Favorite Wedding Moments

Now, the moments most people most love in their weddings are central to their day... first kiss, first dance, garter, etc. My most loved moments are with the couple in quiet moments. Second to that are the fringe things going on... the sly looks, the kids reactions, Dad's proud look, the groom's sparkling look, etc.

Here's a shot I love because of the reflected glory of the moment. This little guy had been (im)patiently waiting of the bride (his aunt, I think) to arrive. The look of wonder and awe shows clearly that this is the most beautiful princess he has ever seen. I love it. The secondary story going on is the passing of the flowers by the dad and the hurried postures. Loves it!

Family Feet

Here's a fun thing to do... pictures of family feet. It's cute and has a lasting impact. For some reason, a picture of the foot of a baby has emotional impact when viewed even years later. It's hard to believe they were that small.

This is something I've done with two families and now offer everytime. It's such a fun thing to do.

The 'fun' part is getting junior to be still long enough to snap the shutter button. The twists and turns were a little frustrating until I realized that they were part of the magic. I snapped this contortion and loved the moment. The parents did too.

Okay, it's time to crank out some posts to track some of the things going on. First of all, there's the portraits of seniors at my favourite retirement residence, Orchard View Estates in Greely, Ontario.
This wonderful place offers so much for it's residents that if I could, I'd sign up now.
Femmie Wright is the activities director there and has been an amazing support to me. I've done two portrait sessions with her residents after being inspired by Steve Bedell's work as covered in January 2008 issue of Rangefinder. His insight was that elderly people in retirement homes haven't had a portrait done in decades. Many of them never at all. By recording them in a tasteful and expressive way, he is able to offer them and their families a lasting and dignified memory. Some of these residents have since passed on and the families' only picture of them has been what Steve has captured.

That was my movitiation and so every 6 months I go to a retirement home and offer free portait sessions. It takes several days for the shooting and I don't get anything from it (monitarily) but the rewards have been rich. As David Hobby pointed out in his blog article, Friday, December 05, 2008 Four Reasons to Consider Working for Free, "I want to grow by photographing extremely interesting people."

So here's some of those 'interesting people' shown above and below.