Wedding was yesterday. Here's a recap. sorry for the long post, I get to typing and can't quit.
Tupper was right - I have an hourly rate that I charge for other sorts of coverage. When all is said and done, it'll actually be a little less than half my usual hourly rate, because I'm throwing in a couple of prints and a softcover book, that come right out of my net. While I've done a few simple books in the past, I need to get better at album/book design (probably with Photojunction) and this gives me a kick in the pants to do it. Since I'll be able to use these images to make samples for myself (model release was in my contract), I don't mind eating the little bit in printing costs to have an inexpensive book printed for them while I'm at it.
Anyway. The wedding was yesterday evening and night. The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. There were maybe 40-50 guests, a bagpipe/mandolin musician, and catered BBQ. It was held at a small event and performance space. The ceremony was outdoors and the reception was indoors.
If you've been following the weather at all, Tropical Storm Debby has been moving through the area. I've been so wary all week, hoping I wasn't going to have to shoot in a downpour, but I brought ponchos and RainSleeves and plastic bags for all the gear, and towels and shoes that wouldn't be ruined by mud - completely prepared to shoot in the rain. But the sun came out, it was partially cloudy or overcast, and overall a beautiful evening. But HOT! and so, so humid and muggy. Earlier in the day thwere was a steady breeze mixed with a few strong gusts. By the evening the breeze was gone completely.
They were supposed to have Highlands games before the ceremony (caber toss, hammer throw, etc) but it was so hot and humid, nobody really got into it. I was a bit disappointed, as I like to shoot that kind of stuff. But, people either stayed inside in the A/C, or were slouched into chairs on the porch in the shade, sipping lemonade and Jameson's and trying not to melt. The bride wanted shots of the groom doing the Highlands games... I was able to get some quick portraits of him out in the fields but mostly it was just candids of people sitting around and chatting and sweating.
The bride got a 45-minute case of cold feet, so the ceremony schedule went out the window from the start. They hadn't had a rehearsal. Nobody stood in the right spots. The officiant was on the wrong side of the couple (ohhh boy). Timing was all over the place. But, we made the best of it. I bungled a few things, as novices do - I missed the FIRST first kiss, but got a quick follow-up when he went in for a second peck. Overall I got some pretty good coverage. Organic and journalistic, which is exactly what the bride had originally requested.
The bride had originally told me no "cheesy posed shots" (her words) but they let me have about 10 minutes right after the ceremony. The sky was completely overcast by then so there was no golden hour to speak of, and the "cleanest" background was a cow pasture with fences and cows (it was either that, or the parking lot, or the dumpsters, or the neighboring buildings - the pasture was the least objectionable). So, I tried something new and I think it worked: severely underexpose the ambient and use flashes on very tall stands to put a spotlight on the couple. Haven't processed them yet but I think they'll be nice, and very dramatic with just a smidge of processing and cleanup.
The indoor space was beautiful for the reception, but really, really rough for photography. The ceiling was low and slanted and black, the walls were wood paneling, and there were two big stone center columns in the middle of the room. There was a stage for the musician, with red spotlights (ouch). I had two off-camera Speedlights on stands/clamps that I moved all about the room as the evening ran on. Sometimes with umbrellas, sometimes bare direct flash, sometimes trying to bounce off the black ceiling with the bounce cards pulled up. Not ideal, but... what ya gonna do. Off-camera ETTL would have been a boon.
There was no schedule during the reception either. Lots of time just mingling and chatting, plenty of random dancing way before the first dance, maybe we'll cut the cake in a little bit, maybe someone will do a toast here or there. No speeches, but a couple of nice Celtic poems and well-wishes by the bagpiper. The best man made a ten-second toast, but he had been at the Jameson's since about 5 PM, so he was quite brief.
When there was a bit of a lull, I set up a quick little portrait area in the corner with umbrellas, and talked some people into some quick portraits. Mother of the groom, mother of the bride, bride with her friends, the piper, the groom with his buddies. Those all turned out pretty nice for an impromptu setup.
There was no send-off during/after the reception, which I found interesting. The guests left one by one, the bride and groom were still there at the end of the night while the caterer and musician and I were packing up and the families were clearing the tables.
When we were getting in the car to leave, there were a couple of guys out tossing the caber. At midnight. I didn't get any shots of it, there was just not enough ambient light to focus - even with flash assist, even with Live View, nothing. On-camera Speedlight with IR assist might have worked, but the results (direct on-camera flash and pitch black ambient) probably would not have been worth keeping.
For now, I'll call it a qualified success. The photos looked good on the LCD. My wife did a small amount of second-shooting with the backup body (XTi); I haven't looked at those shots yet, but I'm sure there will be at least a handful of keepers, especially from the bride's dressing room. The bride was thankful my wife was there, since nobody else knew how to properly do up the corset lacing on the back of the dress.
And I got paid in full. 
for business stuff
