Capturing a moment
This photo is the definition of capturing a moment. Freezing time during a brief look that says so much about a father and daughter’s relationship. The bride is giving her dad a mischievous little look and he knows she’s going to do what she’s going to do. This wedding had a great dynamic between the bride and her dad. The emotions he showed were so relatable.
When I am photographing a wedding, I do not hear the music or the speeches so I sort of miss out on a lot of what makes a wedding so special to the couple and their guest. I am so focused on my task that everything else is drowned out. The thing I do get though is a hyper focus on the visuals. While I am looking through my viewfinder, I am seeing peoples eyes welling up, lips quivering, I get to see what their words are trying to convey.
When I am looking at these things, I am trying to find the moments. Im looking for the expressions and body language that give that silent story. I get so excited when I am combing through the thousands of photos from a wedding and I see that one that really captures the emotion of the day. I want to give my couples a staple image that can be something they hold special for the rest of their lives. This one Im sure will always be special to the brides father. I know as a girl dad I would love to have this one day when my daughter gets married at 70 because she’s my baby and nobody is allowed to take her away from me.
Wedding photography is, in a way, a thankless job. While everyone else is celebrating and having the night of their lives, we are watching through the eye piece of a camera. We (well we should) stay away from the booze (I do) and stay focused on everything that is happening around us. We watch every speech, we watch every person in the bridal party, all the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts (especially the crazy ones), uncles, cousins, friends, that guy nobody knows. We watch and we wait, taking pictures to document the night, waiting for that tiny moment that we can freeze in a frame. When we deliver the albums, we have so much excitement for the couples to see what we captured for them. Unfortunately, we don’t always get the reaction, the payoff so to speak when the couple sees their photos for the first time. It means a lot when we get feedback. We put so much into making sure you have tangible memories from a day that goes by so fast. We just have to have the satisfaction that our photo is used as a profile pic as a little nod to the fact that we took a better photo of them than their drunk friend at a Jason Aldean concert.
Photos like this one are why I do this. Im always chasing an opportunity to capture something truly special.
