I’ve just had a prospective client ask to see 5 of my favorite images. I generally post some of my favorite work on the front page slideshow or on this blog, so if I were to pick out 5, they would be images he’s already seen – so I decided to go with 5 of my favorite images from my last wedding. I think I’l narrate them a bit, and also I might do this on a regular basis. It’s a pretty interesting idea.

It’s always an interesting challenge to creatively shoot the bride’s dress and shoes – there are so many parameters and so much going on during the getting ready – there’s makeup flying around, bridesmaids and maids of honor getting things done and of course the bride. It’s always fun to find a nice quiet moment to shoot the details. This was shot outside the bride’s hotel room, while I was waiting for her to get halfway into the dress. On the right, sometimes a great image (in my opinion) is not defined by how much is lighting the scene, but sometimes areas of dark as well. This was shot by lovely, soft window light and a little kiss of light from inside the room.
  
I love images that hold emotion. It’s important to stay attuned to the events of the day as they unfold – in this image, the coordinator tries to help the bridesmaid (the groom’s sister) as she reads a poem written for the bride by the groom. It was beautiful. In the background, the makeup artist holds the emotional bride’s hand as she applies finishing touches.

It’s important that images tell a story. Each image is a building block of the story of the day. In this frame, the groom’s other sister waits for the right moment to present the bride with a little gift from Tiffany’s from the groom. It’s all about the anticipation. On the right, the couple is bathed with light from a single spotlight in the reception hall. It’s always lovely to see the connection between the couple. There’s nobody in the world but the two of them at that moment.

I shot Yinka and Sola’s wedding back in 2007 – I didn’t get to shoot the birth of their first child, but this time Yinka’s timing was perfect! They live out in Dallas and on Thursday morning I got a text saying that she had delivered her second baby. The following morning, I surprised her with a phone call to let her know I was on my way to Dallas to shoot a wedding and I would be happy to stop by and take her new daughter’s first portraits. She was quite pleased, and that make me all happy too. So on Saturday morning, bright and early, I went out to meet the newest member of her family. She’s beautiful.

So, once again I was back on a Houston-Dallas-Houston same day no checked in luggage flight. It was a session with a client of Elegant Nuptials, and as often happens with out of town clients, the day of their e-session was my first time actually meeting them. I met Kim first, and she was really laid back, and when Dele turned up, he was too. They had picked the arts district for their shoot, as they are both huge patrons of the arts out there, and they really had some great ideas and strong opinions which was lots of fun. The lovely Nosa O. of Elegant Nuptials was at the shoot as well – super helpful as usual. I’m really excited to be working with them at their wedding – it promises to be a really incredible weekend. But before that, we’ll shoot Kim’s bridal session – she’s so psyched about it, I’m sure it’ll be a blast! Oh, on my way back to the airport after the shoot, we were running a *bit* late, so I checked in for the outbound flight on my phone, and they actually scanned my boarding pass right off the phone screen! I love toys! Ooh, and we developed a wedding web site for them too – check it out at www.kimanddele.com!