Who:

Lauren

What:

Email

When:

about 4 days ago

Where:

my inbox

We got this sweet note from Lauren (of recent Lauren & MacKay blog fame!) the other day:

Just wanted to say hello to both of you. I saw the blog today (I’ve been stalking it for a while now ) and I love that you have chosen us for the 100:1. I love reading all of the comments that you guys make. It’s so nice to see how you thought everything turned out! I know we LOVE them and I am glad you guys love them as well. Thanks so much!!!!!!

Lauren

We’ve had great response from some of our other blogstalkers, as well - so we’ll definitely continue this theme periodically along the way. Chances are we’ll be less wordy as time goes by, just because saying the same stuff over and over gets monotonous - for you and me! - but we’ll definitely keep the image-heavy posts!

It’s a new concept for us - so we’d love to hear even more of your feedback.

Who:

Lauren + MacKay

What:

Wedding [100:1 series]

When:

September 8, 2007

Where:

Tampa, FL | Tampa Marriott Waterside

This post concludes our first [100:1 series] featuring Lauren & MacKay’s beautiful Tampa wedding! We thank you for visiting and taking the time to read up on our shooting style and thumb through so many images! We’ve enjoyed sharing with you along the way and hope to make this series a repeat feature on the blog! - M + C

The guests were entertained elsewhere during cocktail hour, which gave us a few minutes to photograph the reception details without interruption:

The cake table had this intense spotlight shining down, so we didn’t even have to break out a flash for any of the cake or cake cutting series!

Welcoming the newlyweds to their reception

At the beginning of their CHOREOGRAPHED first dance, these two were full of nervous giggles - it was precious.

And the smiles kept coming

Sister gave a tearful speech - the napkin over her shoulder was handed to her by dad (also pictured) to dry her tears

MacKay gave a lovely speech during dinner - methinks he might have a future in politics!

I wasn’t kidding about that spotlight!

I love this moment - that’s MacKay with his mom in the back left - and then MacKay’s little sister with her dad in the center - watching Lauren dance with her dad. You can just tell that they are embracing each other thinking about the day *they* will be dancing together like that at *her* wedding…

MacKay & mom

Bouquet

Garter

Sorority song

An ode to FSU

100!!!!

Thanks to Lauren & MacKay for inviting us to spend their weekend in Tampa with them - we really enjoyed our time together. And an extra ‘thank you’ for allowing us to share your beautiful wedding with our readers! - M

Who:

Lauren + MacKay

What:

Wedding [100:1 series]

When:

September 8, 2007

Where:

Tampa, FL | Tampa Marriott Waterside

It’s not every weekend where we are allowed a good bit of time to create wonderful portraits for our newlyweds. Unfortunately, this is often the most rushed and overlooked part of the wedding day - we’ve actaully shot entire weddings before where we were given absolutely no time (not an exaggeration) to photograph the bride and groom together in a more formal fashion. While we love photographing the day as it happens and that is a very significant part of what we do, I truly enjoy the opportunity to photograph our couples post-ceremony (or pre-ceremony, even!) while you are all smiles and so very in love - it’s the two of you at your very best - together.

During this very special time, our job becomes less about posing and more about getting out of your way and letting your energy and emotion fill the frame.

I’m sharing a good handful of the shots we captured with Lauren & MacKay from the half hour** we had with them in hopes that you will allow us time to record this happy time for you, as well.

** Guests were being entertained during a cocktail hour, so sneaking off for some portraits was a no-brainer. If you want more camera-time as a couple, consider pre-reception drinks and entertainment for your guests.

Next up, the RECEPTION!

- M

Who:

Lauren + MacKay

What:

Wedding [100:1 series]

When:

September 8, 2007

Where:

Tampa, FL | Tampa Marriott Waterside

Charles is wrapped up in pre-Thanksgiving hysteria right now - so you get me for this update.

On to the ceremony!

Ceremony coverage is fairly straightforward, but I did want to point out a few things. As Charles mentioned in earlier posts, we try to work with natural/existing light as much as possible and the ceremony is no exception. We try to blend into the scenery during this very intimate time, so shooting without a flash of any sort goes hand in hand with our shooting philosophy. It enables us to capture the tender moments without taking our subjects ‘out of the moment’ by drawing attention to ourselves.

Another note: quite often, church ceremonies are accompanied by strict rules that we must abide by - such as ‘no moving’, ‘no flash photography’, or ‘picture taking only permitted from the balcony or the very back of the church.’ We actually had ALL of those rules for this wedding - so you’ll notice where having two photographers enabled us to offer the client more variety in coverage - such as images from the balcony and images from the ground level. We also used a variety of lenses to offer more varied perspectives.

Before the ceremony begins, we always take a moment to reset our gear and take note of the little things this new space has to offer…

Charles was in the balcony:

I was at the back of the church for this tender moment:

A different perspective that really shows off the architecture.

Luckily, being ‘banished’ to the back of the church doesn’t necessarily mean the photographs will look like they were taken from a football field away - even if they practically were!

NEWLYWEDS!!

So, that’s the 411 on ceremony coverage - thanks for tuning in (again)!

- M

Who:

Lauren + MacKay

What:

Wedding [100:1 series]

When:

September 8, 2007

Where:

Tampa, FL | Tampa Marriott Waterside

The following set of images from Lauren + MacKay’s wedding were all shot using 100% natural light. Whenever possible, we enjoy working outside utilizing natural light and the beauty of your location(s) to create casual portraits of you with loved ones. Working against an ever changing backdrop often inspires us while shooting to keep seeing things in a new way and our ‘no huge studio lights’ mantra enables us to stay flexible and create stunning portraits in a variety of backdrops, while moving things along quickly and effeciently. We’ve yet to meet with a bride and groom who asked us to take our time and spend hours on formals - it’s quite the opposite, really, so we try to always keep events moving by shooting rather quickly and keeping the mood light and casual.

~ Charles

Like Meg, I often look for opporunities for that quick ‘head and shoulders’ shot of the groom during the preparation process. Here I used window light to capture the following two shots in MacKay’s hotel room:

It was overcast when it was time for Meg to photograph Lauren’s pre-ceremony formals - which we actually prefer because the clouds act like a giant softbox for the sun and offer us nice, even light for formals. (bonus!) Meg was under some time constraints, however, and had to move quickly to capture portraits of Lauren, Lauren with her family (both as a group and individually), and Lauren with her bridesmaids (as a group and seperately, as well) - all while racing against Mother Nature - as dark clouds began to move in!

Lauren with her sister. This is a good example of how we like to photograph the bride and groom with their attendants - we keep it casual and light and always welcome your relationship to show:

Multitasking is key in this line of work, so often while Meg is shooting ‘formals’ we both steal little moments, expressions, or details - like these flowers - from the set-ups.

Meg especially loves color and texture - so you’ll find her work often incorporates bold backgrounds. A nice shot of Dad with his little girl:

Meg typically takes the ‘must-haves’:

Which leaves me open to see things in a different way:

We chose this series to illustrate how we can work one minute (in this case - much less!), one basic ‘pose’, one location and offer more than just one ‘look’ - Meg knew she wanted to capture a nice full-length shot of Lauren that showcased her dress and hinted at location, so she set-up this first shot before Lauren had to be whisked into hiding before the guests arrived:

I was able to simultaneously shoot a more dynamic image with tilted frame:

And Meg shot this image within seconds of the first, offering a closer look at Lauren’s great smile:

When the guys arrived at the church, it was raining outside (bummer!) and there was little cover where the groom wouldn’t be seen by all of the guests arriving for the ceremony. Since the inside of the church wasn’t an option (not usually my first choice, but sometimes a rain backup) we found an overhang that got great natural light and offered us a completely clean backdrop for some quick family & groomsmen shots pre-ceremony.

So there you have it! Quick, casual formals without too much hassle that show the beauty of your surroundings and focus your relationships with loved ones.