It’s summer in my mid-to-late 20s, so you know what that means: it’s wedding season! Being invited to take photos at three of my friends’ special days is such an honor that I’ll remember forever, and not only because I have literally thousands more photos of them than anyone else…
June: Liz and Allen
My old friend from Harvard undergrad defected and went to Yale Medical School to meet someone at Yale Law School, which is totally cool. I was tasked as the second shooter to seek out alternate angles at key moments. For instance, during the ceremony I took a moment to sneak into the balcony for overheads.
And while the main photographer did all the heavy lifting, I was free to hang around the wedding party and fool around posing the silly shots.
I am grateful that I wasn’t main shooter this day because boy was it hot that day and I would have been a walking puddle with a camera floating in it.
July: Sharon and Christian
When the pseudo-officiant (they were already married on paper) opens his speech by telling the entire crowd to put away their cameras and leave it all to me, that might add plenty of pressure! Fortunately, when he’s your college friend delivering a gut-busting standup routine and also I’m friends with most of the bridal party, I’m just happy to be there.
What a privilege it is to be part of the crew that makes the wedding event happen, but it feels even more special to be integrated as a familiar face from college days when the couple met.
Also at this wedding I learned that military weddings are a thing. Probably the person most excited about that aspect was the father of the bride!
August: Catherine and Daniel
My co-intern was the most fidgety bride I’ve ever seen. While she’s walking down the aisle with her father, she turns to me and says quite audibly “where’s your camera?!” Well I was trying to be a discreet wedding guest!
This time I was primarily a guest at the party, but one who happens to bring a full camera setup. After all, it’s the best way I know to enjoy a wedding.
Having a pro-grade camera also enables me to immortalize little moments like this:
Congratulations to you all! Hope to see you in Boston or here in NYC soon.