Gallivanting in Grand Rapids

I had a blast with my fellow photographer friend, Kelly Dobson, this passed weekend in Grand Rapids assisting her with a wedding. It's always so much fun shooting weddings with her, she's so creative - you can just see the wheels moving in her head as she scouts each location.

Starting bright and early at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, we were off, with Kelly and the videographer following me because no one's GPS was finding any of the addresses. We met up with the bride and went to an awesome blue bridge for a special bride and groom meeting. Wow, it was windy! But I can't complain, at least I had a coat - the bride strutted her stuff all day in spaghetti straps!

The images we got were fantastic and I learned a lot thanks to the several different locations we went to. I feel a little more confident each time we shoot together!

After the ceremony Kelly did her thing - she ran around effortlessly arranging family and friends for an hour while I basically sat and watched. By then I could have fallen asleep I was so tired.

We got some great trolley shots when they were leaving and then for about the sixth time that day came the fun task of the loading of all the gear. Then off to the reception we went and inevitably came the unloading of the gear. Between her 2 heavy bags, a rolling suitcase and lights and stands, my backpack and tripods - we made a few trips.

When we got inside we both transformed into human pack mules trying our best to carry everything into the reception room, which directly passed through The Cocktail Room. In The Cocktail Room were hundreds of guests that were standing around, having what looked like scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and mouth watering drinks. Here we come barreling through it all, Kelly in the lead. As she turns to maneuver down a path of tightly-formed group of guests, her tripod knocks this guys elbow, which has a drink in it and is already slightly raised to his lips, a little closer to his mouth for him. I began to laugh uncontrollably because that is what happens to me when I get tired - I get silly which in turn makes me run over a guys foot, who gives a little yelp, with her rolling suitcase. That was the highlight of the evening for me. Probably because I couldn't hear anything for the rest of the night. =) Nevertheless, it was a great shoot and the bride & groom were awesome!