Why I love shooting weddings | Eric Bakken, Denver Wedding and Portrait Photographer

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Returning from a wedding a few weeks ago at the Red Barn in Evergreen, It hit me why I love working with a couple to create art from their wedding day. So, in the interest of us getting to know each other a little better, I’m going to write about what I love to do and why.

First things first. Weddings are a joyful event, and people are there to have fun. It’s hard not to love being around all of your friends and capturing them sharing a great time with you.

1. It’s not just a wedding. A wedding isn’t a single event, it’s several related, but VERY different parts of a day (or several, if you do like old days and make your wedding last a week!) During the course of your day, I’m with the bride as she gets ready, perhaps in a separate location, then I’m at the ceremony site or the church, getting to know the space where the ceremony will be, then it’s on to finding the the most beautiful spot for bridal portraits. After that, we move on to the party! It’s a completely different situation than everything that has come before, and we move from dinner to dancing, and the night gets hot, and the energy has changed from this nervous excitement (I’m getting married?!) to a wonderful joyful energy mixed with music and a few beads of sweat from lots of dancing.

2. There are at least 5 different types of photography at a wedding:

Portraiture, Journalistic, Still Life, Food, Action, and Architectural

So from now on, I won’t be calling myself a photojournalist, I’ll be a…

portraitjournalstilllifefoodactionartechtecturalist photographer

Portraiture. For 4 years, I have worked to create portraits of people all over Denver. I know portraits, all that “tilt your head this way, chin down, turn around and touch your toes.” stuff? That isn’t to get you ready to run the 100 meter dash, it’s to bring out your features and make you look your best. Sometimes just a few requests from the photographer can turn a so-so portrait into a portrait you’ll love for ages.

Photojournalist. I started this early. In high school I worked for a chain of weekly papers, driving around the county shooting high school homecoming, football games, ribbon cutting, and all manner of local events. I continued on in College to edit the campus paper. Yeah, college stuff, but it sure gave me the skills needed to capture events as they happen

Still Life. I love getting close to things. With a special macro lens, I can fill my camera with the miniature all around me, from baby toes to leaves and flowers. I love capturing that level of detail at your wedding too, from your rings, to cake decorations and your floral arrangements. It all goes together to tell the story.

Food. I never thought this would be something I enjoy, but when a friend called with some work, I found myself working for Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill. I had a blast shooting their wall art and menu items, and if you ever go, look at the art on the walls. It took all summer to grow veggies for those prints. I don’t do too much with the food at your wedding, but I do work hard to create artful images of your cake, both before it’s cut and after it’s on the way to someone’s mouth.

Action. It’s all about the moment. For 8 years I attended most every home football and basketball game at my high school and College, shooting from the sidelines and training my shutter finger to hit the button at jut the right moment. With weddings, it’s often a matter of anticipating what could happen next. If your mom walks in, being ready to capture her expression when she sees you in your dress. Good photographers know what could happen next, and they are ready to capture it.

Architecture. Chances are, you’ve picked a ceremony and reception site that you fell in love with when you first arrived to visit. Capturing the beatuy of the place is something that is important too. I love taking a few minutes in the evening and creating beautifully lit images of your venue against the sunset sky.