Carlyn's Civil Wedding in Sacramento
Carlyn contacted me in regards to her upcoming civil marriage ceremony in Sacramento and I was totally on board to provide my photography services for her. Because civil ceremonies are so much shorter than a standard wedding, I give a special discounted price depending on how long you need me on site. Carlyn decided that she needed me for two hours - an hour to shoot some bride, groom, and family photos before as well as the other hour for the ceremony portion. I was more than happy to accommodate her request and was excited to shoot a civil ceremony at the new Sacramento Clerk/Recorder’s office. The last time I was at a civil service the ceremony took place in downtown. The building there is small, cramped, and very old. It is not a great place for photos - that’s for sure! I’m was eager to find out what the new place would be like.
We met on the banks of the American River at a place just 5-minutes from the wedding site. The area was very beautiful as there were a lot of gorgeous greens and yellows all around. The river in the background also offered a very pleasing backdrop. I found a very nice location for us to shoot photos at but one of the parents thought that they had found a better place for photos. As the photographer, I could have done one of two things at the moment - 1) argue that the place I liked was just fine and that we’d shoot there or 2) go along with their idea. I chose the latter as I pretty much always would. Though I preferred my choice of location, I knew we’d get great shots no matter what. Having happy brides and parents is a much bigger deal than one location over another. In fact, Carlyn noticed and appreciated my ability to work with the parents and complimented me on it!
Though our time was pretty short, we accomplished a lot during it. I took photos of the happy couple as well as all the family photos that they needed. During this time I found it exciting to figure out which backdrop will look the best in pictures. The light direction, distracting objects, and their actions all needed to carefully accounted for as I snap each photo. I am constantly looking for natural looks of happiness. Usually I give some instructions to my clients on what to do and how to ‘act’. Once this flow gets going I find that great photos just naturally get taken.
In total I was able to capture and deliver 75 hand edited super high resolution photos from the short time we had together. Carlyn was amazing to work with and I wish her the absolute best as she begins her married life! If you’re looking for wedding photography or videography, contact me right away to see if your event date is available!