On Assignment: Alter of Love

Where have you been?  Where have I been?  Every where. No where. Any where at all?  Here, but not there… there, but not here.

In typical Rachelle the worry wart fashion (dropped “Mommy,” as the condition began well before the babies), I have been drowning in self-deprecation-induced-fear.  What’s that?  Well, it’s when I loath something about myself aloud and hope to hear a rebuttal from someone who loves me:  a compliment, a reassurance, a pop in the head if it’s needed.

And the fear I built up?  Well, a very special friend of mine from one summer, at band camp in sixth grade entrusted me with capturing her wedding on camera.  Believe me when I say I was both honored and petrified all at once.

I’ve never been married.  I relish in the bride magazines and love dwelling in front of the TV watching Lifetime’s Wedding Sundays.  I L-O-V-E seeing pictures of weddings.  I cry at all the sentimental, mushy, cheesy moments.  And I set the ultra-sweet totally priceless and romantic experiences into the recesses of my memory.

I knew I wanted to help Miss Ericka on her special day, and I knew I had to do it right.  This time I wasn’t second shooter, I was the shooter.   So I pulled out all my resources on posing, flash, portraiture, and detail shots.  I studied my 500 Poses for Photographing Brides: A Visual Sourcebook for Professional Digital Wedding Photographers.   I read Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories from cover to cover (hey Glen, you’re amazing).  And in true photographer-parent style, I enlisted my kids as models and tested out my new flash unit and lenses.  But even as I drove down to VA Beach for the event, I was freaking out about the job. 

Anyway, my first effort to regain control of myself was to control something else. I insisted that poor Mike, from The Hilton Garden Inn, center the Bride/Groom table in the window it was placed in front of.  I redecorated the cake display and shot cake portraits from every angle I could think of. (Yes, I put the display back the way it was.)  And then I waited for the wedding to begin. 

The day was quite long, but I enjoyed myself much more than I thought was possible amidst my worrying state of mind. 

Nine hundred ninety eight photos were taken, and I probably could’ve tripled the number if my flash recycled faster.