When Lori first made contact, she shared her and Mark's vision for wedding day photography that focused on candid, natural moments; they wanted their photographs to capture the joy and energy of the day as it unfolded — real smiles, real laughter, real love.
(Although with family travelling from Australia, America, and as Mark's dad mentioned in his speech even Greencastle they also knew the opportunity to fit in a few family portraits was too good to pass up...) I'm sure there would have been some trepidation from their international guestlist (with Mexico & New Zealand also represented) around the January weather in Ireland, few would have predicted the blue skies and glorious sunshine that illuminated the Redcastle Hotel throughout their day... As I often find with people attracted to my photography Lori & Mark planned a day to fit around them and their families other than ticking a list of must-include traditions, and from their one flower-girl bridal party, their ring warming ceremony, via their heartfelt & partly free-styled vows to their sidestepping of a first dance to go straight to a bouncing dancefloor the day reflected who they are as a couple... Here's a preview of their amazing day...
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A wedding day is a series of moments some big, small, planned, and occasionally totally unplanned. For me, the magic of documentary wedding photography lies in capturing those unscripted moments, alongside the expected headline ones. Which leads to this photograph - during during groom's prep at an Inishowen wedding...
After the the usual pre-wedding hustle, the grooms party had time to kill so the groom's father decided they might as well head into the field at the front of the house to check for eggs - a perfectly ordinary task everyday task on any other day! As we made our way across the field the ducks decided they weren't in the mood for company - happily I was able to positioned myself in a way that they'd run between me & the grooms party - and from there this photograph came into being. This is what I love about documentary wedding photography: the authenticity - there's no way we could have stage or rehearsed this — it's just real people, real moments, and real ducks!! To delve a bit deeper though the photograph isn't just the groom and his groomsmen randomly passing some ducks in a field — it’s a small moment on the wedding day that represents the groom's family life - the view from the front of the family home, and the ducks are a wee insight into the his dad's daily routine - all told with a little bit of humor. It's the kind of image that can makes you smile, brings you back to a feeling, and reminds you of how wonderfully imperfect life can be. If you're planning your wedding and want a photographer who will focus on the always real, sometimes raw, and in their own way always beautiful candid moment I’d love to help capture the story of your wedding day Unscripted Love: The Story Behind My Documentary Wedding Photographs - Breaking The Fourth Wall19/1/2025 The second in my attempt to provide an alternative to the 'epic' wedding shots that social media favours with a series of my favourite documentary photographs, along the story behind them to show why these authentic moments mean so much to my clients and me...
I've deliberately chose to share this one early in the series - as much I love capturing real, un-posed moments during a wedding day I'm not going to be dogmatic about it & not take a photo if the folks in it have noticed, and then reacted to my camera -as in this photo which, serendipitously, still has a strong documentary element... it's ok to break The fourth wall sometimes! This is Ciara & Andy's Bishop's Gate Hotel Wedding, after the ceremony during the 'receiving line' on the landing. After embracing Ciara & close friend Audrey both look straight at the camera for me to capture the moment while they're both beaming with happiness and genuine joy - it would have made a great photo in it's own right - but at the same time I'd noticed Audrey's partner was just about to acknowledge Andy, and by delaying a wee second or two I was able to add their handshake to the photo... Storytelling wise the handshake isn’t just a random detail; it adds to the narrative of connection and togetherness that ran through the whole wedding day. Rather than the bride and her friend being the sole subject of the photos it's now both the couples naturally interacting... For me, this photograph is a reminder of why I love capturing weddings in a documentary style - I could have stopped for the handshake to finish as it was 'blocking' the photos - missing that extra details and probably causing the smiles to naturally subdue bur It's the unscripted, unrepeatable element that makes the photo - which would be impossible to recreate... Thanks if you have read this far & if you're drawn to the idea of wedding photography that goes beyond the traditional and focuses on authentic, meaningful moments, I’d love to hear from you... |