Matthew Durr Photography

Still in the pursuit of my goal of catching up with posting past work—before I get into current projects (provided I have time!)—just a month ago I was the main photographer for the wedding of Chelsea and Jonathan Durbin in Louisville, KY. With mostly the same equipment as I used in my previous wedding, and the addition of the Rokinon 16mm f/2, I had my ducks in a row as far as gear preparation goes. In stark contrast to the rustic, small-scale wedding I shot prior, this catholic wedding with a large bridal party forced me to change techniques and styles around to keep up with the proceedings. Thankfully, I enlisted the help of Lisa Britton—another freelancer in the Cincinnati area—to help as backup and lighting assistant (Nikon d7000 with Tamron 24-70mm). As a larger wedding with more events to cover, this post contains significantly more photographs than my previous photo story, so make sure you have the time to peruse through the following. With that, let’s get to some shots! Arriving at the groom’s family home a few minutes ahead of the bridesmaids, I had a bit of time to get gear dropped off and set up. When the bride showed up, she already had her veil on, ready to go for the day:

Of course, as is typical, much of the next hour saw the bride and bridesmaids working on getting makeup and hair finished up:

Eventually the groomsmen showed up to the getting-ready location for their part of preparation—putting their outfits on, and just hanging out:

The groom took a while to show up due to traffic, so they preoccupied themselves with messing around on guitars and attempting to open some moonshine.

The groom made it in time for some quick posed portraits before everyone had to head out, however:

Around the same time, the bridesmaids and bride finished up their dress preparation:

Finally, with dresses and tuxes set and ready, everyone headed over to the St. Agnes Catholic Church for final preparation and portraits.

Friends and family helped with simple decorations—wanting the beauty of the sanctuary to speak for itself—ranging from the older…

…to the younger…

Before starting the formal portraits, I had a small chance to get the ring bearer and flower girl together in one shot:

In addition, the groomsmen fiddling around with their boutonnieres made for some more photographic opportunity:

Of course, the bride wanting an individual shot with each of the little helpers in the wedding was well warranted:

With most formal shots out of the way (thankfully before the sun set), it was due time for the ceremony to begin inside:

Once friends and family made it outside, everyone had a white balloon to release to celebrate the bride and groom exiting the church:

My work was far from over at this point, as Lisa and I scrambled to set up some off-camera umbrellas back on stage to capture formal bridal party/family photographs. I gelled the flashes to give off a warmer color to help match the (still very mixed) stage lighting. As I mentioned earlier, these photographs took a long time with all the members present:

With the audience well on their way to the reception area 15 miles away, and the bridal party heading out the door, I had a few minutes with just the bride and groom inside the sanctuary:

While I packed up the myriad equipment I brought along, I sent Lisa with family to get some shots of the reception area:

As I arrived, the largest bottle of wine I have ever seen (easily over 100 fl ounces) popped open in preparation for toasts:

Then, of course, many moved outside for the dancing (at which point I am essentially shooting in near-darkness):

Later on, even well past their bedtime, the little dancers still hopped around:

Moving back inside, after a small break, came the cake cutting along with other desserts:

Soon after, a central space opened up for the bouquet and garter toss:

Though the groom instead threw the garter to the best man instead of the group waiting for the toss for a good laugh:

At the end of the night, the father of the bride lit the first sparkler for a group send-off with his celebration cigar:

Not without its unique challenges, this wedding was still a blast to photograph, just as much as my first one. I have to say after the night the long drive home sure was filled with drowsiness! But if anything, exhaustion hopefully is a sign of a job well done.

For a special short note to Chelsea, words cannot fully express how happy I am for you starting your new life with Jonathan. I have known you since we were next-door neighbors in elementary school, and we shared so many good times as we grew up together. Thank you for choosing me to be your photographer, and I wish nothing but the best luck for your future.

That’s all for this post, guys and gals, thanks for sticking around! Be sure to hit that orange subscribe button at the top of the page to be notified of future posts. Soon I hope to finish catching up, with a full post on my first gig as a football photographer, as well as the final quarter of my 2014 Project 52!