Our first story is about a Friday wedding that we shot on May 20, 2011 at the Danada House in Wheaton, IL. I’ve slanted this series toward the photography-piece by speaking about the technical aspects of the day. However, if you enjoy reading a genuine story about a genuine wedding, it is my hope that even non-photographers will find this series fun and interesting. I hope you enjoy this series and here’s to shooting better and more compelling wedding images!
In March, 2011, we flew to our nation’s capital to shoot our couple, the awesome Tom and Stephanie’s, engagement images. We had a blast photographing them and their son at all the beautiful monuments in DC. It was during the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the scenery was amazing! In addition to capturing some truly beautiful images, the e-session also gave us the opportunity to get to know the couple and gain a good feel for their style and personality. We immediately connected with them and we knew that the actual wedding was going to be a blast to shoot. We really enjoyed our time with Tom, Stephanie and their son during their e-session in Washington, DC!
On to the wedding-day! First of all, I was feeling really creative going into the day and I had excellent vibes. My wife and her crew at The Smitten Bride Chicago Weddings and Events (www.thesmittenbride.com) were the wedding coordinators, so I knew that the day would be well organized and timelines would be strictly followed. As a photographer, I understand the importance of timelines, because when the day goes off schedule, the first thing to suffer is the time allotted for pictures…every time, all of the time!
Time Check- 1:45 pm, Friday May 20, 2011:
I arrived at the bride’s hotel suite promptly and the mood was infectious! All of the bridesmaids were there, as well as the hair and makeup artists. The bride, Stephanie, was in great spirits and extremely relaxed; a rarity with brides often times on actual wedding days. Kate, from The Smitten Bride, was with me and she began her coordinating magic and I began my photography venture for the day.
First on the list was the wedding dress, which was a beautiful strapless vintage design with great detail. How to preserve the detail while getting a good exposure at the same time? Natural light, yes! I hung the dress from the curtain rail and used a Canon 5D Mark 2 with a Canon 24-70 L f/2.8 lens. It was slightly cloudy outside, so my light shining on the dress was well defused. The shoes, veil and accessories were also shot without a problem. I took a few more shots of the happenings in the room, the laughter, joking and smiles, had a bottle of water and headed out the door toward the boy’s room.
I arrived and true to form, the room was a disaster. There were empty pizza boxes, full buckets of cold beer and clothes everywhere. To date, I’ve never seen a grooms/groomsmen hotel room look like anything other than drive-inn theater. The men gathered in a circle and the father of the groom gave a toast to his son. With that, they all shot a hotel glass of bourbon. I bounced flash off the side-wall with a Canon 580EXII speedlite (that’s the way it’s really spelled, Google it!) and got great images at f/4, ISO 400 at 1/60 shutter. I shot in ETTL at +3/4 flash compensation, which blended well with the natural light pouring through the hotel windows.
The mood was electric in the room and everyone was exceptionally united and happy for the couple. The groom was gleaming from ear-to-ear! Completely awesome! Time to go…
Time Check- 3:30 pm:
The limo comes in 15 minutes, so it’s back to the bride’s room to get her stylist placing the veil into her hair and a few shots of the bridesmaids getting dressed. No time for the getting dressed shots, but I took wonderful images of the veil placement. Stephanie was getting dressed at the venue so it’s time to head downstairs and into the limo. The guys are all gone and the coast is clear. Great images taken during the limo-ride to the venue and it’s upstairs to the bridal suite immediately upon arrival at the venue.
My second shooter, Eric, is at the venue, right on time, and he’s off around the grounds taking formal shots of the guys. Tick-tock, everything is running smoothly.
I have to pee really bad! I sneak away and take care of that, plus “barrow” a diet Coke from the cocktail-hour table that is conveniently unmanned. Back to work! I head upstairs to find the heaven of all heavenly bridal suites; a beautiful colonial suite with natural wooden floors, Victorian furnishings and almost complete wall-to-wall windows throughout every room. The air-conditioning is working exceptionally well and this is going to be a great place to shoot formals for Stephanie and her bridesmaids, while my second shooter sweats it out with the guys in the 82 degree humid heat outside. Ahhhh, life is good, indeed!
A quick test shot revealed a tad too much light in the room, so it’s true, especially in photography, that too much of a good thing is both possible and potentially bad. Not a problem here though, and I lock back on my speedlite and shoot another test using fill flash. The lens ghosting is gone and I have beautifully balanced light between the ambient and fill at f/7.1, ISO 200 and 1/80 on the shutter speed. Let’s shoot!
I chose a beautiful Victorian chair to seat Stephanie and I used it as the center point of every photo in that particular room; staggering in bridesmaids in not too orderly a fashion behind and around her. I like the randomness of the scenes, with just a touch of organization to them. And, let me just say that each and every bridesmaid was beautiful and a complete joy to work with. They were funny, light-hearted, creative and most of all, supportive toward Stephanie. What a great combination for compelling photos! We all had a really great time shooting these.
Time Check- 5:50 pm:
I ventured out to see how Eric did with the guys. We walked to a quiet area away from everyone and put our feet up for a few minutes. No time is wasted while we rest however, so we set a plan on who will be where during the ceremony. I choose the back and he takes the front. To that end, I twist off my 24-70 and twist on my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens. I insert a fresh flash card into the camera and ensure that it’s formatted and ready to go. I take a test shot of the beautiful outdoor ceremony area and again, there is a ton of light that is alternating between being defused by the clouds and direct sunlight. I apply a UV filter to my lens, with little effect. For giggles, I try a circular polarizing filter but it’s too dark and specialized for ceremony images. This is a tough situation here, as I’ll be shooting into the sun. Back on with the 580 EX II speedlite and I drop a new set of batteries into it, as well as another set in my pocket. I set my external flash control to hyper-sync, as I’ll be exceeding shutter speeds of 1/200, if I’m going to have any chance of knocking some of the ambient/sunlight down and getting crisp images with a little catch-light in eyes. Off-camera flash, such as mono-lights, are not allowed at the venue during the ceremony, we have no space to place them anyways and thus, are not in the cards. We’ll have to do this the old fashioned way. Eric twists on a Canon 16-35 II f/2.8 lens (aka The Soup Can) and sets his speedlite to the same settings. He’s the close man. I’m the far guy, sweet!
The DJ begins the beautiful classical music, which means that break is effectively over. High fives between Eric and me, I drain the last of my bottle of cold water and its back to work. My feet hurt…
Time Check- 6:00 PM, Right On Time:
Eric takes the front. I take the back. There isn’t an empty seat left in the outdoor ceremony area and people are standing in back too. Here they come and here we go. The camera’s auto focus system is set to AL Servo; I choose the top focus point for portrait and let the shooting begin. Here comes the groom, his groomsmen and parents. Click, click, click and I’ve captured them all with good exposures in manual mode. I’m at f/5.6, ISO 100 and 1/500 on the shutter. All looks good so far until the sun comes out from the clouds, uh oh. I take a test shot and it’s blown out. I try aperture priority and I don’t like the dim face on the subject I test shot. I have about 7 seconds to get this right, as the doors where the bride’s parents are to come out of are swinging open. I look up at the sky and the clouds are coming back; there they are again. I’m saved for now, as it was only a small cloud-break, and I use my last exposure settings with success. Here come the bridesmaids and Tom and Stephanie’s son in one of their arms. Clouds remain and I pick them up to about half way down the isle, where I turn them over to the capable hands of Eric up front. Pictures are looking great! Moving right along, as the reverend calls everyone to their feet and my wife and Kate open the large French doors from which the bride will emerge. I see the bride standing inside the threshold in the shadows. I love how this looks from out here, but she’s too dark inside the doors to get a clear shot of her. I know there will be a 30 second pause before she actually exits with her father. I’ve got to get this shot! I quickly leave my position and walk into a parallel door where I can get a good shot of her looking out from the inside.
I lift the camera, turn my speedlite off to darken the surrounding walls and door frames, and reduce the shutter to 1/320. I want a ton of light on her and her only. Auto focus mode is set back to one-shot. I take a pot-shot, WOW, it’s excellent. I love her expression as she scans the guests, seconds before taking the walk to her new life and the man of her dreams. She looks so confident, so poised, so excited. I’m out the door and heading back to my previous spot, while switching my settings back to where they were. I catch Eric looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I’m used to him looking at me like that.
Here comes the bride and her father and I pick them up beautifully. Then, she’s off down the isle. Eric is on the spot, hidden but snapping away. All is well and we pick up the rings and first kiss without a hitch.
Actually, there were two first kisses and we got them both! We managed to stay out of people’s way and remain inconspicuous.
Ceremony is over and here they come right back out again, smiling and laughing. All is well and we’re one more step closer to wrapping this one up.
Time Check- 6:40 pm:
We have 50 minutes to shoot posed formal images with the wedding party, two large families and anywhere to the tune of 15-20 other people. And I thought we were going to be rushed. More house keeping to do with my camera and setup.
We waste no time at all. While Eric shoots the bride and groom hugging family and friends, I twist back on my Canon 24-70 L f/2.8 lens, ditch the speedlite and dig out two Pocket Wizard Plus IIs. A fresh speedlite comes out of my backpack, along with my collapsible soft box and bracket. I check the card on my camera; looks good. Battery check on my camera body and it’s hovering around half way. I don’t like it at all, so I pop the door open to my batter grip, eject the two batteries and slide two fresh ones in. Note to self “charge batteries during the reception!” House keeping is complete and we’re all set for formals. Off we go!
Earlier, we scouted a beautiful area on the grounds where we were afforded nice shade and a sunset background with trees behind. Eric holds my soft box and I set basically a 2:1 light ratio, give or take. I have no time for a meter and when Eric offers one, I politely ignore him and continue setting my camera. He gets the picture. Lighting looks good, with just the right amount of ambient for me and a nice aperture for crisp formal images involving large groups. I go with the speedlite in the soft box at manual full power (1/1 setting on a Canon 580EXII) and my camera settings at f/7.1, ISO 400 at 1/100 on the shutter speed. The light is triggered wirelessly with the PW Plus IIs. I pull up the “must-have” formal shot list and we’re all set to start shooting. There is now a huge crowd of family and friends with their point and shoot and kit DSLR cameras from Costco’s Christmas special, but I’m determined to get my shots and allow them to get theirs, as well. Balance, patience and purpose-driven is the order right now. NEVER upset a guest! Moving along nicely.
Time Check- 6:55 pm:
Formals go well and we’re done with 8 minutes to spare. Freelance time with the couple! We whisk them away from the crowd, Secret Service style, and we’re off to grab the beautiful sunset happening NOW! I shoot a bracketed 3 exposure image with the sunset behind, using 1/4 stop incriminates and the soft box lighting. Looks good and should stack nicely into an HDR image in Photo Shop later on.
Away with the couple and Eric and I take another short break. Another new card goes into the camera, I collapse the soft box and grab my other speedlite out of the bag. Fresh batteries go into the speedlite and the Pocket Wizards are put away in my backpack. We’re all set for the reception. Off to my truck and get the photo booth gear. The wedding party is still off in the distance laughing and drinking cold beer outside. We’re all good on time, but let’s hustle up.
Into the reception venue we go and it’s beautifully decorated with HUGE windows everywhere, the cake in the middle of the dance floor and an awesome candy bar in the corner. I love candy bars, wow do I love them. Candy bar later!
Completely different lighting in here, but there is a cool angled white ceiling. I try all natural light with less than desirable results at ISO 1250. Not comfortable with that, so the speedlite comes on. Test shot of an empty table looks great at f/3.5 ISO 400, 1/50 on the shutter and the speedlite on ETTL at +1 compensation, bounced. Perfect! We shoot all the decorations, centerpieces, and the wedding cake. We photograph anything and everything that the couple has felt important enough to display. We also shoot the guests at each individual table. Next is the wedding-party entrance.
Got those all shot and for the first dance, which was really beautiful and heart-felt, I increased my shutter-speed to freeze the action, making up for it by going to ISO 640. Shot beautiful images of all the formal announced dances and now it’s time for everyone to eat, but not us. We set the photo booth completely up while everyone eats. We’re finished with just 5 minutes before the cake cutting so we sit down to enjoy our 5-minute meal. Jennifer and her Smitten Bride team have been kind enough to make our plates; a clear advantage to having the wedding coordinator as your wife! I eat like I’m in a soup kitchen! The DJ, who has been sitting at the table eating and relaxing for the past 20 minutes, asks me to pass him more bread. Are you kidding me? I scowl and growl at him, while chewing like a starving hyena. He gets up and grabs the bread himself; smart move buddy…
Cake cutting is all shot, the dance has started and the photo booth is running like a champ. I love it when a plan comes together!
Time Check- 10:00 pm:
2 more hours to go!
My feet really hurt…
Eric and I take shots of the dance whenever something catches our eyes, and we just basically keep an eye out for anything that looks nice to photograph. Everything is running smoothly and the party is really underway now. I help myself to a slice of wedding cake and a cup of coffee. For some reason it makes my feet feel better, but I’m still eying that candy bar. It’s been completely pillaged by now, but still has much to offer; perhaps later.
I take a few shots with the bridal party in the photo booth and then take quirky shots with my wife and Eric. The atmosphere is incredible here! Everyone is so happy for Tom and Stephanie and it really shows at this party. I’m having a blast! I take time to reflect back upon the day, as I often do toward the end of a wedding. I loved this wedding and the people. Other than my feet hurting, I really don’t feel like I’ve been working for 9 hours straight.
Time Check- 11:00 pm:
I begin dumping Eric’s image-cards on my laptop and complete the task in about 15 minutes. He’s taking his wife and kids on a camping weekend early the next morning, so he cuts out around 11:30 pm. I’m on my own, but everything is pretty well captured and we only have 30 minutes left. Time for the candy bar and it was everything I thought it would be! Ahhh damn! Here comes that whip-snapping wedding coordinator (I’m kidding) so it’s back to work for me!
Time Check- 11:45 pm
Almost done for the night! I take a few more shots of the party and begin taking the photo booth down. 227 images taken in it, not bad and based off some the antics I saw earlier, these should be really entertaining to look at later.
Time Check- 12:05 am:
The music has stopped, people are hugging and making their way to the doors and the energy of the room has disappeared. The happy couple gives me a bug hug and thank you and they’re gone too. Even though I’m always glad to make it to the end of a wedding, I’m always a little sad at this point. I guess it’s because it was such a happy day and suddenly, it’s all over. I take a few seconds to take in the emptying room, the empty tables and the fading chatter of voices outside. I’m done for the night and what a night this was. Beautiful wedding, beautiful people and beautiful images. Success! Until the next one, which is next week, I’m out! I have the greatest job in the world! My feet hurt…
