Category Archive: 365 wedding project

In composition terms this image wouldn’t win a heap of wedding photography print competitions. Geometrically it breaks several rules on that count. But if there were a ‘grab shot’ category, well, maybe it would fair a little better. This is a photograph that describes my photographic approach to reception shooting, which in colder months can often be quite a cosy affair. The grand vistas that frequent the summer catalogue are replaced by nooks and low lit saloons. These are the times I opt for shorter focal length lenses, such as my workhorse kit glass; the 24mm prime F1.4. I can get in tighter, move around in space that can be cramp as guests mingle in rooms that were not necessarily designed for that many people all at one time. Ears are as useful as eyes at this point and mine are tuned to listen for excited chatter, laughter, conversation; expression that gathers what I refer to as character shots. This is an example of that. Their faces are lit by pin spots in the bar and perhaps a faint dab of the back screen illumination from the camera they’re looking at. The girl has noticed my presence, but I don’t think that steals away the focal point of this photograph; the amusement they are receiving from whatever it is they’re looking at. It’s a grabbed moment, though there is a little injustice in that description. It’s grabbed from an awareness of my surroundings and understanding of light (there’s no flash deployment).

BERKSHIRE WEDDING VENUE: The Olde Bell, Hurley