Isaiah Tubbs Wedding | 2nd Shooting for Tim Forbes

Here’s an oldie from Isaiah Tubbs I haven't shown you yet.

In fact, I haven’t blogged almost any of the work I’ve done as a 2nd shooter, but that’s about to change my lovely fellows and friends.

I photographed this one alongside Tim Forbes, and I’m proud of having second shot for him. He’s one of the great wedding photojournalists of the city (and Ontario, and Canada, for that fact), and I owe much of my love for candid wedding photography to him.

This wedding was in September 2016. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the drive to Prince Edward County was lovely. I was chipper and excited and talked Tim’s ear off in the car. I do that a lot.

My job was to stick with the groom & his party during the getting ready. So I found their lodge suite at Isaiah Tubbs and introduced myself.

In the days before Covid, it was normal to have ten people all crammed in the same room, getting ready on the morning of the wedding.

This morning at Isaiah Tubbs was no exception.

Getting Ready For The Wedding @ Isaiah Tubbs’s Two-bedroom Lodge Suite

This is how I think of details. Many more traditional photographers spend time arranging the socks and the watch and everything just so.

I do that occasionally, especially if I have to do a styled shoot.

However, that’s not for me where the spirit of the candid is. The undisturbed. Those details just came to be, without the photographer’s influence.

My aim is always for the photograph to feel as though I wasn’t even there. A true wedding photojournalist wants to celebrate the reality created by those they photograph; not create their own reality.

The same goes for the people you’re photographing. When these groomsmen were just shooting the shit, reminiscing, and hanging out, I wanted it to feel like I wasn’t there.

Even though I got close up to take these photographs, I didn’t disturb those moments.

There are so many little moments that happen during the getting ready portion. None of it needs to be arranged. It just happens, if you’re looking for it. You have to stay on your toes, to catch any light, any angle that you can, as it evolves.

Once everyone finished getting ready indoors, we stepped outside, to walk over to the beach at Isaiah Tubbs, where the ceremony was about to unfold.

The boys are still making sure everything is on tight, especially those darn boutonnieres. They did pretty well, though, I must say. Most resort to YouTube videos and frustration.

This next photograph I edited in black and white. I wanted to show the emotion this mother had for her son, and not let the colours distract from this moment. Right before he gets married, he’s still her baby for one fleeting second.

The Beach Ceremony @ Isaiah Tubbs

The ceremony is filled with emotions, and the two people at the centre of it all are the two people getting married. So I want to make sure their emotions are captured.

I really strive to get one really great shot of each partner. If they have written vows, I also try to get a shot of them reading the vows to each other.

The first kiss is also an important moment, but just as important is the moment right before or right after it. There’s so much feeling here.

After the main part of the ceremony, there’s always the signing. This is usually done on a little table away from the arbor.

The couple and their witnesses are whisked away by the officiant.

There are really tender moments that can be found here. Not the signing itself, but what happens after almost every couple will do something intimate and loving to connect once they’re signed their papers, and while they’re waiting for their witnesses to sign. This wedding was no exception.

Now that the official part of the wedding is over, everyone can relax. It’s like the nervous butterflies have flown away, and you can tell the energy in the air has changed from nervous expectation to “LET’S PARTY!”

See what I mean? Those photos just SCREAM “let’s party!”

The release of tension is palpable!

The Quirky and Funny Moments During Cocktail Hour

Every wedding has some moments that seem like they were special ordered for Quirky Love Photographers ™️

Or maybe they’re moments that we just happen to love and catch at every wedding, that other photographers would miss, or even avoid! Can you imagine?

Here is one such moment: The bride having her wedding dress cut 😲

The Tender Moments During Cocktail Hour

There’s a reason why we always suggest opting in for a second photographer if you’re having a wedding with more than 75 guests.

Cocktail hour is one of the times, for instance, when the main photographer is off doing group and posed photos (as Tim was here). In that case, you need someone with eyes on what’s happening elsewhere.

Happy I was here to catch this wonderful embrace between the bride and her besties.

The Venue and Dessert Table

I’m a HUGE sucker for food, and desserts especially. At each wedding, I WILL eat. I will eat generously. I will sample ALL the cocktails. And eat ALL the desserts. Like, not ALL of them, but sample an assortment, if you know what I mean. I’ll make sure there’s some left for your guests, don’t worry.

I take a few photographs of the venue and dessert table before the reception starts. If not me, I ask my second photographer to do it.

Here are a few fun and colourful dessert shots from this wedding:

And of course, the venue itself, which was gorgeous. Isaiah Tubbs cleans up well. I’ve been there multiple times, and each time I can capture a completely different atmosphere, because there are so many halls, so many lodges and cabins, the beach… so much.

Here are some photographs of inside the Restaurant on the Knoll, which has a capacity of 180 (at least in pre-pandemic terms), and looked absolutely stunning this day.

S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G. Right?

The Grand Entrance: To Do It, or To Skip It?

Listen, just as with everything else on your wedding day, it’s your prerogative to keep or ditch any and all traditions. I love couples that take things into their own hands and mix it up.

At this wedding, they did a grand entrance, and we were there by the door to capture it.

Dinner & Speeches

There is a lot that can happen during dinner. Some couples choose to delay speeches until after dinner to give guests a chance to eat. Others have speeches throughout dinner. Both can work really well. We, photographers, are trained to eat FAST so that we can jump to our feet at a moment’s notice and catch a great unfolding event.

This is basically the entire reception for us. Haha.

And some of the funniest moments happen when the couple go up to thank their guests and vendors. This is one of my favourite faces!

I bet he looked at this photo of his was and was like, “yep. that’s her”

First Dances

Some couples choose to do first dances, others don’t. These two did, and we twirled around the edges of the room, capturing different angles to preserve this epic time for them.

When the Dancefloor Opens

This is a dream come true. I LOVE dance parties and taking shots of people having fun and losing themselves on the dancefloor. In fact, I often dance along with them, right in the middle of the dancefloor. (I don’t have great moves, but I think no one cares. It’s just such a great way to make people feel relaxed around you while you snap their photo.)

The Bouquet Toss

Tossing a bouquet is hard work.

Positioning yourself in the back properly to catch it, is equally hard work.

Taking photographs of it? Priceless.

And also hard work :P

(you knew that was coming).

Because lots of decisions need to be made. For this one, I decided that the faces of the women fighting for the bouquet were what I wanted to focus on.

A Cell-Phone-Lit Couple’s Photo on the Beach

Tim wanted to try this trick, where everyone would hold their phone, put on the flashlight, and hold it toward the couple to light them. So the only light would be coming from the cell phones of the wedding party. I followed him on the beach to check it out and snapped this photo.

Sometimes it’s super fun to play around. I’m happy he had this vision and pursued it. I wouldn’t have thought of it.

Personal Quirky Pick

I always have a couple of images that *I* find super quirky and awesome in each wedding gallery, where I really wonder if anyone else would like it. Since it’s my blog, I’ll share it here with you, but I’d really like to know whether you love it just as much.

Here it is:

What do you think? Do you love this as much as I do? The swishing of the dresses, the movement.. It just feels so airy to me, and it’s definitely one of my favourite quirky images from this gallery (I say quirky because, for instance, there are no heads showing. This is definitely not a traditional wedding photography photo. But then nothing about Quirky Love Photography is traditional! haha.)

Leaving Off On a Happy Note

Before I leave a wedding for the night, I always make sure I’ve captured my fill of happy photos of the couple. They don’t even have to be together, but I need to know that each of the marriers has been captured having FULL OUT FUN during their reception.

Here are a couple of those.

This was a fabulous wedding. I can’t believe it’s been six years now.

I’ve been to Isaiah Tubbs since then, but I will always remember this day. How much fun I had capturing this couple who trusted Tim (and his second photographer) to capture their memories.

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