The FIRST wedding I photographed.
The very first wedding I photographed, the toughest, yet most wonderful wedding. I am so thankful that Tigabi, had faith in me and my work. It wasn’t the easiest experience, but it was indeed a memorable experience. I got the the church at 5:00 am, the ceremony began at 5:30AM and didn’t end until 11:00 am. Yes, a very lengthy ceremony, in a language I didn’t understand. I got there and I didn’t have a clue of what I had to do besides take photos. Where do I stand, where is it ok to stand, can I use my flash, can I move around..some of the many questions going through my mind. As I am walking around and talking photos of the church, I hear a commotion outside, the bride and groom had a arrived. Oh wait, that’s not my bride and groom, OMG am I at the wrong wedding. OH NO! I tried calling my bride, no answer. I then see another photographer, and I run and ask him I am supposed to photograph Tigabi’s wedding, do you know if she is getting married here, he said “yes” there are two weddings today. Wow, for a moment I was feeling horrible, thinking I had mixed up the addresses or something. So I walk back inside the church and walk around and try to see where I should stand to take photos. Then I hear drums and singing and I run out and look for my shoes, (Oh, I forgot to tell you, before you enter the church you have to take off your shoes, so I left my shoes before you enter the temple) and they were GONE. OK, so barefoot it is. I run outside and I rush to take photos of the bride coming out of the car and the guys playing the drums. My photos weren’t that great, the guys were surrounding the bride and groom and wouldn’t let me even take one good shot of her. Well I walked back inside and then there was silence for a long time. I didn’t know what was next. Good thing Biruk was there, this awesome photographer/videographer that helped me out so much, he was hired to do the video for Tigabi’s wedding. What a guy, he really saved me that day. You see even though I had spoke to Tigabi, we had a communication barrier, she hardly spoke English and I didn’t speak Amharic, so we did our best to communicate. So maybe some details were left out along the way, ok maybe a lot of details, but I assure you it was OK. I was so happy to have been given the opportunity to photograph her wedding, such an important event in her life, that I just showed up and figured it out along the way. And the outcome was pretty darn awesome. She was happy with her photos and I was happy that she was happy!
Here are some photos of my very first wedding!
Belkis Cruz Photography 