I met Nancy and Daniel at an event hosted by New York Magazine last year coinciding with the release of the semi-annual NY Magazine Wedding Issue. They came by 4 times that day to chat with me and discuss the possiblilty of shooting their wedding. They had said they really loved what they saw but I didn’t hear from them for several months so I thought, well – guess they weren’t that impressed. About 5 months after we met, they called and hired me.
Now given Daniel’s busy schedule I didn’t get to do an engagement session with them and so the next time I saw him was when we were about to “introduce” him to Nancy on the day of their wedding. [As an aside - this is a great moment to capture - the bride and groom seeing each other for the first time - dressed on their wedding day. It's always full of emotion and is a really touching moment that we have the privledge of preserving.]
Anyway, back to the story… Daniel was a bit nervous that day and since I had been with Nancy while she was getting ready I hadn’t really had a chance to say hi to him. When he did see me and I reintroduced myself, I could tell that there was so much going on in his head that he didn’t really see me at all… it was a tense time for him. I like to make a connection with people when I start the day but I believe it has to be on their timeline, not mine.
So anyway, I’m doing my thing and a couple of minutes later he turns toward me and and his eyes catch mine and freeze there – like really freeze – and then his expression changes completely. His face relaxes – his eyes soften, his eyebrows unknit and a smile slowly warms his face. “It’s you!”, he says.
I’m not quite sure how to respond (although I’m pretty sure my eyebrows went up to the middle of my forehead)
“Oh, man, It’s you! You!”, Daniel continued. ” I am so happy we got you! Nancy and I love your work and we had to have you!”
Well I was kinda floored. Who knew? Ok, I felt connected now.
The placecard tree. Alphabetized (theoretically).
A moment. (after they signed the Ketubah)
Nancy’s mom took her down the aisle.
And for the creative photographic purists… there are some effects you can get in camera that even Photoshop can’t duplicate…
But I find I have the need to challenge myself at every event I shoot. And sometimes, the event challenges me too. This time for example when during the last song the band leader tells all of the guests to “quickly gather round, turn to the camera and wave” without so much as a hint of a warning for me. There’s nothing quite like setting up for a group shot of 150 people in a dark venue (with a blue ceiling) in about 7.5 seconds….
But it worked – so there.
Thanks, Nancy and Daniel for the honor of joining you on your wedding day. I was glad to have had the opportunity to connect with you both.
