God Bless America

Well, it’s coming close to the American Thanksgiving holiday, which (although I reside under the reign of the country from which my ancestors sailed away), I still celebrate.


So here is my tribute to the flag of that country, and my thanks for those who sacrificed their lives for what it represents.

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light…

…what so proudly we hailed...

...at the twilight’s last gleaming…

…whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight…


…O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming…

…And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there…


..O say does that star spangled banner yet wave…


…O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”


Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen

Autumn, Winter, Summer, Spring?

I love the seasons.

Even more, I love looking back at them.

And I can’t quite decide which season lends itself best to a wedding. Because every season has its beauty, and its remembrance:

The steadiness of summer, and the daylight that stretches long across the fields…

The multitude of colours that is autumn, and the variance of those colours on just one or two themes…

In the depth of winter, the beginnings of buds that will flourish soon…


…And spring. Oh, spring. There is such a wild exuberance in spring, flinging about its blossoms and flowers with abandon. There is abundance on the trees, and abundance spread about on the ground. Pink confetti, created by the hand of God.

And yet in spite of the gorgeous confetti, and spring’s flinging on of wedding-day garments that make you catch your breath, my vote would still lean towards autumn’s richness and glory.

But what’s your season?

Karen

Let The Rain Fall Down

Few people really want rain to pour down in sheets on their wedding day. But like anything else at a wedding, even rain can make things beautiful.

Like the droplets of rain on the wedding car…

…the camaraderie of the chauffeur and videographer under a brolly…

…a little wind to whip the veil around…

…and a little laughter at the craziness of it all.


So let the rain fall down! Because when you are holding your hat with your left hand and your umbrella with your right and bending your head to walk into the church, you’ll meet the groom at the door and say (as I did), “Isn’t it some day?”, the groom will respond with a great grin, “It’s the most beautiful day in the world!”

And you know, I think he’s right.

Karen

Get Your Groove On

Everyone loves a good dance tune.

It doesn’t matter if you can dance (and who decides, anyway?). It’s a wedding! The dance floor is another great opportunity to catch some of those hilarious moments…

…and faces…

…and moves.

And every once in a while, one of those "awwww" moments.

So go on, get your dancin' shoes on!

Because this photographer is going to make sure that everyone remembers those shoes - long after you've kicked them off.

Karen

The Art Of Laughter

To me, one of the most amazing things about photographing a wedding is the view that I get of people. Deep conversation over here in the corner…

Enjoying the speeches at dinner...

...but everywhere, all day, laughter.

As C.S. Lewis puts it, within the true joy that causes human laughter “some pretext in the way of jokes is usually provided, but the facility with which the smallest witticisms produce laughter at such a time shows that they are not the real cause…Something like it is expressed in music, and something like it occurs in Heaven.”

Laughter at a wedding is abundant and flowing – it’s all part of the day.

And being able to grasp that laughter and hold it still for a moment – or a lifetime – is one of the things that the art of photography is all about.

Enjoying laughter over the small things,

Karen

Beauty in the small things

One of the things I love about wedding photography is that there is beauty in the small things. It’s everywhere. Not just the flowers, and the shoes, and the veil – but right down to the different colours of confetti, and the sparkle of light on the bride’s ring.

As my brother-in-law says, “Only at a wedding do you create a piece of art in black-and-white of a fork.”

All these details are the result of months of planning, and as such every detail deserves its own honour. The hours spent tying ribbons on invitations. The careful choosing of the best hairdresser. The shoes polished to a gleaming shine. If it’s going to be the most important day of your life, every aspect of it will reflect that.

So too when choosing a photographer. Make sure you get not just a series of formal photos, and a few artsy ones thrown in, but the whole picture of the day from the putting on of the lipstick in the morning, to the kicking off of the shoes at the end of the evening. The emotion and the laughter and a few tearful moments. Because everything about your day is beautiful.