I’m not a fan of weddings, but every once in a while we have to attend one just to be polite. That happened last week. I didn’t so much mind attending the wedding but the fact that with Kat and the kids in the wedding party I was rather stuck wandering around the venue on my own. Fortunately, when we went for rehearsal I discovered that the garden was full of candelabra. Some were designed for tea lights, which makes sense, but others used large white candles, the kind that slowly melts all over the place. Even better, the wax drips had not been bothered. No one had wiped anything off. Rather,  they just let gravity do its thing and the results were absolutely wonderful.

So, when we arrived two hours early for the wedding, I filled my time going around the gardens taking pictures of all the candles, among other things. The only challenge was a bright, full sun that cast some wicked shadows at times and at others cast a backlight across the white wax that resulted in a strange halo where the wax was most thin.

We rendered the photos in a very careful LAB monochrome, trying to make the most of the shadows. Trying to bring the highlights under control was a challenge since sunlight bounced off the white wax rather dramatically. Having a diffuser would have helped but I didn’t think to take one. Even using a really high f-stop (f18-f20) wasn’t always enough to keep the highlights in check.

With a bit of work, we ended up with 17 reasonable issues. Some are strong enough we might just make prints available for sale. If we do, I’ll post messages to Facebook. Be sure to follow us there if you’re not already doing so.

In the end, this wedding wasn’t nearly as bad as some. The bride looked lovely, of course, and the groom looked happy and reasonably sober. Sucks that I can’t have cake anymore, but getting some cool pictures almost makes up for that.

Almost.

As always, click on one of the thumbnails to view the full-size gallery.

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