PROS VS JOES 2 -MAKING RAINBOWS OUT OF SPILLED PAINT

MAKING RAINBOWS OUT OF SPILLED PAINT

An old mentor of mine told me many years ago that wedding photographers always have good days.  Why, do you ask?  Because we can't afford to have bad days!  What he was trying to say was that you have to have a good outlook on everything no matter what it is.  If it rains: you can get a good reflection shot of the bride in groom in a puddle.  If you're running out of time for formals:  move faster and concentrate harder because when proofing time comes, the bride and groom don't want to hear, "Well I didn't get any good formals of you guys because I just didn't have enough time."  This is what separates the Pros from the Joes - being able to see something where there is nothing or make a positive out of a negative.  And to be honest: it all has to do with focus and attitude.  The situation is only screwed up if you say and think it is!

This was one of the toughest situations I've been put under as a wedding photographer.  The wedding started late, the receiving line ran longer than expected and we just had a hard time exiting the church to go to the designated spot to take pictures.  

The bride and groom pulled me to the side and said there was no way we could get downtown to take pictures and back in time for the reception. They basically said, "Kahn, we need somewhere to take pictures thats close to the reception."  Now I didn't tell them this, but I couldn't think of nowhere, however I just told them to follow me and I felt I could "wing" it.  

They got in their limo, I got in my car, I called my wife and she gave me directions to a park with gazebo near their reception hall, but when we got there there was another wedding going on!  I got back in the car, starting driving and biting my nails (it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders), the limo driver pulled to the side of me and told me to pull over.  He got out the car and told me that the couple only had the limo for 15 more minutes so something had to be done!  So I looked over and saw an office building full of different kinds of stone work and told him to follow me straight over there, and here is the result.

I found the section in the building that didn't have any windows and had the best light, posed and photographed the couple non-stop for 10 minutes.  That left 10 minutes exactly for them to get to the reception.  Everybody was happy.  Rainbows were made out of spilled paint.

We did most of the formals inside the church, but I took about 30 more seconds to get a few outdoor pictures.  The best light was came from the direction of the church which meant I had to place the couple's backs to the street.  Instead of showing the unattractive residential street, I decided to focus on the couple close up.