Last weekend was very special for us as our daughter Kelsey was married to our new son-in-law Mel. My role was to be the “Father of the Bride” – not the “Photographer of the Bride” – so while I took a minimal camera kit along I left it in the car for the main event. I left the photography to professionals and to the many guests who recorded the event – including my brother and his video crew of various talented nieces and nephews, and my sister whose point and shoot camera recorded several of the most wonderful shots I’ve seen so far from the event.
It was interesting to watch some of the methods employed by our photographer Katy Regnier and her “assistant” (otherwise known as her husband Ben) at the wedding. At times the two of them split up to cover different aspects of the event – Katy photographed Kelsey and “the girls” getting hair done and so forth while Ben photographed the guys getting ready (or, more accurately, “hanging around” ;-) at their hotel. But even when they shot together they worked in ways that complemented one another. For example, it often seemed that Katy would work close in with primes while Ben stood back and worked the same subjects with a longer telephoto zoom.
If you follow this blog, you know that while I do some photography of people I’m certainly no wedding photographer, nor do I aspire to be. However, I have a renewed respect for those like Katy and Ben who do this type of photography well. Good wedding photography requires photographic skills, but it is also requires social skills, timing, attentiveness, knowledge of wedding rituals and traditions, and a good sense of when to step in and direct and when to work invisibly in the background.
I will post a few photographs from the wedding here eventually, though because this event was a personal and family event rather than a photo shoot many of the photos will remain personal and private among my newly expanded family. But here is one of Katy and Ben photographing Kelsey and Mel after the ceremony as the sun set over the vineyards below the hilltop winery where they were married. (Can you say “awwwwww…” ;-)
Kelsey and Mel. Falkner Winery, Temecula, California. June 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
I’ll gladly accept those congratulations! It was a wonderful wedding, my daughter was a beautiful bride, Mel is a great son-in-law… and I managed to avoid doing anything really embarrassing at the wedding. :-)
Dan
Awwwww. Congratulations Dad, I mean Dan ;-) The light here looks superb – I bet its a great shot with the fill flash. It must have been hard – but you did the right thing just enjoying the day and leaving the photography to the pros in their arena.