Take a little bit of 'Oh you've got a nice camera', mixed with 'oh so you take nice photographs?', add a little bit of 'yeah, I've photographed here and there', and apparently you've got yourself a wedding photographer!
The dramatic, life-changing experience began on a mild, Wednesday afternoon. OK so it wasn't life changing. And the temperature was much warmer than mild. I was, however suffering from a mild head-cold at the time, so my senses and perception of events may have been slightly heightened, skewed, etc.
I was to be shooting at a Wedding Rehearsal in preparation for the Big Day. The 25 minute drive out to the venue in Kumeu was made more tolerable by the fact that I managed to fit in a 90 minute surf before the rehearsal began.
The rehearsal went swimmingly. Gorgeous venue. Took some nice shots. The vows and things were to happen outside in the early afternoon sun... so my only concern was the shadows. I couldn't find my flash - it seemed I had left it 7 hours away back home in Wellington... The Wedding planner informed me that in the unlikely event of rain, the formalities would be moved indoors. I put all my energy into those two words 'unlikely event'. And prayed for sun.
Sunday (The Big Day)
I awake and I have a headache. It's Sunday and my alarm is singing to me, so it must be around 9am. As I come into consciousness, I notice the sound of falling water. Is someone in the shower? No... as I rub the sleep from my eyes and kick my covers off in frustration, I realise it is raining outside. Did I say raining? I meant fucking pissing down with rain. If I squeeze my eyes shut, maybe I'll vanish into a different time and place. No such luck. I drag myself out of bed and mope around the kitchen for an hour wondering what.the.fuck is the best thing to do.
It's 10:30am. I call Jade. She's creative, got a camera and is usually up for random activities suggested by me at stupidly short notice. She agrees to come help! Snap: First smile of the day.
I think hard about the flash and where it might be. My brain returns fuzzy hazy unclear garble and suggests to me that I go back to sleep. I ignore my brain and turn to Google.
"where can i buy a cheap pentax flash in nz?" I ask it.
It tells me there is something for sale on Trade Me, but it turns out it's not what I am looking for. Go figure.
The wedding starts at 3:30pm. I tell Jade to meet me there at 3pm. I get there at 3:20pm.
As I get further out west, the rain stops. The clouds don't look so heavy, and the sun begins to shine through them, giving a splendid 'studio lighting' type appearance to the day. I just hope they didn't make the call already to move everything inside!
They didn't. The Wedding Planner greets me with enthusiasm and asks me if the light is OK. I cannot stop grinning... it.is.unbelievable.
Sudden interuption by my mobile phone reminds me to switch it off... but I check the text message just before I do. It's from Mum: 'found flash.'
Sigh. Chuckle. Smile.
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