Behind the scenes in 2015

New Year’s Eve is here and I thought it would be fun to do a look back behind the scenes in 2015!  We did a post earlier this year about the rough life of a photo assistant and what they have to do in order to get the awesome images we show on our website.  The rest of 2015 was no different!  Every day is a reminder that what we do is always always a TEAM effort.

 

We did a fun engagement session all over Pittsburgh’s north side and Point State Park this summer.  It was a gorgeous night to be at the fountain and we witnessed a live proposal just a few feet away!  Ashley and I grabbed a few test shots while our client couple was changing outfits.  Instead of moving the car and looking for a parking space in the middle of the regatta, we decided to walk back and forth across the bridge.  By the end of the night, my UP band logged close to 4 miles from this session!

 

 

 

 Another fun night in the ‘Burgh was the day we shot Megan and Johnny’s summer engagement photos at Kennywood.  We wanted to capture the true Kennywood experience right down to the food which meant potato patch fries.  Ashley is all time prop master when we’re working.  Of course when we’re done using them, the props have to go somewhere.  You can’t waste good patch fries!

 

Then there was that time we were all set up to shoot and big group of girls showed up to do selfies right in the middle of our shot and we had to just wait it out.

 

It’s not all bloopers and outtakes, you’ve got to have some serious skills.  Ashley tied the best bow of her life on the back of Anne’s gown that day.

 

 

What’s the secret to success?  Being able to multi-task, being willing to push the limits, and making friends 🙂

^^^^^  Seriously look at the skill here! ^^^^^^

The lighting was so crappy in this spot.  Here, Ashley is standing on one foot providing my main light and shading a hot spot with the umbrella gun and then fill light with the reflector balanced on her toe which allowed me to completely cut out the sun.

 

 

Christina Montemurro shot Stephanie and Jason’s wedding with me in June and caught this photo of me fixing up the ring bearer’s suit and boutonniere before the group shots.

Thanks to Christina for the shot on the left and Jen Mcken for the shot on the right.  Workin’ it at two different weddings this summer.  I’ve gotten a lot of comments on my new camera harness I’ve been rockin this year.  It’s called a Holdfast camera harness and folks have asked me if it’s everything from a gun holster to bondage gear!  (Thanks 50 shades of grey! LOL) Actually it’s just a slick way to carry two heavy cameras at once and evenly distribute the weight across my shoulders and get it off my neck.  We had a camera strap fail us in 2014 and a whole rig with telephoto lens attached crashed to the cement.  This year I wasn’t taking any chances.

 

Speaking of Jen Mcken – here she is going ninja on the dance floor.

 

You have to be prepared for the unexpected!  This one was a near miss 😉

 

 

Being a team isn’t just about who we bring with us to a wedding, we love to work as a team with ALL of the vendors.  After all, we all want the same thing, for our couples to have a great experience the day of their wedding and make memories!  Awesome wedding coordinators are the BEST.

 

What happens when your wedding coordinator is super cool and someone spills a drink on the dance floor during the Whip Ne Ne ?  Not to mention coordinators usually end up being the subject of all our lighting test shots.

 

Test shots are a huge part of photography and often times it’s the photo assistant that gets sent to scout out the location and see if we’ll be able to get the shot we want before we have the whole group walk over.

 

We have found help everywhere we’ve looked this year even frequently deputizing members of the wedding party to help out with lighting when we were under a tight time crunch and needed all the hands we could get.

 

 

I’m not sure what I’m doing here… maybe singing show tunes or something.

 

 As the seasons shifted from September to October we spent most of our sessions in the woods.  This engagement session required a mile long hike first thing in the morning after a wedding double header, a waterfall scramble, hill climb and before it was over I was knee deep in the freezing Allegheny river.  Pretty much every photo you see us post, there’s a photo assistant working just off camera.

 

 Sarah came along for a lot of sessions this year and was a huge help!

 

 

October was a month to power through as usual.  Two back to back double headers, wind, rain, AND snow!

I give major credit to all the brides who withstood the crazy unpredictable weather this year.  At least we had coats and boots on, they were usually standing there in a strapless dress which takes WAY more determination!

 

 

Of course I did catch people lying down on the job sometimes.

 

 

And we had to be patient when we got in each others’ way.

 

We shared and took turns just like our mother taught us.

 

All said and done, 2015 was a darn good year for photos.  There’s 16 weddings already on the books for next year.  We can’t wait to see what 2016 brings!