It’s time for the procession. The bride, bridesmaids, and the bride’s dad are lining up in the back of the church. I love to capture the interaction during these short moments before the procession (see Figures 1a and 1b). My assistant is usually positioned near the front of the church on the right side. He will cover the mothers and grandparents as they are seated, and the processional of the bridesmaids once it begins. His camera is always on AI Servo auto-focus mode, which means that it follows the subjects down the aisle. All of his images are made without strobe or flash of any kind.

Figure 1a.

Figure 1b.

I’m not a big fan of photographing each of the bridesmaids coming down the aisle. To me, that’s not the bride’s view. The bride’s view is watching her girls go down the aisle from the back of the church. Besides, I capture several images of each bridesmaid earlier as they prepare for the wedding—sometimes with the bride and sometimes alone.

That’s why I capture the procession from the back of the church, with several bridesmaids walking toward the front (see Figure 2). As the last bridesmaid is making her way down the aisle, and the bride stands calmly with her dad, waiting for her walk, I’ll get a wide-angle lens shot, low to the ground, of the bride and her father from the back for a really unique image.

Figure 2.

I then make my way about halfway down the aisle into an unoccupied pew. In this position, I can get a great photograph of the bride and her father coming down the aisle—I don’t take just one shot, I take several, capturing a range of expressions on both the bride and her father.

Next, I quickly make my way to the front of the church via the left aisle and capture the father offering his daughter’s hand to her groom (Figure 3). All this time, my lighting assistant knows exactly where he or she needs to be to cover the beginning of the event—at the eight o’clock position (remember our clock face in Chapter 4?) on the far right side of the church.

Figure 3.

If it’s a Catholic ceremony, it runs longer, so I hang out up front, in the left aisle of the church, for just a few minutes and try to capture some great expressions from the bride’s mother and father, the bridesmaids, and maybe even the grandparents (see Figure 4). These images are always made without flash of any kind, and are done very discreetly and quietly.

Figure 4.

I then make my way to the back of the church to continue the ceremony coverage (Figures 5a and 5b). My lenses range from a Sigma 8mm fisheye all the way to my Canon 70—300mm IS telephoto lens. I never use a tripod, hence the importance of image-stabilized lenses in my gear bag. Tripods are just too slow, clumsy, and balky to move discreetly around a church.

Figure 5a.

Figure 5b.

Image stabilization and high ISOs are my salvation in this instance. If it’s a full Catholic mass ceremony, I may place a long lens on one of my cameras, very quietly and discreetly make a trip up the left side aisle, and capture some really good close-ups of the bride and groom, celebrant, bridesmaids, bride’s mom and dad, and guests (see Figures 6a and 6b). Figure 6a. Figure 6b.

Yes, we do make a trip to the balcony if we have access to it, and I always try to get some images from that vantage point (Figure 7). Or, I send my assistant to cover the ceremony from that perspective as I hang out at ground level. Again, I run the full gamut of lenses from the balcony vantage point.

Figure 7.

As we near the end of the ceremony, I take up my position about a third of the way down the main aisle. My lighting assistant is in position as the celebrant announces the bride and groom as husband and wife. I capture that moment with a long telephoto lens and a high ISO (see Figure 8). I have absolutely no flashes going off at this point, or at any point during the ceremony.

Figure 8.

Then, I change to my “flash” camera for the series of images of the couple coming down the aisle. As the bride and groom make their way down the aisle toward me, I take several images while they look at each other, smile and greet their guests, and make their way back up the aisle (Figure 9). After so many weddings, I’ve gotten pretty good at walking backwards.

Figure 9.

I really don’t do much coaxing of expressions of the bride and groom—some photographers do, but it’s never been my gig to “rig” the moment. I don’t ask them to stop, or kiss, or look into the camera, or any of those coaxed candid images we so often see. I prefer to capture the best natural expressions and emotions of the couple and photograph the action as it evolves (Figure 10).

Figure 10.

As you back down the aisle, just be sure there’s no videographer or church lady behind you that you’re unaware of. Also be aware of any low-lying baptismal founts that may be troublesome.

Next up the aisle are the bridesmaids, groomsmen, moms, and dads—that’s when all the hugging and kissing begins. I’m right there to capture it all—constantly moving, circling the couple as the tears, laughs, hugs, and kisses abound.

There are a couple scenarios that can happen as the couple leaves the church. At one wedding, as people came out of the church and were greeted by the bride and groom, the attendants handed out liquid bubbles to them and instructed them to line up on both sides of the sidewalk.

As the bride and groom made their exit from the church, the guests were ready with the bubbles. Many of the children had been practicing for quite some time, and bubbles were flying everywhere (Figure 11a).

Figure 11a.

This is a wonderful opportunity for wide-angle images (see Figure 11b). At this point, I ask my second shooter to cover the bride and groom from behind as they exit the church and head to the limo (Figure 11c). Covering the action from the front with my wide-angle lens, I’m careful to keep my assistant hidden behind the bride and groom. We get a great series of images as the couple moves through the gauntlet of guests, makes their way to the limo, and drives off. I love to get a wide-angle shot of them beside, and then inside, the limo. As the limo pulls away, I may reframe the image, including the guests, and signal by waving my hand for them to wave back to the limo.

Figure 11b.

Figure 11c.

This, many times, is a fake exit. They will circle the block and come back around to the church, with the guests mostly dispersed, and we finish any other couple or group images we need to take (Figure 12). Figure 12.