I'm not entire sure how people do it. That is, go a day without doing anything. "I did nothing today" they proclaim, at times proudly. To each their own, it is their time and they can do what ever they want with it. Personally, I cant have these days. Evening tanning is too much of nothing for me. I need to have a day full of activity, the more the better. Its been a while since I've had a day where I've actually ran out of things to do. There is just too little time to give it all to nothing.
I had the absolute honour to be able to shoot Yariela and Josephs wedding, not only as my first wedding of the summer, but my first wedding as a lead photographer. I met the couple through Josephs mom, who was the wedding planner and through her I found out that Yariela and Joseph have actually been married for two years. They already had two kids together, and everything was great, however their parents really wanted them to have something formal for the family.
The day started in Maple Ridge at the family home. When my second shooter and I arrive, we found out that they were running a little bit behind schedule, which actually worked well for us because it gave us an opportunity to photograph all the detail and prep shots in a casual and relaxing manner.
Once everyone was all prepped we headed to a near by park for some pictures of the bride and bridesmaids. We were here only for a brief while as most of the wedding party was already at the venue getting ready for the ceremony. As we were leaving, another wedding party arrived at the park to do their photos! What a coincidence!
We arrived at South Bonson Community Centre in Pitt Meadows for the ceremony shortly after. The ceremony itself happened just off to the side of the lobby and with a close number of guests, the whole experience felt quit intimate. During the ceremony, Yariela and Joseph actually walked off prematurely and completely forgot about the exchanging of the rings! Thats what happens when you've already been married for that long!
The reception dinner was held upstairs in a space that was completely planned, organized, and decorated by Josephs parents. I was completely blown away at all the work they put in and it truly shows their love for their children. There were speeches and games before and after a delicious catered dinner which finished off with some fun family dancing.
Once everything was settled down from the days previous events, I decided to approach the couple about some additional photos. Our contracted time was up, but when it comes down to it, my goal is always to capture the best photos that I can and to create photos that are authentic to the couple. There was a nice park outside of the venue, and the light was just perfect, so I asked Yariela and Joseph if they would be interested in some pictures for an hour or so outside. They happily agreed and we set off outside. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to do this because it was there and then I felt that we created some of the best shots of the day. Beyond the fact that the light was good, it was also hugely important that everyone was in good spirits. It was the end of the day, the schedule was pretty much over; there was no mores stress, and everyone had some food to eat.
Overall it was an amazing experience shooting Yariela and Josephs wedding, as well as being my first job as a lead. I cannot thank their family enough for putting their trust into us. It is in my hopes that we can keep in touch as they were such wonderful people to work with!
*shoot notes
Over 75% of the photos were shot on a 50mm prime lens
I brought a flash, but didnt really use it till the dinner reception. I might have been used it only one of the pictures seen above, if any at all
I used two cameras to help save time between changing lenses
I took it upon myself this week to learn Adobe Lightroom after my co-workers told me how it could really speed up my work flow. I used Lightroom briefly in the past before but never really stuck with it because I felt too comfortable with Photoshop. Right now though I've got a rush job to finish and time is very tight so I needed to take some desperate measures in order to ensure that I finish in a timely manner. I went and downloaded the free trial and got to work. It took a bit of initial getting use to as I'm not just using Lighroom to simply edit photos, but the edits need to have the look I like to go after that I consistently achieve with Photoshop.
After a three days of editing on Lighroom I think I can safely say I've got the hang of it. I am by no means an Lighroom expert, but I'm comfortable enough to get what I'm after with it. I still use PS in conjunction with Lighroom as there are just some things that are much easier in PS. In Lighroom I can finish a standard edit in fewer actions as compared to PS with a very similar result. However I love Photoshop for when I really dig into an edit such as in the case for portraits or headshots. The process is like polishing a diamond for me.
This is a topic I'm sure I'll revisit in the future as I really need to push my efficiency and workflow, however I'll leave it at that for now.
-w
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