Sunday, 10. August 2008, 20:20:26
weddings, Yarmouth Belle, River Thames, photography
We were walking alongside the Thames heading into Richmond when this party came splashing by past us.
Clearly a wedding, and I just snapped off a shot at the festivities. Looking at it later, though, it's a wonderful collection of expressions. The bride is being fêted, by all the young men with the exception of the ginger-blonde haired gentleman looking moodily away. A spurned lover, perhaps?
In the center stands a red faced man looking out with a less-than-overjoyed expression. The dad, who is paying for all this? Or perhaps just a little sick from over-indulgence? The others, looking involved or uninvolved. Easy to weave a drama around this crew.
Oblivious to me, and the rest of the riverside walkers, they sped away on their paddleboat. Something I associate with the Mississippi - not the River Thames!
Sunday, 11. November 2007, 02:44:38
weddings, photography, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum
My son and I went for a visit to the St. Louis Zoo this afternoon. While we were walking back to the car on yet another gorgeous autumn afternoon, I spotted this couple in the distance amongst a group of trees.
They were being photographed. There had been a wedding at the Art Museum that was breaking up just we arrived, so I assumed that this couple - that did not look like the bride and groom - were associated with the group and were making use of the wedding photographer for a few extra shots.
Something about the scene prompted me to snap a couple of shots; there was a sense of photographing the photographed here. The couple were posing, but for the camera whose flash unit you can see in the lower right corner. Here was I with yet another angle, this time unprepared.
I wondered if they had seen me, but I was a long way away using a zoom. When I got home and uploaded the image to my computer, I was struck by the expression on the man's face. Here he was, being kissed and photographed. He looks happy, but with just enough ambivalence to suggest mixed feelings about the scene. Was it his idea to photographed? Was he being rushed by his girlfriend, perhaps herself with romantic feelings about marrying that maybe he did not share? Was he simply a bit embarassed, or tired, or wondering if he was going to be late for the reception?
Who knows. But I like images such as these that prompt such imaginings.
Sunday, 28. October 2007, 01:01:49
Mississippi River, Chain of Rocks Bridge, photography, weddings
I was walking across the
Chain Of Rocks Bridge with my mother this evening when we came across a small group gathered at the center of the bridge where it forms a 'V' high above the swirling Mississippi.
As we drew closer, it became apparent that it was a wedding service, just completed. The bride, groom and supporters were being photographed, solely, it seemed, with cell phone cameras. They paused long enough to let us walk by and we continued on our path into Illinois.
Just before we exited the bridge, a golf cart flashed by. I had barely enough time to get this photograph of the bride and groom before they were carried onto Chouteau Island.
I have absolutely no idea who they are, but I wish them well on their happy day. At least they were fortunate to have a warm one for a ceremony on the exposed bridge. A nice idea, I thought.
WIDGETIZE