Limelife Photography

Your iPhone cheerfully wakes you from your last night’s rest as a single girl. It’s The Dixie Cups singing “Chapel of Love” (of course). You stare at the ceiling, smiling, knowing to soak up every ounce of this day. You click the flat screen to E! for background noise and daydream as the clucks on Bridal Plasty duke it out for last-minute lipo. Your MOH texts; she’s on her way.

No more decisions; no more budgets; no more arguments over the seating chart. Your desires, your dress and your day are ready for you. You close your eyes as the make-up artist applies the lashes. You imagine the upcoming hours. Your masterpiece of style and plans unfolding. The beginning of the rest of your life as you see your dream at the end of the aisle. “You can open your eyes now.”

A stodgy, gray-mustached man is fumbling with his light meter. He asks if it’s okay for your family to come in and stand in a row with forced smiles. His question and the stench of old coffee on his breath make you ill. You head for fresh air. Apparently, the lovebirds on the window sill couldn’t handle it either. Thud!

You wake up panicked. “Was that my wedding photographer?!”

Not unless you were married in 1990. There was no radio alarm clock. No boob tube. No Suzanne Sommers squeezing her thighs together. Times have changed. And so has wedding photography.

Once upon a time, wedding photographers did what we now call traditional work. The bride would place her dainty hand on the groom’s, gold showing and diamonds sparkling. Click. Parents, grandparents, flower girl, get in there, right in front of the altar. Click. Pause before you cut into that buttercream. Look here. Smile. Click. That was the bulk of the job. Today’s wedding photographers know wedding photography is so much more than that. It’s the couple’s style and personality that trump this historical shot list.

Mr. Old School and his perfect exposure have taken a hike, and technology, art and storytelling have nestled right in as today’s wedding photography. (Don’t get me wrong, buttercream cutting has its place but wedding photographers have a bigger job to do.)

‘Tis the season for wedding photographers who bob and weave and slyly blend in. For documenting details, emotion and interaction. Anticipating moments, not organizing them. Wedding photojournalists anticipate moments before they happen. They capture transitions to create a flow and cinematic feel to the final wedding album.

Wedding photography today is less rigid, more creative and when done right, a modern-day documentary of your little girl dreams. Wedding photographers have a zero-pressure job, really 🙂

Here’s a little sample of how wedding photography has changed. See how the first wedding photos make you feel kind of blah? And the second group of wedding photos make you feel happy and alive? That’s what Limelife Photography goes for: fresh, real and alive!

Old-school wedding photography, by old-school wedding photographers.