Sharon Margaret

I had the honour of being one of my dear friend Sherilyn's wedding photographers while I was back in Auckland last weekend. I was one of a few people designated a part of their big day to capture so I was excited to learn that I had the great part of the day between the ceremony and the reception where the bridal party get to let loose away from the crowds of family and friends and just have fun. I will admit I felt underprepared for the task, I have been known to state quite decidedly that I hate doing wedding photography, (the Stress!) but as Sherilyn is one of my oldest and favourite friends I could hardly refuse.

The location that she and her new hubby (and GREAT guy) Johnny had chosen was a disused block of land belonging to the Corban's Estate. It was scattered with peeling concrete walls, graffiti, huge circular concrete slabs, grass and a couple of old wooden buildings. We started to lose light quite quickly so my grand artistic vision of shooting entirely on film had to be abandoned and I made the switch to digital. I'm not the best photographer in low lighting at the best of times, let alone with the 10 most important members of a wedding excitingly awaiting direction, so I put my ISO up as high as it would go and lowered the shutter speed right down. Two things I normally hate doing. 

After waiting 5 days to calm my nerves after the shoot, my fears of blurry, underexposed and pixelated images proved wildly unfounded. Helped largely by the fact that the bridal party were not in the least camera shy, willing to make suggestions, and just generally awesome, I have ended up with some of the best wedding photos I've ever taken. The whole party look like they're having the best time, jumping around, doing handstands, twirling in their dresses till dizzy and shoving bouquets down their shirt fronts, all while the peach of the bridesmaids' dresses and the blue of the boy's ties really pop when backed by grey concrete.

The shots of Johnny and Sherilyn are without a doubt my favourites, I can't help but look at them together with the biggest smile on my face. It was a beautiful day filled with so much love and fun, and it has all been a great lesson for me in learning to just trust my photographic abilities.