Ceremony: Cathedral of Christ the King
Reception: Maggiano’s Little Italy

*** CLICK HERE *** to view the slideshow

Lisa and I have known each other for a few years through my work with the Archdiocese of Atlanta so I was more than happy when she asked me to cover her wedding a few weeks ago.

When she told me that she and Phillip were getting married at the Cathedral in Atlanta I smiled because I thought about something that I have to take a moment to point out. I realized not too long ago that every single time that I’ve shot a wedding at the Cathedral it has rained. Nothing catastrophic… just your average rain. And on this day mother nature didn’t disappoint but luckily, it didn’t affect Lisa’s day or the schedule in any way. So you’re warned: if you’re getting married at the Cathedral and I’m shooting… it’s going to rain.

Now, this is probably the quintessential “wedding” shot: Coming Down the Isle. There are a lot of photographers out there who are probably going to cringe, but it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites shots to capture. Especially at a Catholic ceremony when they have the full Mass (the Mass + ceremony is usually 1hr+) all the excitement of the day and the emotion that they’ve kept inside finally gets to come out… and you see it right there on their faces!

Favorite moment: we were shooting outside when Fr John arrived on the scene, and with nary a word the first thing he did was give Lisa a blessing, and she was in tears within moments.

Favorite surprise: as I was following Lisa out the side doors right before the Mass was to begin, the door opens in front of her and it’s her dad. Look at the smile on his face!

Favorite shot that’s not mine: Huy Cat was shooting with me again and we think so much alike. We both took this same shot but his was better…

Favorite Cathedral location: If you walk ALL the way around the church and come in the side doors by the sacristy and adoration chapel, this is the view you get.

Favorite shot they’ll love: the consecration being the high point of the Mass, I know this shot will mean the world to Lisa and Phillip. I’m going to blow this one up and send it to Fr. John because he’s asked for images in the past, and I know he’ll love this one.

Favorite little moment: no words, no posing, no prompting, just a little moment in time.

Favorite find: Totally posed, totally prompted. So shoot me. I’ve always loved the light streaming through these windows but I’ve never shot a bride or groom there. I think I like it.

Favorite image: just because. A lot of times there are these images that you see coming a mile away and you just do your best to be there in the right spot at the right time to capture it. This was one of those images, except the mile was more like 1.5 seconds. This is a completely pedestrian moment when we were done shooting outside and Lisa was heading inside to prepare for the ceremony. I decided to follow her and as I saw her begin to transition from the beautiful wash of outdoor light into the recess of the Cathedral I pushed the camera down to knee level, aimed, blind focused and… got the image I saw in my head a moment or two ealier.

Congratulations Lisa and Phillip!

Ben Vigil, CTK Rain Man.

Date: April 5, 2008
Rehearsal Dinner: Bistro VG
Ceremony: Cathedral of Christ the King
Reception: Country Club of the South
Coordination: Janice Blackmon, Watermark Weddings
Entertainment: Diane McIntosh
Cake: Gabriel’s Desserts
Videography: Jonathan Nye, Evolution Video Productions

*** CLICK HERE *** to view the slideshow

“Dear Jason, I am so excited to spend our lives together…”

That is how Vicky’s note to Jason begins. And this is how their married life begins:

One of the things that I sometimes find intriguing is the timing of the day. Since all of us capturing images on your wedding day (whether it’s two or three or four of us) all synchronize the times on our cameras I always take the images from all the cameras and edit the images chronologically. The part that I find really amazing is to see what the bride and groom are doing at the same moment. Sometimes you find the bride reading a note from the groom and vice versa at the exact same time. Here’s Vicky and Jason both getting ready to walk out the door and looking in the mirror.

The stunning bride…

Ahhh, the waiting…

Bride on the run image #1. Leaving the church in a stylish Rolls Royce.

This is one of my favorite moments of the day. Don’t think I’m weird. After Mass, the wedding party was invited over to Vicky’s parents’ beautiful home in Country Club of the South. As we were getting ready to depart for the reception, Vicky and Jason stepped into her father’s basement office and took a few moments to practice their dance one last time. Just Vicky, Jason and dad who snapped a few frames with his camera too.

Bride on the run image #2. Going to the reception.

The first dance…

This is where it gets amazing! Vicky’s mother, had alerted me in the weeks leading up to the wedding that if the weather held up then Vicky and Jason and all the guests were going to be surprised with an evening fireworks show. And surprised they were! This show was as good as the Stone Mountain show — just to give you an idea of the scale.

A very special thanks go out to Brian Steele for his trusty assisting/shooting and to Chris Torres of 6 of Four Creations for coming out and getting some amazing shots.

Congratulations Vicky and Jason!

Date: March 15, 2008
Rehearsal Dinner: Piedmont Driving Club
Ceremony: Peachtree Presbyterian Church
Reception: Cherokee Town & Country Club
Coordination: Kourtney Coleman @ K Coleman Weddings & Events
Music: Del Baroni Orchestra
Video: Jonathan Nye @ Evolution Video Productions

*** CLICK HERE **** to see the slideshow.

Wow, what a pleasure!

Having a beautiful bride and groom who are a pleasure to be around on the happiest day of their life is only part of the story. It’s the most important, of course, as a photographer. But behind the scenes making it all happen are all the vendors who help the family and the couple and just let go and enjoy the day. So it’s always great to work with some of the top folks in the industry.

I’ve heard many good things about Kourtney Coleman so it was a pleasure to finally work with her and she did a stellar job! Del Baroni and his full orchestra was fantastic! I have to add this comment: if you are going to hire them, do yourself a favor and go for the full orchestra. It really adds a lot and they are so so versatile in the styles of music they can do. I was really impressed! And Jonathan was a pleasure to work with. As it turns out, we both worked a wedding a couple weeks later too, which I’ll blog in a couple days. And last but not least, Katie Torres, of 6 of Four Creations fame, came and helped me out getting some amazing images while Brian Steele assisted and got some great ceremony images too.

I was chatting on the phone with Stephanie about her wedding images and which ones were her favorites… she mentioned the flower girl and how she looked just like a perfect little doll that they bought at the store for the wedding. Check out this picture of her at the rehearsal dinner. Don’t you agree with Stephanie!

And isn’t Stephanie just the definition of class!

They chose to see each other before the wedding (as you can tell above), and as we arrived at the church, amid the bridal party last minute chatter and chaos that takes place at every wedding, Stephanie stole a quiet moment with her groom to be. You might think this was a “posed” shot but it wasn’t. Just a simple moment that none of us would have remembered…

Stephanie in her chambers as she waits…

Back at the Cherokee Town and Country Club the newlyweds have a moment to share alone before the reception begins.

And then they stole away in a 1941 Cadillac Convertible…

Congratulations!

Date: March 1, 2008
Location: Westin, Buckhead
Coordination: Bari Schlam at the Westin

***CLICK HERE*** to see their slideshow.

I must admit a little bit of trepidation before shooting my first Jewish wedding. Everybody was surprised that I’ve never covered one before. But in the end it’s really not that different. And what I mean by that is not that instead of a priest you have a Rabbi, and instead of “congratulations” you have “mazal tov” — but that in the end you have two beautiful souls coming together before the Lord to betroth themselves, one to another, and inviting their friends along to share in the joy they have found.

On the other hand, I was very much looking forward to this wedding because, as a life-long Catholic, I feel a great affinity toward my Jewish brothers and sisters and have always been interested in the Jewish faith knowing that the roots of my faith lay in Judaism. I was excited!

But I have a wedding to tell you about…meet Erika and Jeremy!

Everything was staged and the bride and groom were poised to see each other for the first time and all my best laid plans were thwarted when the doors were closed right in front of me! Okay, minor panic. But with my telephoto lens, 60 feet into a darkly lit room and a hairline crack in the door I managed to catch a glimpse of the first kiss.

The Ketubah is signed, witnessed and the prayers are read…

Let the ceremony begin…

I just love the look she gives her groom as she approaches. She doesn’t take her eyes off of him the entire time.

Mazal Tov!

I’ve been friends with this family for a number of years so when Lauren & Matt decided to tie the knot I was delighted they asked me to cover their wedding. It was fun for a number of reasons. Lauren’s parents actually work at Catholic Church of St Andrews so the rules the church places couples under was, shall we say, not an issue. It’s nice when the father and mother of the bride have keys to everywhere you need to go. Second, the Pastor of St Andrew’s used to be our old pastor so we had a great time catching up and talking about camera gear, etc.. I knew more than half of the people in attendance which is always cool, and finally Katie and Chris were on hand to help me out before we caught a plane to Tampa later that evening. Enough of me…

Lauren was radiant and stunning on her day!

I thought I’d present Matt as the stoic here on the blog. He’s a really cool guy and handled everything with ease…

Ahhh Bernie. Can you tell Lauren’s father was a little tensed up as they were getting ready to take that long walk down the isle? I think Lauren had to relax him a little

But he did just fine!

Here’s Msgr. Marren, our old pastor giving the couple a little advice. The whole party loved Msgr. Marren and I overheard one of the bridesmaids telling Lauren how cool he was.

So I was wondering if Bernie was going to make it through the Ave Maria but being the pro that he is, he did just fabulously.

Lauren and Matt caught a brief moment after the ceremony to say hi before the bridal party rushed in and the congratulations started…

This young man was actually in the party for wedding I did back in 2006. It’s obvious he has the stuff it takes to begin a career in photography!

Congratulations to Matt and Lauren!

Ben Vigil

I’m so jazzed that Nikki and Johnny’s wedding in Islamorada (FL Keys) last April was featured in the Spring/Summer issue of The Knot Florida. And not only that, they gave it a 4-page spread! I know that Nikki is super excited about it because she worked so hard on all the details and they meant so much to her. So congratulations Nikki!

If you look at the sidebar to the right at the top, you can see a hint of more news that I’ll be posting soon!

Ben Vigil, The Knot Florida, Islamorada, Florida Keys Destination Wedding Photographer

What a lot of people don’t realize is that pressing the shutter is only the first step in the process that makes the image. Many photographers have developed a signature style that incorporates not just the subjects and the moment they captured but also the “way” they process their images in Photoshop: the color pallets they prefer, the effects they employ, the textures they apply to the background, etc.. Indeed, the reality and the final image are often quite far apart. On the other side of the spectrum, even those photographers who get paid hefty sums for their “candid and stirring photojournalistic style” often labor over the post-processing of an image. The difference between the former and the latter is simply a matter of style and sometimes degree.

People sometimes seem to think that we press the shutter and out comes a piece of art. This thought process usually precedes some question about how we can justify charging $xxx for a 4×6 photo or why albums cost so much. Setting aside the artistic element (which in the end is reason enough to charge whatever your work as an artist is valued at), the simple fact of the matter is that the amount of work involved in producing a 4×6 is the same as a 30×40 canvas gallery wrap.

Here’s an example to show you what I’m talking about. This first image is basically straight out of the camera. Natalie and Ben specifically requested this picture and I obliged. As I was getting ready to take this shot I’m thinking no less than 5 things to myself: I want the big branch at the top of the frame so you feel like the couple is wrapped in the environment; I want you to see the church towering upward; I need to underexpose (darken) the shot so I preserve the details of her dress and the trees against the very bright sky; all that splotchy sunlight on the ground is NOT going to make this easy; and last, that I’m going to have to Photoshop-out the wires later. You hire me to shoot your wedding precisely because I’m thinking those 5 things (or any one of a hundred other things) when I pull the camera to my eye.

Here’s the shot. Not that great, huh? I wouldn’t even deliver that as a proof to a client.

But we’re not done. First, the image passes through Lightroom to give me the basic color, exposure and dynamic range I want. That gives me an image that I deliver to the client as a proof if you get the hi-res images on DVD with your package. But when you buy an image from us online or if this image when into your album it gets all the TLC it needs before it goes out the door.

This is what happens in Photoshop to make the image below: it gets recropped to remove the tilt, an edge vignette is added to draw the eye in, there’s a little “midnight sepia” in the foliage, a little cross-process to Natalie and Ben to make them pop, and finally, the electrical wires were removed as well as the stop sign and street signs in the bottom-left of the frame.

Which would you rather put in your album?

Ben

Some of you may have noticed that today is Christmas, or more specifically, the first day of Christmas, the season. Yep, while the stores and malls feverishly rip all vestages of the Christmas season from your sight you can rest easy knowing that you still have 11 days to go…

Which brings me to my last wedding of the year. I thought it would be nice to post their images today as a humble Christmas present of sorts. Kassie and Andrew were supposedly not too comfortable in front of the camera but I certainly couldn’t tell — they were clearly in love. Chris and Katie Torres from 6 of Four Creations were on hand to help me out and did an amazing job with a lot of the details as usual.

***CLICK HERE*** to view the slideshow

Location: Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Coordination: Lisanne McDearman with Watermark Weddings
Catering: Affairs to Remember
Jewelry: Kelly Wenner Designs

Many years of blessings to you Kassie & Andrew!

Ben Vigil

Last week Bold American Catering hired me to come out and shoot details at a wedding at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center for which they were hired to do event design and catering. Being one of my favorite vendors, I was happy to help them out. Steve and Stacy and Todd and the whole staff are fantastic at what they do. I am always amazed at the level of effort they put into every tiny detail. I won’t say much more, just enjoy…

Remember that attention to detail that I mentioned? Here’s the front of the program, hand made on real fabric, next to Steve’s (the Creative Director) tie, which he picked out especially to match the motif used throughout the wedding on the custom made runners (see above), the china, the programs, etc.. Okay, so he’s a little embarrassed now.

Ben Vigil, High-end Boutique Weddings