[Jules]

A few years ago a very good friend asked me to shoot his wedding.* Now, I am not a professional photographer and have never shot a wedding or any other event that would best be served by a professional photographer.* My friend could have easily afforded a true professional but explained he wanted everything about his wedding to be personal.* I couldn’t say no and began preparations months in advance.* My friend wanted to pay me but I would only accept payment for my direct costs, primarily film and batteries.* He took care of all the film processing.

I bought a book on weddings and other events photography, primarily because it contained an extensive checklist of photographs to be considered before, during and after a wedding ceremony.* I discussed with my friend and his wife-to-be what pictures would be most important to them and made a list.

I had all my equipment (Hasselblad and Nikon) cleaned and checked and created a plan for each piece of equipment in the event it failed.* While I never used it, I even had my wife’s old Minolta loaded and on standby just in case one of the Nikons failed.* And, I had the Nikons just in case the Hasselblad failed.* What, me worry?

I had plenty of film and fresh batteries and changed batteries at certain times even though it wasn’t necessary.

Fortunately, in spite of my trepidation, everything turned out well.* And while I only ever mentioned it to my wife, the only picture that might have been better was that of a Christmas tree outside their home where the reception was held.

My friend lives on a horse farm and one of the gifts was a large coniferous tree—maybe 8-feet in height.* The gift givers had decorated it beautifully with Christmas ornaments and lights and the tree was lit, although it was still in a root ball.* I got people to come outside for some photographs with the tree—it was late December in NJ and cold, but by then most were fairly well insulated with spirits. I took pictures of the bride and groom with others, including those who had given the gift.* Later, when I saw the photographs, I realized I could have used a cross-star filter, which would have certainly made the picture more interesting considering the elaborate decorations and lighting on the tree.