It is something I have touched upon with previous articles. With this one I’d like to go into a bit more detail on why the reception is my favorite part of the wedding day to photograph.
I remember one time a guest said to me “you must get bored with this all the time…” And truthfully, the answer was no. It is fair to say that the ceremony itself can generally be a formal affair. I tent to drift in and out of the background during any wedding ceremony.
The focus there is firmly on the two people getting married.
With the wedding reception, though, it is a different beast. With the formal part of the wedding day over, this is where the newly weds and their guests get into party mode. And this is where I like to express myself. Usually, I will have an hour or two to get a good feel of the room and the mood. It can take a while for the room to open up. To warm up. Once everyone gets used to me floating (sometimes barging) around, as much as they can, I will start to work on a certain type of image. When the mood takes me. An image where It is always ideal if everyone just gets on with enjoying the day and forget about the photographer.
I’m just there to do a job. Generally, this does not include getting groups to stand up and stare at me awkwardly while I take their picture.
That’s ten a penny in my view. It is not something I have any enthusiasm for. Never have. And no client will every book me to do that.
Instead, I prefer to capture an image of conversations. To capture a group where there may be two or three conversations going at once.
This is a challenge. Often a face is obscured. Maybe another distraction. I wait until everything lines up. As best as it can. It’s not a perfect science. If a scene just isn’t happening then move on to the next potential one
But when it does start to open up I get a real lick out of it. It starts to open up the potential of a wedding reception and adds a depth and a dynamic to a set of pictures. It’s candid wedding photography at its best in my opinion
And when looking at other photographers it is the style of image that always inspires me
