The day started out in the mid 80's - hot, sunny and humid. I was happy when I entered the church to find out that the AC was on full blast! Lauren and her girls were getting ready in the bride's room and Kevin and his guys were in the parking lot decorating their pick-up trucks.
The first challenge of the day came from the pastor of the church. I wasn't allowed to come up the middle aisle for any part of the ceremony. That meant I couldn't be in my usual spot for the rings, the unity candle or the kiss! Luckily the pastor allowed me to be half way up on the side aisles... I captured the exchanging of the rings from the right aisle and Jason Samsa (a photographer shadowing and second shooting) covered it from the left aisle. I ended up sitting as a guest in the pew for the kiss and popped out at the last moment to get an awesome shot from the center. I was able to capture all the moments as they happened and from a more unique angle.
After the ceremony and receiving line we were ready to start shooting the group formals. At that exact moment the tornado sirens started to blast. I hurried and completed all the family and wedding party poses. After the last group the power flickered and eventually the church lost all power. The sirens went off again and eventually everyone that was left in the church found their way to the basement.
Sometimes challenges can lead to more creativity in the way I shoot and not having access to light is a major challenge! Another challenge was to keep the momentum of the day from dying out. So we played! Jason came up with a great idea of painting with light. I had all the bridesmaids and the bride open up their cell phones and trace letters in the air while I photographed them with a long exposure. The results were fantastic!!! We had soooo much fun and it made the one and a half hours in the basement of the church go by without stress.
We finally made our way to the reception hall, thank goodness the power was on! I was able to shoot about 15min outdoors with no rain. I decided to stay past my end time to get some outdoor shots of the bride and groom alone. It was worth staying the extra hour to get beautiful images of Lauren and Kevin on the golf course.
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