I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot a wedding a few weekends ago for Jacob and Samantha. They were a great couple to work with! Their ceremony was at a beautiful location in Montgomery, Texas which featured an outdoor area for the wedding and a large indoor reception area with towering ceilings.
We photographed the bride opening the large doors to the outside area, framing her in the sunlight, which I thought turned out very nicely.
This was an unapoligetically “country” wedding, with the groom’s side wearing camouflage cummerbunds and vests. The bride even wore a pair of brown leather boots under her dress! The groom’s cake featured a fishing boat, complete with the trusty family dog by its side. Very cool details!
The ceremony itself was at 3 p.m., and I did not envy any one of the groomsmen in their full tuxedos. Everyone was a trooper though, and the ceremony went off without a hitch. Both the bride and groom were very relaxed, and it really does show in the photos. For their couples shots, they thought of the poses on the fly and cycled through them one by one. I was lucky to be able to keep up! It was great that they knew what they wanted, though.
Shooting outside was surprisingly good, even with the direct afternoon sunlight. The colors all popped very well. Inside was a bit tougher, however. The reception area was all cedar, with ceilings that must have been 20 feet high, at least. The orange lighting and high ceilings wreaked havoc on my flash and white balance, which took a bit of messing around with to get to acceptable levels. For a few shots, I tried cross lighting with two mounted flashes. The results were very good when the subjects were centered directly in the middle of the light’s path, but it was a bit fiddly and hot/cold. It was fun to try, but I’m not sure how reliable it really is.
The reception was a big success, and everyone had a great time. Towards the end, there was an auction for “Harry’s Home Brew”, a vicous concoction made by Uncle Harry himself. He was quite a character, and loved telling stories about the potency of his brew. I grabbed a quick shot of him, which quickly became one of my favorites of the set – he’s got loads of character!
As people slowly started to leave and the atmosphere calmed down a bit, I was able to capture some of the quieter moments. Guests dancing, both the mother and son and the father and the bride having one last dance while the christmas lights overhead produced a dreamy white glow. It was all very nice.
Shortly thereafter, in a shower of birdseed, they were gone!
It was a great time, and Jacob and Samantha were a lot of fun to work with. I wish them the best!