Two weekends ago I was asked to photograph a wedding for a very good friend of mine.
Raphaela was marrying her fiance Lars, and as I've known her since 2002 and done previous photographic work for her, she was pleased when I accepted her offer to be both guest and photographer.
Raphaela asked me to provide documentary style coverage with a few of the "regular" pictures of parents and family etc thrown in. She didn't want the images presented in a traditional album but instead would use an online printing service to make a photobook.
The ceremony was due to take place at 13:00. I turned up bright and early at 09:30 and started my work. The pictures I took at the house included her getting here hair done, getting dressed and leaving for the church.
Everything went well until after the church. I had planned to get some shots of the couple outside the church but it began to rain so we went on to the post wedding Apèro.
After the post wedding Apèro we all headed 58 kilometers to the reception. the weather got progressively worse and by the time I reached the hotel where the reception was to be held, it was pouring down.
To add to my worries, there were no free rooms at the hotel where I could make some nice portraits of the couple.
I explained to Raphaela and Lars that i wouldn't feel that I had done a complete job unless I had some nice intimate pictures of the two of them.
Watching the sky getting progressively darker and the rain getting heavier, I had an idea.
"How about you both just enjoy yourselves tonight and I'll come by your place next week and get some pictures of the two of you?" I suggested.
Raphaela explained that they wouldn't be having a honeymoon until later in the year so my plan seemed like a winner.
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I concentrated on covering the party. And what a party! There were games, an Elvis impersonator, a belly dancer and lots lots more. Raphaela and her guests certainly know how to enjoy themselves :o)
Elvis is on the floor Uh Huh.
Raphaela is a big Elvis fan
Time for Ulrika the belly dancer
Nadja gets to grips with the belly dancer
Everyone enjoyed themselves
Young and old as well
At the end of the evening (which was 02:30 for me), I had shot 680 images with my EOS 7d and the EOS 5d. The next day I looked through them using my Canon DPP software and had to reject 47, due to either the flash not activating or (mostly) Raphaela blinking!
As an aside. In the "old days" when I shot film at a wedding, I would ask my subject after taking their photo, to close their eyes and tell me if they could see purple blobs. If the answer was yes, then their eyes had been open when the flash activated. Nowadays I just check the monitor.
I shoot everything in RAW so my (very simple) workflow consists of pressing CTRL + A to select all the files, sharpen them all, give them all a half a stop underexposure, correct the lens aberrations, convert the lot into 300 dpi JPG's then go and have a cup of tea!
The day of the reshoot was yesterday. The sky clouded over again and for a very short while it threatened to rain.
However, after a short wait the threat subsided and we began our "sequel".
Raphaela told me afterwards that the shoot was much more relaxed and stress free as there wasn't an actual ceremony and guests to worry about. This was evident to me because of the constant joking and smiles.
I used the EOS 7d for this shoot as my EOS 5d is getting fixed. This is a very small selection of what we took.
EOS 7d, 430 EX flash and 28 -135 lens
EOS 7d, 430 EX flash and 17 - 40 lens
EOS 7d, 430 EX flash and 17 - 40 lens
EOS 7d, 430 EX flash and 17 - 40 lens
EOS 7d, and 70 - 200 lens
EOS 7d, 430 EX flash and 17 - 40 lens
I took 121 images of which 107 went to the couple. Raphaela's blinking meant that I had to discard the other 14!!
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment.
