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.

This Weekend: Editing, editing and editing

This month business is ramping up for me as I prepare to shoot back to back weddings on the same weekend, as well as several sessions with models donning Auraria campus merchandise.

Beginning today, I plan to close myself off from the outside world as I've got about 1,000 images to process and edit, including shots taken from Julie H.'s bridal fitting earlier this week (see shot above), the dinner and concert held at Tivoli Student Union on Sunday, and my nephew's birthday party (which I had been putting off while I finished editing paid assignment.) If I stay under too long, someone may have to come yank me out (although I fully intend to take a break so I can go play cards at my monthly bid whist game)!

Get the Job Done: Shooting first bridal fitting

Today, I will be shooting my first bridal fitting session for Julie H. I offered this as a free service for Julie as part of her wedding coverage I will also be photographing on May 23.

I'm excited to be able to try shooting this important part of Julie and Joe's wedding because I believe the actual event is more than what takes place during the day of the actual nuptials. It's also all the fun things that lead up to the memory, including the bridal fitting, the dress rehearsal, and even the "spa pedicure" night Julie is hosting for her bridal party. Since both Julie and I enjoy candid photography, she has agreed to let me shoot all of the above on top of the actual wedding and formal wedding party portraits. While Julie will not be having a photographer shoot her small reception being held at a local Italian restaurant in honor of Joe's heritage, I think having these kinds of images will not only widen the "storytelling" I hope to showcase in my photojournalistic style coverage, but also give me some add some dimension to my wedding portfolio.

For the bridal fitting, I am envisioning largely black and white coverage to help promote a sense of timelessness to this wedding rite of passage. Julie has specifically asked for use of selective coloring in my images whenever the subject is appropriate, such as the lovely flower girl hairpins Julie is making herself. She told me the reason why she and Joe hired me was because of this popular image of Teri's Rose.