Beverly….Hilton, that is.
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of working for my friend John Riedy as a second photographer at the wedding of Julie & Paul up in Beverly Hills. It had been a while since I’d “second shot” with anybody and of course I’m always more than happy to shoot with John. Working with John over the last year has influenced the way I shoot to a large degree and plus he’s all kinds of fun to shoot with.
We made the drive up to the Beverly Hilton extra early, (you can never be too early to shoot a wedding) so we had time to check out the Good Shepard Church ahead of the ceremony, and have a late breakfast before getting started. When we arrived at the penthouse room where Julie was getting ready, we found her in the make up chair.
It wasn’t long before she was ready for the dress:
I was up in the balcony for the ceremony at The Good Shepard, which was especially cool when the choir was there singing right next to me. I enjoyed being able to shoot from a different perspective, it’s definitely a change from being up front. The ceremony was perfect.
It was back to the Beverly Hilton for a beautiful reception featuring an 8 piece band that kept the room dancing the night away.
I wish I could take credit for this idea! John decided to get a sort of end-of-the-night shot using this funky gold wall in the Beverly Hilton lobby. In ‘real-life’ you would see this wall, and the harshness of the spot lights, and think “No way is that romantic…” but that’s the great thing about working with creative people who see opportunities to do something unique… to borrow a phrase: the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
