We survived the wedding!  It was quite interesting to say the least and I was completely out of my element but the pictures turned out really well and I'm confident the bride and groom will be very pleased with the results. All did not go as planned however.

Jodi and I arrived at the church at 10:15 am for a ceremony that was suppose to start at 2pm.  The bride told us she was going to be there no later than 10am.  The groom was there but the bride didn't show up until after 11:30.  She had everything we needed that we were going to photograph before the wedding while she was getting her hair and makeup done.  We were off to a bad start and it wasn't helping my nerves or confidence any.  The thing that was really bothering me the most was this small, old church resembled a cave on the inside.  It was DARK!  The ceiling was dark wood so I wasn't going to get much help with bouncing light.  I had to push my ISO way up just to get enough shutter speed to stop motion.  What a great first gig!

When she arrived, we did the photos of the rings, bouquet, her boots, marriage license, and some other detail shots.  When we finished, they were in a rehearsal so we waited again to get photos of the bride and groom getting dressed and ready.  No way this thing was starting on time.

My biggest concern was how well the ceremony shots would turn out.  You only get one shot at them coming down the aisle, the exchange of rings, the kiss, etc...  If they aren't sharp and in focus, you're toast.  Since I'm not an expert at on camera flash, this was the scariest part for me.  Luckily, I did some practice shots earlier and had a pretty good idea as to what my settings needed to be. My fingers were crossed.

After the ceremony, we did the usual family photos before I took the bride and groom outside for some shots in front of the church.  We later went to a bridge nearby that the bride wanted photos at and then we used a gazebo, loading dock and an industrial looking overhead door on a building for some creative and unique photos that I wanted to do for them.   

Inside the reception area, which was the wine cellar of a Mercantile store, (DARK!),  I took photos of the cake and table decorations, the toast, cake cutting and some dancing photos.  That wrapped up our day and I was able to relax a bit.

Since I had the lenses I rented for the entire weekend, I wanted to use them to create some black and white images for my office walls.  I wanted to do some Kansas City landscape photos as well as take pictures at or of some of the more well know venues in the area. To do so, we got up early on Sunday and headed downtown to Union Station.  It was decorated for Christmas and their tree must have been 30-40 feet tall.  The place was bustling with people, as I imagine it was in it's heyday when used as a transportation hub.  The building is massive and is quite spectacular.  I took time to photograph all of the architectural details and the natural light coming in through the massive windows was amazing.  There was a model train exhibit in one wing and I took some shots of the train layouts.

Leaving Union Station, we drove to the relatively new Kaufmann Performing Arts Center.  The building resembles the opera house in Australia and is quite spectacular.  The Nutcracker was being performed so it was quite busy around the building.  Jodi dropped me off so I could take the photos I wanted since police were everywhere and there was no street parking.  I used the wide angle lens and some low angles to create some pretty cool images.  I also took photos of the four towers across the street that rise above the convention center and are a well known feature in the city skyline.

From there, we drove down to the West Bottoms to visit some of the junk and antique shops that are open on First Friday.  These shops are only open the weekend of the first Friday of the month.  The district they reside in houses some of the oldest buildings in Kansas City, down where the stockyards once were. Several of the buildings are used for haunted houses in the fall.  Many of the buildings contain small junk shops where repurposed furniture, knick knacks, antiques and collectibles are sold. It's kind of like a flea market environment.  We did find a cool, funky chair that we purchased for the studio or to take on location.

A brief stop to pick up a Christmas gift and a meal at Golden Corral wrapped up our busy day.  We spent the rest of the evening at home with the animals, working on the computer and watching some TV.  It felt good to relax after a very busy yet productive weekend.

By the way, if you want me to shoot a wedding for you or anyone else, the answer is "No"...seriously.