Wedding

Anyone who knows me or has read my blog will now that I do the occasional wedding, and that whilst I grumble about it I secretly enjoy creating photographs that I know will have deep meaning to someone for many years to come.  It is easy to be dismissive of Wedding Photography as a genre, but it is where many of us can make a living with a camera and lets be honest these are photographs that will be seen more and shown more that any art work that we will ever do.  Conversely there is a repetition to the process, the day follows a pattern as do the photos, and convention demands that I take certain shots.  There is a little space for self expression but not very much.

Once in a while, though, something special comes along that brings a new challenge and sense of achievement.  In October last year this was presented by the wedding of my sister in law, Irene to Donal.  They had first met many years ago when Irene was a student and Donal a history professor at the American University in Munich.  My wife even took classes with him.  A few years ago they bumped into one another again, a conversation became a romance that resulted in a wedding.  Heidi and I were astonished, we had Irene down as the resolutely independent single gal. However, there is someone out there for all of us, it is simply that sometimes the wait is longer than expected.

As the family photographer I was immediately on point with instructions to enjoy the day as well as take photos.  Hmmm, I have heard that before a few times, doesn't normally work, but this time it did.  We had a great day.

The wedding came with a few challenges.  First of all, although both live in Munich they are US citizens and that makes getting married in Germany very complex.  After a few months of creative bureaucratic blocking by the German authorities we all headed to Copenhagen, the Las Vegas of Europe, a city that only asks for a birth certificate and passport.  Irene and Donal were going to be married in the city registry office which does not sound like a lot, but we were in for a surprise.  This presented a couple of challenges for me.  Firstly registry office weddings are very short and there is a very limited time to take photos.  The other was created by the incredibly low light in the wedding room.  This meant working quickly in very tough lighting conditions.  Finally they wanted a relaxing day and not to be bugged all the time by a flash gun going off.

The key here was to go with the flow, grab shots as and when I could, almost like street photography.  Balancing flash and ambient light was harder than usual, too much flash and I would blow everything out, too little and I risked hand shake in the images.  Movement from dark to light also challenged my maximum shutter speed on the flash.  I lost a few images to over exposure when the camera stuck at 1/200 to sync with the flash - oh for a decent auto ISO on a Canon DSLR!

But it worked in the end and I ended up with a record of a very special day.

The wedding chapel was a marvelous space, brightly painted with Viking sagas, a celebration of Danish culture and history.  This is the waiting room

and a shot taken from the balcony of the chapel.

The wedding party, a very small group, Irene is second from the left, Donal on the far right.  On the left os my wife Heidi, the other couple are Donal's son and his fiance (they are marrying this week, fortunately not wanting any photos).

We only had 20 minutes or so, so I got busy and captured a few "moments".

Soon the official arrived, looking very solemn in her robes, but a really cheerful happy person who added to the experience.

As mentioned above the wedding room was dark, very dark, but so richly decorated.  Over doing the flash would have been a crime, this was not easy photography.

The only negative about the experience was the narrow spiral staircase that acted as the only access to the wedding room.  It was an old building, but there was no accommodation for any form of disability - we joked it was some kind of Viking test of resolve to climb the stairs, but it was genuinely difficult to go up and down.

These two capture their joy, it was simply a great day

Donal and son

I had to!  I saw the truck coming and quickly yelled at the couple to pose.  They were confused but obeyed, then looked over their shoulders and laughed.  It was a day that definitely called for a Carlsberg - well in truth anything but that watery crap, but anyway the motif was apt.

I had a chance for a few formals, not too many - they insisted on not being too formal!

I always create a book from my weddings and if possible like to have a shot of the rings covering the bouquet.  To soften the image I dropped the clarity slider in Lightroom way down, one of the few occasions when reducing sharpness works

A great day and a record that I know for sure will be cherished for many years to come.

Honestly, I have had enough of weddings now.  I am reasonably proficient as a wedding photographer, not particularly special, but able to do the job required.  I could be a lot better, but that would require doing more than my current 1 or 2 events a year and really upping my game.  My issue is not that I don't enjoy doing the work, I am just not learning very much any more.  If anyone asks I will say yes as I like to help my friends out, but I will not actively seek this type of work.  It is no bad thing to have a decent wedding portfolio, there is money to be made (I still have yet to charge), but it is a huge time sync, especially when already working a tough job.