Again I borrowed the Sony Alpha 33-SLT. However I didn’t have enough knowledge or equipment to deal with the light conditions. At Maddy’s wedding it was bright but overcast which resulted in diffused natural light – perfect for portraits. At Abbie’s wedding we had bright sunlight streaming into relatively dark rooms. What I needed was an external flash with diffuser. The photo above is my best image from the day and that just happened to be taken when another photographer’s external flash with diffuser went off! In the evening I tried using the flash but it was blinding everyone so I decided to underexpose and deal with it during post-processing.

I was disappointed as I feel I could have done better, particularly because after we got back I realised the flash has different settings. I didn’t borrow the camera till the day before the wedding; I could have asked for it sooner and learned a bit more about it before the big day. That’s the thing about weddings; once a moment has gone it’s gone. You can’t get it back. Even if you could everyone has better things to do than wait for you to perfect your shot.

Having said all that, the Putmans were very pleased with them. I suppose, as an amateur in pursuit of continuous improvement, I forget that photographs are more than just aesthetics. It can be frustrating at times but I still love photography and the memories make me smile. So I’m putting the disappointment behind me and I am planning to do some flash-shopping…