It’s the little (BIG) things.

It’s really easy to get caught up in a lot of hype. It’s inevitable as photographers to find yourself immersed in chasing the almighty EPIC SHOT of the day. Especially at weddings.

Over the years I’ve shot well over 300 weddings- from shotgun courthouse weddings to weddings that are straight out of Martha Stewart’s dream journal.

For us, its hard not to get caught up in the pursuit to get that perfect shot. It’s almost like having tunnel vision and it’s easy to lose sight of all the little things that are happening all around us- the parts of the day are really and truly the most important. For me, Inga and Lane’s wedding was a great reminder to watch for those.

As a professional photographer, it’s our job to get the best photo possible- when we hold the viewfinder to our eye a hundred things are flashing through our minds: composition, lighting, exposure values, f stops, expressions, shutter speeds, posing, hand placement, focus points, stray hairs, ….and “were their eyes closed in that one?” lol. I promise you it’s so much more than clicking a button. A whole lot of gears are turning in our heads – and it’s hard to turn off the switch sometimes.

Being a heavy light photographer, it’s very hard to say, “ok, I am NOT going to have the lighting that I want to create for these shots, instead I’m going to have the light that God is creating and I am going to capture these moments as they happen.” It’s more important to capture those raw moments than to try and recreate them or even worse, miss them all together. EVERY photo doesn’t have to have strong dramatic lighting that tells an emotional story of the day- real moments can convey that feeling all on their own, without all the fuss of key lights, rim lights, moody skies, and perfect posing.

I decided to just let Lonnie do what he does best and trust him to do those “epic” shots (without my nagging and photo nit-picking), and to let me do what I could to catch all those little things happening around us that are really BIG things.

Inga decided not to let her dad see her until right before the moment he walked her down the aisle. It was a very sweet moment- and I LOVE the look on his face!

And watching him walk her down the aisle just put the icing on the cake.

All eyes were on Inga, especially dad’s .

And when her groom first sees her??? I’m not crying- YOU’RE crying- why am I crying?? Oh Geez.

Of course you want those big moments to be photographed beautifully- you want an heirloom portrait to hang on your wall for years to come- but you also need those little glimpses of the day that might go unnoticed or forgotten later on. For example, the cutest little ringbearers ever- peeking through the glass while Inga and Lane had a special moment outside on the veranda.

And you’ll definitely want to remember your bridesmaid shenanigans- hahaha! These two were a HOOT.

And one thing Inga COULDN’T see- Lane’s gigantic smile as he’s getting dressed to marry her-

We’ve recently starting employing our oldest daughter, Gracie, to help us with equipment- to hold lights, etc. It’s been SUCH a huge help because it frees me up to catch those “in -between” shots. This image below was right as they were going in for a kiss in one of Lonnie’s images- “the breath before the kiss”.

First dances are such beautiful moments as well- You can tell Lane is so in love with her- and I thought it was SO sweet when Inga’s dad invited her mom to join in the father daughter dance!

My favorite moment, however- is this right here:

Inga and Lane had JUST walked out of the ceremony processional and were admiring their wedding bands. I can remember what it was like when Lonnie and I first got married- how proud I was of my wedding ring. It’s little moments like this that are big and profound. I hope that even in 30 or 40 years Inga and Lane can look back at this photo and remember what it felt like to be in this moment. I hope they can remember how much excitement they felt just to look at these rings. I hope that if their lives are feeling stressed that this image can help stir their hearts and bring them right back to this day.