A Drunken 7 Story. "I am not a wedding photographer... BUT"
So where to begin other than the beginning...
If this business had a motto other than the Latin one it already uses it would be " no weddings, no pets and no kids!". Not that there isn't an appreciation for all of those things but it is just not what I have any desire to photograph. Most likely due to the fact that I am too much of a control freak when it comes to my set and lighting and each of those things introduce some form of chaos into my relatively peaceful zen-like work mentality. This is a story of how drunk me went against sober me's rules.... and I now owe drunk me a huge favor!
Prior to covid it was not unusual to see me out and about in the nightlife with my Brother's and friends. If you've read my interview with Canvas Rebel Magazine you would have read the part where I'm actually pretty quiet and shy and definitely more of an observer.... when sober. On the opposite end, drunk me wants to meet just about everyone and learn about their life since I believe we can learn from each other's experiences and in turn increase our level of compassion.
One fine night (or VERY early morning) I was out and ran into Zach and Sharon, a couple that were dating and welcomed me to a conversation that lasted at least an hour. I'm sure (can't truly recall all the details) that we probably spoke about everything under the Sun with great enthusiasm and new friend vibes. We had met before but I feel like this was the first time we got to spend a decent amount of time just talking amongst ourselves. At the end I told them that 'I am not a wedding photographer... but here's the deal'. "I like our vibe so much that If YOU two get married I would agree to photograph your wedding.." Then I passed them my business card saying 'take a look at my work and be sure to message sober me that drunk me made this offer'. At this point you are probably thinking that I need to stop drinking but I can honestly say that I knew what I was doing. It is my belief that if you have a gift or talent the best way to show someone what they mean to you is to offer it to them when possible. They can't offer to pay for it because that would be against my rules and honestly I felt like it would take an unreasonable amount to even get me to think about shooting a wedding. No, the only way to get me to make that offer is to make me think 'I just made new life-long friends that I know will be considered family one day'.
Now, from the very start I loved Sharon and Zach so they could've said they were getting married at the County Courthouse and I would have been there with my camera to document the occasion. So you can imagine my sobering surprise when Sharon messaged me one morning and mentioned that they are headed to Ireland to research the castle wedding venue. To be fair, I remember the wedding promise but perhaps "Ireland" and a "castle" was a drunken detail I forgot from that past late night bar conversation... although an awesome one!
Skip ahead many months, drinks, dinners, planning conversations, hugs and me finally learning to shoot video after probably being the last hold-out photographer on the planet and like I knew from the first meeting... these two would be as close as family to me. So, I taught myself so I hopefully would not let them down. I taught myself so I hopefully would not let me down.... and that is a high target. I wanted to document the occasion in such a way that anyone that wasn't able to make it felt like they were there. I wanted to slow time down for the couple so that in 20 years they could look at the imagery again and feel everything all over again. I wanted to make everyone cry, cheer, clap and laugh that watched the video. I honestly wanted to rip their souls out and show them what was possible in my world and imagination. To say it was an adventure for the Bride & Groom is fair and expected but to say it was a multifaceted adventure for me as well.... nothing more accurate has ever been said. Understand that I still won't shoot weddings except for the one I have coming up for a dear childhood friend. Understand that I am breaking my own rule (again) by writing about it and sharing the video I created but as someone said to me recently "it would be a travesty not to share your experience and creation with people... whether you ever want to do it again or not". So here it is. Just tap the image below and it will take you to the video. Do yourself a favor and don't watch it on a cellphone.
