I love capturing spontaneous moments of emotion. A wedding is intrinsically filled with emotion, so I keep my eye out for these moments, like this one of tenderness and joy.
Years ago, it was uncommon for wedding photographers to capture these images. Equipment was bulky--medium format film camera were designed for high-quality, and not for the documentary style that is more common today. Many photographers took very limited number of photos since each frame was a cost of film and processing. And rolls were counted by 12 and 24 frames.
Enter the digital age. Photographers can now shoot without worrying about film costs, meaning moments like this can be captured. Also, digital cameras are smaller and better designed for capturing moments like this.
Best of all, high-quality digital cameras can be equal to or surpass the quality of the old medium-format film cameras. Yeah, I do love film, and I do miss it. I was very, very good in the darkroom, and could really make a black and white photo a masterpiece (I still love black and white, especially in an image like this where I'm more focused on the interaction and emotion than the color, which could actually be distracting.)
But I can't deny that digital is the way. Sure, like folks who like vinyl over a digital album, there are still those who prefer film. But having a digital camera makes me quicker and more efficient. I don't have to change film from an indoor setting to an outdoor one (because of white balance issues.) I just change a setting on the digital camera. And, I can shoot as much as I want, without worrying about film.
And that means, capturing a priceless moment like this one.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.