Mission Impossible Wedding (With an Uninvited Guest)
Monday, August 29, 2011 at 1:57PM They gave their wedding a name -- "Mission Impossible". Little did they know that Hurricane Irene will crash their party. Thousands of people from New England evacuated their homes and are anxiously waiting out the storm. But this bride is staying completely zen in spite of the disaster looming outside. She is getting married, no matter how much water pours down on us.
If you wonder how I achieved the red effect in the above photo, look at the color of fruit punch Gatorade. If you hold a bottle of a colorful drink right in front of the lens, you can get some intersting hues in the photo.
Liberty Hotel is a former prison, and a perfect background for the wedding photos! However, shooting this wedding was quite challenging because my second photographer had to cancel on me due to the hurricane and drive back to protect his house and family. The second challenge was the light. There was not enough natural light coming from the windows while the bride was getting dressed. Whatever little light did come through got mixed with a yellow incandescent indoor light. The ceremony got moved into a not very photogenic ballroom with another set of lighting challenges. The reception was in a dark restaurant with short ceilings and then we ended up in a nightclub that was even darker. I had to therefore use a lot of off camera flash, and also bounce the flash off the ceiling.
This is my favorite shot which shows how awesomely zen Anna was. I could not ask for a better bride...
... and for a more beautiful one ...
This coin purse means a lot to Anna. Her grandma gave it to her, along with a five kopeyka coin. Five is like A+, the best score you can get in Russian schools. Anna must have been a great girl to have deserved it.
Little Avery is getting pampered before her debut as a flower girl.
Little Charlie showing how many dollars he got for loosing his tooth.
The not so typical first look. Charlie and Avery loved their bride.
Anna's mom Yurata is showing off the goods after she had her hair styled. Gunnar got dangerously close to Anna before the ceremony. But he kept his eyes closed and yelled at Anna all the way from the elevator.
Anna walks down the isle...
Shooting family formals is usually the most stressful part of the photographer's day. Not at this wedding!
This wedding was one huge love fest but it also involved a lot of crying. The speeches were coming from the heart and everyone in the room was weeping like a baby.
Anna, Gunnar, thank you for making me feel like part of your family. I loved capturing your day and spending the first hour of your Maine honeymoon with you. :)
Enjoy the slideshows below!
Reader Comments (5)
Petka, this is wonderful. It's great to observe how you get better and better and these photos are simply flawless (without any false praise), you caught everything that should be on the photos. I'm really curious about the types of lenses you used here - maybe it's time for 'What's in your bag' - don't you think? ;-)
Flawless bride,
Flawless photos!
Salut!
Absolutely perfect. You did a phenomenal job Petra!
Petra, the wedding was magical and you captured everything so beautifully! I started to cry all over again, just looking at the photos. I am so excited to have Anna in my family (and her family in our family)...I only have one question: how do I get copies of these??!!??
Hi Stacy, I am sending the photos to professional editing service for edits. Once I get them back, I will make them available for a la carte purchase at Pictage.com. I will let Anna know and she can then send you a link and password.