Shelton Muller, Photographer: Breaking our Own Mold - Mark and Jessica's Beautiful Wedding

Backlit with flash and using a Nikkor 70-200 VR at f2.8, this image was also
made possible because of the creative input of this beautiful couple. Props,
combined with their desire to a very important part of the creative process
made images such as these possible on a wedding day that could have
otherwise been very difficult.

Photographing a wedding is always a daunting and wonderful task - no matter who you are or how many weddings you have captured over the years. It is an honour to be given the one and only opportunity to capture a couple’s wedding day, and therefore daunting in its impact of personal responsibility. Tash and I will approach each wedding individually, but admittedly our combined visual style is apparent in each.

Then along came Jessica and Mark. What a wonderful couple! We were looking very much forward to photographing their wedding – for personal and creative reasons. Mark and Jessica are friends of the family and it was an honour for us to capture their dream day and all of the love surrounding them – so much of which was our own.

It is only a natural part of our service to ask a couple what kind of images they prefer. This doesn’t mean that we don’t know what we are doing, but every photographer can adapt for their customers. From a photographer's perspective it also allows for growth. It doesn’t mean a complete departure from their skill set or visual style, but only a more predominant approach within their style that suits their customers. When Mark and Jessica indicated their preferences of images using examples of wedding images they liked, well…we kinda took a double take. Why? Well, how do I put this?…We didn’t like the images they presented. When that happens, what do you do then?

Combining the creative vision of our couple with our own
style, this image was alse made possible with a LensBaby
Edge80, which I personally love to use as often as I can
at a wedding.

Well....we were honest. You have to be, don’t you? We told them that while we didn’t feel that our style matched what they showed us, we would nonetheless do our best to shoot this way – but to add our unique talent set and visual style to them. Having seen our wedding images, they agreed to place their trust in our abilities and we agreed to step outside ourselves. It was a challenge for the two of us to remember what we had to do, to deliberately alter our methods and styles and produce images that were out of our genre. But it was a great exercise, and we appreciate the growth it brought to us also. For me? I was able to get out the LensBaby Edge80 I have been dying to work with so much! Thanks Mark! Thanks Jessica!

Their wedding day was a mixture of weather patterns too. There was heat. Then there were clouds. Then there was downpour. Then there was warmth again. Photographers who are unable to work with these unpredictable conditions will suffer the consequences of this inability – as will their clients. Tash and I took each stage in our stride and instead of working against the weather, worked with each as a creative opportunity. Thank you Mark and Jessica for being our teachers, our friends and a beautiful couple whose creative input and dedication to the acquisition of props made for a creative collaboration!

To see a gallery from this wedding, click here.