By Misti Layne
It is off-the-charts exciting and monumental when you get engaged. But, let’s be honest here. It is also daunting to plan a wedding and envision your dream day. The endeavor often requires months of planning with your friends and family. Yet in the end, it all boils down to the committed love shared between two people.
I learned within the first hour of my work as a wedding photographer that the connection between the couple, and the love shared between family and guests, is what the real essence of the day is about. There are many important parts—including location, flowers, music, officiant and all the rest—but throughout the day, it all comes back to the couple. My style of documentary photography was established from day one, and I’ve not wavered since.
How do those intimate, telling, everlasting images happen? Glad you asked!
First, we do an engagement/portrait session. You hire me maybe a year out from the wedding and we click and it is great. But, we can’t let all that time go by without seeing each other again, and this is where the engagement session is just a fantastic time to reconnect and learn about each other. I study you as a couple and individually. I learn your comfort zones and, yes, just how much I can push gently or coax with humor in order to get the right shots.
At the same time, you learn about my style and how we will work together on your wedding day. We connect in multiple ways. Most importantly, when I see you again on your wedding day, I look forward to hearing a happy, “Misti is here!” (Editor’s note: Misti Layne is her real name. Her grandmother had a dream and dreamt up the name!) We have already laid the groundwork, building trust, so you can relax more and enjoy the memorable moments to come.
It is my job then to capture the magic of those moments: the simple touch on the arm, the look in the eyes that speaks utter volumes or the kiss that puts Hollywood to shame. We do the standard portraits, but then we get in there and take images that make you look at each other again and feel your big day and its important intimacy all over again. If you are feeling that day once more as you peruse through the story from my images, then I did my job.
Your job is to show me the love. My job is to capture it for eternity.
Misti Layne is a San Francisco-based photographer who is willing to go anywhere for your amazing day. She is ready to capture the precious moments so they are never forgotten. Find her at www.mistilayne.com and 415-225-1128.
Frederick Sullivan and Jaime Botello, who oversee the Weddings & Occasions page for the San Francisco Bay Times, are the talented wizards behind Sullivan-Botello Events (http://sullivanbotelloevents.
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