This event was less than two months ago, but I feel like I have come so far since then. I owe some of that to the experience I gained from that one night. It was the first live event that I have ever worked as a photographer. It was completely different from anything I have ever done before. I was hired to take studio type portraits of each father and daughter, then print on site so that each girl could go home with a 4x6 print of her and her dad-then to get candid shots. I stressed over this night so much. There were many times I came close to bailing out because I was so stressed over it! I had dreams of my backdrop falling, my flash not working, of there being a huge outline shadow of the people's faces in the background or my printer running out of ink. Photoshop had become my crutch, if my settings on my camera were a little off, I could always fix it after the shoot-but not on this night. They had to be perfect the first time since I had to print them right away. There were just too many things that could go wrong.
The week before the actual dance, I went to a planning meeting and over and over again everyone kept saying, "Let's ask the photographer." "You're the photographer, how would you like the lights?" "Since you are the photographer, you tell us where the best place for all your stuff would be." Photographer. Photographer. Photographer....I'm a photographer!!! It felt kind of like when you first get married and someone calls you by your new last name. It takes a little while for it to register that they are talking to YOU! It was a neat moment!
So the night came and all the "what if's" drained away. Once I had my backdrop secure, was able to take some test shots getting my bounce flash at the right angle and the settings in my camera just right...I was ready for show time! I had such a blast! I couldn't believe that I was being paid to simply watch people and capture the emotion they felt that night. I felt like I should have been paying them to let me have so much fun! About an hour or so into the event, the commanders wife ran up to me and said, "There is a beautiful sunset outside, could you take some pictures of my family in front of it?" I looked outside and just laughed! Here I was worrying for days about the silliest of things and God painted the most beautiful sunset outside for us! I was so humbled!
When the night started wrapping up, the girls surrounded my table, looking at their pictures. They would run off to show their friends. A few of the moms came up to me and said that I didn't realize what a huge deal this was. Their husbands are gone all the time fighting for our country and they don't have many pictures of them-especially in their dress blues with their children. Their daughters would look at that picture when their daddy was gone and they would remember this night. Wow! What a neat thing when God lets you be apart of something that is so much bigger than yourself. I am not worthy.
I can't thank my friend Amie enough for asking me to be apart of such a fun night. I learned so much from that one event. The experience was such a blessing to me. I learned that I CAN DO THIS!!! And there will always be something to worry about-instead I need to trust myself and more importantly-trust the One who gave me this love and the ability to capture people!
FYI: This is just a very small sample of the edited pictures from that night. There are just too many to post! You can see many more at http://www.marionsphotography.com/ if you are interested.
The mom's went ALL OUT for these girls. They thought of every little detail to make these girls feel like a princess for a night. Here is one dad putting on his daughter's corsage.
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