Pass-A-Grille Sunset Wedding with Leslie & Logan

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barefoot wedding on Pass-A-Grille Beach - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 1/320th SB-600 off camera to left

Such an odd name Pass-A-Grille Beach isn't it?  Every time I hear it I envision a close-up of an old style hibachi being passed around.  This is the place that Leslie and Logan will be telling people they got married at.  I wonder how they will explain the name to people?

The wedding ceremony was quite quick, only 5 minutes!

The weather was earlier looking like it would rain out the beach wedding, but instead just provided some dramatic clouds for a background.  Still, I kept my gear all sealed in my camera bags with a towel on top of them, just in case.  After I first saw Logan (kept thinking of the great sci-fi movie LOGAN'S RUN) I thought he looked exactly like Jason Sudeikis of SNL.

 Large group shots are always a challenge, but almost no hidden faces this time, success!

It was a large wedding party for a beach wedding.  I was told that most of the guests came from out of state, as Leslie and Logan themselves were from Indiana.  I was impressed that the couple had such great friends that they would hop on a flight to come to their wedding.  Indeed, I had a good time talking to some of them in between shots.  The beach formals kept me quite busy as there were many permutations that needed to be photographed.  My head did cast a shadow on the sand in the foreground, and worse my light stand cast a shadow on the second guy from the left.  It took a bit of cloning in Photoshop to make those disappear, but definitely worth the effort.  I left the two sea gulls flying by in though!

 The bride (right) having a good laugh with her friends

The above candid shot is exactly the type of photograph I am always looking to make on any kind of photography job I might have, be it a wedding, a portrait session or an event gig.  While getting in position for a formal portrait they were having a good laugh all by themselves, so I kept alert and was able to capture, to me, a shot that will have much more impact 10 years down the road than the formal shot I took just a few seconds after, although I still feel the formal is a must have shot.  

My favorite shot to attempt, the hold her up shot!

Once we got everyone photographed, it was, as always, just me and the bride and groom.  Fortunately, Leslie and Logan were tough and still had plenty of energy after doing a series of formals with friends and family.  As you can see above, they did great with my request for a "lift the bride" shot.  If I recall we did it on the first try as well!

Having backdrops like this are why couples come to Florida for their weddings

The above was another one take shot.  Leslie and Mark walked toward me and my SB-600 mounted on a light stand to frame right, and as they walked on a predetermined spot, I fired off one frame, a lucky one again.  They were really easy to work with and a very fun couple to photograph.  I hope they come to Florida for their tenth anniversary so I can photograph them again on Pass-A-Grille Beach!