I do.

Remember weddings? I do.  The bride all dressed in white. She gets shot in the head and survives. Then, she goes on a killing spree to enact revenge on Bill. No? Haven’t seen that one? It’s ok, this particular wedding wasn’t quite rated on a Tarantino level. In fact this is one of the small weddings I photographed a few years back before we all started wearing masks. It was quite memorable too. No guns or samurai swords. Just good old fashioned people preparing their lives for the til death do us part line. Again, no Kill, no Bill.

40%.

I’ve been reading about how 40% of American marriages end up in divorce, but these good folks are Canadian. They will beat those odds and have a happy life ahead of them. So, let’s talk about these shots and the gear behind them. I had purchased the Profoto B2 250 Air to go kit for this event.  These were those small profoto heads where you would need to carry the battery pack like a shoulder tote bag. It wasn’t heavy, and you could power up to 2 heads, but the caveat was that it had to be hard wired to the battery pack unlike the Profoto B 10s of today’s modern strobes. I don’t believe I had the complete understanding of how awesome these B2s were for the time I had them, but with TTL, I knew it gave me a great advantage in this live situation. My assistant was my father, who in his time was a well known wedding photographer himself. This time, he was downgraded to a light tech and seemingly interested off and on for a bit on which direction to point the light. You see in his hey day, the flash was mounted on the camera. Now, I am my own worst critic when it comes to talking smack about my shots. I think the critique starts with the tremendous pressure in getting the shots because there is no do over. That is always in the back of the photographer’s mind. It’s like the winning field goal point attempt in the Super Bowl. You have to be ready and there isn’t an excuse for missing. Just breathe. Steady the aim. Follow your target and when you’re ready, squeeze. I make it sound like a sniper. All the same though because you have to get the money shot.

100%.

A wedding before a wedding. This was that. A small ceremony before the real one planned at a later date in a different venue. Possum Kingdom being the draw here with friends and family gathering around to cheer on young love as they head out for that uncertainty. I was lucky enough to have been invited out and be a part of this wonderful wedding experience. Capturing as much happiness as I could and wishing them the best as a couple sealed together by rings and vows.