Gail & Patrick's Wedding
Gail and Patrick had their wedding at their beautiful home in Sacramento on a day with some really drastic weather changes! It had been nice, sunny, and dry for the entire day… but as the time of the wedding drew near, winds picked up and a few clouds could be seen coming in. I didn’t think there was any threat of rain as the weather throughout the entire month had been excellent - not a drop of rain in sight.
The ceremony went off without a hitch. The lighting was perfect with a mild temperature. I loved all of the special features Patrick brought in to transform the front yard into a ceremony area. The wedding was small, but had a grand and elegant feel to it.
I brought my duo of Sony full-frame cameras along to capture the wedding. One of the cameras we dedicated to zooming in and getting very close shots while the other was used to capture a wider field of view. There’s no one lens that can give you a great image that covers the entire gamut of focal lengths. There are zooms that can give you a huge coverage of angles, but never with the quality that you want for professional work.
My trusty 70-200 2.8 was perfect to capture close detail while still being far away enough from the couple as to not distract them or the officiant. I find the Sony 70-200 2.8 to be my best lens for wedding coverage. It gets me in really tight and delivers extremely sharp results. Of the standard trinity of lenses photographers use for weddings, the 70-200 is my personal favorite. In case you are wondering, the other two lenses that are standard for wedding events are the 24-70 2.8 and 15-35 2.8. Having these three lenses gives you pretty much all the angles you could ever want for a wedding shoot.
The decisive shot of almost every wedding is the first kiss. It’s always a challenge to think of how the photo should look and be taken. For Gail and Patrick’s first kiss, I decided to also include Gail’s daughter in the photo. Gail and her daughter are extremely close, and getting her reaction in the picture was a decision I decided to make at the last second.
As the ceremony ended, I began to feel rain start coming down. I really thought it would just be a quick drizzle that would pass by, but it ended up being a pretty wet situation with lots and lots of rain just pouring down. Thankfully, there were plenty of tents and overhangs for people to be under. My cameras and I were pretty safe, but I felt bad for the DJ who had lots of wiring going around all over the place!
The rain couldn’t stop the enjoyment that Gail and Patrick had at their wedding. All the reception events went on and people just dealt with the rain. It definitely didn’t ruin and of the wedding for the special couple. In fact, I think it gave them something to talk about in the future when reminiscing.
Gail and Patrick danced the night away. I really want to thank them for having me as their photographer. It was cold and wet in the end, but I felt warm seeing the love that they have for each other. I wish them the best as they begin this new chapter in their lives!