Weddings - Yikes

It was a busy but fun and rewarding week in the picture business. Again, miracles do happen and so does fun and growth. As you can see, the DC temple is a beautiful place. Unfortunately, they are doing construction around the ENTIRE temple so you just have to get your angles so the construction isn't visible. The above was taken from the back of the parking lot with my 18-200 zoom (somewhere in the middle) and turned out pretty nice. Anyway, the main point about weddings is, I'm really comfortable with one, or two, or maybe even three people, but when it comes to 40, the inadequacy starts to creep in! And that's where prayer and miracles come into play.
I honestly wanted these sweet kids to have memorable pictures and prayed hard that some of them would turn out. To be honest, I was worried on the way home whether I had any good ones.
Then my friend Becky Bruckner called while I was driving home from the temple after shooting the Hunter-McDonald wedding. I told her how I had prayed and she said, "I'll pray for you too." I said, "Isn't a bit late for that?" "Is it ever too late for God?" She helped me remember, instantaneously, that all things are possible with God. So, even if all the images on the card in my camera were bad, a prayer, even at this point, could change all that.
Well, thankfully, there were some good ones and they were very happy with the results.
Of course, that's not the end of the story. The reception was in New Bloomfield, about an hour from home. Jeanne agreed to come with me so we could spend a little time together, and it was a fun ride up. We arrived before the wedding party, who had been delayed and arrived 1/2 hour after the reception was to start. It would be a bit of a late night.
We were about ready to go, so Jeanne said she'd meet me in the car. She had put my camera bags in the kitchen so they'd be out of the way. As I was leaving the wedding party requested a few additional shots, so it took me longer to get to the car than anticipated, and I was in a bit of a hurry. I jumped in the car. We drove the hour home and arrived at 10:15p. On arrival, it became apparent I had left all me camera gear in the kitchen in New Bloomfield and I needed to be at the temple the next day at 1p. I dreaded the drive back up early in the morning to retrieve it, especially since I'd promised John Williamson, I'd help with some family pictures at 8:30a and had made arrangements with Tina to enter the mansion. Well, Molly McDonald, the bride, is about the sweetest person in creation. She made sure that her brother somehow got the gear to someone (Kristen Malasky) who was going to the temple the next day and I was saved the drive. I still had the D300 with me, so the miracle was complete, I was able to help John out the next morning and geet plenty of sleep.
Of course, I was still concerned about taking decent pictures.
Surprise, surprise, the next day was easier than the first. Must have learned something from day one because the whole posing and organizing the group seemed to go much better.
It was a beautiful day at the temple, about 80 degrees, not too humid, sun conditions a bit harsh, but a bit better than the day before as it was slightly later in the day.




You'd never know there was dirt and construction two feet in front and on both sides. Once again, give God the glory, things turned out just fine!