A Most Blessed Event
The First Dance
I got to second-shoot my nephew’s wedding in Seattle a few weeks ago. Since I wasn’t responsible for the primary set of photos I spent my time experimenting and attempting to get some unique images. When the main photographer was using a normal lens, I mostly used my 10-20mm or my 70-200mm. If she was using a telephoto, I typically went normal or wide, etc. My goal was to capture things from a different angle (literally and figuratively) and get a different perspective on this blessed event.
For the shot at the top of the post I used my 10-20mm from about a foot off the ground. This was the bride and groom’s first dance and I shot the whole thing from that angle.
The shot below of the groom and his mother (my sister-in-law) was taken with a focal length of 200mm. It was tough getting this shot framed when zoomed in this tight on a moving couple. However, since the main photog was getting the normal shots I just went with it and hoped it worked.
The Groom and His Mother
As it got darker, things got tough. There was almost no light where the dancing was taking place. I shot with my widest aperture (f3.5 on the 10-20mm I used for most of these shots), bumped the ISO up, and then dragged the shutter a lot to get at least some ambient light from the background [I could write a whole post on how I played with flash/ISO/shutter/etc]. Here’s a shot from the dance floor well after dark:
Serenading the Bride
I had a great time, and while I certainly had to cull many images from the set, I ended up with many good images for the bride and groom to enjoy the rest of their lives.
I’m glad to see you had a chance to do this. I was lucky to first shoot my parents’-in-law 50th wedding celebration a few weeks ago. It’s similar to a wedding, if less epic in scale, and I think I did a fine job, learned much, and had a lot of fun. I’d love to get a chance to second shoot with a pro. It looks like you did your family a service and had fun yourself.
July 29, 2010 at 6:56 am
That’s some fine work Michael! Looks like a great event and from what you posted here it looks like you got some fantastic images, well done!
July 29, 2010 at 8:12 am
Thanks, guys! I certainly had fun with it and would love to shoot more weddings.
August 2, 2010 at 9:51 pm
The first image is killer. Such a fun photograph with a wonderful emotion.
August 23, 2010 at 9:54 am
Thanks, Andy. That’s exactly why I like it — it captures their joy IMO.
August 24, 2010 at 9:27 pm