Last Sunday, I met up with Emily and Rick at their apartment to do a quick engagement session, but mostly just to make sure that they were comfortable in front of my camera before their wedding, which is coming up in just three weeks at the incredible St. Francis Hall. We decided to just walk around nearby Meridian Hill Park, catching the weekly drum circle and chatting a bit.
I can’t wait to photograph their awesome wedding next month!
Erin is simply awesome. I first met her more than two years ago at a local DC photography meetup. Since then, we’ve photographed lots of weddings together here in Washington, DC, including some of my all time favorites. You might also remember her awesome proposal last May. Unfortunately, right after that proposal, Erin and Stefan moved all the way to Denver, Colorado. Of course, that’s no reason not to attend the wedding of a friend, especially when said wedding is in gorgeous Breckenridge. A nice perk of being a photographer is knowing that when I’m a guest at a wedding, I don’t have to worry about working, and in Erin’s case, that was even more clear since the photographer she hired to shoot the wedding was Paul Von Rieter, a damn awesome photographer based in Los Angeles. I could enjoy the beautiful ceremony and admire the incredible views, not to mention enjoy the reception the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, on the dance floor with a drink in my hand.
Of course, the corollary of enjoying myself so much was the fact that this was an incredible wedding, and there was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to bring my camera along. I remember my initial plan was to go out and shoot some landscape work. I also remember 5 minutes after getting to the rental house and plopping down on the couch in the theater room to watch a movie with the groomsmen, I realized I wasn’t going anywhere. For any photographers reading this and thinking about what you’re going to do the next time you’re invited to a wedding as a guest, here’s a quick guide:
- Take your camera. Don’t take your camera. Take 5,000 shots or take a film camera with a single roll. This is totally up to you, and as long as you realize that you’re here to have fun first, and take photos only when you feel like it (and when you’ve checked with the primary photographer and are not in their way), you’re in the clear.
- You’re not working. Don’t shoot for your portfolio. There’s a talented, hardworking and paid photographer there taking care of all of that. He also appears in a few of the photos below. If you’re on the dance floor and suddenly see something fun and think about running for your bag and taking your camera out, you probably shouldn’t.
- Did I mention enjoy yourself? Smoke a cigar out on the deck at 11,000ft and look at more stars than you’ve ever seen. Drink too much, Dance and make a total fool out of yourself.
