Congratulations to Becky & Sean

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Arizona Photographer, Granite Dells, Photographing Arizona, Photography, Portrait Work, Prescott, RLC Design 1 Comment

I’m still woozy from the heat exhaustion (kidding….sort of).  But I’m still standing (actually sitting at the computer).  And I know two people who are probably a lot more tired than I am.  Actually, they might be tired, but I bet they’re still grinning from ear to ear.  That would be Becky & Sean.  And I was fortunate enough to have them ask me to share a very special day with them yesterday, and I obliged.

That’s right.  I attended a wedding yesterday…..as the photographer.  🙂

Flowers grown specifically for this event. Whipstone Farm did a wonderful job!

But Rich, you don’t shoot weddings…..what kind of KoolAid have you been drinking?

Grape.  I always liked grape.  But there was none involved, I swear.

Months ago Becky had been given a gift certificate for a 1 hour shoot with me through an acquaintance.  She phoned and asked if she and her fiance (fancy term for Sean) could come together, and I said sure.  We met up for a location shoot…….and we had a blast.  Laughter, cutting up, teasing, great humor, talk of flying staplers……and two people who lit up each time they turned toward their partner.  Their joy is contagious.

At the outset I told Becky in my ever so short “not gonna do it” tone, “I don’t do weddings.”  However, after finishing their official engagement session I made a decision.  If they asked, I would say yes.  The next week when Becky popped by the studio to look at proofs she asked if I could shoot her wedding.  And I gave a very quick affirmative.  As a couple I think they’re pretty rare.  And they’re the kind of people you want to know.

During the ceremony there were several outbursts of laughter.  So I know it’s not just me.  Take a look at the next image and decide for yourself.

The gentleman officiating the ceremony couldn't keep it in! None of us could. It was tough to keep the lens stable as I was laughing too.

Alright, so what was the day like?

It was hot.  We live in Arizona.  And the wedding was planned at Watson Lake Park at 10:30 a.m.  The sun was high, and it was totally doing it’s thing.  Radiating us all, warming the planet, helping plants grow…the works!

The day went well.  All those gathered at the wedding seemed to enjoy themselves.  Big smiles, some tears, lots of laughing.  It was all there.  And like I said above, plenty of sun.

From a photographer’s perspective, slightly stressful.  The people weren’t an issue.  They were all great.  I think Sean & Becky radiate so much joy that grouchy people wither quickly and pop smiles on.  But for me, the sun was my nemesis for the day.  High sun, no clouds, no shade at the location picked.  Hard, hard, hard, hard, hard.

Going for a dramatic look at high noon! The Alien Bee 800 rocked it, and we actually overpowered the sun. And we used the sun too!

Lastolite Tri-Grips, other scrims, powerful strobes, and a few other tricks were used to try and corral the sun, over power it, and just plain attempt to ignore its presence.  We worked with it, and I think we worked with it well.  I couldn’t have done this job without Jodi, Kassi, and Ollie!  You guys helped me fight the sun all morning and afternoon.  And without the second shooter (Jodi) we would have missed some of those must have details.  Great job!

Gotta tell ya, being shadeless for several hours with ambient playing around 87 can get ya.  And not just the photographer.  Bride, Groom, guests…..everybody!  So, we had a list of folks to shoot when the ceremony wrapped up.  Get them in, get them out, get them to a shady spot for water and food.  The bride & groom didn’t get off so easy though.  They got to hang out in the sun extra long with me.  See, everybody else wanted their picture with……drum roll…..the bride and groom!

It was super hard to help everyone keep their eyes open wide. Very harsh light for the day, but we got through!

Becky & Sean were total troopers.  Smiles all over.  We kept them watered so they wouldn’t wilt in the sun.  And we kept ourselves watered too.  Ollie took two trips to the truck for Gatorade and water, Kassi did one water run.  I was cooking!  They were cooking.  The guests / clients were cooking.  Ah yes, summer in Arizona.  Guess we should count our blessings we didn’t do an outdoor location in Phoenix for the day.

The ladies!

Cool, you survived, nobody passed out, and everyone had fun

Exactly.  That is the short of it.

Two extremely nice people got married.  150 people who care about them stopped in to be part of that event.  And hopefully their photographer captured the event in a way they like, and in a way that they’ll look back on with extreme fondness.

And just to keep the sense of humor going along, the last photo goes out to Becky & Sean because I know they’ll get it………

Nothing is ever exactly on time at a wedding.....nothing......Hey, where's Becky?

What’s next for me?

A ton of post processing work.  Sorting and selecting first.  16GB card filled, and a few more GB’s beyond.  Light editing, not too heavy handed at all.  Got all of this in camera very well.  The toughest part of this shoot was the sun and squinting.  Hey, I had sunglasses on and I was squinting too.  Arizona folks!  Big thumbs up to my Alien Bee, Radio Poppers, Canon, and all the rest of the gear.  I’ll be posting more on that this week.

If you’re now wondering, will you shoot a wedding again Rich…..?   Yes, I will.  For a specific type of client.  If I get them and they get me then we’re good.  I’ve got a great team together to facilitate amazing images, we’re dialing in on what I want to portray as my style for this type of work, and if the right people walk through the studio door and pass my interview (you heard me right), then sure, you’ll see this again here.  Got a suspicion you’ll see more sooner than any of us think.  🙂

Alright, off to continue re-hydrating, sorting, selecting, and rejecting.  Glad I’m a Lightroom guy or this would be harder.  🙂

 

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