Perhaps I’ve mentioned before there have been times I have been ill whilst away and shooting, those days haven’t been fun and I probably missed opportunities. I have also mentioned my health these days is not what it used to be, we are all getting older, okay some of us, but for me it’s not just age.
For a few years now I have lived with diabetes and a few other problems and more recently, with back and neck problems becoming ever more irksome. My immune system isn’t fully functional anymore and as a result, I’m prone to picking up whatever’s going round and usually having a harder time shaking it off too. Such is life and I’m certainly not complaining, as I can do most things and there are so many people way worse off than I.
So, it was upon receiving news, earlier this year, that my nephew Rob was getting married in England and we would be making a trip back for the wedding, there was a good deal of excitement. The wedding was to be at the end of August – 25th and also at the end of our trip, it was decided that we would fly to London on 5th August and back to Toronto on 28th. There would also be trip to Portugal too for a week from 14th – 21st August, so a lot to look forward to.
I knew, as far as photography was concerned, that I would be travelling fairly “light”, two Fuji bodies and three lenses. I do take a laptop and a couple of hard drives to back up and also look at my images and also spare batteries and chargers. It all adds up quite quickly and really, it’s more than I want to travel with, especially these days. But more on this in a later post, as for now I want to concentrate on the day of the wedding.
You may recall, I mentioned health – it was a concern to me that I may fall ill, I especially dreaded that it would be around the wedding time, or if not illness, my back would be a problem. The first two weeks – London, then Lisbon and the Algarve, were fine, in fact my blood sugars were nice and well controlled, I was walking a great deal and I felt pretty good. In fact on two consecutive days in the Algrave, I managed 28,000 steps on one day and 24,000 the next and didn’t feel bad at all!
However, on the Wednesday evening before the wedding I fell ill…and with something totally unexpected – diarrhoea, and it was bad.
The days around the wedding are more than a blur, I don’t really remember Thursday, or for that matter, Friday morning or Saturday either…the wedding was on Friday afternoon, and fortunately I do remember it and was able to take photos. How could I not! All I remember was getting out of bed in the afternoon, I didn’t shave or shower, I got dressed and went to the church for the 3.00pm Service. I carried a small Fuji X100V.
Having spent the past few months thinking about what I would carry to the wedding, both the church and the reception. Would I want to carry a camera bag? what size bag? one or two cameras? how many lenses? As the time to leave for England drew closer the thought of carrying anything more than one camera and perhaps two lenses was the most appealing to me. As it happened, the day before we left for England, I was visited by Fuji Cameras and was loaned some gear, including the afore mentioned X100V. Now, on the day of the wedding, if there were any decisions left, my illness made the decision a simple one – not even one camera one lens, just one camera, the X100V.
By this time, I was quite used to shooting with, having used it for a week in London and after that a week in Portugal. I was quite “at home” with it and also very happy with the handling and the images I was able to take with it.
I don’t consider myself a great photographer, as if you have read some of my previous posts you’ll know, I’m always trying, never really content that I have managed to make the most of a situation, always looking for better images. I am my biggest critic. However, I have been shooting for a while and the little experience I have kicked in. Autopilot, and I was running on fumes.
Without thinking about the situation too much, I started shooting from the moment we reached the church, I don’t think I started too well, if I wasn’t feeling so ill and my mind was clearer… Still, it was a start.
There are some regrets from the night, I didn’t manage to take photos of certain groups of family together and I regret not thinking about talking to the Official Photographer, who did a wonderful job. I know I didn’t circulate around to as many people as I would have liked or make a great deal of conversation and perhaps more interesting photographs, in the back of mind the thought of conserving my energy was ever present.
Looking back on my photographs, I know I was aware of most things, as I captured images no-one else did. I noticed most of what was going on, I was on the lookout for opportunities, but undoubtably, I probably missed a good bit too. I was aware, taking advantage of using moments during certain parts of the evening, using them creatively, knowing that on-one else would do so. The Wedding photographer, had a remit, his main goal was to produce quality images of the wedding, there’s a formula, a menu, if you will, that needs to be followed. I was not constrained by this. My goal, I suppose, was to give Rob and Martha, my sister too, images and memories that no-one else would. Not forgetting too, I wanted images for myself.
I wasn’t nearly at my best, but I was at one with my camera, shooting only on manual the whole afternoon, evening and into the night, I found that “reserve” we all have. Perhaps it was the vitality and energy of the event and those around me that carried me through, indeed, until we arrived back home in the early hours of the morning at 2.30am, having enjoyed a wonderful wedding.
More images of the wedding can be see here : https://www.narrativeimage.org...