An Old Fashioned Charmer

Darter02

1.


While I enjoy shooting weddings in general sometimes I get one that really makes me realize just why I enjoy them so much. Yesterday I had the honor of capturing the union of Kathryn Murphy and Neil Mrkvicka. They had a very intimate, old fashioned feeling ceremony in a tiny country chapel located in a beautiful, rural valley.

2.


Hyde Chapel happens to be one of the first places I discovered after moving to the area. It's a very charming structure nestled in a rather scenic, hilly area. When you see it, you can feel the history surrounding it. Also, just around the bend there's a landmark old mill. When this couple told me they were going to use the Chapel for their nuptials, and the mill for their photos I was so thrilled.

3.


Even though we had to rush through doing the portraits due to a rain storm that was fast approaching, the day simply went perfectly. We were able to adjust all our plans, and remained flexible in order to beat the rain. As I closed the trunk of my car after doing the portraits a steady drizzle began. The ceremony followed, with the rain actually adding to the romantic feel of the afternoon.

4.


Anyway, I just wanted to post a few of the photos from the day. I can't wait to process the entire gallery! This is indeed why I love shooting weddings.

5.


PS: This is also the same thing I wrote on my blog just now. I thought I'd just copy/paste it here too to save time. The Steeler's are playing soon, and my daughter needs help with Halloween decor... LOL

divamum

Love the first one in particular! Very pretty

Darter02

The portrait session at the mill had been planned to take place after the ceremony. She secured permission to use the property too. There are a LOT of "NO TRESPASSING!!!," "WE ARE WATCHING YOU!!!" signs all over the place. They even had to erect barbed wire fences all over to keep folks out.

Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks of great weather this day was going to rain. There was a storm coming that was to arrive right when we'd planned to shoot at the mill. Instead she had me arrive earlier, skip shooting the "bride getting ready" stuff, and we went right to the mill. By the time we arrived we had a 30 minute window in which to work. With the winds blowing like crazy, and the light getting darker, we worked as quickly as possible.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed as I'd planned a series of shots, but there just wasn't time to set them up. The rain began to fall just as I closed my gear up in the car, that's how close our timing was. Having a Droid with NEXRAD radar really helped!

It'll be a couple of weeks before I can post other images. Aside from these first few, I like the Bride & Groom to be the first to see stuff.

Darter02

Thank you! Web traffic to their gallery has been the highest I've ever had. There are a few shots from the Mill that I actually like better. This couple also gave me a great review, my first here in Wisconsin.

Sam

Nice work!!!!

Sam

Matthew Saville

Darter02 wrote: »

Thank you! Web traffic to their gallery has been the highest I've ever had. There are a few shots from the Mill that I actually like better. This couple also gave me a great review, my first here in Wisconsin.

Ooh! What aperture and focal length was this last image shot at? Just wondering...

=Matt=

Darter02

That was shot using a 5D mrk II + EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens. My settings wereAV Mode, f/2.8 @ iso400 as it was getting dark due to the storm coming in on us.

I did shots with both off camera flashes bouncing, as well as without. To control the flashes I used a 30' ETTL shoe chord running to a 580ex II set as Master, which fired 2 other 580 slaves. All three were aimed into a large umbrella, which the sister of one of groom's men held onto. Usually I use Pocketwizards, but we had such limited time, just 30 minutes. I chose to use the chord and built in IR tech. It worked fine, but I ended up using the nonflash shots as the look was subtly better.

Here's the same shot with the fill flash. To me, her hair is much busier, and you can see a shadow of her lace on the back of her shoulder. While I am happy with the shots I did manage to get, I really, really wish we'd have had the originally planned two hour session. I had so many shots sketched out in my head...

joshhuntnm

nice couple. Nice expressions. nice backgrounds. nice. nice. nice. Great work.

Darter02

@joshhuntnm said:
nice couple. Nice expressions. nice backgrounds. nice. nice. nice. Great work.

Wow. It's been a long time since I posted this. Thank you. I rarely do weddings anymore. I had a good run at one point. I was doing the whole "pay to play" spending about $6k in advertising each year and making good money back.

I couldn't get into the marketing for this industry. While I really enjoyed taking the photos and capturing the "magic," I just don't have it in me to live and breath the latest wedding industry trends. I'm also not exactly geared towards daily blogging and interacting with people who want to mail me their glittery tiara so I can do "lighting tests."

Now, of I could find a business partner who would handle all that and all I had to do was go do my thing, then perhaps I'd get back into it?

These days I'm living a very solitaire rural life in the southern Driftless Area of Wisconsin. Thankfully there are a number of nature areas and prairie remnants and restorations around me. At the beginning of the pandemic I began to focus in on these islands of natural environments.

The collected body of works are currently being exhibited at the The Prairie Enthusiasts 2021 virtual conference. I have a "booth" there that displays my work but it's my hosting page that has gotten some attention.

Of particular interest for some of them has been the interactive maps that illustrate where I've taken images.

If you're interested: https://www.ronlutzii-photographer.com/Driftless/TPE-2021-Online-Conference

joshhuntnm

I have cut way back as well. I have a web page and take what comes to me.