Sharing Experience

It's been a long Winter everywhere it seems, and I've just seen the TV weather forecast and there's snow storms in Texas and the forecast is the same for Atlanta tomorrow. I'm in Atlanta for photography and learning, yes more learning. The Showcase school here in Atlanta has been a great discovery and source of information. It seems learning about photography is an ongoing process with which I can be fed up of sometimes, I think I know something and then realise I know very little.

And since I've crossed over into wedding photography there's yet more to learn. It's about marketing, finding those markets, niche or otherwise and having the neck to go and sell my art to these people. It was twenty five years since I shot my last wedding until last September, and I was nervous. I am a confident photographer yet the thought of doing this wedding sent shivers down my spine. Of course as usual I was projecting and fearing the worst but the day came and it was a blast, the bride and groom were lovely and very happy and not in the least bit nervous. The surroundings were magnificent, the village of Puycelsi is in the heart of France, a thirteenth century village where it seems time has stood still and the locals know each other and have time to pass the time of day with one another without feeling the need to run of to the next chore. The ceremony took place in the Chateau de Mauriac a well preserved chateau from the seventeenth century perched on top of a small hill over looking the vineyards of Gaillac. It is a family run chateau and Mr and Mrs Bistes have restored it with plenty of TLC and attention to detail and have managed to retain it's charm and character down to the finest detail, which can be seen throughout the chateau in the doorways, reliefs and corniches. It was a real privilege to be part of this wedding celebration so much so that I didn't want it to end.

The guests came from all over the globe, from as far away as Australia, Isreal, USA, Bahamas and all over Europe. Kate's dress was a rich deep purple and Deran was very elegant in an Italian design tuxedo.

The light was a challenge so for the must have shots I used flash, but as little as possible as it really destroys the romance of the scene. My canon 5D really struggled at 1600 ISO and this motivated me to buy the new 5D mkii. And since I have the 5D mkii I have no more low light worries. At 6400 ISO the mkii is super. So for 2010 I'm really looking forward to shooting more weddings. I will talk later about my last wedding in yet another beautiful location, that of the Abbey of Morienval 60kms North of Paris.