My First Wedding
This is basically a story of my first “professional” wedding I’ve ever photographed.
As a designer I’ve always been interested in photography and when I got a hold of my first SLR two years ago I was in love. Throughout that time I’ve always been approached to do a wedding once in awhile but I would always decline because I never believed that I was up to that level of photography. Also being trusted with such responsibility of capturing one of their most important days of their lives kinda scared me.
As time passed I fell in love with my camera, trying techniques, learning how to bounce light, how to compose, and ect. I read up on almost every photographers blog and slowly draining my wallet with equipment and It just made me happy. I soon started to accept gigs to photograph some events and do small photo shoots for people in need of head shots. Then I was asked to photograph an event for Nike and I almost hesitated but decided to jump on the opportunity. I’m glad I did. It was one of the most fast paced and exciting things I’ve ever done. Photographing celebrities as fast as possible making sure I didn’t miss a shot. Climbing scaffoldings, learning how to dodge other photographer. It was amazing.
A couple years ago when I just got into college I use to work as a breakdancer for a DJ company. I was basically the guy they call if the party was getting boring to do some head spins and windmills or some crazy pose to get the crowd back up and dance. While I was working one of the photographers for the event called me over showing me one of the pictures he took of me breakdancing. I was completely blown away. From then on when I went to work I made it a goal for myself to try to talk to the photographers at every party and just learn. They taught me a lot.
The more I learned the more eager I was to actually go do it. Still scared I kept admiring photographers online and soon was just fascinated with wedding photographers especially. I admired the photographers that captured “that moment”. People like stillmotion inspired me so much in how they told their stories. I envied their talent.
Soon 2009 came around and I found myself in a position with an opportunity to do a wedding. It was two of my friends from back at home where I grew up. Two brides actually asked me, Gillian and Tina. I kinda got choked up and asked them if they were really sure that they even trusted me to do such an important day. They told me how much they loved my flickr stream and how I edit and so on. Decided to jump on it…
From that day on I accepted so much freelance design work that slowly I saved up enough money to buy new equipment, and a brand new computer (I’ll show you my baby on another post, that itself is a story hahaha) It was my first wedding and I wanted it to be the best I could. Let me tell you It was crazy.
Wedding day comes and I was a nervous wreck. I kept myself composed as much as possible and again that same feeling came back and I absolutely loved it. From photographing pre-ceremony activities till the end of the night I used every ounce of knowledge I had. Not just about photography but also from the job I had when I was in college. I learned how to hype the crowd up when you needed a great action shot, learn how to stay invisible, and also learn how to yell at strangers… HA. That was the most important tip I got from those photographers I learned from. To never be afraid to raise your voice to make people listen to you because if you don’t they’ll never listen and you’ll never get that group shot. Learning how to get people into one spot and teaching a group when to pose while prying them away from their salad was definitely a learning experience I’m glad I had in the past.
Overall the wedding was amazing and as “stupid” as this going to sound to a lot of my guy friends, I loved doing it and it just fills that hopeless romantic in me with some joy. Cmon how could you not smile when two people are in love? Anyways I won’t bore you to much with my story and my lack of knowledge of the english grammer. I’ll just delight you with some pictures from that day! Enjoy and expect some more! Remember I said 2 brides asked me. hahaha
June 28th, 2009 at 3:57 am
“Fills that hopeless romantic in me with some joy” !! Awwwwwww how cute! Hahah but seriously you have a really good eye for photography and you got some great pictures out of that wedding! I’m very happy and proud of you! Your photography career’s future is turning out to be a bright one! ^_____^ One day I’ll be your minion and I’ll learn from the best! Dahah
June 28th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Omigosh I love the pictures!! You’re a natural! I already know who my wedding photographer is but he might have some competition!
June 28th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
hey Ray~
very nice photo! I like it a lot!
Maggie
June 28th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
really love the pic of the bridesmaids under the bride’s veil <3
June 28th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
awesome work, my friend & very clever entry title! haha!
can’t wait to see what the final edits look like, homie!
June 28th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
you already know i think these are awesome.
but i figured i’d put it in writing.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
approximately 2 1/2 weeks left for another wedding! are you ready? haha! ur photos are beautiful! just a I expected them to be… =] i’m excited for mine!
June 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Nice job! Love the work man! keep it up!
June 29th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Man, you are really good.
If I had was going to get married, I would totally hire you as my photographer.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:12 am
those are really nice photos considering it’s your first wedding. Can’t wait to see more weddings to come. Did you just use 35mm 1.4?
On the fifth photo down, I can see you in the reflection…and in the photo with the woman in the yellow, how come there’s a lens hood peeking from the right edge?
July 1st, 2009 at 10:33 pm
wow, you definitely should increase your charges! these photos are spectacular!
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Thanks so much for calling me on my birthday! It means a lot to me! You keep getting better with your photography! I just got my camera fixed by the way! (Remember how it broke down in NY????) I wish I was as good as you =(
July 30th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Great work Ray!
Very impressive shots.