Today's Image of the Day visits the part of the wedding day that I very much enjoy photographing; the preparations. Whilst there have been many images on this section of the blog from the bridal wedding party preparations, I thought it was about time to feature one from the men!
Whilst I'll typically spend a couple of hours (or more) with the bride on the wedding morning, for the groom and the ushers, I normally don't go to see then until they are almost ready to leave for the wedding ceremony. The shots I generally look to get are what I call the 'cravats and cufflinks' moments; in other works, the finishing touches to their outfits. In addition, I might photograph them opening their wedding party gifts, or maybe simply hanging out at the bar getting together a little dutch courage before the big event! Every wedding is different... but whatever the requirement is, my primary objective is to capture a true flavour of events prior to the wedding ceremony without putting any additional requirements or pressure onto the wedding party.
This particular shot was taken at a wedding in Shepton Mallet, Somerset - and the room that the groom's wedding party were getting ready in was large, but not particularly decorative. In these instances, I'm looking for more creative ways to photograph the people and the space. That's why I love this shot utilising a mirror to capture the moment without intruding on proceedings - and in particular, the fact that the usher isn't even using the mirror to knot his tie makes the shot all the more interesting for me. I spent only a few minutes with the groom's wedding party on the morning of this wedding before moving onto the bridal party - and often, that's all I need in order to create the story of their preparations, in images.
