This weekend I was invited along to Gemma and James’ wedding in Burslem. I had met Gemma just over a year ago when I captured Danika and Craig’s wedding, also in Burslem. Fast forward 15 months or so and Danika and Craig have had a little baby boy. It was great to see them again and their new addition to the family.
When I’m documenting weddings I spend a lot of time observing. It’s easy to walk around taking random photos of anything and everything at a wedding, but a real storyteller will spend time looking for moments rather than capturing everything that is happening in front of them. As I walk around I spend time looking for human interaction. Smiles, tears, hugs, touch etc. No matter where you are in the world you will always see these moments. But you have to pay attention because they aren’t always obvious.
Whilst I was patiently looking for moments like this at Gemma and James’ wedding I spotted Craig holding his brand new baby boy and as I watched him I could see him just smiling at his son. I took this photograph because it transported me right back to holding my own son nearly 5 years ago now. That look on craigs face as he is watching his baby boy is precious. The bond between him and his son is a very special one and you can see it written right across his face. Theres so much going on around Craig but nothing else matters right now because he just has one thing he is focussing on, and it’s got 10 fingers and 10 toes.
This kind of photograph just couldn’t be replicated by staging it or asking craig to pose with his baby boy. The impact of a photograph like this one has to be captured without interfering. I hope that Danika and Craig love this photograph as much as I do.
