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.

iheartfaces Photography Challenge-"Photojournalism"

This week we're challenged to tell a story with a picture as a photojournalist would. I call this one "Before The Wedding". It's from a wedding I shot last year. Sometimes at weddings we focus so much on the bride we forget to notice all of the other important players. I like that in this picture we don't see the bride's face. Instead we see the flower girl, the mother of the bride and the matron of honor. And you can tell that each has something different on her mind.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge-"Angles"

"Daddy's Little Girl"From a wedding I shot last year. Check out the other entries here.

Weekly Photo Challenge-"Well Groomed"

This one is the story of two flower girls, one who looked forward to her job and another who didn't. I took it at a wedding back in April.

Check out the other entries here.

Family Fun Fact #62

In 1970 Hubby’s sweet little cousin, B., got married in a small church in the country forcing her bridesmaids to wear big hats and the best floral dresses evah!Someone please call Martha Stewart. I hear she’s missing some tablecloths, and I think I found them.

A Few of my Favorite Wedding Photos

Who doesn't love a chocolate fountain?

A Few Wedding Pictures

One hundred images PhotoShopped. Only 338 more to go!

Hooked

Yesterday, I did a wedding shoot. Oh, yes I did. Six hours of running, fluffing dresses, tilting heads and arranging bodies. I made it home last night around 10:30, parched, completely exhausted...and hooked. It was like driving to 7th street and offering an addict a gallon sized baggie of crank. I loved it. Everywhere I looked there was a picture opportunity. A beautiful bride with a beautiful smile. A head over heels groom. Perfect sunshine for perfect light. A cute flower girl who wanted to show me her shoes and her curls and kept slipping into photos of the grown ups. A two year old in a tux with wedding cake all over his hands and face. And lots of happy, happy, smiling people. The conditions were perfect (thank you, Lord!). I couldn't stop snapping.

Truth be told, I was kind of scared. I am still a beginner. I'm still trying to master that darn aperture mess. The only reason I agreed to do it was because the couple's expectations were so low. Both had been married before and didn't want to spend hundreds or a few thousand dollars on a photographer. They simply wanted to record the day with a good camera and have one really good picture of the two of them to hang on the wall. That I could do. A good time was had by all, and I came home with tons of photos, most of which I think will make them happy, especially after a little cropping and PhotoShopping. It was hard work, and I'm not done yet, but man, what a rush. I can already tell it won't be long before I'll be looking for my next fix....and some extra equipment. Oy vey!

Family Fun Fact #17

We once had to attend a western themed wedding for which Teen Angel was a flower girl. The invitation said we all had to wear western attire. And it was family. So we did. We sat on hay bales in sticky August weather and sipped punch from a bowl with rope wrapped about the base of it. Unfortunately, there were no adult beverages to sooth the trauma of wearing cowboy hats, boots and bolas for family photos that linger in albums years fifteen years later.

Wedding Songs

I’ve been putting together some music play lists and CD’s for Super Cop’s wedding reception this weekend. Once again, he has foolishly trusted his big sister to do the right thing. When will he ever learn? Actually, I’ve been on my best behavior and have put together a collection of appropriate material, ranging from his and his finance’s old favorites to romantic standards by Dean Martin and Louie Armstrong. I think it’s a rather nice mix of stuff that should be appropriate for the occasion. I wouldn’t want to do anything to tarnish the day. It doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted to have a little fun, though. Really tempted…sorely tempted….just to throw in a song or two with a funny title that might cause a few guests to snort Starlight Punch through their noses in the middle of the reception.

Maybe it’s just my immaturity rearing its gnarly head because I think it would be really funny if something like Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On popped up in the play list. Or maybe a little Talk Dirty to Me by Poison. It would be awfully funny to see Aunt B.’s face when that one came on. Since I love my little brother AND I want to stay in this family, I will resist the urge. However, as someone who’s been married for eighteen years, I thought I would put together a separate CD to represent those years of marriage yet to come. Those years when the romance has worn off and you’ve spent time in the trenches battling bills, children and each other and are still hanging on. Ladies and gentleman, I give you:
Marriage-The Ultimate Collection.

1. Bills, Bills, Bills-blues favorite by Koko Taylor. For that never ending cycle of debt that increases exponentially with each year of marriage and the birth of each child.
2. Love is a Battlefield-Pat Benatar. Years 1, 2, 7 and 11 for most folks.
3. A Little Less Conversation & A Lot More Action-Elvis. What you long for after about the twelfth year.
4. Flirtin’ With Disaster-Molly Hatchet. When she reaches for the remote or he dares to truthfully answer the question “Does this make my butt look big?”
5. Chains-Patty Lovelace. Days when you wish you were the recreation director on a cruise ship instead of a spouse and parent.
6. Delirious-Prince. How you feel after spending the whole night wiping up vomit, washing sheets and praying for the diarrhea to stop.
7. It’s All Over Now-Rolling Stones. When you come home to find a new boat sitting in the driveway.
8. You Can’t Always Get What You Want-Rolling Stones. When the boat goes right back to the dealer.
9. Heaven Help Us All-Stevie Wonder. Your teenager gets his driver’s license.
10. Trouble-Pink. Your daughter starts to date.
11. Still Crazy After All These Years-Paul Simon. Your in-laws after about the fifteenth year.
12. Mad Season-Matchbox Twenty. Menopause.
13. Get this Party Started-Pink. The kids all move out.
14. Looks Like We Made It-Barry Manilow. Retirement.
15. I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More-Barry White. How to get through cuts 1-14.

Order your copy here. You won’t find this CD in any store. Act now and I’ll throw in a free “How to Stay Married for Fifty Years Kit” which includes a cattle prod, some rose colored glasses, a few Viagra tablets and a cheap bottle of wine. My darling brother gets a free copy of this and the music we’re playing at the reception…minus the Marvin Gaye and Poison.

Long And Lasting Love

Love is in the air in the Hula family. My middle brother is getting married in a couple of weeks. This is the second marriage for him and his fiancé, so they don’t want a big wedding. It will be simple but special, kind of like Mama and Daddy’s wedding 45 years ago. A month from now my parents will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. They don’t have any big plans for marking the occasion, but perhaps we can fix that. It’s certainly worth celebrating.

As I was digging around in old photos this past week, I found this one. I love this picture.

It captures their relationship, then and now, perfectly. For as long as they’ve been together, Daddy has been laughing and teasing Mama, and Mama has been rolling her eyes at him. Sometimes the roll is accompanied by an elbow to the ribs or a light smack on his arm. She probably rolls her eyes at him more than Teen Angel rolls hers at me, and that’s saying a lot. They are quite the pair, kind of opposite, but quite alike.

They’ve weathered a lot over the years and have really been perfect partners for each other. As a kid growing up, I thought everyone came from the same Beaver Clever kind of family I did. Mama didn’t wear dresses and pumps around the house, but she stayed at home with us kids, shuttled us to school functions, clapped at our musicals and held an office in the PTO. Daddy was the breadwinner, working swing shift but squeezing in time for each of us in between fixing our cars and mowing the yard. We ate dinner together and took summer vacations. I saw my parents bicker but never saw them argue. They never made financial decisions without discussing them. They showed each other affection and always treated each other with respect. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how rare and special that was.

In their silver years, they still treat each other with respect, still laugh at their mistakes and still take vacations together. They have very part time jobs to give themselves a few hours away from each other during the week but enjoy each other’s company the rest of the time. He makes her laugh, and she loves to laugh. Daddy is still teasing Mama, and there are days when she wants to throttle him, but she usually just rolls her eyes, makes some kind of half-hearted attempt at trying to keep him in line and moves on. As I watch their marriage and mine mature, I am struck by how much marriage is really about taking care of each other. I was backing out of the driveway the other morning when Hubby flagged me down to bring me my gloves. Earlier I had scratched his back. Taking care of each other. That’s what it’s all about. The romance is still there, but it flickers and smolders more than it flames. That’s okay. It’s really just a part of the whole equation. Super Cop is still in that white hot flaming part of his relationship. I wish him a world of happiness with this marriage, but most of all, I’m glad he has someone to take care of…and someone to take care of him. We all need that, especially in our Harvest Moon years.