Danielle and Daniel’s 09/09/09 Wedding

When Danielle came in for a consultation about her wedding photography, and told me she was going to hold her wedding at dusk lit only by candles, I just about leapt out of my seat and begged her to let me photograph it.  It turns out I didn’t have to beg her, because she was already sold on working with me.  But having received negative reactions from other photographers about the candle-lit ceremony idea, she was pretty happy about my enthusiasm.

I was enthusiastic not only because it sounded beautiful and exotic, but because I knew I could photograph it well.  Having the Canon 5DMkII allows me to shoot in very dim light, handheld if necessary, at ISO6400.  (For those of you who have no idea what that means, you can simply drop your jaw and say, “Wow,” and drool a little bit.)  And that’s just what happened!  It turned out the ceremony was lit by Christmas tree lights strung up in the trees–not candles.  But the challenge was that the bride and groom were stationed off-center from the aisle.  This meant that for me to get a clear shot of them, I had to get down front somehow.  I waited until the cover of prayer–when all eyes were closed–to sneak up front, sitting on the ground with my head one inch from the groom’s mother’s knee.  And there I stayed.  No tripod, just my camera and me, on the ground.

I’m not complaining; it turned out great.

Not only was the ceremony beautiful, but Danielle–the graphic designer–put plenty of thought into everything.  Including the choice of her grandparents’ Damascus farm as the site, replete with old trucks and tractors that made excellent portrait props. Very thoughtful of her; it was like a photographer’s playground.

Her thoughtfulness even extended to the wedding date.  What would make someone marry on a Wednesday evening in September?  The date.  It was 09/09/09.  If you think about it, there are only 12 such symmetrical dates per century.  (01/01/01 through 12/12/12.)  Talk about a date that’s easy to remember.  Dan, you’re in the doghouse if you forget!

You can always view more at our wedding photography website.  At FritzPhoto, we love to tell love elegant stories.

This wedding was featured on WedLoft, in their Featured Photographer section.   Thanks for the writeup, Michelle!