OK, I admit it, that's a clickbait title. Last week I went to Chicago to attend the wedding of my good friend's daughter, who was married to a lovely woman. An actual wedding photographer was present, a pro who was carrying two full-frame Sonys and nosed about arranging portrait groups from a checklist, squatting in the aisle as each begowned woman of the moment glided slowly forward, etc. I watched her work and was very impressed, and I'm sure the happy couple will get superb photos from her. But there I was with my E-PL10, and what better opportunity to PRACTICE shooting a wedding?
Sure, I was no different than every other attendee holding up their cellphone: I wanted to give my friend's daughter and new wife the best photos I had in me of their magical event. But because I'm a photographer myself, I had fun doing it and I learned from it. I like to hope that when the dust settles and they sort through their secondary mountain of "all the friends' photos," some of mine will stand out.
The venue was helpfully very photogenic: a rehabbed second-story space of old Chicago brick and wooden beams, with a showroom's worth of ceiling-hung boutique lights (it's an actual lighting showroom). Attached was a rooftop patio where people circulated in romantic evening sunlight. I also got an unfair assist from the fact that my friend's daughter went to drama school and filled the seats with visually vibrant characters. But then it was perfectly traditional for both young women to appear in exquisite dresses and to radiate the beauty of inner happiness.
I started by shadowing the pro photographer's staged portraits. Of course no one was looking directly at MY camera (save when I gathered and posed my own photos later on), but for this street photographer that's a plus, as it adds authenticity: it's interesting how a fake smile shot from the side looks more genuine.
Unfortunately I wasn't positioned to get good shots of the ceremony. But I did get the cake-cutting, and afterward I was free to circulate (the reception was right there in the same space) and take candids of the couple, the family, and the assorted guests.
In place of flash I used high ISO, and on some photos I had to turn to Adobe Lightroom's new AI Noise Reduction feature, which takes forever and often crashes my PC but does a good job in the end. But I have to say that overall my little Pen Ten, kitted out with the 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8, did a yeoman's job.
As to how well I myself did as a nascent wedding photographer, I'll leave it to others to decide.
As evening fell I permitted myself the unprofessional liberty of a few drinks and began to get experimental with my shots, including doing a few in black-and-white. I don't know that my friend's daughter will like any of the following shots, but I do.
So best wishes to the newlyweds, congratulations to my old friends the proud parents, and many thanks to the family for inviting me to be part of a really enjoyable wedding.
