The Convertible Wedding Dress
I was photographing the wedding recently of Jean-Pierre and Mindi at Sand Key Park in Clearwater. I had just started doing the “romantic” pictures when the bride said, “I’m fine to get in the water.”
Now, I love a bride and groom who are willing to get a little wet. It’s just one more chance to get some incredible images. But she said something I’d never heard before:
“I’m gonna take this off.”
Then she reached down and started removing the bottom of her dress.
To be fair, I don’t spend a lot of time researching wedding gowns. I know the basics like Princess Cut vs. Mermaid, etc. But I had never seen a wedding dress with a removable bottom. How can it be that I have photographed literally hundreds of brides on the beach and never once had a bride wear this sort of dress? Is it a new thing?
I love it! How great that you get to change into something short and sexy in two minutes!
More Please!
Dance Pictures
I’ve been shooting the dance pictures for Karl & DiMarco for 5 or 6 years now. Over that time I’ve watched these girls grow up. At the recital last saturday, I got hugged by two girls in college who I’ve photographed every year since they were in Middle School. It’s been wonderful watching them all grow.
Every year, I take my picture with at least one of the groups (there are probably 50 different dances and costumes). It’s always one of my favorite images of the year.
That Moment When…
Last weekend I was talking to the groom at my wedding. He was asking me about different things that I do when working and said, “I’ll bet you see weddings differently than everyone else that is there.”
Well, yea, I guess so. I mean, every job comes with it’s priorities and quirks. You do it long enough and you start to see it like that screen in “The Matrix.” You see the code and not the world. You see a beautiful beach wedding setup and I see that the sun is in a bad position. I notice that the bride and groom aren’t centered. There’s a cellphone in my shot.
But I still feel the love. I still get choked up during the Bride/Daddy dance. I still smile when I see the flower girl.
And there’s one thing I get that no one else gets. It’s like a little private moment between me and the bride right in the middle of the ceremony. It doesn’t happen at every wedding but when it does, it always makes me smile.
The bride will be standing at the alter and happen to glance my way. She locks eyes with the camera for a second and then, self-conscious about realizing that she is being photographed, she looks away… always with a little guilty smile or a laugh.
I love it when that happens.
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