Bear Talk #25: Wedding Photography Through the Eyes of a Videographer.

I have filmed numerous weddings within the past few years, but photographing them always seemed so foreign and slightly intimidating to me. Video was more about capturing the reality of the event and true moments in time. I think my favorite part about video is that you can capture all of the emotions of the day in about 3 minutes with just music and clips. Dialogue is not a necessity. To capture that in photographs seems like much more of a challenge since it is a less dynamic art form. I have a huge amount of respect for wedding photographers and their creativity.

I had photographed a few weddings before in between my filming of them just to get a few captures that I personally found intriguing to me, but was never asked to be the main photographer for the event before. I was asked to professionally photograph my first wedding last October and I was a little hesitant to accept the offer. I always told myself “well I am a video guy and I should probably just stick to that, but I know I have the skills to photograph a wedding if I had to.” After hearing that it would be a fairly small gathering and a short ceremony, I figured I would be stupid to pass up this kind of first time opportunity to prove myself that I could not only do it, but do it extremely well. I would have the chance to see my strengths and my weaknesses.

That is what I love about journalistic style filming or documentary work if you will. Capturing something that will only happen once or at least play out in that exact same manner, is a window to see how well we can handle our skills under pressure and deliver a great product in the end. After filming my first few weddings I learned so much about preparation, equipment I should look toward getting, and how to approach the events of the wedding that would happen. Tactics, timing, and creativity were key to getting things done right the first and only time.

When I arrived to photograph the wedding that day it had been raining and I was kind of nervous that we wouldn’t be able to photograph outside at all. Luckily, as soon as the ceremony ended the rain had subsided. This also brought about a gorgeous fog for us to work with in the park and along the river. I almost preferred the fog over a sunny day! Beautiful soft lighting and a mysterious backgrounds truly tells the beginning of a two people uniting and starting a new life together into and unknown horizon. I was very thankful that it all worked out!

Overall I am pretty satisfied with how the photographs turned out from my first official wedding photography gig. My skills from filming weddings gave me prepared perception to be on my feet, always think with an open mind, and try to never miss an opportunity. Below are some more of the photographs from that wedding as well.