Original subtitles

Okay, so here's the space.

Obviously a lot more spread out than a

typical ceremony due to COVID and obviously super

challenging with the lighting.

It's not great flattering light in there, pretty

flat.

So one of the first things we realized

is that off-camera flash, if we at

least have the possibility to link to off

-camera flash, it's going to give us possibility

for more interesting light.

So one of the first things that I

tried to do before the ceremony started, before

Erica got there, was to have some flashes

in position set up ready to go.

And the other thing, of course, is I'm,

you know, introducing myself to the Commissioner and

figuring out, trying to figure out where the

bride and groom are going to be standing.

Usually not too concerned about it, but because

I'm setting up flashes, I kind of needed

to know because those curtains I knew were

going to cast shadows from my flash.

And so if I had an idea where

they're going to be standing, I could position

them with that in mind.

And I think originally she had them, they

were going to be tucked in pretty close

to the curtains.

And so I just asked her if possible,

if they could move it out.

They had to actually move the mic because

they had it taped down.

But if they could just give a few

extra feet of space between the curtains, it

would allow me to have the flash coming

in without shadows from the curtains.

And she was totally open to it.

We're really kind of just, you know, killing

time waiting for the bride to get there,

setting up the flashes, testing them out a

little bit, doing a few little detail shots.

I always have to remind him to do

that.

Now, here we are leaving the bridal suite

and these moments here are super important for

me, especially on weddings that I, that are

more typical sort of cookie cutter, more by

the script weddings.

I find these transition moments, the unscripted moments,

the moments where they're going from the room

to the ceremony.

There's usually a ton of potential in there

for, for moments that weren't necessarily anticipated to

happen.

Yeah.

But I think interesting, really interesting or unusual

is going to happen.

It's going to be in these transitions and

you can see your dad's losing it here.

And of course the lighting is crap, but

it doesn't really matter at this point.

I'm just trying to, those are all going

to fill the frame with these moments and

they're all going to be turned to black

and white.

Yeah.

So just trying to, you know, keep that

camera up during these entire, this entire time.

I'm back at the venue and he's testing

out his settings.

Right.

I'd gone back behind there to see if

it might be an interesting perspective to shoot.

Maybe some of the processional, maybe when the

bride comes down, I think I ruled it

out, but I was just trying to see

if that would be worth it.

And I stay right, you know, in the

way where the bride is sort of waiting

for the entire time before the ceremony, right?

Because these are when those sort of unpredictable

moments happen.

Trying to layer everyone together there.

Yeah.

So she's out here, I'm inside.

Grabbing these last moments she's having with her

dad.

And then here's the, the processional, right?

So that's generally where you're situated.

Right.

And what, why don't you explain what lenses

you're using for here?

28 or the 35.

It was the 35.

35 and the 85.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was mucking around with straps.

It was a bit of a pain, honestly.

With the camera straps, fortunately, because we were

renting or borrowing one camera.

I mean, you can probably see I'm struggling

with the straps.

Yeah.

And I mean, this is a great place

for Lanny to be because he can get

everybody in the front row here.

And he can also turn around and get

Will's expression.

Right.

And he can be square to Will.

And he can also be square to the

moment when the bride starts to come down

the aisle with her dad.

Yeah.

And I'm basically, I've strategically put myself here

so I can get the shots of the

processional, but also so that I'm where I

want to be once the bride and her

dad arrive for the handoff.

I'm right in the auction.

Of course, these moments, they're awful light, absolutely

awful light, but it doesn't really matter.

Right.

And then I'm setting up to get Will's

reaction through the context of the bride and

her dad going down the aisle.

So you'll see that I follow them all

the way down the aisle in behind trying

to shoot Will's reaction.

And Lanny's quite hidden from my shot because

he's usually behind the bride.

And then of course, Lanny's getting that square

shot.

Yeah.

I'm basically starting with the 85 until they're

filling my frame.

And then I quickly switch over to the

35 as they get closer.

Okay.

So now I'm trying to quietly, discreetly make

my way out of their space, but still

be close enough with that 35 to hopefully

get.

I think he could actually have been a

bit further back.

So you could have gotten maybe, but I'm

limited by the hug and the reaction.

I don't want to run over the groom

or the groomsman there.

So just slowly trying to tiptoe my way

out of their space.

So now we're into the main part of

the ceremony here.

And Lanny usually sort of backs up out

of this sort of front zone.

And I stay in front zone here.

I'm really just testing out what positions I

feel are going to be best.

I like this back position because there's nice

natural light on their faces and I can

get the context of the commission and who

happened to be their aunt in the frame

as well.

Yeah.

And one of the tricky things here is

Eric and I literally didn't even have a

chance to see each other or say one

word to each other before the ceremony started.

Typically we do have that opportunity, like at

least 30 seconds, but that didn't happen here

at all.

So what would have been great is if

we could have both linked to these flashes.

In retrospect, we probably should have, but I

was the only one who ended up linking

to the flashes.

And you can see what Lanny was getting

with the flashes here, right?

So we've got this light over here and

that's the one hitting Will, short lighting his

side of the face here.

And then this flash over here is short

lighting Jenna.

But honestly, I don't think...

It's also back lighting each of them as

well.

But I don't think we would have done

one person.

I don't think we both would have shot

flash because we wouldn't want the whole ceremony

to be dramatically like that.

No.

And I was shooting natural light as well.

And generally speaking, if we do use flash,

one of us is shooting flash and one

of us is shooting, shooting natural light.

And then, yeah, in retrospect, the flash does

look way better, but I still think we

would have stuck with this system.

So basically I'm in this zone here.

I'm between here, all around behind here, behind

the bridal party and up front here.

And that's where I pretty much stayed for

the entire ceremony, as you'll see.

It's kind of hard to watch this, actually,

seeing myself move around.

And also from that zone that I'm in,

I've got really good access to those front

rows, right?

So I'm always trying to get the reactions

of the people in the front rows.

Those are usually the most important people.

Yeah.

Of course, it's not super, super emotional with

these masks on.

It's much harder to get the emotion, but

we're just shooting this like we would any

other wedding.

It is what it is, right?

So we're trying not to get caught up

in thinking about what we wish it could

be or would be.

It is what it is, and so we're

trying to document that as best we can.

And I do keep on coming back to

this perspective in behind the bride and groom

because I quite like it.

The light is better.

They tend to be looking in that direction,

right?

They're looking at the commissioner, who happens to

be there.

And if I were on the other side

of them, they'd be backlit.

And there's Lani's lighting.

And then trying to get that front row.

And I notice if I shoot from here,

I can layer them together, but I'm still

making those little micro adjustments.

You can see I just moved a foot

there so I could get separation or as

much separation between their heads as possible.

Making these little micro adjustments to get that

composition the way I want.

I just moved my body of foot there

to get in the right position.

Same with Lani.

He's making micro adjustments with his flash.

So we're constantly making these adjustments.

I must have seen something with the light

color.

The shadow or something.

With the light that wasn't clear.

Of course, you guys will get to see

every single one of these photos when we

go through our culling section.

It'll be really boring for you.

Oh, and here, here you're shooting through some

candles in the foreground and then in the

background.

And this wouldn't have been possible if you

didn't have a flash on them.

Well, yeah, it would have been much different,

right?

It wouldn't have been worth it because the

candles would have just been so blown out

in the foreground.

So essentially, it allowed me to go dark

and expose for the candles and then light

them up.

I wasn't even sure if it was worth

it or it was just something to do,

right?

Something different to try.

I wasn't excited enough about it to stay

there and stick with it and wait for

a really good moment.

The couple will like that shot.

It's interesting.

We always think about all the moments that

we missed on a wedding day and then

when you look at the video footage, you

see even more.

Looking through this footage, I'm like, Oh, what

if I'd been here with my camera?

Like right, right here, I'm noticing all the

different layers between, you know, the bride and

groom here and, and then reacting to this

little boy and him walking across the scene.

And if I'd been over here with my

camera, I would have been able to get

all those layers together, but it's all in

retrospect.

Okay.

So now what we had in mind was

there's the balcony up there.

We kind of pre-planned that one of

us, uh, would head up there about halfway

through the ceremony and shoot the second half,

including the recession from up there.

Um, so I'd had to pre-arrange with,

um, with the hotel staff to get me

a key, to get access to the elevator,

to get up there and kind of had

to move quickly.

Yeah.

Okay.

So now we've got the, the, the signing

registry.

Yeah.

So meanwhile, I'm up top now.

You're up top, just sort of waiting.

And here I'm noticing that there's the signing

that's happening over here, but even more interesting

is all these reactions and all these interactions

going on behind the sign.

And so I'm trying to layer those two

stories together.

Okay.

So I'm testing out some options up there,

a couple of different lenses, a couple of

different perspectives, uh, trying out some reflections to

kind of see what's the most interesting shots

I can make from up here.

Yeah.

So he's going to be ready for when

recessional happens.

Yeah.

And also just trying to get some frames

here at the, the end of the ceremony.

You can see his flash firing there.

And I know the first kiss is about

to happen.

So I'm heading in behind the bride and

groom because I've scouted that spot.

I've also asked the commissioner beforehand, if she,

if she'd move out of the way when

the kiss happens, because I know if I

shoot from here, I've got decent light on

their face and I can fill the guests

as well.

Here I am at top.

So I'm just getting ready.

And it was literally like a half second

kiss, but shooting as many frames as I

can per second there.

You can see my flashes going off.

Now I know they're getting ready for the

recessional.

So I'm getting in front of them, got

my camera and I detect focus so I

can just back up with them.

And unfortunately I'm a little close to them

and I've been killing all the Lanny's frames

as he's shooting up top.

But I wish I had been a little

bit further back in retrospect.

I like your perspective there.

I think yours is much better.

It's a great angle.

So that is going to have to use

some Photoshop skills to get me out of

there, but that's the ceremony.

And that's a, that's a typical ceremony for

us.

It was, well, actually it's not a typical

ceremony for us, but we wanted to pick

a ceremony that was a little bit challenging,

right?

One that was indoors, not outdoors with mountain

vistas.

And of course the COVID element brought a

whole other challenge as well.