Wedding Photography + Simply Divine Bed + Bed and Breakfast NC + Dunn, NC + S & A

December 11, 2012 • Leave a Comment

~ Wedding photography at the Simply Divine B & B, Dunn,NC ~

Or...when things go so very, very, wrong and turn out better then this photographer could imagine !

This sunset wedding ceremony was held at the bed and breakfast Simply Divine http://www.simplydivinebedandbreakfast.com/ downtown Dunn, NC ( small town a little south of Raleigh, NC).

The bride and groom S & A actually have been married for over a year and wanted to renew their vows upon his homecoming after fighting overseas. ( How cool is that!)

They were married at sunset in the front garden under the colorful but fast fading last rays of sunlight . The bride wanted a "non traditional" series of images for their wedding album and I am always happy to fill a request like that so after the ceremony away we went... The group portraits were a blast to take because their wedding party was filled with fun loving party people who loved cheesing it up for the camera.

It was all good until nightfall when it was time to take S & A's formal couples portraits. As I was adjusting my flash unit for the proper lighting output I accidentally shot the flash off ABOUT 4 INCHES from my face right INTO my eyes!! I was literally blinded and was contemplating calling 911 on the spot because all I could see was red murkiness and greenish black splotches. ( Yeah, I am a knucklehead occasionally!)

Instead of abandoning the job, I kept my mouth shut, said a prayer inside and squinted my way around setting up my clients in front of the B & B. I really did not want to let S & A down without trying to at least deliver something of value.

Trying my best to concentrate on the task at hand without my sight was scary. My only option at the time was to focus my lens as best I could on the light reflecting off of the bride's earrings because I knew I could get a nice face shot of the two of them based on that focal range. After each photo I showed my clients the images on my cameras LCD screen and asked if they looked OK. They both loved them and assured me that they appeared fine so I kept going.

As for the rest of the night, it was super rough going all throughout the reception. I could not see anything except the little black focusing squares in my lens. It took a full hour until I could see peoples faces clearly enough to recognize from them across a room, the drive home in the dark was dicey at best and it wasn't until the next morning that I could say that I was 100% OK.

After the post production process was completed and the photos were delivered I am happy to say that my cleint called me to say that she was literally crying because she loved the photos so much. She said that she has never seen anything so beautiful photography wise . I am humbled at her complements and am so thankful that the photographs turned out the way that they did.

I am grateful now that my prayer was answered and I have had enough low light photography experience that I could trust my instincts when it comes to adjusting my composition and exposures properly. In hindsight (yah, bad pun intended), I wish that I had set up another backlight on the left as a fill, (and had been wearing sunglasses) but overall I am VERY pleased with the results of which could have been a disastrous portrait session.

No lasting injuries were incurred (except my "pride"lol!) so lets just chalk this up in the "making lemonade out of lemons" category.

Thank you to my wonderful clients S & A for your patience and warm smiles. Your wedding was lovely and I hope that these images bring back happy memories for years to come.

-Sally