The First
It happened. I photographed my first wedding as Bri Bos Photography. Thanks to a wonderful bride I met during my undergrad, I had the opportunity to capture so many precious moments on her beautiful day. Sarah and Gourav have a love that is as natural as the snow is during a Montana winter, and that made my job easy, as all I had to do was push a button while they admired and loved on each other.
Weddings are not something I'm completely unfamiliar to; I've been a second shooter for quite a few actually -- which honestly helped me learn the ropes; a huge thank you and lots of love to one of my best friend's and extremely talented photographer Laurin Kluver (check out Laurin Kluver Photography on Facebook and Instagram, to be in awe over her golden work) love you, friend.
As much as I enjoy second shooting (who doesn't love doing their favorite thing with one of their favorite persons?), photographing a wedding as the head photographer was unreal, and a dream come true. I've had this photography dream since 6th grade -- I have prints from a disposable Kodak of a photo shoot I took of my stuffed animals, posed and all. Pictures are an every day thing for me; I'm on the side of "you'll only regret the shots you didn't take," literally. By education I am an industrial engineer and I love it, and I spend every day doing work that requires creative problem solving and a realistic understanding of business needs. My creative self definitely holds most of my heart and mind, though. I minored in English and my poetry courses are what got me through those senior semesters of engineering. Words. I love 'em. So while I didn't pursue photography in school, I always had a camera with me on every adventure. And thus began my passion for capturing beauty and sharing it with others. There's some background to this dream of mine, and to show how excited I am to be sharing my first wedding.
Going into my first one, I was calmer than I imagined I 'd be which is awesome. By making the bride and groom my priority, being there for them for anything -- not just photos -- is how I maintain my stress. There is plenty of potential to feel utterly stressed out knowing that it is on your shoulders to capture everything, but by focusing on the couple, I was able to do my job and do my best to make their day perfect.
That low stress level is also thanks to an amazing second, who happens to be my best friend and partner in life and in my business. Ricky is talented and deserves his own story -- soon to come, but for now I'll leave it at: he's a magical, calm, majestic Caribou/Sea Turtle with an eye for unique and beautiful images. (How was that Leslie Knope metaphor, babe?)
Wedding photography -- there's about a million things to capture. My favorite, aside from honest love between the groom and bride and perfect candids, is the details. When I'm creating the photo I feel like I'm painting, layering dresses, propping up shoes, balancing rings, and whatever I can think of. It's just a different pace from the rest of the day; as I take 10 minutes of just me and my camera and some ever so special pieces of jewelry and lovely white dresses.
This also happened to be my first winter wedding, and wow, are they beautiful. The snow with some honest evergreens and a dark red lipstick make for the perfect combination. Montana is beautiful in any season, but as a Montanan I feel I can honestly say that we all know that a Montana winter is unmatched in beauty. Sarah and Gourav's fun and friendly love made the snow feel warm and only enhanced the beauty already present in the scenery.
There is not a more perfect couple I could have imagined to be my first wedding, and I am endlessly grateful that these two gave me the opportunity and put their trust in me and my Nikon. I find it funny that I didn't truly know how much I love photographing weddings until this one. When my camera is in my hand, and I have beautiful, interesting, once in a lifetime moments happening right in front of me, whether it be wildlife or weddings, I know I am doing what I was meant to do.