BRIDE SATELLITES, by THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IN LISBON

Some photos of the bride and the children around her, in preparation for the wedding day at Pézinhos no Tejo in Almada

• Pode ler este artigo em Português. 

The Little Chicks

Being a bride, a mother, and an aunt — one of those with her little chicks always, delightfully, around — is a great magnet for a wedding photographer who doesn’t like to wait around for things to happen. It’s about being present and making the most of it, because there won’t be any shortage of photos to take.

While a diligent and attentive hairdresser keeps busy taking care of the bride’s hair, her little chicks make sure to entertain her with the kind of affection only children are capable of — some of them without much awareness of what’s happening — and which will, through the lens of the wedding photographer, leave behind smiles of joy when time passes and these photographs are revisited. At least, that’s what I imagine.

Lots of people, lots of moments to photograph

Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone thinking that a full-day wedding photo coverage is boring, lacking variety, or that just a handful of photos from the ceremony and the first dance are enough to show what it was like. If anyone does think that, let me tell you — this wedding photographer knows the action never stops, and where there are people, there are stories. And at a wedding, there are a lot of people, so the wedding photographer doesn’t stop. It’s just like that.

Point by point:

• For the photographer, the wedding day isn’t only about the bride and groom:
  • It’s about everyone who is there with them:
    • Parents
    • Siblings
    • Other relatives
    • Close friends
    • Guests in general
• Therefore, their attention shouldn’t be focused solely on the couple:
  • It’s important to stay aware of what everyone else is doing:
    • Hairdresser and makeup artist during the preparation
    • Relatives helping the bride
    • The environment around the couple
    • The children are playing nearby
• All of them have little stories to tell through the wedding photographs. When combined, they carry the big day forward forever. It’s a cliché, but it’s true.

You need to know:

• Long before I even imagined becoming a wedding photographer, I remember people showing me photos from weddings like they were great monuments erected in their memory. Their importance was vital to the story of a family, and they were shared across generations.

• I still believe that’s the case today. I believe that’s the main reason couples bring me along to photograph their wedding. It’s not about vanity, because anyone present at a wedding these days could offer them some of the same photos taken by guests. There must be a deeper reason behind it.

• That’s why I remember those very old wedding photos that were once shown to me. They helped build a bridge between something that happened so long ago and the memory brought back to life when they were shown. Over time, wedding photographs guarantee identity. It was from there, from that wedding, in those photos, that I gained existence — and so did those who came after me.

• Back then, only the most important people were photographed: the bride and groom, their parents, the godparents, and a few close relatives. Nothing was known about the others — what it was like or where — except through faded memories and some uncertainty from whoever was showing them. Yet, their importance was precious.

• Today, it’s very different. Wedding photos, when brought together, tell a complete story. They show the others what they were doing, whether they were laughing at a given moment, how engaged they were with a certain part of the event, or how much fun they had dancing into the night.

• In short, the wedding photographer tells vivid and intense stories, filled with emotion, gestures of affection, and joyful smiles at what’s unfolding. Then, as if they were delicate filigrees, some of these moments are placed onto the pages of a book that will carry them across generations — the story of that wedding day. Complete. No one asks me, but I’ll say it: it’s a huge privilege to be able to do this.

Let me be at your wedding. I want to tell that story in the pages of an album I will design. Schedule a meeting so we can talk about it, so I can show you more photos, and of course, stories in the wedding albums.

• You can see a full wedding story:

At Pézinhos no Tejo in Caparica, Almada.