BY THE VIEWFINDER by ALENTEJO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
The photos are of the bride preparing for the wedding, with the help of her parents and those who want to see her.
- Pode ler este artigo em Português.
Very Important Things to Photograph
The very important things on a wedding day. Of course, at first glance, they all seem important. For a wedding photographer, the day begins as soon as he captures the first frame, whether that is at the groom’s house, with him, or at the bride’s house, with her.
Well, it is not quite like that, because the first photograph is usually of those objects that will be part of them throughout the day. But you get the idea.
There is always something waiting to be photographed.
Throughout the wedding day, we always find very important things to photograph. There are essential events, such as the exchange of rings; there are symbolic objects without which that wedding would not quite be that wedding, such as the bride’s bouquet, and there are so many other details that seem to be there simply because they have to be there.
Sometimes, even that tiny flower that the wedding photographer noticed on one of the walls of the wedding reception venue turned out to be very important for the design of the book he later built for the couple.
Fulfilling What Had Been Promised for the Wedding Day
But that is not what interests me today.
If it were, then nothing would really be important except for filling the text of an article about the day. Everything would have its place, everything would have a function, everything could be photographed, and in the end we would have a collection of things that happened.
But those are not the things that interest me.
What matters are those gestures that build a bride or a groom.
For the wedding photographer, they are gradually built that morning by everyone who gives them their little piece of time, gesture, opinion, and, fundamentally, affection. It is a construction made of many small things, almost always without anyone thinking that, at that particular moment, they are taking part in it.
Someone helps choose. Someone adjusts something. Someone looks and says it is right. Someone corrects something that was out of place. Someone smiles. Someone becomes emotional. Someone gives an opinion that seems insignificant, but which, at that moment, was exactly the opinion that needed to be heard.
And it is through this succession of small gestures that the bride and groom gradually appear.
Back when they decided to become engaged and presented themselves as such, none of it mattered to me. At that time, the photographer did not even know who they were.
Now, when he looks at them through the viewfinder of his camera, this is how the wedding photographer sees things on that day: a process of transformation begins.
A Process of Transformation
It is as if each of them were clay in the hands of a brilliant sculptor who, through talent and taste, gradually transforms them.
Except that, in this case, the sculptor has divided into many.
Each person does their little part. Each gesture adds something. Each act of care helps that groom and that bride reach the point where they can leave and go towards their other half and fulfil what had been promised.
And perhaps that is why there are so many very important things to photograph.
Not because they all carry the same importance, nor because they are all essential to the ceremony or the celebration, but because, together, they tell the story of how they arrived there.
There are things held in hands. Others are said. There are others that can only be understood through a look.
And some gestures last only a few seconds and yet remain.
That is where wedding photographs begin to take on another meaning. They are not simply photographs of important things. They are photographs of everything that, at that moment, was helping to create the person we will later see at the centre of so many other images.
This Is How the Wedding Photographer Sees Things
So, all these gestures of that sculptor who, after all, divided into many, with each one doing their little part, are the things that made the very important things of the wedding day.
Without their care, their perfection in execution, their affectionate gesture, their smile of pride and approval, neither groom nor bride would finish the rest of the day complete and fulfilled.
And that is precisely where the wedding photographer’s eye finds what it is looking for.
It is not only the moment when everything is ready. It is also the path that led to that moment.
Within the rectangle of his camera, he sees hands that help, eyes that confirm, faces that come closer, attentive people and others who, perhaps without even noticing, are placing another small piece of themselves into that groom or that bride.
It is work done by many, but which, in the end, appears concentrated in two people.
The photographer knows that, at that point, everything that contributes to their perfection ensures that, from then on, things will happen exactly as they should. And he can then take it all in, follow the day, and transform what he sees into memories that he calls wedding photographs.
Point by Point
- With so many things happening on a wedding day, it is difficult to know which ones will be the most important.
- There are objects and events whose importance is obvious, but there are many other gestures that only gain their true meaning when we look at the whole.
- The bride and groom, as bride and groom on their wedding day, are the result of many forms of help, opinions, affection, smiles, and gestures.
- Each of those people leaves something of themselves in that final result.
- This is how the wedding photographer sees them through the viewfinder of his camera, making memories with his photographs.
What You Need to Know
- Photographing a wedding day also means understanding what is happening before the moments everyone recognises as important.
- The small gestures of the morning can explain as much about the bride and groom as what happens later.
- For someone photographing the day, paying attention to this construction is a way of following the day without separating one thing from another.
Conclusion:
Perhaps, in the end, the very important things to photograph are not the things someone decided beforehand were important. Perhaps they are the things that, when seen through the viewfinder, help us understand how two people arrived at that moment exactly as they needed to.
The bride and groom appear at the centre, but around them there is silent work being done by many. Those gestures are what complete them before they leave to meet one another.
And that is what the wedding photographer seeks to preserve: not only what happened, but what made it possible for it to happen.
For Those Who Also Want to Keep What Others Do Not See
If you are preparing your wedding day, perhaps it is worth thinking about the things that will happen before everything begins. The hands that will help, the people who will be with you, the small gestures that nobody planned to photograph, but which are part of what your day will be.
That is precisely where I like to be with my camera: looking, following, and keeping what we often only realise was important once it has already passed.
If you want those small things to become part of your wedding memories too, get in touch with me.