Trey and Stephanie got married in Italy. This was the part where everyone back home got to celebrate with them, and it was looser and warmer for it. No processional, no program, no schedule anybody was defending. Just a lot of people who love them, outside, eating.
The Evening
I got there around five and nobody was there yet. Staff still setting up. So I put my flash together and spent a while talking to people as they arrived, which is usually the best thing you can do at a wedding anyway.
The food smelled incredible before I ever saw it. Big buffet, a lot of people, drinks flowing early.
Right before dinner they did a small ceremony out in the garden. Quick, unfussy, and the whole thing was outdoors from start to finish.
Then everyone ate and drank and stopped thinking about the camera, and that's when the night actually opened up.
The shots I keep coming back to
There's one of Trey eating cake by himself, and at the edge of the frame you can just see Stephanie's hand doing the what are you doing thing.
And me and this nice guy were talking about my camera gears and he could not get over the price of my new 50mm.
My favorite is them putting the rings on. Just hands, or the one where the whole group is laughing.
Shooting at Rose & Ivy
Entirely outdoors, with an awning over the reception area that turned out to be the most useful thing in the venue. I bounced my AD200 Pro II off it and used on-camera flash as fill. Worked well. I was moving the light around constantly, which you should plan on.
Wedding photography in Sarasota and Tampa Bay
Some of the best weddings I've shot are the ones that aren't really trying to be weddings. Nobody performing, nobody posing, everybody just there.
If you're planning something in Sarasota, Tampa, or anywhere around the bay, send me your date.
