Title: It's a celebration!
Taken: October 15th, 2016 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Shot with: Nikon D-750 camera body,
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens.
Shot at: 24 mm, 1/60 sec at f /5.6, ISO 320
Wedding photography is not an easy thing to plan.
If there's one skill that I've learned to appreciate from my time as a photojournalist, it's that the best moments in any wedding day are the ones you can't script and that ability to be ready for anything is one of the reasons most of my clients hire me.
The thing is, even the things you DO plan aren't really capable of being planned as real life isn't something that sticks to a script or a set order.
Take, for example, Stephanie and Henry's October wedding in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In the weeks leading up to their big day, I spent a lot of time talking to the bride and groom about what they envisioned for their day and how it would go but, despite all of that talking, when the day actually came, the moments that meant the most to me – and to them – were the ones that we originally envisioned one way that went the exact polar opposite.
Whether it was Henry falling trying to get the garter or Stephanie putting Henry's wedding ring on the wrong finger, some of my favorite moments came in spite of what we originally talked about.
Not all of them though.
One of my favorite photos of Stephanie and Henry's big day, and to be honest one of my favorite photos of the 2016 wedding season, is the shot above of Stephanie, her mom, grandmother and bridesmaids popping a mock bottle of champagne during bridal prep.
The plan, on paper, was simple. Stephanie would open this prop bottle and we would photograph it. But as staged as the idea was, when the actual time to open the bottle came, the uncertainty of just what would happen made the most as candid and casual as any on the rest of the day.
I loved the final result of this photo as you can clearly see genuine emotion on all of the faces of the people involved and the laughter that ensued after I showed this group the photo on the back of my camera set the stage for a great day and a great wedding.
Like I said, there's a lot you can't plan about a wedding day. And, sometimes, that's a good thing.