Wedding photography

[Unrelated update: Act I of Joss Whedon's direct-to-the-Web musical is now online! Check out Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog. Thanks to Kim Phelan for the tip]

I'll start talking about the wedding itself in my next Blatherpost, but first I wanted to talk about wedding photography.

When Rand asked me to be the wedding photographer months ago, I said no. I said I wasn't good enough, that I'd be all weepy during the ceremony, that I hadn't had enough experience, that I'd be too stressed out and actually wanted to enjoy his wedding. With his gentle Rand powers of persuasion, however, he convinced me to at least do some casual photos right after the ceremony, just with him and Erin.



I agreed, of course. Erin and Rand are two of my favourite photo subjects, and I also couldn't pass up the chance to get some private time with both of them at their big event.



Rand asked our friend Walter to also take photos during the weekend. Walter took his responsibility very seriously, and even went out and bought some photographic equipment especially for the event. I mention this because some people at the wedding thought I was the Official Photographer, when Walter took FAR more photos and stayed on "photographer duty" much longer than I did.



Walter will eventually be posting some of his photos in his Flickr page.

Jeff and I went up to Buffalo with Walter on Friday afternoon; Erin had invited me to the rehearsal so I could take photos of the family, but I asked Walter if he could take some as well. I'm glad...the wedding/reception room was the most challenging photo spot that either of us had ever faced. Not only was the room itself generally dark, but it had windows that made backlighting a problem when taking any photos facing that direction, plus there were bright spotlights in the ceiling.



The spotlights were more of a problem for me than for Walter because my style of photography relies heavily on natural light rather than flash. An aside: as much as I've developed any sort of "style" in my photos, I've found that I strongly prefer taking casual and candid rather than traditional posed settings, and in natural light rather than artificial.

Anyway, the family photo shoot ended up getting cancelled, but the rehearsal gave me a chance to take some candid photos as well as get some practice in that setting.



The preference for candid over formal posed, of course, means that I will never be able to work as a proper wedding photographer. Another reason: I don't like being intrusive during the ceremony. If I had been the Official Ceremony Photographer, I would have had to be out front and center, getting in the way of more casual photographers.



Walter felt similarly, so we both lurked -behind- the scene instead of in front. Still, this gave me the chance to watch Rand pacing as he waited for the ceremony to begin. I was already getting teary-eyed by then, of course. I've always been charmed and amused by Rand's pacing habit over the years and I couldn't help but think heck, how cool is it that here I am, watching Rand pace at his own wedding, minutes before the Big Event.

Another pre-ceremony scene that I found particularly moving: Erin's father waiting to lead his daughter down the aisle:



In order to take any proper photos, however, I found that I had to force myself to emotionally detach somewhat from what was going on around me. I found this a HUGE challenge at the wedding of one of my closest friends.



I learned a ton in terms of photography this past weekend. Such as:

- As much as I dislike using flash, I need to get an external flash. And maybe a diffuser like Walter's. Backlighting was a major challenge for me, both in the reception/wedding location and in one of the 12-minute wedding shoot locations.

- Getting the right exposure with a bride in a very white dress and a groom in a very black tuxedo is tough!



- Scout out the photo locations myself ahead of time, whenever possible, so I have a better idea of what the lighting will be like. Make sure there's a good and well-lit INDOOR location in case of rain.



- It's worth taking photos at the highest resolution possible. And I really, REALLY have to learn how to process RAW images (and therefore have a reason to take pics in RAW). I didn't spend as much as Walter in prepping for this wedding weekend, but I did buy two 4 GB memory cards on the way to the wedding; up to now, I've only been using a 1 GB card. This enabled me to take a lot of high-res photos without worrying about space.



- My Sigma 30/1.4 lens is great, but the Canon 17-85 lens came in very handy for when I was very close to the people I wanted to photograph. I'm glad I decided to switch to the 17-85 just before I left the Bridal Suite with Erin for wedding, for example, else I wouldn't have been able to get this shot of members of the visiting nun convention admiring her wedding finery in the elevator:



Or this photo on the way to the wedding:



I had no idea that I'd be riding in the car with Erin and her parents to the wedding, by the way; that was a decision made at the very last minute -- I told them I'd be fine walking, but Erin's mom generously insisted I come with them.

At first I felt awkward, thinking someone closer to the family should be there instead, but then I figured it gave me a chance to take some extra "on the way to the wedding" candid photos. :-)



When we arrived, Rand was out in the parking lot getting something from the car, so Erin's mom asked me to make sure he didn't see Erin. Here he is, waiting for the elevator outside the building.



I acted as lookout, letting Erin and her parents know when it was safe to come use the elevator themselves. We used the service elevator at the rear of the Pearl Street Grill to avoid having to walk through the reception area. Here's a shot of Erin and her parents waiting for the elevator:



The 12-minute wedding photo shoot went better than I had hoped; I was majorly stressed right afterward because of the rain/security guard cutting things short, but I think I did get a few decent shots. I was lucky, however, in that Erin and Rand are great photo subjects -- easygoing and relaxed with each other in front of the camera.

Plus they're darned cute together. :-)

Next up: THE WEDDING.






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Rand and Erin are married!

I'm delighted to announce that my friends Erin and Rand are now married. 'Twas a fine event, and I'm glad I brought tissues. VERY much enjoyed meeting both of their families, and some of their other friends (especially Jen of All Things Jennifer).

I took 1135 photos over the weekend, so it may take a bit of time to cull through and edit. I'll be gradually posting photos to a public set. My friend Walter took even more photos than I did; he'll probably be posting them in his Flickr site eventually as will Allison, I'm sure.



The photo session I mentioned in my last Blathering ended up being 12 minutes long because of rain and the main wedding shoot spot not working out; the wedding coordinator had given Rand and Erin bad advice; turned out it was on private commercial property, and a grumpy security guard chased us off.

The photo above was taken as we were fleeing the rain. :-)

I'll be posting more photos as well as some highlights/details very soon.

Congratulations to Erin and Rand, and thank you so much for inviting me to be part of your celebrations. :-)



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Pre-wedding excitement

I was tickled when my friends Erin and Rand used the photo above on their wedding invitation page, and flattered when they asked me to do a private photo shoot with them right after their wedding ceremony this weekend, before the reception.

I admit to getting all weepy on the phone when Rand asked me; he was very patient :-). And of course I was more than a bit terrified -- these are going to be WEDDING pics, after all, and I still consider myself hugely inexperienced when it comes to doing portrait shots. What if I screw up? What if both batteries suddenly die?

But then I thought well, in that case they'll have to content themselves with the other zillion photos that the many other photographers will be taking. :-)



Anyway, I'm excited. I love photographing Erin and Rand; they're both so great together. Erin's much more relaxed in front of the camera than Rand, but her presence makes HIM more relaxed (one of the many, many ways she is good for him :-). I'm taking more than one lens but will probably mostly stick with my favourite for portrait shots: my Sigma 30/f1.4.

Very much looking forward to seeing these two get married.

And now I'm getting weepy again (note to self: bring lots of kleenex), so I'd better move on to other topics...



Jeff and I enjoyed having Walter, Trish and their kids over for dinner and astronomy last night. The weather was perfect for night observing. We had dessert at Hollywood Gelato; my current favourite flavour is Roasted Marshmallow. *swoon*



Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. Click image above to see a bigger version.

Have a great weekend, everyone!



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Virtual weddings, monster dolls, and Twitter

Thanks to Jen of All Things Jennifer for inviting me to a Virtual Wedding Shower for Erin and Rand. I contributed the cartoon above plus a couple of very silly Photoshopped pics including the real story of how Rand and Erin met.

Only a few days until The Wedding!



I forgot to mention that I made my first stuffed doll! It was a birthday gift for our friend, Helen, and has different faces on each side. I used the sewing machine AND my serger, plus some of the buttons from my Mom's collection.



Sue and Tom came by yesterday to drop off a wedding present for Rand and Erin. They also brought by DVDs of our Balticon concert and children's concert for Allison, Jodi and me, a Grahams Leathers CD ("Graham Leathers Bears All"), plus an extra gift for me: a 'how to live with squirrels' instruction booklet and a stuffed squirrel toy that chatters if you poke his belly.

The stuffed squirrel is both cute and evil at the same time.

Then again, so are Sue and Tom.



Many thanks to Walter for coming over early on Sunday to hammer a steel pole into the ground with Jeff:



Afterward, of course, they sat on the deck and talked about manly things while smoking cigars and drinking beer. Ok, just kidding about the cigars and beers. And manly things, unless you count weddings as a "manly thing." Walter, Jeff and I are driving up to the wedding together.

Thanks to John and Kristen for giving me permission to post this photo I took during Wetstock:



I played badminton with their eldest at the party. I'm pretty sure he thought I was Ruth at the time, but we still had fun. :-)

I've finally caved, by the way, and signed up for a Twitter account. Lord help me.



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Wetstock 2008

Crisis! It turned out that my Super Soaker Max Infusion Backpack hose wouldn't fit my Hasbro Super Soaker Liquidator.



While Jeff fiddled with the connector, Ray was hurriedly arming his and Jeff's Super Soaker Bottle Shots; we were just down the road from the house of Reid and Luisa, where we knew that others were already engaged in the battle...

I ended up ditching the backpack and using two Liquidators instead:


Photo by John.

Ray and Jeff, however, made a triumphant entrance (helmets from Toys'R'Us):



Photo by Iain.

Jeff later experimented with sugar-free Coke:



This year, part of the watergun skirmishes focused on a large-scale attack. Here, Reid prepares to launch a water-filled balloon at the second floor of his own house:



While Luisa, Jeff, David and others hurled water balloons out the windows:



...As Michael launches a surprise assault from the next room:



Photo by John.

Happily, the weather was perfect for "Wetstock," an annual small watergun gathering hosted by my friends Luisa and Reid. Participants are always warned to bring a change of clothes; as soon as you step out of your car, you're fair game.



The safe zones: on the back deck where people were barbecuing and eating, inside the house (unless you were part of the attack group above) and at the refill stations:



Photo by John.

Below: a young watergun battle recruit receives training:



Photo by John.

Below: creating a mini-whirlpool by walking/swimming around the swimming pool in one direction. When the people-made current is strong enough, we all try changing direction at the same time (it's remarkably difficult!).



I also got to try out Rock Band for the first time! A lot of fun, though I totally sucked at playing the drums. :-)



Below: Jeff and Luisa prep the Mentos in Diet Coke experiment:



I never get tired of watching Coke explode:



Many thanks to Luisa and Reid for a fantastic day!



You can see some of my other photos from the event here.




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