A Sussex blessing: Shooting a wedding for the first time with my Nikon Z6
The bride and groom
Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm f/4
I'm not a wedding photographer, so when I received a kind email asking me if I would photograph a Sussex wedding at very short notice, I was initially unsure what to do. However, the story behind why I was approached compelled me to say yes.
To elaborate, Cheryl (whose surname I won’t include here) asked me if I could take pictures of her daughter's wedding after seeing my landscape photographs in the Washington Post. Although she now lives more than 3,500 miles away in the US, Cheryl grew up in Sussex and had been staggered to see her local patch - Ditchling and Burgess Hill, to be specific - in the Sunday paper.
The blessing at St Mary’s church, Shoreham
Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm f/4
The bride and her family
Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm f/4
Her daughter was having a blessing at St Mary's in Shoreham after having her wedding ceremony a year earlier in the US during the pandemic. It was only a small family gathering and had already been disrupted once by covid, so if I didn't take the job, there would likely be no photographer at all. After speaking with Cheryl on the phone and making sure her expectations were suitably modest, I decided I had to say yes. After all, it’s such a wildly improbable story - and how often do such opportunities come along?
Justine came along with me partly for moral support, but also so that we could further increase our chance of getting some good images on the day. I wasn't especially nervous, but there was undoubtedly a certain amount of apprehension when we arrived in Shoreham. I had never met Cheryl, the bride or groom, and had never even visited the church before.
The bride
Olympus OMD E-M10 and Lumix 25mm f/1.7 © Justine Munn
Armed only with my Nikon Z6, 24-70mm f4 lens, one 64GB memory card and two batteries, it's fair to say that I wasn't suitably prepared to shoot a wedding in a professional capacity. However, Cheryl's family were so lovely that I soon forgot any worries and started to just enjoy myself.
Above all, it was a privilege to share a special day with a brilliant group of people, but I'm also very proud of some of the images that we took. There's no doubt Justine has an talent for it - despite using my relatively antiquated Olympus OMD EM-10, she bagged some of the best shots of the day.
Inside St Mary’s Church, Shoreham
Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm f/4
The bride and her sister
Olympus OMD E-M10 and Lumix 25mm f/1.7 © Justine Munn
Now I have a renewed respect for wedding photographers after trying it for myself, too. They shoulder a substantial amount of pressure and responsibility, and there's a great deal of planning involved, along with the work to get the images just right in post production. I'm not sure I I'll be changing my day job anytime soon, but I'm very grateful to Cheryl and her family to be given such a wonderful opportunity.
