Like so many conversations between friends, it’s hard to remember how certain topics come up. It’s even harder to remember how one idea leads to another. This is one such tale that ended up with a great idea!
Many months back I was at lunch with a bunch of friends. Among this group of friends was a couple whose wedding I would be photographing in the near future. One thing led to another, and all of us started joking about how I was going to Photoshop myself into one of this couples wedding photos without their knowledge. They would go about their life, maybe print some pictures to hang on the walls of their new house, and everything would be wonderful! Then, one day, they would be walking past one of their wedding photos hanging in their living room and notice something. Upon closer inspection they would find something rather unexpected…me! It was a hilarious thought to think about this couple, or just my wedding clients in general, stumbling across pictures with, of all people, their wedding photographer in them!
Some time after this lunch conversation, I was meeting with Hannah and Scott for our pre-wedding day meeting. In passing conversation, I mentioned to them this hilarious idea all my friends and I had at that lunch. To my surprise, not only did they think it was hilarious, they wanted me to do that for them in one of their wedding images! Seeing as how the customer is always right, I complied with their request.
The idea, in practice, was actually much harder than I thought. I had to find the right picture where it wouldn’t be entirely obvious, but I also couldn’t “ruin” a great portrait of them by putting my face behind some bushes. I eventually settled on the image at the top of this post. While it is not my best Photoshop work, the idea of it still brought joy to both the couple and me. Hannah and Scott made their guests who viewed their gallery play, “Where’s Jon?” and told them to find me!
As a wedding photographer, I’m very much a part of the wedding and the activities of the day, but I’m also the faceless one who is a part of it. It’s me behind the camera capturing the moments, and the only people who ever see that are the ones I’m photographing. Even in my personal life I’m rarely in pictures since I’m always behind the camera. While this little stunt I pulled for Hannah and Scott was simply for laughs, it was kind of nice to actually be in one photo at this couple’s wedding as opposed to behind all of them.
I may have to pull this stunt again…
