In the words of Take That “I want you back for good”, rather than a person, I’m talking about weddings!
I was hoping that the wedding industry could start moving forward without restrictions, but unfortunately our opening up day has been postponed until 19th July 2021, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it is our final date, but for now it’s great to get back to work even though I’m not sure how I would fit over eighty guests in a socially distant group shot, but i’ll give it a go!
In May I had the absolute joy of getting back to photographing a wedding, after an absence of fourteen months. What made the day even more exciting was that they were good friends of mine, and it was such a pleasure to be asked to share and document their special day. It was strange to be back with all the different restrictions in place. The one that was difficult to get used to was wearing a mask whilst taking photographs. I hadn’t thought about how much my viewfinder would steam up, but after some adjustments I made it work.
The wedding was held at the seaside location of Worthing Dome. The downstairs is a beautiful Edwardian style cinema and upstairs there are a couple of bright and airy functions rooms, with a lovely balcony overlooking the pier. The venue was perfect for a smaller capacity wedding, there was plenty of space without it feeling empty, and it maintained an intimate atmosphere. Unfortunately due to the Covid restrictions we were not allowed to wander around to take photographs in the beautiful old cinema or foyer. We also didn’t have the chance to take full advantage of the beach and pier as it was a rainy day. It was even too much for my trusty rainbow umbrellas. The weather did not dampen the mood of my fabulous couple and their guests. We found some lovely spots in the function rooms to take photographs, and we did eventually manage to run out in-between showers to the beach. The guests were great sports and were happy to pop outside on to the balcony in the rain. Difficult weather conditions can be awkward to deal with, but it can make for some lovely natural photographs that are individual to your day. I love the fact that you can actually see the raindrops in some of the photographs. I chose to not photoshop the rain out, even though it was an uninvited guest I felt it was still a part of their day.
I think that because you can photoshop, I doesn't mean that you should. I like my photographs to maintain a more naturalistic essence to them. I feel your wedding photographs should be as real to your day, and to you as possible. I’m not a fan myself of the current trend in filters. I think wedding photographs should look timeless and could look just as relevant in a hundred years time.
