I Did Not Leave My Camera In The Car At The Wedding
I’m a liar … and I kind of suspected I would be.
When I wrote a post last year about the times I’d been unexpectedly “drafted” to photograph weddings, I mentioned at the end that Kelly’s son Seth was getting married in May, and I was kind of hoping to just be a guest, not a photographer.
The Accidental Wedding Photographer
So it’s 2013 and I was invited to one of my younger co-worker’s wedding. They had chosen a beautiful location near a lake in central Texas. They had also invited my daughters and their mom. We were prepared to just be guests. Then I got a last minute text from the groom:
It didn’t work out that way …
At one point during the setup and rehearsal the day before I was actually scared that I might end up being THE ONLY wedding photographer.
Seth had a friend who is an aspiring photographer traveling from Colorado (to Iowa) to take the wedding pictures. He was even bringing a more experienced wedding photographer to mentor him.
It was looking more and more likely that I might really just be a guest.
Then the phone call came in that their car broke down and they were stuck in Kearny Nebraska, about 4 hours away. If they made it, they wouldn’t arrive until around 2am on the day of the wedding.
I guess it was good that I brought my camera and a couple of lenses.
Thankfully Seth’s photographer friends did make it on time.
But since I’d already gotten my camera out and ready …
I made extra sure not to step on the toes of the designated photographers. But I did wander around the grounds and sniped a few shots with my long lens.
I didn’t take any pictures of the wedding itself.
There at the venue (beautiful chapel and barn out in the country), my only “non-stealthy” photography was helping out by taking group photos of extended family who were in attendance.
I did get one picture of the bride still in her veil, after the ceremony and before they went off with the other photographer for posed pictures.
But then I really didn’t get my camera out again until about halfway through the reception. I think of the pictures I took there, the ones most likely to potentially get printed and saved are the ones of Seth and his groom’s people, as well as a few other family shots.
Oh, and this one of Seth just after he signed the marriage license.
In the end, I’m pretty sure there’s no way I was going to avoid getting my camera out of the car and capturing at least a few images. Perhaps one of these days I will actually attend a wedding as just a guest … lol, maybe
I’m not really sorry that I brought my camera and took some pictures.
Seth & Jazmin have some additional memories.
And … If nothing else, I’ll have more stuff to add to my portfolio if my friend Chris is ever successful in his quest to convince me to:
Does anybody else regularly tell themselves these kind of lies? Just me?
Every photo tells a story, and stories are better with company. If you enjoyed this post, please pass it along to a fellow explorer. Thank you!
I’ve shot the occasional wedding as a supposed guest. But thankfully not often. The last time was my niece’s wedding, where apart from the professional photographer there was her father, a former press photographer (remember those?), my good self and my wife (we work as a team). My darling niece had a plethora of photos covering pretty much every aspect of the two day event.