Wedding Day – Carolina and Paul – A Wedding Fusion
Carolina and Paul – A Wedding Fusion
May 2014
Croydon Masonic Hall
Carolina and Paul’s big day brought together elements from their home countries of Venezuela and Poland, fused with the traditional British setting of the Masonic Hall in Croydon. The venue itself was a dramatic setting, with its lofted ceilings and stained glass windows.
Although the weather was rather grey the various windows and skylights gave us a wide variety of soft and muted light, so all the portraits could be shot inside the hall.
I incorporated an image of all the guests with the cake cutting. Sometimes a line of guests stuck indoors can look rather flat, so I like to give them a focus if possible.
One of the more distinctive elements of the Venezuelan wedding tradition is the ‘Hora Loca’ – the Crazy Hour, in which the wedding garb was adorned with flower necklaces and grass skirts and the boys faced off against the girls in a dance showdown. Using flash under a bright white ceiling, but it can leave dancers looking isolated and a bit odd so I brought some more colour and injected a bit of drama into the proceedings by adding gels to a second flash gun and firing it at the same time as my main flash.
Hora Loca at a wedding was a new experience for me, but Caroline and Paul were pleased with how I’d captured it.
Have a look at my wedding gallery for more examples from my portfolio.