Happy Accidents, Magic Moments, and an Anniversary

Four years ago this week, a small 'mistake' turned into a new way for me to use on-camera flash at a wedding. Lisa and I were photographing Shawna & Michael's wedding when we had a unexpected surprise thrown at us (and the bride.) The bride's father had been in declining health, had been hospitilized, and wasn't going to be able to attend the wedding. Well, wouldn't you know that he pulled some strings and was able to get permission to attend the reception for a few hours. This was the family's surprise to Shawna, and consequently to Lisa & me as well. Fortunately, Lisa & I were on hand & equipped as we were tipped off just seconds before Dad made his presence known to his daughter - it was a very special moment, one we were thrilled to have been able to capture & document for them.

(Side note: If you have anything sneaky planned, tell us! And tell your friends & relatives that if they have anything sneaky planned, tell us! For the record, we're excellent secret keepers.)

Well, since we now had Dad at the reception site, we wanted to get a few more formal photos with him and the family. (We'd finished the other formals at sunset by the Hudson River before arriving at the reception hall.) And the happy accident? Well, it happened in the rush to group and photograph Dad with his daughter, new Son-in-Law, and the rest of the family. Instead of bouncing light off the ceiling, as I'd always been taught & had done, I'd forgotten to redirect the light upwards when I rotate the camera for some vertical-oriented portraits, and instead bounced the light off a lightly colored wall nearby. The result?



Well, the soft directional lighting was absolutely gorgeous & it opened my eyes to an entirely new way to direct light from almost anywhere I wanted it.

So Happy Anniversary, Shawna & Michael, and thanks for the photo lesson!