Moments after the wedding of Kate and Anthony, we scuttled around the hotel property of Couples Negril taking advantage of each of its beautiful location. The radiance and utter chemistry between both Kate and Anthony permeated the air like the scent of daisies on a windy spring afternoon. I could tell they were both comfortable in front of the camera, not because of how natural they assimilated each position but because of how they seemed to inadvertently forget I was even there, all I had to do was provide slight indications of that which was needed to attain suitable frames; this made my work even easier.
We traveled the entire extent of the hotel property whilst I documented their journey accordingly. It seemed even mother nature was in agreement with their love as the various settings they were in complemented them without hesitation- they gave life to their environment. After about 20 minutes of photographing we came to an isolated room area where there was a porch facing the ocean. At this point she was engaged in a mild conversation with her husband, I gently motioned and Anthony took notice, “Oh you’re ready?” he asked, I responded accordingly, ” yes, I’m just going to capture a few portraits with you both on the patio sofa.” I went over in a haste to sit before the sofa and beckoned to my lighting assistant (Jason Barnett) to be ready as I wanted to capture a few candids of their journey to the sofa…Then it hit me; I saw an image of her sitting in the sofa just exuding an expression of self, there was nothing complicated about it, it was like poetry, at least to me. I quickly signaled to them both and ask if I could have a portrait shot with just Kate before we proceed, Anthony smiled in acknowledgement. She went over and sat on the sofa and I said to her, “I want to capture the essence of who you are, an image that represents and culminates this day for you.” That was it, that was all that needed to be said; I mildly directed her and without a moments hesitation she lowered her head, cast her eyes downward, exhaled a familiar sigh of joy which seemed to had release the idea that had impressed itself upon me earlier, it was deja vu; I smiled internally and with my supposedly 12,000th click I captured her soul’s expression.
Kate’s Photograph above became one of my most critically acclaimed photographs, it was even ranked number one on the photography hallmark website 500px for almost two consecutive days.
