Blessing by the Congregation

One of the great aspects to being a wedding photographer is the chance to see many different and beautiful customs throughout different religions.

At a few weddings I've captured an image or two like this. It is from a Catholic service, though not all Catholic services have this part, in fact, many of the people who've asked have been to many Catholic weddings and never seen this done.

In the above photo the priest is having the congregation raise their hands and literally pray over the couple, Esmerelda and Ricky for them and their marriage.

In the picture below, an adorable little girl tries to give a "double blessing" to the happy couple, Vanessa and Paul, by raising both her hands. I like the symbolism and beauty of the moment.

The Money Dance

When I show potential clients wedding albums, one that often comes up when showing that of Paul and Vanessa is what are they doing (on the page showing them and the money). It's called a money dance, and I'll use these photos from their wedding to explain on my blog.

During a long song, the bride and groom come to the dance floor and dance for a short time with people who give the paper money ($1, $5, etc.) In this photo a groomsman is putting money into Vanessa's purse (and on the left is a woman with money heading for the groom).


As the groom wouldn't carry a purse, the money ends up pinned to him, often in comical ways, check out the "tail" Paul has hanging from his shoulder.

Usually only the adults come up, but this little flower girl looked like she wanted to dance, too.

Luckily, someone gave her $1 and then it was finally her turn.


After the song is over, the bride and groom, and sometimes a helper or two, helps count the money. Couples often use it towards their honeymoon.

Bride and Groom portraits at the wedding

As a photojournalist most of the photos I take are when it happens actions shots. For stories often a few posed shots will be taken to show what a person looks like (i.e. a close up detail head and shoulders shot know as a mug shot), but the majority will not be posed. As a wedding photojournalist, the majority of my shots are also candid moments.

This page from Chauntel and Gerardo's wedding album shows many candid moments of them together (the one on top is her and her dad), in a book with a few formals (posed shots) chosen, but with them and other people, not just them alone.

Some couples want a few posed images of them for the album, and the question arises of when to do it. These were taken of Molly and Jeremy at cocktail hour, after a few formals of their wedding party, I took the two of them alone for a few moments and captured these.

I had a great question recently from a bride whose wedding I will be shooting in September. She wanted to know how the formals they wanted could be shot in such a manner that they would miss as little of the cocktail hour as possible.

I told her that I can do groups fast, and also offered her an option if she wanted to see her groom before the ceremony. Many people do not want to see their fiancee before the wedding and that is fine. For those that would consider it though, they could have the moment of first seeing each other captured in pictures away from the eyes of the crowd (blindfolding the groom and bringing the bride to him, really makes this an emotional moment when he finally sees her).

A few great emotion pics are taken, some brief time alone for them, and then when they are ready, some portraits of them with each other and if desired their bridal party can be a great use of time allowing them to miss little, if even any cocktail hour with their friends.

Invitation Printer: Announcing Vendor Info Sessions

On Thursday, I will be interviewing Bonnie Flores Voropaeff, owner of Design, Line and Granger Printing (Hollister, CA) for my blog. Her company prints beautiful invitations for weddings, mitzvahs, quincenaras as well as printing many other items.

I'll be asking her about paper types, printing types, envelops, etiquette, save the date cards, etc.
If you have any questions you would like me to ask her, feel free to post them as a comment here or email me directly at Danielle@NotSoStillLife.com

This will be the first vendor informational interview of my blog, I'll be interviewing vendors that are involved all aspects of weddings and receptions both in and around the town I live in, San Jose, CA, and the town I work in, Hollister, CA.

If you have any vendor types or specific vendors you would like me to interview, or if you are a vendor and would like to volunteer to be interviewed, feel free to contact me via comments or email.

Hiring a Photojournalist for Your Wedding

I was on a wedding board recently where a bride posted a great question. I decided to answer it here, also.

Tanya inquired what would happen if a bride chose a newspaper photojournalist to photograph their wedding instead of someone who shot weddings exclusively.

My response:

Dear Tanya,

Thank you for an insightful question. Many photojournalists have entered the wedding field, shooting weddings full-or part-time, or making the transition from a photojournalist to a wedding photojournalist. The timing, people skills, and composition techniques can be similar in many ways. I am a photojournalist at The Pinnacle, in Hollister, and I also photograph weddings.

While every photographer is different, a photojournalist would not move people or objects or pose them for a news shot (though if a shot was for a feature story and/or portrait this might be done, with the knowledge and possible advance direction of his or her editor). A wedding photojournalist would take portraits "formals", or move objects if the job required.

Additionally, as a news photographer, unflattering photos may be taken purposefully to tell the whole story. An example would be at a sports event where injuries are not uncommon. I recently shot our local volleyball team's loss at the semi-finals. This was due to a key player twisting her ankle.

As it was a news event, I photographed her on the ground while help arrived (she was lead off the court with help and did not return to the game) and the girls' crying at their loss. Though I shot the whole game, my paper printed only these two photos:

While sporting events are more likely to have injuries than weddings, someone hurting themselves (i.e. while dancing) is not an unheard of event for a wedding. In the former case, it is my job, as it is every photojournalist to keep shooting, in the latter, I, and many of my colleagues, would not shoot that particular moment.

Danielle Stolman