stephen j edgar photoblog

hey folks, Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans reading this! Happy Grey Cup to all you CFL fans - you are a strange lot (check this and this out)!
Wanted to lay down some grub about photographing weddings. Wedding photographers get no respect, do they!? Not from the purists anyway. Nope. For years and years I turned my back on this much-maligned niche. I diss’d it! Laughed at those who chose to do it! Occasionally I shot friends’ weddings reminding people all the while that it was a favour and that I was, in actual fact, a “commercial pro”.

But there was a dirty little secret just itching to come out: I was actually good at weddings…and worse, I kinda liked doing them.

But, with my ego on the line, I suppressed and denied and hid…until finally it was just no USE! I had to let THE BEAST out!!!!

Photographically speaking, weddings are a real challenge. One MUST be on his toes, with finger on the trigger. Your surrounding elements are constantly in flux and you really never know when someone might, just might…blow a gasket! So it’s a little like venturing into uncharted territory…THIS is what get’s me goin’ I am there as an unbiased observer…and fleet-footed dancer, a story-teller for the generations. I am there when two worlds collide and become one.

Baby, it ain’t no tea-party!

Over the course of this blog (yet more uncharted territory!) I’ll touch on my experiences both as a “ligit” commercial shooter, and as an enthusiastic wedding photographer. Can I be both? We’ll see, won’t we? Personally I think it’s a necessity not to limit myself….oh whatever.  Check these out:

Graham and Monique got married at the Eglinton Grand in Toronto.

What a couple!  What a party!!!  This was the perfect job to walk the line between hired gun and honoured party guest.  I loved it!  Being a fly-on-the-wall/paparazzi and enjoying the treats.  Photographically this job was a challenge;  multi-coloured, moving spotlights, lighting an otherwise moodily lit (ie dark) venue meant I was constantly changing settings from shot to shot.  And the way I shoot, baby, this was a second by second occurrence.

Steve and Kate got married at the Festival Theatre in Stratford Ontario.

Again, Beautiful couple and Excellent party as illustrated here in the couples’ impromptu reenactment of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, “Macbeth“…or was it “Midsummer Night’s Dream“?  “Merry Wives of Windsor“????  I’ve forgotten and, for better or for worse, so probably have they.

Another photographic challenge in any case.  This venue was lit beautifully with nothing but white T-lights wrapped around 6 foot branches suspended from the ceiling…very moody!!!  Steve and Kate decided to have my “photo booth” as a part of the festivities which gave them and all their drunken guests the opportunity to try their hand at being thespians even if for just a moment or two.  A standing ovation to you all!

Anyway….that’s it for now.

check out my wedding site

www.celebrations.stephenjedgar.com

hugs

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This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.