Shout!

So I shot this wedding this past weekend. And it was a blast. And now I have 538 pictures to review and edit. I purposefully didn’t look at them yesterday because I have this issue where the first time I look at a batch of portraits I don’t feel like I did a very good job with them, and I get really critical of myself. Once I start editing them and looking at them closely I start thinking they’re okay and by the time I’m finished I usually like them. I knew I needed to rest a little and clear my head before I touched them or else I’d be a big old mess of despair when I went through them. I think it’s a security thing since I’m so new to all of this. I was nervous going into this because I’m not a professional, and I don’t photograph weddings for a living. But the bride and her family had faith in me, so I put on my big girl drawers and told myself that if they had seen my previous work and thought I was capable of doing it then I should believe in myself just as much. I just ate the elephant one bite at a time, starting with the beauty shop session Saturday morning and working through the wedding party shoot, family pictures and the wedding.

Overall, I’m happy with them. There are several nice portraits of the couple suitable for framing and several beauty shots and fun shots that are appropriate for the book the bride wants to put together. What struck me as interesting though was how much I liked the pictures of the reception. I have to say it was the most fun wedding reception I’ve ever been to. It truly was a celebration. The dance floor filled up on the first song and stayed that way all night. They were still going strong when I left at 10:45pm. Even the bride’s mom and dad who I'm told don’t normally dance burned up the dance floor. There was a rousing rendition of Shout that included mom.
And even grandma.
A great father daughter dance.
And even a little do so do-ing by the bride and groom.

Who each took a turn at solos.
It was a great night filled with lots of memory making, and I’m glad they asked me to be a part of it. Wedding photography is hard work, and I’m sure some brides are not as fun or easy to work with as J., but I would definitely do another wedding. I’ve decided elephant is kind of tasty.