DETAI LS
P HOTOG RAPHY
Dark Roux Photography
Think Petite
Intimate weddings make great photo opportunities BY MISTY MILIOTO
W
eddings during COVID-19 have gotten smaller. But, if you ask the experts, that means the wedding photos are getting better. Fewer guests and less pomp and circumstance, some photographers say, creates opportunities for them to capture intimate, unscripted moments that are harder to get when the schedule is crammed. “Small weddings are enjoyable in a different way,” says New Orleansbased photographer Michael Caswell. “Usually I’ll be able to spend more time with a couple doing portraits, as opposed to a big day where I’d only have 10 minutes.” Heather Schneider, who owns Dark Roux Photography with her husband Jamie, has experienced the same thing. “The smaller weddings are great,” she says. “If you’re trying to shoot a big event, you have eight hours and there’s 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen to shoot, you have a long to-do list, you have to get to the church at a certain time and to the bus a certain time, so you’re far more restricted.” Small weddings are a totally different story. “It’s just so fluid,” says Schneider. “If we don’t get something done the first time around, it’s fine. It’s the same 20 people at the event all day, so we’ll just
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do it later. We can just go with the flow and it’ll give us more opportunity to be relaxed. It gives us more time to be creative instead of just ‘Get it, get it, get it.’ We can examine the surroundings, see things from different angles and do something different.” Photographer Tracie Morris shot a recent wedding at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport. During the drive from the church to the reception, the wedding party was halted by a raised drawbridge near the lake. Disaster? Not hardly. In fact, the unplanned moment turned into a highlight of the day — and a great photo opp. “It seemed like traffic was going to be a while, so I jumped out of the car and then got them out of their car,” says Morris. “So now we’re on the bridge. That can be a stressful moment for a bride, being stopped by a bridge or a train. You’re looking at the clock and trying to get to your reception — but we were able to take that moment and make it fun. “Their friends were honking their horns, groomsmen ran up the bridge to toast them. We took a bunch of photos and turned it into a nice memory. It’s not something you would ever plan but when it’s a small event you can just wing it.”
