[Leica] I gotta crow...

[boulanger.croissant at gmail.com (Peter Klein)]

A couple of days ago, I received two beautiful compliments about my 
photography.? You've seen some of the pictures I took at the Israeli 
wedding I attended back in October.? Both the bride and the groom sent 
me very nice notes thanking me.? The groom said my photos were "so 
natural."? The bride was "not very pleased" with the professional 
photographer's work. She absolutely loved mine. She said that my 
pictures took her back to the happy moments of the wedding, and she 
couldn't stop looking at them.

Now, it's possible that I know more about how to deal with difficult 
available light.? But the official photographer and his two(?) 
assistants weren't well equipped.? They had big Nikon DSLRs (I think 
850s) with big zooms, LCD panels and bounce flashes complete with eye 
catchlight cards.? Their gear supposedly outclassed my micro 4/3 camera 
in speed and light-gathering power.

I think I know the real reason.? When I photograph a wedding, then yes, 
I do try to get the key moments. But I mostly look for people's 
emotions, for moments and compositions that show the connections and 
interactions between people. The professionals probably approach the 
event like news photographers, with some occupational distance. I don't 
do that. I feel the love, and I try to put that into my pictures.

This is the latest of several times where I friend or relative has told 
me they preferred my wedding pictures to the hired professional's. So I 
guess I must be doing something right. While I'm always looking to 
improve my technique, technique and equipment is not really what it's about.

--Peter