Get the Job Done: Wedding Rehearsal Outtakes

I know I'm supposed to be relaxing right now a few hours before my next wedding, but I woke up early and started editing. Seeing how much fun Harriet and Peter had during their wedding rehearsal lightens my heart and makes me feel calmness instead of anxiety for how today will go.

















I feel touched by their love and their family support. It's going to be a great day. And hearing Harriet yell at the top of her lungs when she saw me: "There's MY photographer!" and rush to hug me in front of everyone....that's a vote of confidence I can keep with me forever!

Get the Job Done: Wedding Week Roundup

This weekend I will be shooting the long awaited back to back wedding events: Julie and Joe Saturday morning and Harriet and Peter Sunday evening. I can't believe this busy time is finally here.

The buildup was slow with just incremental consultant meetings to make sure I and my clients were on the same page. Last month I shot Julie's bridal fitting portraits. Her twin sister and best friend since grade school were there to share the experience with her.



Last week I shot Harriet and Peter's engagement photo session. Their easy shared laughter and obvious adoration made this one of my best portrait sessions ever I believe.



It was the first time I'd worked with a friend and photographer as my assistant, and I got to experiment with blending ambient and strobe lighting. The results were amazing and fun!



Yesterday, I scouted out the location for Harriet and Peter's wedding, and I will check out Julie and Joe's church on Thursday. And this week I'll be shooting both couple's wedding rehearsals -- one Thursday evening and the other Friday morning.

Whew. I'm tired already. Are you confused yet? Believe me, planning for this has really tested my time management skills. Thank goodness I will be on furlough next week from the day job at The Denver Post so I can rest and concentrate on editing the images. Considering how exhausted I get after nearly every shoot, I may just sleep all day on Monday!

In honor of these great occasions (and my second and third official wedding events to shoot!) I will be blogging all week about weddings and tips for phenomenal coverage. If you have any tried or truisms about this type of photography, please share. While I'm still struggling with whether or not to specialize in one type of genre only, photographers who only shoot weddings really do astonish me because it seems as if it would be difficult to keep from getting into a rut. But I'm learning that each wedding is unique because each couple truly is unique in their relationship with each other and with their friends and family. Wish me luck and success for documenting these timeless rites.

Get the Job Done: Harriet and Peter's Engagement Session

My favorite shot from Kim and Michael's fall engagement session

This evening, during the Golden Hour before sunset, I will take engagement photos of one of my upcoming May wedding couples, Harriet and Peter. I'm excited about this session for a couple of reasons:

1) It will be the first one I've done for a client that will combine ambient light with off camera flash. I started charging my Alien Bee battery pack Tuesday night which will allow me to take one of my AB1600 strobes on location with me. Thanks to attending several sessions with the Colorado Strobist Flickr group, I've gotten tons of practice getting great results from a very simple, my pared down "travel lighting kit," which consists of a shoot through umbrella, a light stand, a single strobe, a reflector and two Pocket Wizards. My friend and fellow photographer Christine will be assisting me with the shoot.

Lately, I've been using my Canon 580 II used off camera with a Custom Bracket and a off-camera shoe cord. So I'm very excited to be taking my portrait photography to the next level. And I'm confident that I'm more than prepared.

2) Harriet and Peter are home bodies, so they have decided to have me shoot them near their apartment complex. One of the things they told me during their consultation is how much they love having home movie nights. I think it would be so much fun to have some outtakes while they are watching their favorite flick on their living room couch!

When I shot Kim and Michael's engagement session during the fall, I loved being able to do some storytelling images explaining how their romance began through a shared love of skiing and bicycling.



For inspiration, I spent the evening looking at great shots from the E-Sessions and Engagement Photography group pools on Flickr. I loved this series of shots from Ryan Richard: