This weekend I had an opportunity to help my friend, Keith Slagerman, photograph a wedding in Elk Grove’s farm country, just south of Sacramento. The family’s country house was on quite a bit of land and was a great venue for a morning wedding. The bride and groom seemed very much in love and the groom was definitely excited to “finally” be married.
After the ceremony, it was off to the tri-tip lunch they had lined up for the nearly four hundred guests. It was a large wedding with eight bridesmaids and groomsman, but it was a lively group that made our job easier.
While we ate I spotted a nursery school door open with perfect light pouring in. There were two little girls eating their sizable portions of tri-tip and chicken and I asked if I could take their picture. Afterwards I went to grab Katie, Phil, and the reflector in my car. I had them stand in the doorway and gave very little direction. Keith helped me this time, holding the reflector to bounce more light into the doorway. I really like the feel of this image; it has an easygoing country look while showing a newly married couple completely at easy with each other.
The group dance shot was a great mix of a little planning and a little luck. I was cruising around the dance floor with my camera gear in one hand and a chair in the other. I was dragging it around the perimeter of the dancers. When an older gentleman approached me and said there was a latter in the hallway, I don't know if he thought I would actually use it. I grabbed the latter and was not shy about plopping it down as close to the dancing mob as I could. The latter became engulfed with all the dancing guests as I made my way carefully to the top. This photo was the first shot after the crowd realized I was there. I made several more photos right after but the magic was gone.
