A client recently asked me what my least favorite part of a shoot was. After mulling it over, I replied “saying goodbye”.
The relationship between a couple and their wedding photographer is a very personal experience and in the quickly passing time between reserving your wedding photography session and when we say our goodbyes, we share our smiles, conversations, laughter and I’m not ashamed to admit that we have sometimes even shed a few tears.
There’s so much that we as photographers see and experience behind a lens that nobody knows about; the look in a father’s eye right after he gives his daughter away, or the way a grandmother purses her lips and tilts her head upwards to hold back tears of joy. What they feel and what you feel is what we feel and that creates the dichotomy between a snapshot and photojournalistic art.
Karice and Brad flew into Las Vegas all the way from Ottowa, Ontario in Canada and were wed at the Venetian. They were as beautiful a couple as I had ever seen and there was something graceful and delicate in the way they interacted with each other that words can’t quite describe and the look in each others’ eyes were filled not only with love, but complete admiration, trust and respect, which was just breathtaking.
Easy smiles and laughter always make for my favorite shots – there’s something so genuine and true about seeing a couple laugh together that I just can’t get enough of. I incorporate a lot of ‘trust’ shots – picking up, carrying, dipping, holding – that symbolizes the mutual trust and respect in every happy marriage.
Because we had begun so late due to an error that Venetian had made with the limo reservation, Sarah and I knew we needed more shots and so we pulled Karice and Brad out of the restaurant and I decided to shoot inside the Venetian, where Brad & Karice immediately took the the floor an performed a beautiful dance in front of an amazed crowd of onlookers.
Venetian and Bellagio are two hotels that are very vocal about not allowing independent photographers on hotel grounds and I usually make a note to avoid shooting at either location entirely, however I figured that if we were asked to leave….well, we were leaving anyway! 
All in all, as we shook hands and hugged goodbye, I felt a strong pang of loss and wish that we could have had several more hours together! Karice and Brad were absolutely wonderful and I sincerely hope that we see these two again.
Mazel Tov to you both!