One Of My First Wedding Clients - Nearly 20 Years Ago

2011 marks my 21st year photographing weddings!

I decided to take a look back at some of the old images I shot on Medium Format film and found these 5x5 proofs of some studio shots I did of one of my first clients in the San Diego area.  I don't remember their names or when their wedding took place as it has been so long ago.  I would guess that this was probably 2 or 3 years after I started photographing weddings because of the studio lights.  Also, I remember this session as I didn't have that many wedding clients who brought their own props with them!  Since the groom was a firefighter, he brought in an old-styled fire extinguisher and also a small fire alarm box!

I remember that the bride was the first bride who actually got into her dress while I was in the room.  I am not normally in the room with the bride as she dresses (usually just after), but I was specifically requested to be there to document her getting into her dress.   You don't forget that kind of request!  I'm not shy about that and neither was the bride apparently.  Over the years, I've seen a lot of things at weddings, so nothing really surprises me any more.  Well, ok, just last year, I helped photograph a wedding with another photographer and that was the first time I had someone pull out a Sig semi-auto 9mm handgun and fire off several rounds of bullets into the air.  That surprised me a little since I was about 6 feet from the shooter.

Anyway, as for this San Diego wedding, I used to take studio portraits of my clients the day after their wedding.  I had a studio set up in my garage back then (it was a 3 car garage that had fully finished walls) and I'd make the bride and groom come to my place to take their shots on Sunday mornings.  We had to do it then because the groom usually had to return his tux on Monday.  Plus, if they went on a honeymoon, they'd either leave later on Sunday or perhaps on Monday.  So Sunday morning, bright and early, we'd get these shots done.  Believe me, all of us were usually tired when we were taking these photos because they had been partying until at least midnight and I'd been working all day as well at the wedding.  Still, we got some pretty nice shots considering the circumstances.

Today, I don't offer the studio photo option the day after any more because I don't have a location to do that any more.  My office is only set up for meetings.

These photos are scanned images of the original 5x5 proof prints.  Be sure to click on each image for a closer look.  Remember, these are scans, so there are dust spots and the resolution is only as good as the actual 5x5 print.  Still, it's not too bad.