Part 2
of
The Art of Creating a Wedding Story
"The Middle"
The Middle is it. It's the championship moment, the meat and potatoes moment. The moment that every man and woman look forward to for their whole life. It's the deed, the holy sacrament, the walk down the isle. It's most often times the first time the bride and groom see each other.It is the ceremony and the actual act of Marriage between Man & Wife.It's the part of the day that can stand all on it's own and still be the whole purpose as to why I am there.To photograph a wedding.The Middle is comfortably sandwiched between The Beginning and The End. They both compliment this part that is truly the most important part of the day.However all three of the parts make up the whole story.You can't see just one part without knowing that you know there is something missing.
A couple days ago I explained PART 1 - The Beginning.You Read That Click HERE Naturally, The Middle is the part of the day that comes right after that. By this time I have been a part of the day for at least a few hours. I'm more then comfortably in my zone.Although that pretty much happens instantly when I arrive and start my day.I've been doing this for a very long time.I am very much more then a seasoned professional. Experience & Knowledge are Everything.
The journey from the locations where everyone decided to get ready is well underway.Usually that is in the form of a Limo, a Trolly , a Car, a Van sometimes even a bike :) I'm with the bride & the groom during this commute and sometimes I'm right along next to them photographing from behind the wheel of my own car. Safety is always number one so I always make sure of that but yes I do do that and I do it often. Those images add to "The Story" that I'm trying to create.We make all of those decisions prior to the day as far as who they want me to ride with or what I think is best for the Story.Sometimes since I'm very much living and photographing "in the moment" I do decide to change plans. Whatever I think is best for the sake of creating the most amazing work that I can is what I roll with as long as it'd the farthest thing from a disruption to the energy and the day. Even if I decide to leave my car and hop along with the bride and take a cab back to my car at the end of the night. I don't want to cause a scene, I don't want to disrupt I just want to create powerful work. A situation like that could have all just happen silently. I have to make these kinds of decisions on the fly. Again my experience of photographing a lot of weddings and being in pretty much every photographic situation other then war helps me decide instantly what is best for the visuals.
Everyone for the most part is dressed, primped, and ready to go.Although I will say sometimes the brides have suites at the ceremony venue or church and they sometimes decide to get into their dress there. It all just depends on the blue print of the day.The locations & what my clients want and also what I think is best for the story.The hair is done, the make up is done & there is a certain energy that starts to take place during this time.EVERY SINGLE WEDDING IS DIFFERENT.I strive myself on tailoring my talent and my service to each day uniquely. This is why every single wedding I photograph is Original.Everyone feels the energy and aside from feeling it I start to seriously see it.It's great. Throughout the day this magical energy lingers and it builds as the day carries on.It builds and builds until the the very moment of marriage. It then explodes like fireworks during The First Kiss. From that point on this energy continues to put on a show by lighting up the air and the sky all around the bride and groom.This energy stems from the heart of both the bride and groom. It's in all of their friends, their family and it's also in me.It's in the church, the venue, and all over the locations that we go to after the ceremony and again all night at the reception.
This is The Magic of a Wedding Day.
I Live To Capture This Magic
I Use Cameras To Create Images That Convey This Magic.
This is My Talent, This is My Skill & This is What My Dream Is All About.
It's My Mission & My Purpose.
During the ceremony I am respectful. I am diligent, precise , quiet , and paying attention very acutely. I've never been one of those photographers that's right in peoples faces during this time.I pick and I chose my moments very wisely. I'm not the type to always be firing my flash & causing a scene.I rarely even fire my flash. I feel that flash is for those that don't fully understand light and the value of it being there naturally.I follow the rules that the venues & churches & priests give me.Trust me every single church, priest, and venue have rules for the photographers.I respect these rules.If I ever decide to break them it's for great reason, great intent, and to be frank for the sake of creating an even greater image.This is where my extreme knowledge of craft, understanding of natural and unnatural light come into play. This is where my photojournalism approach helps me. I see some photographers when I personally go to weddings for family and friends when I'm there as a guest & I see the things that they do and I'm like what an amateur.I am not an Amateur.I am a Professional Photographer. One that has done quite a lot of remarkable things.I am not loud, I don't disrespect people and the rules.
I want to be very very clear. I am not that kind of photographer. I never was & I never will be.
I Am A Professional
I Am Educated,Experienced, & More Then A Craftsman.
During the ceremony I'm trying to capture and convey the energy that is entering where we all are.
This philosophy demands a crafted approach.
It's all out of respect.
I push to find the absolute best vantage points.The sides, the middle, behind the alter tucked back in a room with a totally unique head on glimpse of the bride and groom. I enjoy going to the top where the organist plays.An elevated view is always a great way to see the action along with everything else. Right now I'm talking about ceremonies that take place in places of worship. Any religion.However this is the year 2015.Things have changed, so many clients are pushing away from the traditional way of weddings and have begun to craft their days in their own unique way.I love this.I as an artist have always been about this.I love where the whole industry is going. It's having a more tailored approach.I stand for that. I am that. I love seeing it and I love photographing it.This doesn't take away my respect for the traditional it just adds to it.I have photographed every single kind of wedding you can imagine. It's a healthy mix of all kinds every year and I try my best to make sure that the types of weddings I do are always very diverse.Barn weddings have become very popular lately. I love them.They are great & I am in love with the experience. I've photographed beach weddings, small and intimate and very large. On the sand and feet from the water, Lakes and Oceans.I've done banquet halls, hotels, and I'm photographed every kind of venue you can think of. I've done Indian engagement ceremonies & weddings.I've photographed weddings all over the country. Destination weddings are a big part of my business. I travel tens of thousands of miles all across the country every year for the clients that hire me for my unique work.California, Florida, New York City, South Carolina, Las Vegas and many more locations all over. I'm a main stay in the midwest and now my home base of Arizona in particular The Phoenix & Scottsdale areas. I moved out here to build off what I have built in the midwest while at the same time not wanting to turn my back on anything there.It's all vital to my business present and future.I'm out here to introduce myself and my brand To The West. This is very important to me. The West is a bit of home to me. I grew up in the west as a young child.I also went to film school and fell in love with art & craft in the West.
My business is very much a national business these days.Travel is a very large part to everything now.This is my exact intent & this is the level that I know that I am at but most importantly the level that I know I perform at every single day.
It's my job to create my work for anyone that wants it, no matter where that is.1 mile away, 30 miles away, 1,000 miles away or 10,000 miles away.
I am a chameleon and that is how I'm able to make everything work.Not only that but my work is my work no matter where I am.I can create it anywhere.
My cameras have always been my passports for me to see,capture,and create truth anywhere in the world & the way I see it it's all for the world.
This is what makes ART.
My clients understand this, they know this, and they want this.
Every client I decide to say yes to becomes a part of my life's dream.
The mission of it.The Standards of it.Every client allows me to keep building what I'm ultimately trying to do with everything.(I'll write another story about that some other day)
My work is desired, it's unique & it certainly is original.It's special.
I am an artist.I know this because I'll be the first to tell I know what I have built.However I never forget about where it all started and where I am right now but most importantly where I want to be.
Foundation is everything. After it all it is the root of love.It really is.Everything Grows From Foundation
Foundation has allowed me to keep building my dreams.
Arizona & The Midwest are The Foundation.From these foundations I keep building and building & I have built and built.
I'm here to spend my life always taking my dreams higher and higher.
This philosophy is forever.
As a wedding photographer, not even that but as an artist who photographs all kinds of things I feel that there is nothing that I can't do.On a Small scale or a Large scale.
I just turned 30 and I have been lucky enough to do things that people 2x my age only still dream about especially in my field.I've worked hard this whole time since the very first day to achieve all of my success & at the end of the day it's all just simply rooted in one single thing.
My love to create an Image. Any kind of Image For anyone & any reason IF I feel it my heart it's all a go and it's all worth it to me.
I have serviced,helped,worked with,worked for, & provided art to and have inspired thousands of people throughout my lifetime and I'm just living to keep it all going.
I never go back in what I do.Everyday is a oppoutunity for me to out do myself then the day before.
This is my pursuit as an individual, and artist and this is my pursuit of photographic excellence.
The Middle is filled a lot of things, & a lot of different kinds of Photography.
Getting back to my mission of wanting to create a Solid and Sound Story.
One That Is Complete & One That Captures & Conveys Everything.
I Find This Part of The Day To Be The Absolute Most Important.
It's The Actual Wedding Moment
It's Also The Part Where We Do The Traditional Portraiture Family Work.
& Lastly But Again Definitely Not Least
That Part That Goes From Portraiture To The Most Magical & Honestly The Most Creative Part of My Day as an Artist.
The Part of The Day Where I Create The Statement Images.
The Iconic Images
The Images That Instantly Becomes Profile Pictures With A Hundred Likes Within Seconds
The Images That Become The Cover of The Entire Storybook Itself.
These Are The Images That Truly Allow My To Be A Painter With My Craft.
The Part of The Day That is my version of a True Photo Shoot.
Work That Is Elegant,Modern, & Mighty.
I work very closely with every single one of my clients to help them create their fairytales.
This is super serious stuff however I design it all in a way that is totally easy and effortless.
I coach and help guide my clients every step of the way.
Most of the time prior to the day I have already worked with my clients during The Engagement Shoot. It is during that time that I teach and inform them so that when we get to this part of the Wedding Day. My clients are familiar & we are all on the same page.
Communication & Comfort are ABSOLUTELY necessary for This Time to Shape Up Like The Way I See it Before We Get There.
The fact is whenever any one signs on to have me paint the story of their day I start to instantly Dream About it.
I pride myself on truly trying to understand the needs of my client.
This is a serious matter to me.
I want to create not only what I know a story can look and feel like but I also want to create exactly what my clients see in their head when they start to dream about THEIR Wedding.
Creating ART is a Collaboration.
I could have never of met my client prior to having them hire me and I can show up to their wedding & not know a single thing about their day or anyone there & I will & always can still create Powerful and Striking Work All Day Long No Matter What.
However
I like to collaborate with people.
I may be like the most layed back and easy going guy ever but that still doesn't mean I don't take it all seriously.
It's quite the opposite.
I take it all very seriously.
ALL I WANT TO DO IS CREATE THE BEST STORY THAT I CAN & NO TWO SHOOTS ARE THE SAME.
I've always felt that there is something to be said about being "ALL IN"
You See When You Live Your Dream It Becomes A Way of Life.
I Want To Only Create The Absolute Best That I Can.
In can read my INTRODUCTION Post by clicking HERE.In it I talked about how everything I do as a photographer goes right back into everything else.
I have traveled across the country photographing landscapes, cities, and everything else in between.
My Natural Love for Cities & Nature Shines During The More Styled Part of a Wedding Day.
A Chance I Have to truly use my craft and skill with light,control,locations,and photographic technique
For The Most Part 80% of My Wedding Days Evolves Around Me Being A True Photojournalist. During The Other Part I'm Creating Details & Location Shots.
During The Styled Part I Am A Composer.
I Am Conducting A Score.
It's Just Magic in The Moment.
It's Fun.
It's Effortless.
I am a teacher, I am a fly on the wall, I am there to smooth everything over and make sure no matter what that the wedding day is fun, easy & stress FREE for ALL.
I am a filter, I am a door holder, a messenger between the two sides of bride and groom.
I become a lot of things on a wedding day.
I am there to help, create, and take part in the experience because it's my job to tell the story of what the experience was.
I Am There To Create A Powerful Wedding Story.
This is Part 2
This is my method and my approach behind
The Middle
It's the chapter from which comes right before the last one.
Please Stay Tuned for Part 3
The End.
Take it Easy & Take Care
Ryan J. Bolger