Capturing Life in All its Radiant Moments

When we meet with couples for the first time, we share a little about us and how we got to where we are. We are story-tellers, both in our personal lives, and with our camera. It’s just how we live life. Over the past year, we’ve had a a lot of couples asking about our style. As a college kid, I used to say “I aim to capture life in all its radiant moments.”

Now in 2015, now that we have a better idea of our client, who we are and who we want to be, we tell people we are photojournalists and storytellers. Here’s the wikipedia version.
 
Much like a photographer for the media, wedding photojournalists present the story of the day through their photographs. A wedding photojournalist typically captures emotion, detail, candid moments, precious interactions, and more. Totally us. Many photographers use formal posing techniques and studio lights. That’s not us.

We personally don’t have relationship with all the guests or the family that attend the weddings we photograph, but our brides and grooms do. So to us, those people and interactions are just as significant.

Here’s example one. Meet Sarah. She is a friend and one of our 2014 destination brides. Sarah’s mom is not her biological mom but Sarah was raised by this woman. Capturing this meant the world to the client, though we weren’t very close to her mom.

On a wedding day, we are on the look out for those moments that need to be caught. Like shooting stars. Our personal favorites are the images of our clients and their family in moments that are not posed, but captured. These our our “blink of an eye” moments.

Here’s example two. Marybeth was one of our PA brides from last year. Marybeth’s step dad surprised her with a limo as the ride to and from the ceremony. This was her reaction upon seeing it when she walked out. Priceless.  An image like this will forever remind Marybeth of her step dad, her wedding day, and the validation her step dad will feel forever, knowing he made her wedding day even better.

These are the moments that we aim to capture, that may be lost in a moment/blink of an eye. It wasn’t planned, by either party, us or Marybeth. It’s just… happened. And we… well we caught it.

That’s what we are good at.

I do have to say, the first photo book I made to show a lot of our work, Patrick said “where are the people?” Opps…  I have an obsession with details… that post coming later. Incorporating details matters. If you’re like me, I love color, love textures, and more.

Moving on, I do get giddy and excited watching the bride and groom walking towards each other, I fall in love with my husband all over again. That’s when I’ll look over to my hubby and give him a wink (…and then I focus right back on what’s happening at the wedding!!).

When we are capturing details and moments that the bride and groom have together, we aim to find light. Finding the light is crucial on a wedding day. Prior to the wedding day, we work with our clients to create photo timelines, and using Pinterest, visual inspiration, and the desires of the client, we can pick out the best places for a couples portraits sessions at the venue. On the wedding day, we give some instruction to the couple, and then let them be themselves. Those candid photos just happen. They might be soft kisses, whispers of sweetness, small touches, and intimate looks.

In these moments, we can capture genuine care and extravagant love. There is nothing on the planet like the feelings two people feel in the moment of knowing they are one. I know it, because I got married, and still get butterflies when my husband walks through the door. Our goal is to capture this, the candid laughs and giggles, and all the goodness of the day.

Hope this paints a great picture of how we do what we do… and why we what we do.