Journals of a wedding photography adventure
heatherfeather
Registered Users Posts: 2,738 Major grins
Every morning this week my alarm woke me 6:30, and I opened my eyes hoping the weather would cooperate and it was the day. Finally on Thursday, it did and it was. I got out of bed loaded up my gear and dropped my kids at the sitters.
I arrived at the hotel to find typical wedding morning happenings... the bride is running late... The groom, however, was ready. So the two of us wandered around outside the hotel and killed time and made a few photos.
The groom is Thom. He is currently serving our nation as a medic in Iraq. He was in Alaska on leave for only 2 weeks. And as I write this, he is already back in Iraq, carrying on with his work.
In our first few sentances to each other, he said, "I forgot my cover in Iraq, so we'll have to make due without." I told him it was no problem since this wasn't an official military event. (Not that I know that much about the military, but thought it might make him feel better. Bluffing.)
1.
The bride arrived at the hotel, and I was given the rings and set free to play outside for what was supposed to be a few minutes and turned out to be most of an hour while she got her gown on. Apparently the brides gown was taken in just a bit too much and the zipper handle broke with their attempt to zip. After a bit of head scratching, the groom used his leatherman to zip it up. Here is what I was up to:
2.
3.
The dress crisis averted, the couple finally hunted me down. We stopped by the lake for just a few minutes and made some pretty photos there.
4.
All too soon we had to rush to the cars to begin our adventure. Thom led the way in his car, and I did my best to keep up. It is tourist season in Alaska and the moterhomes were clogging up the roads. He was passing them with a vengance. He had somewhere he had to be. Me too, but I had the thought of the double ticket fines in the safety highway corridor of the Parks Hwy to slow me down. An hour later, we arrived... and we discovered that the pastor was still en-route. Thom was getting a little nervous.
5.
We took a few photos... and the pastor was still not there.
6.
When you only have a few days to be with someone, every moment becomes precious. It was a good reminder to me of the value of being together with your loved ones and to make the most of each moment. They had a serene quality about them.
7.
The bride is Destiny. She is also a member of the army, and is stationed out of Fort Richardson near Anchorage. She serves as an optomotrist for the military families. She has a really soft sweet southern voice and manners to match.
8.
The pastor finally arrived and it was time to go. I have to admit I was a little... shall we say... concerned... about our adventure. But relieved all the same. When Destiny first contacted me, there was talk of a helicopter. The cessna seemed much less intimidating than a helicopter.
9.
10. Our pilot. I think his name was Dan, but to tell the truth I was much to flustered at this point to remember names.
Loading up a plane like this is a process. First the pilot stowed all my light stands and camera gear in the back. Then he situated the pastor, and then the bride. I rode in the front seat next to the pilot and then finally the groom climbed in to sit next to the bride.
11.
12. And then we were up. This is a shot of our shadow over the Talkeetna River as we turned to head towards our destination.
13.
I was just a bit worried that the beautiful clouds would block our objective, but enjoyed them anyway. They were the type of clouds that made me expect to see Funshine Bear at any moment. (A Carebear for all those without small children.
)
14.
Then we saw what we were coming for... Mt. McKinley. I actually prefer to call it by its Alaska native name, Denali, which means "the great one". Its a fitting name since it is the tallest mountain in North America. And its base is very close to sea level so it really LOOKS big.
15.
16. My view from the front seat. This photo is my very first attempt at a panoramic stitching... It is 12 photos in all. Photoshop and LR did most of the work.. I just fixed a few mistakes here and there... not perfect but you get the idea.
17. Destiny and Thom were pretty excited this whole time... It was soo beautiful. I have lived in Alaska for pretty much my whole life, but the beauty of this area just blew me away. Thom told me that he had been to many, many places in his travels with the military, but Alaska and Hawaii have the most beauty. I have never been to Hawaii so I can't vouch for that, but Alaska is very pretty.
Down below, we could see the glacier winding through the mountains. The pilot said that the glacier was 3,500 feet thick... and a couple miles wide. The enormousness of everything around us was incredible. These photos can't even come close to the feeling.
18.
*edited to say the continuation is on page 2*
To be continued...
I am going to have to finish this later... I have come to the end of the uploaded photos. By morning, hopefully the rest will be uploaded and I'll get to the very cool ceremony on the glacier at the base of Mt. McKinley.
I arrived at the hotel to find typical wedding morning happenings... the bride is running late... The groom, however, was ready. So the two of us wandered around outside the hotel and killed time and made a few photos.
The groom is Thom. He is currently serving our nation as a medic in Iraq. He was in Alaska on leave for only 2 weeks. And as I write this, he is already back in Iraq, carrying on with his work.
In our first few sentances to each other, he said, "I forgot my cover in Iraq, so we'll have to make due without." I told him it was no problem since this wasn't an official military event. (Not that I know that much about the military, but thought it might make him feel better. Bluffing.)
1.
The bride arrived at the hotel, and I was given the rings and set free to play outside for what was supposed to be a few minutes and turned out to be most of an hour while she got her gown on. Apparently the brides gown was taken in just a bit too much and the zipper handle broke with their attempt to zip. After a bit of head scratching, the groom used his leatherman to zip it up. Here is what I was up to:
2.
3.
The dress crisis averted, the couple finally hunted me down. We stopped by the lake for just a few minutes and made some pretty photos there.
4.
All too soon we had to rush to the cars to begin our adventure. Thom led the way in his car, and I did my best to keep up. It is tourist season in Alaska and the moterhomes were clogging up the roads. He was passing them with a vengance. He had somewhere he had to be. Me too, but I had the thought of the double ticket fines in the safety highway corridor of the Parks Hwy to slow me down. An hour later, we arrived... and we discovered that the pastor was still en-route. Thom was getting a little nervous.
5.
We took a few photos... and the pastor was still not there.
6.
When you only have a few days to be with someone, every moment becomes precious. It was a good reminder to me of the value of being together with your loved ones and to make the most of each moment. They had a serene quality about them.
7.
The bride is Destiny. She is also a member of the army, and is stationed out of Fort Richardson near Anchorage. She serves as an optomotrist for the military families. She has a really soft sweet southern voice and manners to match.
8.
The pastor finally arrived and it was time to go. I have to admit I was a little... shall we say... concerned... about our adventure. But relieved all the same. When Destiny first contacted me, there was talk of a helicopter. The cessna seemed much less intimidating than a helicopter.
9.
10. Our pilot. I think his name was Dan, but to tell the truth I was much to flustered at this point to remember names.
Loading up a plane like this is a process. First the pilot stowed all my light stands and camera gear in the back. Then he situated the pastor, and then the bride. I rode in the front seat next to the pilot and then finally the groom climbed in to sit next to the bride.
11.
12. And then we were up. This is a shot of our shadow over the Talkeetna River as we turned to head towards our destination.
13.
I was just a bit worried that the beautiful clouds would block our objective, but enjoyed them anyway. They were the type of clouds that made me expect to see Funshine Bear at any moment. (A Carebear for all those without small children.
)14.
Then we saw what we were coming for... Mt. McKinley. I actually prefer to call it by its Alaska native name, Denali, which means "the great one". Its a fitting name since it is the tallest mountain in North America. And its base is very close to sea level so it really LOOKS big.
15.
16. My view from the front seat. This photo is my very first attempt at a panoramic stitching... It is 12 photos in all. Photoshop and LR did most of the work.. I just fixed a few mistakes here and there... not perfect but you get the idea.
17. Destiny and Thom were pretty excited this whole time... It was soo beautiful. I have lived in Alaska for pretty much my whole life, but the beauty of this area just blew me away. Thom told me that he had been to many, many places in his travels with the military, but Alaska and Hawaii have the most beauty. I have never been to Hawaii so I can't vouch for that, but Alaska is very pretty.
Down below, we could see the glacier winding through the mountains. The pilot said that the glacier was 3,500 feet thick... and a couple miles wide. The enormousness of everything around us was incredible. These photos can't even come close to the feeling.
18.
*edited to say the continuation is on page 2*
To be continued...
I am going to have to finish this later... I have come to the end of the uploaded photos. By morning, hopefully the rest will be uploaded and I'll get to the very cool ceremony on the glacier at the base of Mt. McKinley.
0
Comments
SO VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!
It doesn't happen often, but I am speeechless!
Your gonna give everyone on the forum gig-envy!
Seriously, the commentary is fun(and totally you) so keep it coming.....and of course the photographs are up to your normal high standards....and the stitching looks good to my eyes.
So.....hurry up! This commercial break (or whatever it is) has me on the edge of my seat!
Now...back to your regular programming....
Jeff
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Having flown over the glaciers in Alaska, a dream would be to do just what you are doing. WOW - these are awesome! Some portfolio material. Can't wait to see the rest!
(and Hawaii is just as beautiful as they say- but very different from Alaska)
Flash Frozen Photography, Inc.
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Just breathtaking.
More! More! More! More! More!
And with the commentary... well, combined with the emotion of some of those shots, I'm sitting here all choked up.
She's doing this on purpose......making us wait!
Jeff
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Oh, and the photos?
We Want More!!
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Can't believe you leave us hangin like that......
Loving this entire series......
Ready for part 2!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Incredible!!!! Talk about location!:D I am with everyone else... MORE PLEASE!!
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Part B...
The pilot pumped with this lever in between us and we felt a huge bump as the skiis dropped into place. The landing was VERY bumpy. Talkeetna Air Taxi is one of the only companies that have permits to land in the park, so it is really neat that we get to do this. There were several other planes already there... but most of them were just leaving. I guess it was a good thing that the pastor was running late. We got the glacier pretty much to ourselves.
B1. (I think this is one of my favorite photos of the event. Love their expressions and the scenery is beeautiful!)
None of us were really sure what we would encounter on the glacier... So we all came prepared with winter gear. There was about 6 inches of fresh snow from all the bad weather we had earlier in the week. But other than that, it was hot (I got sunburned as always) and VERY bright. The snow was a giant reflector, so I didn't really have to worry about racoon eyes very much. I ended up using my umbrellas on stands as a sort of scrim for shade for the couple.
I picked the spot for the ceremony (How often does the photographer get to do that?) And the groom tamped down a bit of snow for his bride to stand in while they said their vows.
B2.
We weren't quite the only ones on the glacier. There were around 4 people (couldn't really tell how many from the distance) over to our right, building what looked like a jump on the incline. They all had sleds. When Destiny and Thom kissed after the ceremony we could hear their cheers echo off the mountains. It was really fun. You can just see them behind the pastor in this shot. It is a great way to get a sense of the scale of the area.
B3.
B4. I keep saying it was so beautiful... but that is because it was. I really do think this is one of my favorite Alaska experiences of all time. And I got paid to do it. Gotta love that.
B5.
A little wide angle fun during the ring exchange. (You can see the other people in the distance just a bit better in this shot. I think they must have been watching the whole time.)
B6.
B7. And the first kiss... It was convenient how they blocked out the pastor for this shot.
B8.
B9. Not a perfect photo but I love the mood.
B10. After the ceremony a little snowball fight broke out. She started it. I had thought about PSing in a little more room by him but I decided I liked how he was leaning almost out of the frame.
B11. Yep thats snow.
B12.
She yelled "Its not fair if you catch them and throw them back!"
B13. But he just laughed and threw another snowball.
B14. The snowball fight ended in each others arms.
B15. This is a candid. A crazy beautiful candid. Wish I could get candids like this every day- way better than posing.
B16.
But we did do some posed shots as well.
B17. Some of the poses worked out, and some didn't... mostly we were just having fun.
B18.
B19.
The snow angel...
B20.
B21.
What a backdrop for bridals! It was a difficult balance to find... I wanted to use the gorgeous landscape, but still have the focus of the photos be the bride. So I opened it up a bit and let the background go soft. Not sure if it was the best decision, but I thought about it for a long time before the trip, so at least I can say it was intentional. Again, I couldn't have done without the umbrellas/scrim. I wish I had my huge one along, but it wouldn't fit in the cargo place.
B22.
B23.
B24.
Blow the snow and what do you get? The seamless look.
B25.
B26.
I could get a such a natural look of tenderness from this couple... it is so rare.
B27. And then it was time to go home.
On the way back to the airport, the groom told us about their adventures during his leave. They apparently had been living the Alaska dream... white water rafting... saw black bears and moose... Glacier and wildlife tours... lots of fun stuff.
From the bit I saw of them, I think these two will be very happy together. When they can eventually live thier lives on the same continent... I think it will be sweet.
B28.
And now I pray that God keeps him safe until he comes home to his Destiny.
BREATHTAKING
Omg, snowballs, glorious scenery, gorgeous bride who is one of the glowiest I think I've ever seen in any of y'all's work, processing to die for and... and... and... Ok, I'll stop gushing, but you get my drift.
ALso, does anybody else think the groom looks like Paul Gross?? I feel like he should be wearing a Mounties uniform (hubba hubba)
Actually I think he looks a whole lot like my DH when he was a bit younger and had hair. (ha ha!) Funny thing is my hubbie agrees with me!
Thanks Diva... it was so awesome! It definately puts the rest of the weddings I shot that week to shame.
Caroline
www.jonbakerphotography.com
My head would be so big if I could do half as good of work as you
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Love it.....
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I love the extra blurry effect in behind him.
I don't get that much blur effect with my regular f2.8 lenses.
Thanks
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It was the 70-200 2.8
I always move quite a ways away... like 30 or so feet and then zoom in to the full 200mm to get the blur. Works well.