With apologies to CSN&Y.

One of the people I discussed my career move with is Van Nguyen.  Van cuts my hair.  And because she also does wedding day hair styling, she is well plugged in to the wedding scene. She gave me the name of Diana Elizabeth as a wedding photographer to contact.  She also invited me to her wedding and gave me permission and encouragement to take photographs of the big event.  Needless to say I was a bit surprised and but very happy for the chance to do that.  I can honestly say that at this point on my journey I wasn’t really sure if I would enjoy shooting weddings and events.  Something I believed I would like to do, but in all honesty, I hadn’t been to a wedding in 10 years and I left halfway through that one.  I was enthusiastically excited about this opportunity I was being given.

Preparation was in order.  Since I was not the main or second shooter but the “Uncle Bob” shooter, I had to figure out what kind of shots I was going to go for at the wedding.  I basically decided I couldn’t go wrong if I took pictures of smiling, happy people.  Everybody likes pictures of smiling happy people, right?  The next thing I was planning on doing was upgrading my equipment.  I had a enough money saved up to by a 70-200IS/2.8 lens and a Speedlite 580EXII.  ( I hope that is enough camera jargon to keep the technology fanatics happy)  So as I was happily planning and attempting to put everything together, I forgot one thing:  February.

Since my junior year in high school, bad things always seem to happen in February.  As a matter of fact, back then I dubbed it Black February.  Some are worse than others, but just as Caesar had his Ides of March, I have my February.

The following happened to me within two weeks of the approaching February ceremony.  An old back issue flared up.  So much so that I had trouble walking  without supporting myself.  On top of that, I caught a cold.  I hadn’t had a cold in years.  Between the pain killers and the cold medicine I spent most of the days before the wedding in a stupor.  I really didn’t know until the day of whether I was going to make the wedding or not.

And what about purchasing that grand equipment I was saving up for?  Didn’t happen. First, my POC Ford decided it needed major repairs.  Goodbye Speedlite.  Second, my sewer line broke.  Goodbye 70-200IS lens.  The money saved to buy those wonderful upgrades was now buried in my front yard.

Attempted to put a positive spin on events, I realized that as untimely as the needed repairs were, I did have the money to pay for them, so that was something to be glad about.  I did have working equipment.  I was determined that I would make it to Van and Duc’s wedding.

So fortified with Dayquil, Ibuprofin, a 50mm lens, a 27-90mm lens and a pop-up flash I made my way to the venue and my first set of wedding photos for my portfolio.

Thank you, Van.  You gave me this opportunity out the goodness of your heart, expecting nothing in return.  I will always be grateful.

http://www.vonnwynn.com/        http://vimeo.com/13724153