Melanie, the Wedding Photographer??

Well, it’s over. I have now completed my 2nd wedding photography stint. I survived!

The first wedding (2 years ago), I enjoyed the experience but really struggled due to the poor lighting conditions at the church. I had never realized how very dark most churches are. And I don’t have the extra lighting equipment--such as the flash umbrella, etc.--and so some of the pictures needed some serious correcting after the fact, and I didn’t have a lot of experience with making adjustments to my photos. But when it was all said and done, the bride and groom were pleased with the majority of the shots, and over all I was happy the way things turned out.

This 2nd wedding (held last Saturday) went pretty well. There were hiccups to get through along the way--like not getting to take ANY shots before the wedding due to the wedding party’s late arrival at the location, the wedding starting 30 minutes late, etc. But I had my good friend Becky along to assist me, and she helped keep me sane! [Thank you, Becky!]

I took over 400 wedding photos, and there are some really great shots in the mix. I still have some correcting to do on some of the photos, but it was a good experience altogether. It was nice shooting an outdoor wedding for a change and thankfully the weather cooperated all day. It was lovely.

All in all, I enjoy taking wedding photos. I just need to get more experience posing people and working with different light conditions. Right now, I’m just into taking the photos. I'm snap-happy and due to nerves or shortness of time, I don't always see the guy walking in the distance of my shot or the hair out of place on the bride or the fact that 2 of my bridesmaids blinked. I'm more concerned with taking the shot and not having a camera malfunction. I’m also not making any manual adjustments due to poor lighting, back-lit scenarios, etc. I don’t know enough about the nitty gritty stuff at all. I feel like I need to know more and take a class or something. I feel uneducated about things like aperture, lighting, etc.

Part of me wonders whether or not I should continue taking on future photography opportunities...I know that I need more experience, more equipment, etc. to do this type of work on a regular basis, but there is another aspect to all of this that makes me wonder, too. Am I making it any less fun by taking photos for a price? I mean once it moves out of the realm of an expensive hobby, will I still love it?? Do I want this to turn into another job?

Guess I've got a lot to ponder for now...

My Curse...

Since I moved to Indianapolis, I have heard great things about the IMA Summer Nights Program, where the IMA hosts Friday movie nights out on their terrace. The gates open promptly at 5:30 PM, and people bring in their picnic baskets and wine, candles and bug spray, blankets and lawn chairs. The movie begins around dusk (between 9:30 and 10:30 daylight savings time), and so you have plenty of time for taking walks, enjoying dinner and making conversation, etc. It sounds like a wonderful, relaxing way to spend the evening, doesn’t it!

However, on 3 consecutive yearly attempts made by yours truly to attend said programs, the skies have opened up and drenched the ground. Twice it rained all day on the scheduled event date, and so there was no chance of the movie happening that night. And then the third time, it started to rain on our pre-movie picnic around 8 PM or so, and when I say rain, I mean it poured and there was lightning and thunder to go along with it. So last year, I opted not to even try to attend. Why doom those happy fellow picnickers that didn’t know about my curse? I graciously decided to stay away.

But this year, last Friday night to be exact, I decided to tempt fate once more. Now from the beginning of our planning for the event, I told my friends that I needed to be tentative on the schedule. I didn’t want to definitely plan on attending, and I was sure that I should NOT be involved with any of the planning. NO WAY! I needed to stay clear and fake out the “rain gods” (as it were) because I didn’t want to jinx yet another event. I promised not to talk about rain relating to the event, and was told NOT to even check the weather for the whole week. But that’s rather hard for me to do, you know!! I might not watch the news or be all that informed about current events these days, but I do tend to check the weather. So on Thursday, I broke down and decided to check weather.com and I found much to my surprise that Friday was scheduled to be a lovely sunny day—no rain in sight.

On Friday morning I optimistically got things all packed up and ready to go and headed off to work for the day. Around mid-morning, one of my co-workers mentioned that she was sorry to hear that it was going to rain that evening. I gulped in shock and jumped right back on weather.com again. Sure enough, there was a 10-30% chance of rain for that evening. I called Sara (the lead planner for our group) in a panic. I mean, it clearly seemed that the curse was back in full force. But Sara calmed me down and told me not to worry about it yet. We’d go forward and make rain plans if we needed to.

Well, all day the rain held, and so with bated breath, I headed to the IMA. We spread out our blankets and settled down for a pleasant summer evening picnic. We shared stories, we laughed, we toasted each other with peach Bellinis (champagne and peach Schnapps), and we played a trivia game and just relaxed in the sun. I tried not to keep an eye on the sky, but I couldn’t help it, yet still the rain held off. 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM, 9 PM. No rain!

After 9:30 PM, The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey started, and we all settled down and got comfy. What a perfect evening!!

5 minutes into the film...DRIP!! I look up. I can make out some clouds overhead, but they don’t look ominous. Maybe it’s all in my head. Just a fluke!

5 minutes 30 seconds in...DRIP! DROP!! Come on. This can’t be happening!

6 minutes in...DRIP! DROP! DRIP! DROP!! What are the chances here! I shouldn’t have come! I look around, and I can see that my friends and fellow picnickers are putting up their hoods on their sweatshirts and jackets or snuggling deeper into their blankets. My friends refuse to make eye contact with me, as they try to focus on the movie. This is really happening. I’m cursed, and they know it. I’m Jonah here, and they need to throw me overboard.

7 minutes in...nothing! The sprinkles stop. I look around me. Couples are snuggling and admiring one another. Children are in their Mom’s arms or on Dad’s knees. My friends are intently watching the movie--laughing at the hilarious antics, smiling at the wry comments and enjoying the flick! My friend Sara catches my eye and gives me a knowing smile. All is right with the world, Mel! Maybe you aren’t cursed after all…

It didn’t rain after that at all. We all watched the movie in relative calm. A couple of times I glanced up at the sky above us and smiled. It was a wonderful, successful evening, and I’m game to try again. But I think I will let others plan it the next time as well. It’s best not to be TOO risky, you know...

Getting to Know Indiana

This past weekend, Sara, Mark, Kristen and I went on a fun road-trip to Bloomington and Nashville, IN. Our first stop was at the Oliver Winery outside of Bloomington. We had a picnic lunch and then enjoyed an outdoor wine tasting. This was my third official wine tasting there, but thus far, I hadn’t had much luck at finding a wine I liked. See, I actually don’t enjoy the taste of alcohol, and so I cringe as I swallow until we hit the sweet wines, and even then, I’ve just not found one that I really enjoy the taste of. Guess I’ve lived for too many years on sweet things like Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, etc. and so the bitter alcohol taste is not as appealing.

However, my luck with wines seems to have changed. This weekend I discovered a wine that I liked: Muscat Canelli. It’s got champagnesque bubbles in it, and it’s very sweet and light and not nearly as bitter as champagne. I liked it so much that I bought my first official bottle of wine. Yes, it’s shocking, I know. I’ve gotten wine from friends and as gifts before, but I’ve never actually purchased it on my own before. Now I realize to some that this sets me firmly on the path to a future AA membership, but I personally don’t see any harm in responsible alcohol consumption. I don’t drink to get drunk, but a glass of wine over dinner or dessert is more my style!

Our 2nd stop was Indiana University Bloomington, and this time I was visiting the campus with a specific mission in mind—to scout out good photo ops for an upcoming wedding. I am going to be photographing my 2nd official wedding job this month, and I definitely wanted to visit the location and get a feel for what I had to work with ahead of time. The wedding will be outdoors at Dunn Meadows, which is on the IUBL campus. There are trees, stairs, and some cute little bridges for poses nearby the actual wedding site, and so I think it will be a great location for posed shots as well. I definitely feel more prepared after this visit.

Our final stop of the day was a visit to Nashville, IN. This cozy town in Brown County was first settled in 1809 and later became an artist colony. Today it is similar to a miniature Gatlinburg with quaint shops and museums. This is not really the height of the busy season at all since Brown County is particularly noted for its beauty in the fall, but there was still plenty to see and do. We walked through a few stores and took the Nashville Express Rail Tour as we enjoyed some tasty ice cream. It was quite a pleasant first visit!

Short Week of Fun!

On Memorial Day, Sara and I headed to Kokomo for a picnic with my sister’s family and their neighbors. It was a fun afternoon spent eating good food, watching the kids play in their small pool, having a water balloon fight with Jacob, etc.

Baby Grace was adorable, as usual. She fell face first into the water twice, and Barbara jumped up to rescue her. She’s quite a little water baby. She loves sitting in the water and splashing, although she doesn’t enjoy big brother’s splashes. I think it scares her a bit! Sara got to spend some time holding Grace as well as cuddling with Kaitlin, the neighbor’s daughter who is about 3 months younger than Grace. It was another enjoyable day!

Yesterday, Kristen and Pollyanna came over to my place for dinner. Yes, I can cook! I made one of my favorite dishes—chicken and cheese enchiladas. YUM! We spent time eating a leisurely dinner and then at Polly’s suggestion we played a game together. We played my game of Scene It that I haven’t played in a while. We had such a good time playing that game together. We laughed, we fought over points, we discovered what happens to Pollyanna after a sugar high, etc. I think sometimes you just need to savor those carefree moments with girlfriends.

Tonight, I am headed out to dinner with some more girlfriends to help Kristen celebrate her birthday! We're going to the Olive Garden, one of my favorites. I'm salivating just thinking about it. And then on Saturday, I'm off to Bloomington with more of the same gang for a day at Oliver Winery, IU Bloomington and then Nashville. There is a lot to look forward to...and so at this point in time I am reminded once again that "We are thankful for that which we've been given..."

Thank you, LORD!

Catching Up with Christa!

Last Saturday, I met up with my dear college friend, Christa. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly 10 years. I was her maid of honor in her wedding in July 1996, and I hadn’t seen her since.

A lot can happen in 10 years, you know! Christa is Mom to 4 beautiful girls. I was struck at how they all reminded me of her in different ways. Hannah, her eldest, is 9 and just starting to take an interest in photography. She’s very warm and loving. Rebekah is 7 and she is quite the athlete. She is very physical and likes to laugh! Kaitlynne is 6 and definitely doesn’t like to pose for pictures. She is a ball of energy and a lot of rambunctious fun! Victoria is 3 and quite the little charmer with precious dimples in her cheeks. She’s a bit shyer than her older sisters, but she eventually warmed up to me.

It was nice to have time to walk and talk with Christa in the park. We caught up and just enjoyed seeing each other again. It was also nice to get reacquainted with her husband, Ben. He’s a great Dad--full of energy and always coming up with games for the kids. Christa and Ben are expecting baby number 5 later this fall, and they have just learned that they are having a BOY. They even had the ultrasound photos to prove it! It’s all very exciting!

We met at Shades State Park, where Christa was meeting up with her sister Joy and her family. It was also nice to meet Joy and Jeff and their 2 boys: Jared and John. Turns out that they don’t live too far away from me—over in Advance, Indiana, and they go to church in Brownsburg, which is really close to me. It’s a small world, I guess.

Despite the high humidity and heat, we went for a short hike in the park. We all got sweaty, and yours truly took a dive in the mud, but it was a really enjoyable day!!