The Recessional

Usually the recessional, when the bride & groom are married and are leaving the ceremony, is a fairly sedate affair. Most couples walk down the aisle while friends & family clap & congratulate them. However, at Lizzie & David’s wedding, I got this shot of them as they started to walk back down the aisle, which is far more exciting than usual. Shot at the lovely Farbridge wedding venue, the guests threw confetti & cheered & lots of people wanted to get a shot of the newly married couple, creating a wonderful energy framing the smiling face of Lizzie bathed in beautiful light from the windows to the right of the photo.

Everyone’s Reactions

So many things happen so fast at a wedding, that as a Sussex wedding photographer it is crucial to be one step ahead so you can capture the amazing reactions to everything that is happening. Far from trying to arrange & control events, I believe it’s best to let things happen & just be ready to capture them in the split seconds they happen. Obviously this means being in the right place at the right time, but also with the right lens, exposure, shutter speed & depth of field I want for the particular shot. It’s no good just shooting what’s happening, it has to be done beautifully & creatively. Part of this comes from experience, I sometimes see a shot coming purely because I have been in that situation before. However, it also comes from watching the light & people as events converge on a certain point at which it is best to press the shutter. If I’m totally honest, luck can sometimes play a part, though only if you are ready to take advantage of that luck. This particular shot wouldn’t have been as good if I had shot it a second earlier or later, it was important they had walked into the pool of light that picks out Lizzie as well as the flying confetti.

How I Shot This Photo

I always have a fast shutter speed set for when a couple walk down the aisle, as pretty much anything can happen. I set a fairly shallow depth of field to separate the couple from the surrounding guests by throwing the guests out of focus slightly. However in this situation, with the confetti being thrown, I wanted a depth of field that would allow me to get the confetti nicely in focus as it would form an important part of the shot. I also wanted to get the guests framing Lizzie & David all the way through from totally out of focus to just out of focus as we come to Lizzie & David themselves. I wanted the mobile phone screens out of focus while not having them so blurred that they would become white blobs; quite a balancing act in the one second you have to adjust your settings before you have to shoot it, but one that comes instinctively if you know what you want & how to achieve it.