Larry Huffman Weddings Blog: Julie & Jawad wedding 4/05/09

Julie and Jawad's wedding took place at Celebrations at the Bay in Pasadena Maryland on Sunday April 5th 2009.

I spent the morning with Julie and her wedding party at the Sheraton BWI hotel. Everyone was getting hair done and it was a very relaxed but fun atmosphere. I was able to capture the preparation process from the hair and makeup to putting the dress and Vail on. Plus all the showing of love and affection that was in the room. I actually love shooting this part of the day. I think it is a very important aspect of the wedding story. And by me being there it gets everyone more comfortable with me being around and by the time we get into the main pictures with everyone it is easier for me to interact with the family and bridesmaids. Therefore it's more fun for everyone and we get better pictures :)

Celebrations at the Bay is located right on (as it's name says) the water. The location is very nicely landscaped and the staff is very good. Very well run. There is a large deck overlooking the Chesapeake Bay for ceremonies and a nice long pier for some fun pictures. When we arrived it was completely setup and ready for Julie. I started with some pictures of Julie with her bridesmaid and grandparents and of Julie herself. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 60's. So the sky and water was super blue to add that destination look to the pictures. After Julie was finished Jawad arrived and I spent probably 15 minutes with him and the guys and his parents. Then the ceremony started. One thing I should mention is Sue from Dance Masters. She was such a great help to me with Julie during the pictures. She was the complete wedding coordinator. Always helpful with the dress and with all of Julie's needs. I commend her for a job very well done.

The ceremony was short and sweet. On the deck overlooking the bay. Very nice. Afterwords I did family pictures and some fun stuff with Julie and Jawad. The sun was a little bright and in order to get the water in the background I turned the groups so the sun was not directly in the eyes but at a 45 degree angle and used my Quantum flash at 1/2 power to fill shadows. It worked well. Got great pictures with nice blue water behind them.

The reception was fun. People had a good time dancing and didn't get too crazy. Julie and Jawad had a very nice first dance which Sue told me she had choreograph for them Like dancing With the Stars. She even told me when and where the dips would be. I Highly recommend DanceMasters with Don and Sue. They are the best.

The biggest thing we had to deal with was wall to wall mirrors and a large bay window with bright back lighting. these are challenges. What we tried to do is shoot as much as possible with the large bay window behind us for the natural light and when we had to shoot in to the bay window I cranked the exposure and flash up as much as I could. The idea is to equal or over power the back light.

The reception ended around 7pm. Which is early for me. But I started at 8:30 in the morning so I was still pretty tired. But i got home in time to see the ACM's so I was happy.

We used 4 cameras. Canon 1D Mark II, 1D Mark III, 5D, and a new 5D Mark II. Lens Canon 17/40, 70/200IS, 70/200, 24/70.