Last week I spent some time working on a new black and white conversion in Lightroom, the software I use to process my image files. In the end, I got close enough to what I wanted to use the conversion on a recent wedding.
This wedding was a bit of a mind bender. The groom has a twin. They are the spitting image of each other – or the “head off each other”, as the saying goes round this way. Once dressed in their suits they were indistinguishable on the day, save for the colour of their ties. I’m not kidding. The bride’s mum congratulated the best man instead of the groom after the ceremony. That’s how alike they are. Fortunately, I’d been warned about their similarity in advance and the groom made sure I had the tie colour code ahead of time.
I’ve photographed identical twins before at a wedding. On that occasion, I didn’t know the bride had a twin sister. It wrecked my head for about 20 minutes when I arrived at the bride’s house. She’d walk out one door in a dressing gown, only to enter again through another a nano-second later wearing a summer frock.
Name tags, that’s what I say.
Three generations of the same family in a single picture. (c) Roger Overall 2010
This is the best man, the groom's twin brother. I love the concentration that comes with tying ribbons to a car. (c) Roger Overall
It's hard sometimes to get a different sort of photograph of the bride getting ready. I like the smile on her face as she talks to the make-up artist and the way the reflection completes a border around the scene. (c) Roger Overall 2010
Your guess is as good as mine. There are some details that add to this photograph, fleshing out the story. The clock, for instance tells us what time it was. The figure of Jesus in the frame tells us about the family's relationship to religion. (c) Roger Overall 2010
The groom... no best man... This is all about the lighting and the verticals. (c) Roger Overall 2010
Usually I'm able to get a photograph of the bride and groom chatting as holy communion goes on behind their backs. Here, though, they are thronged by the congregation, which made it hard to get any picture at all. Thankfully, there was a break in the line and I got this interaction between the bride and some friends. I dulled the areas around her to let her sparkle a bit, drawing the viewer's eye in to her. (c) Roger Overall 2010
A lovely moment - one that lifts the picture above the usual walking down the aisle photograph. (c) Roger Overall 2010
OK, what's wrong here? ... Anyone?... The groom is taking off his wedding ring, sure, but that's not what's wrong. What's wrong is that the bride had slipped it on the wrong finger during the ceremony. Once outside the groom quickly swapped it over to his left hand. This photograph is of itself unremarkable, but it does show the strength of documentary photography. The ring anecdote will add colour to the stories of this wedding for years. And here is a photograph to go with the tale. (c) Roger Overall 2010
(c) Roger Overall 2010
One of my most accomplished photographs ever. The bride is waving at her mother as she leaves the church. For me, there is an echo through the ages. The way the mother is reflected in the window makes it almost look as if she is in the car, as she once would have been, maybe even leaving the same church on her wedding day. This photograph will mean the world in the years ahead to both of them. (c) Roger Overall 2010
We get a lot of wind in Ireland. (c) Roger Overall 2010
The father-of-the-bride and the groom - just a terrific interaction full of warmth and sparkle. (c) Roger Overall 2010
I'd been asked to photograph the bride and her circle of closest friends. At one point they all lined up for a bank of guest photographers. This to me, though, is a far more interesting photograph of the group. No, you can't see everyone's face, but you can see the dynamism and fun, which I think are far more important. (c) Roger Overall 2010
Not a classic, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a very arresting image. The hand gesture is dramatic and what makes the whole thing work for me is the lighting on the bridesmaid's right eye. (c) Roger Overall 2010
