Temecula Creek Inn Wedding | Temecula Wedding Photography

Temecula Wedding Photographers ROCK Temecula Creek Inn’s Stonehouse!

OK, how freaking rad is the moment captured above? really look at it and all that is going on around the frame…

We get asked all the time what our favorite part of weddings are… my answer varies slightly but typically revolves around landing real moments… the kind that cant be repeated. The expected, unexpected… ya know what I mean?

At weddings there are all these awesome moments and emotions that I KNOW are going to play out. Some of them I know generally when to expect them… but never to I know exactly when they are coming. That is just something that challenges me every single time. A split second can mean all the difference between epic photo and one that gets thrown away. Its the difference between grabbing a tear… or a blink.  So when we walk away from a wedding with a few of these, I’m about as happy as I’ve ever been and my art feels validated. I honestly feel that anyone can go put a couple wayyyyyyyyy out in a field tiny as ant and make the camera go click. Or simply pose em in front of this wall, make em stand awkwardly there and go “click”… then take it into post production and edit it to look gritty n raw…  then what do you have?? is it art? is it amazing? perhaps to some….  So much of what is “in” right now are these lifeless, emotionless shots of people stiff and mannequins and even sometimes looking totally bored with each other. I know you’ve seen it done over and over again with the hashtag VSCO on instagram. It does little to excite me. Nope, the thing I seriously thrive on is the constant chase of moments like the one above.

Sure, I know, not everyone is going to give it to you… but under the right circumstances [wedding day]  you’d be surprised how often they come.. yet when I first started photographing weddings I didnt get that. I was all about poses and angles, trying to be “creative”.  lol.  I seriously studied pose books and the work of other wedding photographers work out there wishing that I could crack the code to one day be fabulous like them. Thinking if only I had the most perfect editing recipe I could achieve the look and strength I was so drawn to. It took me a few years of shooting to realize it isnt about the poses. In fact worrying and focusing too much on poses usually just takes you away from the moments forcing you miss the shot that count. Or even talking through it trying to “guide” a couple, inadvertently snapping them out of the authentic moment they were in… and for what?? his arm wasnt positioned just right?? ridiculous. I eventually realized it isnt about contrived, staged and otherwise forgettable moments. It was all about grabbing authentic emotion, energy.  Things that present themselves organically for an instant and then are gone. That was the thrill and I still remember the first time I landed one. It was during an exit like this actually, right after being announced husband and wife, walking down the aisle. It was powerful beyond words and something only a camera could preserve. I was totally hooked.

There were a lot of these moments on this day.  I witnessed pure love in so many forms. A mother to her son, mother to her daughter, husband to wife… and when I look back on these photos from the day I cant help but smile because of this. There are so many different combos of things coming at us on a wedding day that in order to be good at doing this all you really need to do is be present and aware of all that is going on around at any given time. It sounds easier than it is. Being that connected to things is emotionally draining but the reward is huge. Freedom to let go and just let the creative angles and ideas come to you, or not… it really doesn’t matter as long as the moments captured are authentic. Cause at the end of the day, looking back on everything, for the bride and groom, its going to be a blur. There will be stand out moments for sure, however, on the whole the day is full of so much emotion and energy that by the end of it they are mentally drained. The only thing they will be looking forward to once it is all said and done will be their wedding photos. The photos provide the trigger for the memory that is stored in there. Its up to us to tell the story of the day as truthful and intimately as possible.

Looking at this set, once again I feel humbled, grateful and rewarded. I could have gone on to tell you all about this bride and groom, facts, tidbits about their love for one another and their personalities. This would be standard for most any wedding blog… but guess what? Im not. In fact I’m going to stop writing now and let the photos do all that for you.