Being Prepared and Being Lucky

bouquet toss at a wedding reception

The bouquet toss is always a fun and exciting time at any wedding and something that a wedding photographer must capture. So here is the first idea of this post, being prepared. You know that the toss is going to happen, and you hopefully get some indication of when it is going to happen, so you have to be prepared for it. For this image I saw Kristi getting into position to throw the bouquet. I knew what I wanted to be positioned somewhere that would give me a view of her face, a view of the girls behind waiting to catch the bouquet, and the bouquet flying throw the air. This lead me to be positioned in front of her, low, with a wide angle lens. Without a wide angle lens it would be hard to get the bouquet in the shot because you do not know exactly where it is going to be. Also, the wide angle gives me contextual information for the photograph; the crowd, the girls, and the reactions of the observers. So I was prepared and in position. I was waiting for the activities to ensue and I thought that I would take a test shot to see how my flash was balancing in the room. As I went to take the test shot Kristi threw the bouquet. That was it. I was prepared, but in the end I was lucky to get the shot that I wanted. So this is an occasion where the phrase ‘chance favors the prepared mind‘ really did come into play. This quote has always been one of my favorites because it was said by Louis Pasteur the famous French chemist and microbiologist who invented the process of pasteurization which sterilizes liquids like milk and wine. I find it amusing for a scientist whose life is based on reason and logic to be talking about chance and luck.

So the more you prepare, the luckier you will be. Don’t count on luck just happening along when you need it. Increase your chances of it finding your by being aware and being prepared. These are crucial qualities in documentary style photography and all other creative areas.

You can see more images from Kristi and Justin’s wedding in my post ‘Kristi and Justin’s Houston Wedding Photographs.’

Gary Miller

Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer

Houston Wedding Photographer

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