The Moment. - Why a Photo Matters. Pt. 1
This series of short but sweet blog posts will each focus on one image why I love the image and a bit about how I shot it. I'll be keeping in nice and varied so it's not just weddings all the time, but with each one I'll delve a little into the emotion behind the image and what is going on so [hopefully] you can see it as my clients would and build that emotional connection.
I always tell my clients for look out for the strange images I might give them, odd photos which to anyone else might seem out of place or downright weird being in a wedding album, to illustrate my point I'll start with this image from a recent wedding:
Bride clutching a bag, kneeling down among an open suitcase while one of her bridesmaids points and laughs. Why would this be in a wedding album?
The technical stuff: This Image was shot on a Fuji XE-2 with the 23mm lens. F1.4 - iso250 - 1/125th, I usually use spot metering and like a centred composition, this is why the bride is correctly exposed for and not the window behind, I'm squeezed up against the bed behind me and had to jump into this position to get the shot, a second later and the moment is over.
Whats going on? So at this stage of the bridal prep we are about 20 minutes away from the ceremony starting, this are getting a little tight but were good for time and in general everyone is relaxed, relier in the prep we had a minor shoe mishap where one of the bridesmaids didn't have nay but we got a back up pair and our shoe problems were over, or so we thought. Nicole [the bride] was in her dress, jewellery on all good to go, just the shoes, ah the shoes. In the panic of getting ready for the wedding no one could find the shoes and Nicole was sure she must of forgot them, about a minute of high stress followed, the room was turned upside down looking for these shoes that might not even be here. But then as luck would have it while kneeling down in a suitcase Nicole found the shoes wrapped up in a black bag, all good to go, thats where this shot was taken, at the exact moment her emotions went from stress and panic to being relived and happy, something I was so glad I could capture.
Some people don't get this kind of thing, they think why would you want what was essentially a bad moment in your wedding album, well for me the wedding is about what actually happens, of course if the shoes weren't found it would be entry different, but what the couple will remember are those little moments, it is these that will take them back to that day in the years to come, a sort of emotional marker for triggering memories, thats what I always aim for my work to be.
I hope you enjoyed the post, feel free to comment below.
Cheers,
Col-