Year-end favorites: Children 1

As the year winds down, I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite photos from my first year with my own business. These images will be from weddings throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast of California, and South Africa. In addition to just the favorites, I wanted to share some of the background and stories behind some of the images. These images for me go beyond the stories that I capture for these couples, and are often other little side-notes that I get to enjoy as a photographer.

I find that some of my best photos from weddings usually involve children. They are so uninhibited, funny, and just so darn cute. My first set of images comes from a wedding that I shot earlier this summer. I find that these three images are some of my favorite children's photos- two flower girls who were best friends, and just happened to be playing together in the best light imaginable during a classic California summer evening. I first noticed this scene as these two girls ran away from a set of informal portraits to go and play. I caught this scene with a long lens as the girls paused to contemplate the next step for their escape from the formality of the wedding day.




Seeing the great light and great shots that could develop, I took off from the reception hall (an old barn in the middle of vineyard and large field) and followed the scene as it developed from a distance. Using a telephoto lens, I let the girls interact without interfering, and watched as the they ran right in front of the ceremony location.



They then paused for a break to play among the big oak trees around the area, where I got this final great shot of the series.



What these images don't shot is what happened next...after providing me with these wonderful images the girls decided that they were completely finished with the formal restrictions of the wedding. They took several roses from the floral decorations around the ceremony, and collected all of the beans that had been laid out on some tables as decoration. They then sat down in the grass to build mini "bean-castles," mounding up the decorative beans and putting flowers around them. The wedding coordinator was horrified initially...but we all had a good laugh soon after, and the girls were put on "helper duty," assisting the coordinator with setting out candles and rearranging the decorations around the tables. They did a good job too.