Mark and Diane's wedding was nearly two months ago, one of my last weddings I shot this season. I sat down today to put the final touches to their wedding images, in hopes to get a blog post up for them before Thanksgiving. I wanted them to have something to share with family and friends this weekend. What I didn't realize, when I started editing, was how much re-living their wedding day was going to affect me. That was at least until I came across the images of Mark and Diane with her Grandfather. (If you've been following me or know anything about me, you know my heart has a giant soft spot for Grandparents. )
It was immediately following their ceremony when Diane came up to me and asked if we could quickly stop to see her Grandfather. He was recently released from the hospital and was unable to make it to the ceremony. Needless to say, we dropped everything and headed right there. Our time there was short, but it hit my heart deeply. As we walked in, Diane said hi and asked him how he was doing. He responded with a sad heart and a little chuckle and replied, "not well dear, or else I would've been there".
In the few moments we were there, I tried to take as many family photos as time would allow. Are they perfect? No. Are they part of the best photographs that I have ever taken? Certainly not. The room was tight, most were worried about not being 'properly' dressed and the lighting wasn't the best but ... they will remain some of the most important ones that I have ever taken. Because, it didn't matter. It doesn't matter.
For more than one reason, this has been a reoccurring motif for me this past year; embracing the moments (photographically speaking) as they come. Chasing that perfect image is something that I have struggled with for some time (and will probably continue to). Learning to put aside the thought process of 'it's not the best lighting' or 'the image would be so much "better" if that lamp or person wasn't in the background' is not easy. But the truth of the matter is, years from now - in this case, weeks - you're not going to see the image for it's lack of perfection. You're are only going to see your loved ones, be reminded of past memories and what they meant to you. Those are the moments that mean the most to us and it's those moments that we will forever hold close to our hearts. I need to remind myself of that more.
A perfect or really good image is not always the best image - especially in your clients eyes.
