CHOICE by THE ALGARVE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Some of the photographs of the bride when she is having her make-up done and putting on her wedding dress for her wedding day
Doing the right thing
I remember, writing here, that the wedding photographer had never felt so free photographing as since he has been one.
I was, already, another kind of photographer and had nothing to do with weddings. Let me explain it. In my life, I understand myself as a free person anytime I do what my duty is, even if I give up what I want. Being free is a duty, never an arbitrary want just because I feel like it, just because I want to, or just because I can.
I have the duty to be free, and independent of what I want or desire. That is because a completely free person abdicates what she wants for what she must. That is what moves me after the moment I go as a photographer for the wedding, scheduled for the day. Since I am out of bed, I do not belong to myself.
I am completely and fully dedicated to the couple that gave me the confidence to be with them, assuring me the story that will be theirs and told over and over again, with the photos I found on the day they believed it was the right one.
Completely at the couple’s service for the wedding
That is why the wedding photographer must be a place at the scheduled time, he can not arrive and be the master of the happenings and rob them of their freedom to be, meanwhile, they transform themselves into grooms and brides on the wedding day, and he can not photograph with a style different from what they saw when hired him and he must respect that expectation about the final work, even if a different approach could be better for today.
If I do it, I was broking my duty to my clients and defrauding that expectation that, by right, belongs to them.
That is the great difference between want and duty, even for the wedding photographer. Most of the time, wanting is in contradiction with duty. It is for the duty that people with different wants gather themselves for the same function.
The duty to receive what is given by the bride and groom
The day of the wedding is a great example of that. Everybody there can have different thoughts about what could be the dress of the bride but, by duty, they always tell her that is beautiful, which is never a lie. They can imagine a different decoration of the ceremony place, each one for each pair of eyes present but, that one, they swear, is tailored for those with the eyes in the eyes, that will tell yes, I do, in there.
The same for all the floral details and, until, for the wedding cake that will be sliced and distributed to everybody thank you very much for being with us today. However, by duty, all of them share what was chosen by those that matter and assure that it could not be different.
That is not a lie, it is to be free. It is to know that the most important thing is not what each one thinks, but what for each one was there. And, like the wedding photographer, was to make a couple very happy on her day.
Happiness. That is the greatest freedom above all.