We Don't do Weddings - a photo on Flickriver

            A while ago I heard from an old friend of mine.  Jenna told me how much she loved my photography, something we all love to hear of course, whether it's from a fellow landscape obsessive or someone who does selfies with their iPhone and puts them on Instagram.  She then went on to mention she was getting married next year and wondered whether I'd like to be her official wedding photographer. I was very flattered.  Who wouldn't be thrilled to be entrusted with the responsibility of capturing those memories from one of  outstanding days of another person's life?  And presumably she was expecting to pay me for my services while I was doing it.  I don't know how much wedding photographers generally charge, but they always seem to have an impressive armoury of equipment.

It didn't take me long to consider my response.  Yes, I have two very nice cameras, either of which would be more than capable of the task on offer.  I also seem to have amassed a collection of no less than six lenses.  I'm not sure exactly how this has happened, although none of them came into my life as the free gift inside a box of Coco Pops - it's fair to say my bank balance would be considerably higher if my bids had been unsuccessful.  They are all very nice lenses and I'm lucky to have been able to gradually add them to the inventory.  But then none of them are the fabled "nifty fifty" or the 85mm F2 that I'm led to believe are standard tools of the trade.  Nor do I have flashguns, lightboxes or any of the other mysterious looking gizmos that the professionals keep in their bags. I also thought of the photos I'd seen from a family wedding I'd attended a couple of years ago. As we gathered in the living room of the newlyweds to be presented with an endless loop of more than two thousand special moments from the big day, I could see there was a skill to it that clearly comes with a greater experience and thicker skin than mine.  The shot of a mirror with the bride to be's eyes reflected in it stood out.  A standard trick of the trade no doubt, but no less striking an image for it.  It was all beyond me.

But more importantly than any of these potential shortcomings, the notion of having to move among a large number of people frightened the living daylights out of me.  The very idea of all of that cajoling, chivvying and manhandling perfect strangers into position in order to grin vacantly in my direction as they wonder how much longer they'll have to wait before they can get to their free glass of bubbly and the canapes left me in a state of soft alarm.  I would only know one person present, and as she would be the bride, it might be difficult to pass time with her in those idle moments of small talk that such occasions terrifyingly present.  So while expressing my gratitude at being offered the job, I politely declined, explaining that it wasn't something I had the right tools for.  All of the time I was thinking of Cape Cornwall in fact.  One of the most appealing aspects of photography is the prospect of being totally alone in a remote location with only the gulls for company and the sound of the sea in my ears.  It's my happy place.

I remembered a recent conversation with Lee.  We'd been talking about the rise and rise of Andrew, a man who takes a very nice photograph indeed.  We were worried that while our own photography was in danger of stagnation we'd noticed that Andrew's work seemed to be going from strength to strength.  Lee mentioned that Andrew had "done" a wedding not long ago.  He'd even acquired a nifty fifty and a flashgun apparently.  I told Jenna I knew someone who might be interested and got in touch with him.  Andrew was also very grateful to have been asked.  He confirmed that yes indeed, he had done a wedding recently - as a favour to the bride, who happened to be his own sister.  He confided that he hadn't really enjoyed the experience and wasn't planning on repeating it anytime soon.  Like me, Andrew is happiest in his own company in places like this.  He was at least in contact with two other people who are brave enough to do weddings, so I was at least able to send their details to my soon to be married friend.

So there you go.  You knew it already of course, but we don't do weddings.  What we do love doing is fiddling about with focus stacks at long abandoned oratories by the Edge of Eternity.  After all, places like this were made for people like us. We don't need to be within reach of a fast food outlet or a coffee bar, because we brought our own along with us.  Here we can lose ourselves in daydreams and not worry about whether we've included Great Auntie Nellie in quite as many photographs as we should have done, or if Uncle Derek's grin in the direction of the bridesmaids comes over as just a bit too lascivious.  It's been a long few weeks since I last saw the sea, but maybe - just maybe it won't be too long again now.

I should stress that Great Auntie Nellie and Uncle Derek are products of my imagination.  They are not your Great Auntie Nellie and/or your Uncle Derek, who I'm sure are upstanding and respectable members of the community.  Have a good weekend everyone.

Taken in: UK / England / St. Just / St Just (show map)

Taken on: May 23, 2020

Tags:

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Sets appears in: • Cape Cornwall

Groups appears in: • Cornwall Flickr Users • L'Europe pittoresque more » • Flickr Social Club • UK's Landscape & Seascape Photographers • On Landscape • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/11.0, 1/25 sec, 24mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens:	EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.04 sec (1/25)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.1.1 (Windows)
Show full info

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