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I love natural light. I prefer only to work with natural light. But I have raised my white flag and finally gave in. I started using a speedlight.

I have come to accept that during the depths of winter, my little world doesn’t have much “natural light”. So, when absolutely necessary, I will try to recreate “natural light” as much as possible.

Today as my girls were playing in their room, I grabbed my camera and my light and started playing. Even though the light is not as nice as natural light, I did find that I was able to capture some very nice shots. And I definitely appreciate the increased flexibility being able to create light offers me.

First off, I have to say that I am not a wedding photographer. It is an area that I often think would be fun to eventually get into, but it is a bit intimidating and overwhelming. There are no do-overs in weddings, so if I mess up a shot, the moment is lost forever.

However, my husband’s aunt was getting married in January. It was a very small wedding and they weren’t planning on hiring a photographer at all. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get a little practice at a very different type of photo shoot without having a lot of pressure on me.

And yes, it was a great experience. I was a bit nervous, and my equipment really wasn’t ideal for this situation, but I did the best job I could and thought some of the photos turned out a bit better than I expected.

The wedding was at night and was a candlelit service – a tough situation for even the most experienced photographer. So I bumped up my ISO, and used my fastest lens. Unfortunately, a high ISO is going to result in a lot more grain, but I still think the mood and the beauty of the evening was captured.

The reception was a small dinner in the church hall. It was a nice and casual atmosphere.

And the bride and groom…what can I say…they were absolutely beaming!

You can see how absolutely and completely happy this couple is.

Thank you all so much for this opportunity. I am not sure if I will be doing any other weddings in the near future, but I learned a lot and actually am getting a bit of an inkling to possibly try it again! Capturing such an incredibly special moment in someone’s life is quite amazing. And fun!!!!

Even though we all may be getting a bit sick of this white stuff, you do have to admit it can create some pretty incredible scenery every once in a while!