Reflections on a Knife

One of the nice things about being employed full-time is I don't have to do photo jobs to make a living. Wedding photography is probably one of the most underestimated and difficult shoots in the profession. It's like herding cats by a factor of ten; large, unwieldy, sometimes boisterous and sometimes surly herds of really big cats made up of old and new relatives. Sometimes they even like each other.

I don't envy the folks that do weddings shoots. It's a lot of work. But I do like hovering on the fringes shooting what I think will make neat images as a supplement to the usual staple of photos the pros do - and are expected to do.

The above photo is a case in point. I was doing black and white photography for a friend's wedding. The woman above was one of the bridesmaids. The wedding party had been eating at the reception when the pro announced it was time to do some formal portraits outside at a fountain. Of course, it was time to fix the make-up and check the lipstick, but she had no mirror.

Necessity being the mother of invention, she used the blade of her dinner knife. I was seated a couple of tables away and noticed her primping by the blade and quickly snapped a couple of candid shots. This is the cropped image, which focuses the viewer's attention on the blade and lipstick. I thought it made a wonderfully humorous photo and is one of my favorites.