is. Really wish I could, but for me it’s about the photography. Watching the emotion. Catching the moments. Playing with the light in creative ways. Pushing my creative envelope. Simply and ultimately I’m working on light, emotion, and composition moment by moment continuously through the day.
I do remember seeing them together and noticing the very strong feelings of love Scott was showing for Alli. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. I adjusted to it and made it a focus of the day. She had a very nice smile and was gracious to her friends and family. Another focus of my day. Hopefully they’re very happily married now.
THIS is my version of a detail shot. For me a face with intimate emotion is a thousand times better than a picture of the rings or shoes. This picture happened really fast and luckily I was ready for it.
This was a wedding where I brought my pop-up background and did a veil portrait with it using the Profoto and a big 3x4 softbox. It worked perfectly. I love doing studio quality pictures on the fly because it’s such a unique way of doing wedding portraits.
I love the look Scott was giving Alli in this picture. Her veil blew off maybe a second later. This was part of the “first look” picture series and was Scott’s first look at Alli.
I was happy with this group shot. My assistant, Hannah Mavis, was holding the Profoto behind me and up high on its stand. I wanted to show the sky with the cool cloud. “Best Bridesmaid” award winner is the lady on the far right. Looking at it now I wish they were smiling.
A detail shot of the cake. I enjoyed the creative use of the pinecones. In an instance of the photographer actually being honest: I sometimes have to write down a list of detail shots of inanimate objects to get because I’m so very much focused on light, composition, and emotion in my work.
