My first wedding

[mvanrheenen]

Hi all,

I've been away for what seems to be ages. Sorry about that, life got in the way.

A few months ago I was asked to shoot the wedding of my cousin and his bride. I turned down these requests from other couples in the past as I didn't feel comfortable with my own skills and in turn, was afraid of ruining their wedding photo's. But as time progressed, I felt a little more confident in my abilities as a photographer. After a good conversation with my cousin and his bride about the fact that I do this for fun and could not guarantee anything except doing my very best, they still wanted for me to do this, so I did. I can tell you this was one of the most rewarding things I have done in years. I still feel all warm and good inside when I look at the pictures and remember that day.

Now, after 2 months and with consent of both husband and wife, I can share what I feel are the best images I took that day.

Note: another photographer was asked to document the preperations for the bride, so I'm not able to show these.


Mirror, mirror... by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Two souls by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

[mvanrheenen]

Mom's helping by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Go! Your bride awaits! by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

[mvanrheenen]

Tears of joy by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Love by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

[mvanrheenen]

The bride arrives by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Ceremony by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

[mvanrheenen]

For those absent... by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Portrait together I by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

[mvanrheenen]

Having fun at the party by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

More on my Flickr page.

All shot using:

A580 + CZ 16-80
A350 + 70-300G
Sony HVL-43AM flash

Mark

[sury]

Mark,
Good job all around. Tears of Joy, Ceremony, Love and Having fun at the party are my most favorite (in no particular order).
One comment on Go! Bride awaits: the cropped head of the foreground gent is quite distracting. I would not have
minded if the person is somewhere in the background but right smack in front of me, it was more disquieting than
distracting, I should say. Hope you don't mind the unsolicited input.

With best regards,
Sury

[the_hefay]

Well done, especially for your first wedding. I've only done one wedding and that was reluctantly. I was rather overwhelmed with the whole thing and I admire anyone that is able to do it.

The caption for the shot of the shoes is pretty neat. This is not meant as a criticism and I certainly wouldn't have thought of it at the time, but after having that caption bouncing around in my head and enjoying the photograph, all I can think about is I wonder what a his shoe, her shoe shot might have looked like? Anyways, nice job and I really the colors in "Portrait together I."

[Birma]

Love the candid shots Mark. I think knowing the couple and the people at the wedding must help get those intimate shots.

[mvanrheenen]

@Sury: Thank you and I can understand the sentiment about the head of the driver being cut off. I tried to guide the eyes to the subject I was trying to depict (the groom) by using a bit of vignetting and brightness added in PP. Clearly it didn't have the intended effect on you. No worries though, they like it.

@the_hefay: Thank you for your nice feedback. I was pretty nervous myself the days leading up to the wedding, but when I finally started shooting the nerves went away and I was focussed on the job I had to do.

@Birma: thanks and yes, it helped knowing the bride and groom and a big part of the family and friends. Access was no problem, anticipating what would happen and when was the biggest challenge.

In all I shot about 600 images from which I selected almost 300 as the best which I processed for the couple. Never had such a high keeper rate. Processing did cost a LOT of time though, as I have not automated much of my workflow.

Mark