When my niece Brittney asked me to photograph her and Adam's wedding I obviously said yes. After all, how often will I get to photograph a family member's wedding. Plus, it also meant I would be surrounded by a lot of family which would make the day that much more fun, and relaxed. My day began at the ceremony which took place at Lakeview Presbyterian Church.
As guests arrived I walked around and got my usual candid photos and then before I knew it the ceremony was set to begin. Shooting in a dark church can often be a bit of a challenge but this church actually had fairly good lighting. I was sure to stay behind the scenes and keep it discreet all while getting some good natural moments of Brittney and Adam, as well as the guests and wedding party.
Once the ceremony was done everyone gathered outside for a short while and then it was off to the Marina to do all the family portraits. It was mid September when the wedding too place so the weather was perfect. We moved through the portraits at a good pace and also got a chance to get some portraits of just Adam and Brittney by the arch. The next stop was Waverly Park with just the wedding party. We started right at the front of get school. It's such an epic looking building so it's quite easy to get some dramatic shots. My favourite was the one with Brittney and Adam on the stairs in the wide angle shot.
We then moved on down to the park area to get some good group photos as well as some individual ones of Brittney and Adam. From this part of the session I just loved the photo of Brittney and Adam sitting on the bench, just showing their feet. It's little details like that, that I love focusing on sometimes. It's easy to always take photos of the whole body but I always try and slow down and focus on some of the finer details as well.
It was then time for the reception which took place at the Valhalla Inn. The reception was a ton of fun, especially since I was able to sit at the same table as my wife Anne, but also, I was surrounded by so much close family and relatives. The highlight of the ceremony was definitely when all the guests were invited to tie a balloon to their ankle and try and pop everyone else's before theirs was. It was a lot of fun and everyone was laughing and running around.
It was so great being a part a family wedding like this. I was honoured to take photos of people I already knew and a lot of people I was meeting for the first time. From my point of view it looked like Brittney and Adam had fun the entire time and I just hope I was able to capture some of those special moments.
