Taken in Montpelier, Vermont, this evocative wedding photo provides our distinct take on the standard, straight-forward ceremony scene-setting shot, incorporating the surrounding trees and sky to add a sense of mystery and intrigue to the church’s steeple.
When couples choose to have their ceremony in a church, it conveys a connection to their religion, a specific location, or both. Inside of a church, the set of rules governing photography vary greatly depending on the specific parish or ministry, but we always respect and follow whatever guidelines are presented to us. This may limit what we can do from behind the lens by restricting us to specific areas, but we still capture all of the important photos, even if they are from a limited number of angles that may be from less than ideal places. We are actually completely fine with this as professional photographers. We understand that although we may strive to achieve the most interesting and varied shots throughout wedding days, we are never going to be even remotely close to as important as someone’s religious beliefs. When we are outside of the church’s walls, capturing an image of the building is not subject to any restrictions, giving us the chance to capture images of the church from some seldom seen angles.
Montpelier is a picturesque town and may very well be the most aesthetically pleasing state capital in the country. The Vermont State House was constructed in a specific place to maximize the effect of the surrounding beauty, a decision that is appreciated all year around as the scenery changes with the seasons. Incorporating Montpelier’s charm and history into wedding photos is commonplace in the area and we cannot resist doing the same thing. We also like to find more creative vantage points and do more than just show off an area we all know and love. This image conveys the fact that the couple were married inside the church, but it also shows what the weather was like that day, the approximate time of the ceremony, and the height of the steeple in comparison to its surroundings. The leaves and branches of the tree provide movement throughout the frame, bringing your eye up, down, and around, with nearly all of the lines leading back to the cross. Focusing on the tree itself, it becomes an abstract shape against the sky open to interpretation. In much the same way, the open spaces showing only blue can become shapes in the viewer’s mind. Not unlike finding familiar objects in cloud formations, these filled spaces or the openness they create around them offers a chance for the mind to wander and identify what the outlines mean to them.
We enjoy capturing images like this at various points during wedding days, helping to provide a different perspective for guests who were there as well as people (including future friends) who did not attend. Doing this can require a few extra minutes to run away from the action and find a completely different location, which makes the fact that we work as a team even more important. For times of the day like this one when we are both at the same location, if one of us sees something amazing we can act immediately because we know the other one is still in the midst of the action to catch every important moment.
Location: 130 Main St, Montpelier, VT 05602.
1/2000; f/4.0; ISO 400; 35.0 mm.