Kristen & John | Pittsburgh in the Rain | Wedding Photography
Rain can't keep these 2 down! Gotta love that. We get all kinds of couples and every single couple is different. Some want very little portraiture, some want a ton. Some want alllllll day coverage, some just want the nuts and bolts of the day. Some want every single little detail, some just want the story surrounding the people in the day. Some want total and complete control over the photography of their wedding day, some don't want bothered in the least with those plans....but most of our couples meet in the middle with this one.
Kristen & John wanted tons and tons of portraiture....and we aim to please but if you happened to look out your window on Saturday you will remember the rain, more rain, a lot more rain, with a side of rain. Of course Kristen & John looked to us to figure out a remedy to this and of course we work this out prior to the wedding day to ensure we don't waste time trying to figure out what to do (every good photo-ninja has a good disaster recovery plan in place and all ready to go ;-)) And if you're new to the "what do I do on a typical Pittsburgh day on my wedding?" go HERE.
I loved that neither Kristen nor John let the rain interfere with their day and since we expected this we knew how to make magic anyway. First stop: Mellon Pillars. Now, I know a lot of you photographers right now are like "Oooooh....gee....the Mellon Pillars....that's sooooooo overdone." I do not disagree but you must realize it's overdone for you. I'll bet your couple has never been photographed there and since it's a giant covered stone porch with awesome architecture you're gonna have to get over your aversion to it, especially on a rainy day. It's a lifesaver and your couple will thank you.
Next up, grab a cute shot with umbrellas. Now, this takes a bit of pre-planning with the umbrellas. Kristen & John were a bit busy with the final wedding plans so they kinda waited till the last moment to take our advice of purchasing clear and/or white umbrellas for their wedding day (black causes light imbalances--you're dark under the umbrella but the rest of you is lit, colored umbrellas cause the color to bleed onto your skin) so we only had 1 clear umbrella and a bunch of black to work with but no matter....I took one quickie shot while on our way to our final location...
...which was the Carnegie Museum of Art. Now this can be a little tricky. If you call ahead and ask if you can come in for photos, even though you're not hosting your wedding there, you will likely get a "yes"....they are very accommodating and very kind here. However you may also get a "no", especially if they are already hosting a wedding or 2 there, which was the case this past Saturday. But if you just show up with the intention of entering as guests to the museum, also with the intention of paying the $18 entrance fee per person (in which case you can choose to just have the bride, groom and photographers and/or videographers come in with you, rather than the entire bridal party, to save some moola) then you're all good. In fact, when we all showed on Saturday with full intentions of paying to get in the cashiers just let us in, for free, and allowed us to walk about taking photos. However, this may have been a fluke so don't count on not having to pay to get in. And we made it quick so as to not bother the other guests that paid to enjoy the museum and the other 2 wedding groups that paid to host their weddings there. Respect goes a long way so dish it out in big doses and chances are you'll be received with kindness. ;-)
If the rain happens to go away throughout the evening, and if you really want to top off the night with a dramatic backdrop you know your couple will love, take the time to grab it before you leave. Just might be the shot of the day!
