This past month I had the privilege of photographing a wedding in Glendale, CA for a good friend of mine. Let’s set the record straight before I continue… I am not a wedding photographer! I have photographed now five weddings over the past few years but it isn’t a profession I’m looking at getting into anytime soon. I have the utmost respect for the professionals who make a livelihood of it. It is no walk in the park.
This particular wedding consisted of a very small ceremony at the groom’s mother’s home in Glendale and a fantastic reception at the groom’s father’s home in Pasadena. Both venues were a photographer’s paradise and it helped that both the bride and groom are stunning subjects. In between the ceremony and the reception we did a quick shoot at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena. My wife, Emily, came along with me and she proved to be a tremendous help making sure I didn’t miss any key shots, helping pose the subjects, etc. Posing is my least favorite part of shooting weddings. I’m more of a sports photographer as you can tell from my work at Sideline Studios, so unless the bride and groom are running, I’m a bit at a loss.
At the reception I setup a “photo booth” type thing and gave guests a wireless trigger. This was a it hit with the guests and we ended up with over 700 shots. The photos become more interesting as the night, and the booze, continued on. I often saw groups of people in front of the photo booth setup for a long period of time shooting away.
Below are some of my favorites from the day as well as my basic camera setup.









Main camera setup:
- Canon 5D Mark II
- Canon 24-70 2.8
- Canon 70-200 2.8 IS
- 550ex w/ Quantum Turbo pack & diffuser
Photo Booth setup: