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In August I traveled down to near by New York City to capture Allison and Chads wedding day. We hit up Central Park and Grand Central Station for couples formals and their ceremony was on a rooftop penthouse! I had a blast, for now here are some of favorites. Full blog post coming soon!
Weddings, I love them, but as a photographer they are a lot of work. This is the first of a mini blog series I will be writing and posting every Friday about what life is like on the other side of the lens as a wedding photographer.
This week I’m going to share with you what the 36 hours before, during, and after a wedding is like for me. For these 36 hours I used a wedding that was 2 hours away, 8 hours worth of coverage, and had three site locations. The images through out the post are not from one single wedding, they just make the blog post look pretty :)
36hours….
2pm: Check in with my couple via email, text, or phone call. This is to see if there are any last minute changes I should be aware of. I also remind them what time I will be arriving, and to relax and have a good time on their wedding day!
3pm: Open my client’s folder on my computer. Have a look at the timeline for the wedding day and make any changes I was just made aware of. Print two copies, one for me and one for my assistant.
3:30pm: Double check my gear for the next day: charge battery’s, clean lenses, format memory cards, sync the time code on all my cameras, few other boring things that only photographers care about…lol
5pm: Finish any last minute gear checks, pack camera bags, and pack lighting gear up.
5:30pm: Shut down my home office, bring all my packed gear into the living room, call it a day and relax!
11pm-7am: SLEEP, very important for a successful wedding day.
7am: Get up, make coffee (so important...lol), make breakfast, check my email over coffee and breakfast (making sure my clients didn’t send me any last minute information), get dressed and ready to rock my clients wedding day!
10am: Pack up the car; double-check my office to make sure I didn’t forget anything (yup not missing a thing)! Time to hit the road!
12pm: Arrive early to the reception location to set up off camera flashes, take test shots to dial in my settings, and make a note of them so when I arrive to the reception location all my assistant needs to do is turn on the flashes and I’m ready to roll. Do a quick site survey since I’ve never been to this location before.
1pm: Back in the car and off to the brides getting ready location.
1:45pm: Arrive at the brides getting ready location. Say hello to everyone, crack some jokes, make new friends, it’s a good time!
From this point on the day moves fast, I mean real fast, what seems like 15 minutes was actually an hour!
2pm: Start making photographs! Typically some getting ready (hair, makeup, the bride getting into her dress (usually I have to close my eyes or leave the room, it’s all good, I totally understand). Details (dress, shoes, rings, etc.), and candid moments. Dad seeing his daughter for the first time in her dress, Mom crying her eyes out saying how beautiful her daughter looks (she does)! This is the good stuff, the once in a lifetime stuff, those moments and images are why I’m a wedding photographer!
3pm: Off to the ceremony location we go!
3:30pm: Arrive at the ceremony location. Now I capture some images of guest arriving, details of the ceremony location, and check in with any officials for the site to learn about any restrictions I was not made aware of in the planning process.
4pm: Ceremony! Again, this is a great part of the day for a photographer because it’s full of raw emotion. The grooms face, as he see’s his soon to be wife for the first time. The flower girl not having a care in the world as she throws flower petals. Dad giving away his daughter, and the first kiss! I love the first kiss! Come on who doesn’t?
4:45pm: Family Formals: This is the hardest point in the day for a wedding photographer, not because the images are hard, but because it’s that time in the day when everyone is looking at you for direction. Luckily for me I like to take charge and always try to have family formals done quickly. This way all the guest can go to the cocktail hour and have a few drinks!
5:05pm: Family formals were done in 20 minutes, everyone is happy! Time for the bride and groom to get their pose on! Couple formals are always fun, and since I typically have done an engagement session with the couple, they already know how to rock the poses like pros (that’s one of the reasons all my collections include an engagement session).
5:45pm: Off to the reception site, time for everyone to drink and get their dance on (not my team and I of course)!
6-6:30pm: Arrive at the reception site; remember those flashes I set up before? Time for my assistant to turn them on, while I go chat with the DJ about how the night is going to flow. One of the first things I do when I arrive at the reception site is make a b-line for the DJ. I want to make sure we are on the same page in terms of the timeline. This is crucial for me to make sure I never miss an important moment during the reception. Detail shots! Cake, tables, place settings, details, details, details! I love it!
6:30-7:30pm: Entrances, first dance, father daughter dance, mother son dance, and speeches. (Not always in that order or in this hour, but this hour tends to move quick and I’m going hard at this point to capture all those moments).
7:30pm-8:30pm: Dinner for the guest. Time for my team and I to grab a quick bite and then back to work! I use this time to capture more details, maybe grab the couples rings and take some more killer images of them, switch out memory cards or lens, and generally get ready for the rest of the night!
8:30pm-10pm: Cutting the cake and guest killing it on the dance floor!
10pm: Pack up our gear, say goodbye to the couple and family, hopefully we made some new friends along the way!
12am: Arrive home! I’m beat, what a great day, but boy are weddings tiring! You would think my day is done, but it’s not!
12:30am: After a shower and change of clothes I usually grab a drink (typically two fingers of Jack on the rocks). Hey I worked hard, nothing wrong with a stiff drink after a hard days work right?
12:45am: I turn on my computer and upload the images from the day! I back them up three ways, and of course need to look at them! Sometimes I get so excited I start to edit one of two for the Facebook teasers I will post the next day for my couple.
2am: Good Night Moon…wait was that a cow I just saw!?
I love my job! Yes weddings are long days, full of hard work, and unpredictable variables, but I would not trade it for anything!
-Nach
In August I had the pleasure of capturing Red and Jess's wedding day! All I can say is that it was a kick ass wedding! Here are some of my favorites. Full blog post coming soon!
In July I had the pleasure of capturing Mike and Veda's wedding day. Here are a few of my favorites. Full blog post coming soon!
Nancy and Paula I love you ladies! From the second I spoke to Nancy and Paula I knew we were a great match for each other. The ladies were flying to Connecticut from their home in Tennessee to be married on Jennings Beach in Fairfield Connecticut on their 20th anniversary of being together.
I can't express how happy I am for Nancy and Paula, and all the same sex couples that can finally be legally married in Connecticut (it's about darn time if you ask me)!
We started the day at the beautiful Delamar Southport Hotel. Let me tell you that hotel is awesome! The rooms are beautiful, the staff was super nice to us all day, and the art lining the hallways through out the hotel was amazing! I'm such a sucker for great artwork!
We headed to Jennings Beach in Fairfield for the wedding ceremony. The weather was perfect, and let's be honest who doesn't t love getting married on a beach?
After a trip to Southport Harbour for formals, we headed back to the Delamar for a beautiful intimate reception. I have to say, I loved the open air room the Delamar Southport has for wedding receptions. If you're looking for a intimate open air location for your reception I highly suggest checking out the Delamar.
I loved, loved, loved, their cake, simple yet elegant!
The details the ladies picked for their tables were just as lovely as their cake!
The film photography lover in me loved the disposable cameras for the guest! It's been a while since I have seen those at a wedding, but I loved it, and so did the guest!
Instead of a guest book the ladies chose to use shells and sharpies to leave a message for them. Yup, loved it!
They worked great for a ring shot as well.
I don't know what was so funny, but I love candid shots like the two below.
How cool is this open air room? I like it just a little...
The speeches were beautiful, just like the whole day!
As soon as All The Single Ladies came on, so did these light up rings! Dancing ensued and everyone had a great time!
Thank you Nancy and Paula for letting me into your world for the day. Your wedding day was intimate, emotional, fun, and timeless!
Big thanks goes out to Emily LaRose for assisting me.
Reception: Delamar Southport
Catering: Artisan Southport
Invitations: B Wedding Invitations
Florals: GaryZ of Stamford
Cake: Lovely Cakes
Labor Day has come and gone, children have headed back to school, and Fall is on it’s way. Personally, Fall is my favorite season here in New England; football, cider donuts, foliage, pumpkin carving, Halloween, and turkey on Thanksgiving, it’s just awesome! I’ve loved the Fall my whole life, maybe it’s a New England thing, but even though I’m sad to see Summer go, I love to see Fall stroll into town.
Fall also means I get to do one of my favorite genres of photography: family portraits. I love photographing families because it’s fun! It’s the little kids and all their energy, joking around with Mom and Dad, and chatting about college again with the older kids that makes it fun. It’s all about creating images of you and your family all together having a good time, plain and simple.
I know how important family portraits are; most likely you will be using the photos from our time together for your holiday cards or hanging them in your living room. (I love seeing a family holiday card show up in my mailbox with one of my images on it, that means the world to me as a photographer)! The importance of family photos is why I don’t offer mini sessions, I understand mini sessions, I really do, but they’re just not me.
Mini sessions in my opinion are not the best way to capture your family; you would be one of 10 families coming to the same location, on the same day, and only receiving 15 minutes of my time and maybe 5 images to use. Sure, could I create some great images in that amount of time, you bet, as a wedding photographer I’m use to having less time then that, but that’s not what I want to do for a family session.
I like to give my clients an hour of my time, I let them decided where they would like to have their photos taken, and I spend time crafting individual portraits of each family member, as well as fun relaxed portraits of the whole crew together.
That’s why every year I offer a Fall Family Portrait Special. I know I’m one of the more expensive options in the area, but I love to provide my clients with everything I have as a photographer for an hour vs. a quarter of what I have for 15 minutes. So, if you’re looking for a different type of family portrait session that is fun, relaxed, and only focused on your family that day this year, drop me a line. The Fall in Connecticut Sessions info is below and I would love to create images of your family if you’re interested.
Finding | Your | Passion | Again
"Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate."
- Jon Bon Jovi
Passion is a strong word; it defines one’s enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. For many we lose our passion for what we love to do somewhere along the path of life. Maybe it’s something that naturally fades away as we get older, maybe it’s because we have more responsibilities and have little time to fulfill our passion, or maybe, just maybe it’s the fact that we suppress our passions because it seems like an unobtainable dream.
My passion has always been to tell a story using a visual medium. It started with video production; so much so, I went to college for broadcast design and production. I thought one day I would own a video production house where I would shoot and edit creative videos for commercial businesses. That dream faded when I left college and entered the cooperate world via network television.
Three years into the cooperate lifestyle I realized I was not doing what I set out to do in life and furthermore I had lost my passion for being a creative. I was more worried about my next performance review then I was about creating something meaningful.
I found my passion again when my girlfriend gave me a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens for Christmas. See that little, oh so little lens, awoke my passion, that lens made me want to create again. With that passion alive and well again I set off to start my photography business vs. a video production house and leave the cooperate world behind. Passion is what has driven me to succeed at what I’m doing. If I didn’t following my passion I would still feel lost and confused in the cooperate word.
I challenge you to find your passion again if you’ve lost it, or keep following it if it’s alive and well in your heart and soul. Life is a short journey when you think about how fast the years fly by. Life might have thrown you a curveball or maybe you feel like you have no time to do what you love, but I know you still have a passion deep down in your heart that you need to fulfill. Don’t let anything get in the way of fulfilling your passion in life, be it making photographs, cooking, teaching, and a slew of other things. Passion is what drives us to live a full life, not money, or promotions. So, go do what you love, even if it’s just for you, and no one else.
Wedding photography is a beautiful thing. It’s one of the few genres of photography where you are truly capturing raw emotion and that’s what drew me to wedding photography. It’s the emotion, the unexpected, the love and happiness, the tears in Dad's eyes, the moment Mom see's her daughter in her dress for the first time, the look on the grooms face during a first look, the first kiss, and guest killing it on the dance floor. I love all of it! It's what keeps me coming back for more and I wouldn't trade what I do for anything. Plus weddings are just fun!
I truly love all the parts of a wedding day. From getting ready to guest killing it on the dance floor, I love it all. If I were forced to pick my favorite part of a wedding day, it would have to be the first dance. For me as a photographer the first dance allows me to capture emotion unlike anything else. The stress and anxiety of all the planning has been washed away from the couple and I find the first dance is when you see true love come to light. There are no distractions; it’s only the couple, on the dance floor, in front of all their family and friends sharing what I see as an intimate moment. Laughter, crying, smiles, and love, it’s just plain awesome!