What do you think about weddings?
I’ll be honest for a moment…
When I started my career, I used to judge a wedding. I didn’t understand all the buzz and why would any couple want to live thru that stressful experience. Yet, as a photographer, it is a good market and it would be foolish to pass on the possibility it offers. So I went ahead, offer my services and I was curious to see where it would go. Now that I’ve been doing it for the past ten years, it comes to a point where the weddings are something I am impatiently waiting when the summer comes.
…bah you know… wedding…
It will never make sense for those who don’t want to see it. When you think about it, that’s exactly the beauty in it. I often find myself trying to rationalize emotions to see if they make any senses but that’s the thing. Love doesn’t make any senses. When you experience it, you just know it’s right.
Searching for a meaning in a wedding is plain meaningless because it is simply not about you.
When at a wedding, we all have to face a choice. You either try to rationalize it and good luck with that, or you stop thinking about it because the day is not about you. The fact that those two were willing to organize a celebration during the last year just to be able to scream that they love each other is just short of amazing and who are we to criticize it.
It is about emotions…
Today everybody can take a camera and capture what’s in front of the lens but there is something more needed from a wedding photographer. It is not about the pose and the composition or any technical rules you can think of. It is about the emotion in the room when the bride is putting on her robe right before she gives herself to her man. (the same goes for the groom)
What I personally think of all this is purely meaningless and goes in the way of making truly unique pictures that represent them. Artists are often linked with a big ego (hum.. gonna have to talk about that) but in that case, it is the opposite. I don’t think a photographer can have success if he’s trying to control everything during those celebrations. Nothing will be perfect in our perfectionist mind and yet we have to stop thinking about that rule of third that we have been hard working to implement in our head.
Be present, immerse yourself and let the beauty of the day get to you. There is no point in fighting it and the photos will look better.
We all know a couple who seems to have everything figured out. For me, that’s Jordan and Camille and they are my example of what a good relationship can be. When they asked me to be their wedding photographer, I couldn’t be happier.
There is a little added pressure when you personally know the people in front of your camera because well, it is personal but it doesn't take long to feel their excitement and yet again, forget everything, be present and capture what you see. Let the magic do its thing.
So yeah, I love weddings.
