By Steve Burns
A ways back I covered a wedding of one of the leads from “The Phantom of The Opera.” The newly married couple had a small intimate wedding. Their wedding reception was held at the Westbury Manor on Long Island, NY. At the reception places were set for 40 guests, with the music being provided by a 16 piece swing band! The happy wedding couple and that band elevated the wedding day experience of their guests from what would have been nice, to one that was sublime!
Music at weddings, as in life can leave one with many feelings. It is not a visual thing, however it is something that triggers things in the hearer’s mind that evokes emotion or feeling. Well chosen music played at a wedding does exactly the same thing. It helps to support the days emotions.
Music can be loud, sharp, soft, sexy, sweet, sultry, romantic, brassy, sensuous… You name it, and it can say it.
How music is delivered can also add to its impact. As a wedding photographer, I’ve witnessed weddings were music was delivered via an iPod, from a DJ, to music performed real time by a band. All of the mentioned ways of delivery can be done very well, and all of them can have a significant impact on a wedding day.
One of the things that separates really good photography from OK photography, is that the former leaves you with the thought “this is what it felt like to be there,” vs. “this is what it looked like to be there.”
A responsibility of a good wedding photographer is to communicate to the viewer not just what the day looked like, but what the wedding day felt like. You want to be taken back to the feelings of your wedding day when you look at your images.
When photographing a wedding, I’m sure to include something that speaks of the music presented that day, as it plays such a large part in the day. I have to admit that I’ve never photographed an iPod at a wedding reception. However I take great, great delight in photographing a band!
Here are some favorites which when I revisit them, I feel as if they take me back to that day.
Working the crowd at a wedding reception at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.
Sounding brassy at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.
A very hot wedding band vocalist at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.
Letting it loose at a wedding reception at the Ridgewood Country Club.
A sassy bass at the Chart House Restaurant. Enda playing for his wife at their reception, the Molly Pictcher Inn.
My hat is off to those that have come before, those that currently do, and to those that will provide the music which makes our lives so much richer. Our world would not be the same with out you!
One Comment
“One of the things that separates really good photography from OK photography, is that the former leaves you with the thought “this is what it felt like to be there,” vs. “this is what it looked like to be there.””
Loving that quote Steve – it is so so true.