Wedding Photography LAdigitalPhoto - Life Event Photographer Tom Keene ©
Wedding Ceremony Location - Pasadena City Hall
Perhaps one of the most commonly shot locations of my career, it is just blocks away, I find that no matter how often I come here, it is entirely different. The people, the weather, the time of day and so many other variables make it completely unique.
For this couple, unique as a whole new level. Now for a micro wedding, a wedding usually under 2 hours at a courthouse or just the ceremony and some family photos, but these two had it planned to the minute. I had a list of images they wanted, how they wanted each family set up to be and we did most of their photos before the ceremony. Again, they made it their own. Bravo!
Now this is why shooting here is great early in the morning. NO ONE ELSE IS HERE. Sure there were a few here and there but nothing like when you come at sunset... on a weekend. I have another couple who will be bringing me here at 7am next week for a proposal. We started this wedding at 8:50am. So for me it takes a bit to realize all shadows are backwards since the sun is on the side I am not normally expecting it to be. It actually takes time to think about each shot.
Christine pulled up a Porsche which would be used a lot as a prop for the day. We had not even done the ceremony yet. That would not happen for at least 30 more minutes. So on to the list of must haves for them.
Not an untypical photo you might expect on a wedding day. It was one of many that they had shared with me and luckily one of their entourage helped get them set up for me which sped somethings up for the most part.
Now the sun really helped take this image to a whole new level. The sun flares on the glass was a nice touch to their contagious smiles. Again, what a great time to do a micro wedding, early when no one else is cluttering your background.
Having finally finished their hit list, I jumped in to get what I wanted for them. This image would be something unique that they were not expecting to have. Because of this we did go a little behind schedule but I made it up to them in the end.
The ceremony was quick. I mean really quick. So fast in fact that they forgot to exchange their rings. The family and the bubbles made this a great moment none the less.
From the ceremony we went into the family photos. Not uncommon, but it was such a pretty time of the day I went a little long and took 200 some images with only 11 people being there. Even I did not realize until I started editing how much work I had created for myself.
So off we ran to complete their romantics. By this time we had already hit their hour time limit that they had hired me for. So we really put it in high gear. Go see what we did after this moment. All images passed the last image of their family photos was done in 30 minutes. The way the light was hitting this area was totally new to me being this early. Normally it is way more harsh and if you look at their gallery the shots of them beginning this sequence as they walk away, if you have seen any of my other work during this part you will see what I mean.
Luckily for me I know every inch of this location so I was able to streamline how we proceeded. I still took the time to make some of the shots my own and I can't wait to capture they next couple here with a few new ideas I had including these images below.
I don't always do black and whites. If you want them, just ask, but I find them to be timeless and romantic. This is also not the editing I do for people. But sometimes you just have to take the time to make it happen. This shoot took 1.5 hours. The editing took 3 more hours and even just selecting these images and typing it up took another hour. A lot goes into my work and I do really hope that everyone of my couples loves seeing themselves as much as I enjoy capturing them.
I might have shot this a bit differently had we had more time, but I do like the more rushed feel of it all.
Shot with my 85mm lens at around a 1.4-2.0, this is why hiring just anyone with a camera can be a huge mistake on your wedding day. If you think your friend that has a kit camera and lens will get you images like these, you will not be very happy. Trust me I get called several times a year from couples who went with someone who saved them $100 or $200 and then want me to fix the other photographers work... You cannot go back and fix it. It's already captured. You cannot make someone smile that didn't and you can't make people feel comfortable if you were not the person there making them feel like you were family but hopefully they feel that way about you when you are done.
To Adriana and Christine,
Thank you for allowing me to be there for you both and for your friends and family. I wish you all an amazing lives together filled with joy and laughter.