Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Wedding Shoot: Part II

 Since writing "The Wedding Shoot", other events have unfolded.

(DISCLAIMER/COP-OUT:  From the beginning, I felt I was overextending my skills to shoot this wedding. This was, after all, a full-sized, real wedding. But my friend, the groom, asked me if I would be the official photographer, and I assumed he was taking into account the risks and my constraints, so I agreed to do the wedding.)

After my friend returned from his honeymoon, I gave him a couple of CDs containing the images instead of printing proofs, as this was the preferred proofing medium. Within a day or two, my friend, acting as the middle man between wife and photographer, came to me with a complaint. He noted that there was one photo missing: one of just the bride and groom. The moment he mentioned it, I immediately knew that no such photo existed. I didn't remember taking one, nor seeing it as I proofed the exposures. In the crazy chaos that existed in the post-ceremony formal shoot, I had overlooked that one exposure, a fairly critical one, yet overlooked none the less. I had bride/groom posing with every other person or group of persons in the wedding party in every possible configuration, but none of just him and her.

At that point, I told him there was really only two choices, unless time travel suddenly became a reality. One, deal with the absence of the photo, or two, let me "find" the "missing" photo (i.e., exercise my master Photoshop skills). He chose the latter.

I told him that any subterfuge concerning the "found" image would be his; I would trust him to take the image and use it in the best way possible. The "found" image actually turned out OK, but I remained guarded about her reception of it.

I haven't heard yet what she thought, but I'm thinking all will be OK. I prefer the truth be know, but it's out of my hands right now.

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