Find Beauty

I was speaking recently with one of my 2012 grooms about his decision to hire me.  He said that he was drawn to my work because it didn’t seem contrived or self-consciously “arty”.  To him, it simply captured the fullness of the experience of the day.  He likened the effect to that of Connie’s wedding scene in the movie “The Godfather”… the way the seemingly casual movement of the camera pulls in the entire scene, encompassing everyone in its gaze and in the process capturing all sorts of moments, large and small, that simply speak about life.

Well, this conversation put a big smile on my face because, of course, that is precisely what I aim to do when I photograph a wedding.  I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing endlessly lately, ever since writing my book, Weddings:  From Snapshots to Greatshots (see link to the left for more information on that). 

The process of writing about my process made me realize just how much this idea of capturing the real joy and fullness of the experience in an organic way informs every single decision I make about how to handle the day.  The gear I use, the manner in which I use it, the input that I have regarding timing, the way that I interact with clients and guests, the way I direct my assistant to second-shoot… all of these things are small pieces of this larger strategy to find the beauty and capture it, without actually disrupting said beauty in the process.  And I’m realizing that THAT is the single thing I love the absolute most about photographing weddings, and the reason that I’ve never been interested in shooting Gap ads and the like.  It’s the pursuit of truth and beauty that lights my fire.