Happy Endings: Weddings

For some time now, I’ve been moving towards getting out of wedding photography and focusing more on people, art and corporate photography. Since the car accident, it’s no longer physically  possible for me to shoot weddings. And to be honest, I’ve never really enjoyed wedding photography because of the stress involved – especially when you encounter a few bridezillas, frenemy bridesmaids and drunk, disruptive groomsmen.

My work style is too straight-forward and no-nonsense for me to put up with high strung shoot situations. I’m also not the type to tolerate rude, disrespectful behavior from any client, so once you get turned off from wedding photography, you find it hard to want to go back to it. Luckily I’ve had 80% positive wedding experiences. It’s the other 20% that does you in. You wouldn’t believe how many bridal party members call you “hey you” despite working with them all day long, or forget to provide a meal for you at the reception, or — my personal favourite — the ones who snap their fingers at you like you’re a dog to get your attention. Anyone who knows me, knows that just does not fly.

For the amount of work a photographer puts into weddings (not just the high pressures on the day of, as you wrangle huge wedding parties and personality dramas, while trying to ‘get the shot’,  but all the editing and follow-up that happens in the months afterward), it’s simply not worth it for me. Physically, since the accident, my mobility and strength to hold a camera up for hours on end is greatly reduced, resulting in a lot of pain for days after the wedding ends. And mentally it can be exhausting. So it seems like everything came together to make me consider this official departure from wedding photography. It’s not my focus, my interest, or the bulk of my work anyway, so it’s not hard to cut it out of my services.

Of course, I’ve had my share of laughter, enjoyment and memorable wedding experiences — I could write a book about some of the hilarious (and odd) things I’ve witnessed at weddings! And I’ve met  many truly wonderful brides and grooms who’ve made me believe in true love again. I’ve shed tears at touching reception speeches, had my heart warmed seeing grandparents on the dance floor, children revelling in the festivities, and smiled behind the camera when you capture that perfect, candid moment. Those are my favourites.

From now on, though, I’ll only be shooting the occasional wedding for a family member or close friend — which brings me to this blog entry today — my last wedding of 2011. It is an example of the type of wedding that I’ll only be considering in the future. I did this wedding shoot for an old friend, Gerry.

He and his lovely wife, Coralee, were such a joy to work with. They were organized, knew what they wanted, planned with me through two consultations, and on the day of the wedding, they were both so considerate of my needs as well as the rest of their bridal party members.

And of top of that, they are both really lovely human beings, inside and out. So thank you, Gerry and Coralee, for being such a pleasure to work with, and for sharing your special day with me. It was a great note to end on!

Here are a few of my favourite shots of my last official wedding:

Well on their way to their Happily Ever After... (C) J Barnable 2011

Coralee at the Queen's Battery (C) J Barnable 2011

The happy newlyweds with the cake the bride's father made especially for them! (C) J Barnable 2011