I wanted to take a moment to update my blog with some fresh photos. I’ve been working hard under the hood trying to get lots and lots of wedding photos edited, bear with me!
This is Jacey and Nic. They are a truly fantastic couple who got married recently at The Milestone. The last time I spoke, they were trying to gain custody of some children in need of a stable home. That’s just about the most selfless thing anyone could do and I was so proud that they trusted me to capture their special day!
Here are their engagement photos and I’ll update soon with their wedding!
Madison at the Mill: Alicia & David
Alicia & David
Prologue
It’s 2005. A high school sophomore learns from a friend that there is this website where you can journal you thoughts and feelings and no one you know will see it. This sophomore already had a myspace account but he figured “okay, I’m 16 and I have feelings… let’s give this dang ol thing a shot.”
You may want to sit down for this, but spoiler alert, that sophomore was me.
Little did I know I’d be writing in this website for the next 15 year. Granted, I did take long breaks here and there, but overall, it’s nice to go back and read through. It’s like a history of how I grew up and the experiences I gained. I actually grew close to some of the other authors on the website, commenting on their profile pics and then commenting back. I didn’t know any of them in person which was nice because I felt like I could be totally honest.
Alicia and David
One of those friends on this website was Alicia. She had been writing for a long time and, while I don’t remember how we first connected, my oldest memories were reading about her complaining about nursing school. So, as a fellow student, I could relate! I followed her journey for years, and then one day she starts writing about this guy named David. As a fellow David, I could tell this dude was probably good looking and charming as heck (and probably hilarious like me).
Well, fast forward to last year and she sends me a quick Facebook message explaining that she will be visiting Austin with David. She suggests meeting up for some couple’s photos, although she wasn’t engaged at the time. I’m like “yo this sounds great to me! Let’s do it!” So, unlike 99% of my other relationships on that journal website, I finally met someone in person. Although it was brief, it was really surreal meeting someone whose thoughts you know so well, yet you have no clue who they are in person. I wish I could explain it better, but I’m not complaining. Alicia and David were warm and fun and while the photo session was just a little mini session, it was a lot of fun and the photos turned out great!
More fast forwarding… Alicia reaches out and says “hey yo dawg what up fam, we’re actually engaged you down to fly over to V-town to shoot our wedding?" (Probably not her exact words but that’s how I remember it). Of course, I’m super down… but we had no clue that the world was about to fall out.
February, March, April all pass and we all know the story. Weddings are being reschedule, cancelled… everything is up in the air (thanks a lot Covid). Props to Alicia, for real. She works as nurse AND planned a wedding through a pandemic. I can’t even imagine how difficult it was to juggle those two super difficult jobs. There should be an award for multitaskers.
Anyway, the wedding day comes around and honestly, besides the cloudy weather, everything felt so perfect. Hand sanitizer and masks are readily available. People seems to be in good spirits (I guess they were just excited to be out of the house!) and from what I could tell, were wearing masks and social distancing as well as they could. Hooray!
Well, after a lovely ceremony and most of the way through the reception, the sun comes out. I’m like “dope! As soon as the sun sets a bit more, the light will be just right and we can grab some sunset photos!” I look at the sky and don’t see any clouds coming back soon, so great news! Because it was definitely a bit early for sunset photos, I like the sun to be pretty close to the treeline for the optimal lighting conditions. However, disaster strikes. Clouds come back about 20 minutes before the sun was getting where I wanted. At this point, I’m pretty freaking sad because I risked it all and lost. I am getting ready to tell Alicia that we should just shoot our couples photos while there is still light outside, albeit, cloud lighting.
But then, I take another look at the sky and see a small break in the clouds coming. Did you know that photographers are short term meteorologists? So I run over to Alicia and I’m like “Hey we need to get to the field like immediately because the sun is going to peek out briefly and then go away forever!.” She runs over to David and he replies with “Word homie, I’m finna rock these photos you feel me?” (again, that’s probably not exactly what he said but it’s how I remember it).
So we run over to the field and just as I thought, the moment we arrive the sun peeks out… for legitimately, like 90 seconds. I couldn’t have been happier with the way the photos turned out honestly!
I’m super looking forward to continue following Alicia’s story with David on our new journal website (rip DE…. we will miss you). Okay, onto the photos… enjoy!
Photographer - David C. Allen Photography
Venue - Madison at the Mill
Florist - Endless Creations Flowers and Gifts
HUMA - Charlottesville Makeup Artist
DJ - 804soundz
Cake - Sugar on Top Cakes
Dress - Madi Lane Bridal
Coordinating - Jes Frank Events
Should Your Photographer Use Flash At Your Wedding?
Flash Or No Flash?
The internet has revolutionized shopping for anyone who likes to compare products before purchasing. I can get lost for hours researching a $10 purchase but I’ll be darned if I don’t always end up with a better product/service. And wedding photography services are no exception to the rule. Brides spend can spend weeks comparing different photographers online, asking questions about their style and process.
One concern I did not expect was my use of flash at a wedding, however, I have been answering this question a lot more recently. Not that I feel like it’s a bad thing, I do have some opinions on the use of flash at wedding and I wish the answer was as simple as “yes I do” or “heck no, never!”. But, like many things related to wedding planning, the answer is not so simple.
The Ceremony
Most ceremonies (even indoor) are well lit enough to shoot with little or no light modification.
I think it goes without saying that flash during a ceremony should be a big no no. I’m no expert on every photographer’s philosophy on how to conduct themselves during a ceremony, but I can guess that the general theme would be “be present, but not seen.”
I personally would be horrified if anything I did during a ceremony was distracting to the guests or couple. Yes… slapping on a nice portrait lens and getting right up next to the couple during their vows would result in some stellar images. However, I find no justification for anything that would be such a big distraction to the wedding experience. Of course I haven’t shot in every situation imaginable, so be sure to communicate with your photographer and see what their plans are for lighting during your ceremony.
The Reception
The reception is the time where a photographer can really stretch their legs. The pressure of the ceremony and the formal photos are far gone, and now you can just focus on documenting the evening. Here, is where I feel like flash photography is totally acceptable, and oftentimes can be advantageous.
Let’s start with the obvious benefits of flash photography. Most receptions take place during late evening or at night. This low light environment can be challenging to capture, even for professional grade camera equipment. A moderate amount of flash can go a long way to fill in the gaps that reception lighting often leaves behind.
Another benefit of flash photography can be some unique lighting opportunities. An old event photographer trick is to freeze an image using a flash while keeping the camera shutter open to get some neat looking light trails.
Finally, the benefit I notice the most is just the good feedback from guests in the photo. After they see the flash and me put the camera down, there is almost always a small hug or hooray involved! Without flash, the guests have no way of knowing I’ve snapped the photo and always look a tad confused when I put the camera down as if they’re thinking “Wait, did he actually take the photo? That was too fast….” before I turn the camera around and show them their lovely group photo. So yeah, tell your photographer that using flash during a ceremony is not only okay, but sometimes fun! (again, I know it’s a super weird way of thinking hehe).
Be Careful
Low light image shot with a subtle flash fill.
With anything there are exceptions to using flash. If your photographer is too reliant on the light from the flash and doesn’t use the proper gear and/or the proper camera settings, you can be left with images that don’t look super great. If you’ve ever seen a photo from an instant camera or disposable camera, you’ve probably seen what I’m talking about. The person is brightly lit, but the background is completely dark and looks nothing like what your eyes are seeing. This is because human eyes are still far better at working with low light than cameras, so there are tricks photographers must use to properly represent low light receptions.
My personal trick is to set the camera to as low light setting as I’m comfortable with (without introducing too much noise to the image) and then using a flash to fill in the rest. This results in a nice bright image, but with a background that is still clearly visible. These kinds of photos more closely mimic what the human eye sees.
Conclusion
It’s important to communicate with your photographer beforehand to determine their shooting philosophy. If your photographer seems frustrated or uninterested in answering your questions, there is a good chance they will be also uninterested with making sure they aren’t making your wedding feel less like a fun party and more like like a photo shoot. They may be okay with using flash photography during the ceremony and overusing flash during a reception.
While checking your photographers portfolio that you ask for a full wedding gallery example, scroll down to the bottom of the gallery and see how they handle the more challenging reception lighting situations. You’ll be surprised how many photographers display incredible natural lighting photography, but their low light photography is very lackluster. Your wedding reception is arguably one of the most important parts of a wedding to capture properly, as it is likely the one time you will ever have all your friends and family in one place. It’s not a responsibility that any photographer should take lightly (unintended pun but I’m leaving it in hehe)
Good luck with the rest of your planning!