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| Bride and groom sharing a private moment in the back streets of Nerja in southern Spain |
The back details of a bride's dress are sometimes very beautiful but there are other reasons for photographing backs: one of the reasons is clearly seen above, the further away the bride and groom move from friends, family and photographer the more the illusion of privacy is created and the photographer can record intimate moments without intruding.
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| Bridesmaids displaying enviable tans and rosebuds in their hair |
Another reason for photographing these backs apart from their beautiful tans is it's an ideal way of recording the scenery and visually establishing where the wedding took place. Yes it could be Italy, but the bride will always be reminded that she was in fact in Spain.
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| Bridal couples in the beautiful grounds of Margam Park have plenty of space for walking |
Back home in England or Wales, the weather does occasionally prevent bridal couples from wandering too far from their wedding celebrations for fear of a soaking.
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| An umbrella can be handy if it rains all day, even if the bridegoom doesn't know what to do with it |
My first years as a photographer were not spent surrounded by gorgeous dresses and party people on their best behaviour at a wedding, but on the mean streets of South London before the developers moved in and raised their profile and status. Local newspapers were great training grounds, like repertory theatres for actors, lots of opportunities to practice your craft.
I first got
taken on, as a staff photographer, by my local paper, the Balham and Tooting
News, many years ago (largely
because the lovely editor knew that taking on a woman would annoy his cocky, macho-male incumbent who was, at
the time, holding him to ransom over which jobs he would or wouldn’t do,
particularly in the evening and at weekends).
The poor dear man
imagined that a woman would be more malleable. Ha!
He warned me that if I didn't take the job there would be no more freelance work because with two staffers he couldn't justify the cost.
I was very much afraid I wouldn't be able to cope. I loved taking photographs and had closely studied a correspondence course
on what newspapers want and how to present stuff to editors (no internet in those days, no emailing a
couple of frames to the news desk and ringing up to harass the picture edit
later) but my professional experience was limited to shooting a few teenage
love stories in a freelance capacity, for “My Guy”, placing occasional articles
in magazines, and six months working freelance for that same paper.
So my first dispatch to a football match came as a shock to both of us.
In a way
it was fortunate that the match was a non-league event at Tooting and Mitcham
because I hadn’t a clue where to stand, sit, kneel or what the game was about. I found a
spot by the goalpost and was soon chatting away to the goalkeeper who didn’t
really seem to have much to do.
When the game
hotted up and play came down our end of the pitch my power winder came into
it’s own and I shot an entire reel of film (36 frames). However when the ball
went into the net, a large sweaty bloke covered in mud (perhaps the captain)
hurtled towards the goal and suggested to the goalkeeper that something other
than the ball would be kicked if he didn’t keep his mind on the game. At this
point I retreated to the side lines.
Twenty minutes
later I had regained my courage and was happily snapping away, running up and
down the lines behind the linesman.
History doesn’t
relate what the referee said to me because fortunately I can’t remember it!
I would love to say that I
took wonderful pictures that day but history does relate what my editor said:
“Patsy, this is useless, you’ve got nothing but the backs of their heads”.
At the time it was a lesson well learned.
But what doesn't work in sport can add an extra dimension to wedding photography.
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A beautiful dress in the courtyard of this hotel in Seville creates a lovely design for an album
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