This past weekend I was given the honor of being the wedding photographer for my brother-in-law’s wedding. When my new sister asked me a few months ago if I would take photos at their wedding I was very excited. Although I’m not a professional photographer I do have experience in taking wedding photos. But I haven’t taken any in a while. Since getting an iphone I have resorted to using my camera phone to capture moments rather than my digital SLR.

It was time to rediscover my love of wedding photography, and my camera. I had almost forgotten the joy I get from holding the camera, wandering around a room, looking for the little moments that often are overlooked. My style has always been to capture things as they happen, rather than script them, or pose them. While I do get the posed shots, my favorites are the ones you don’t see coming.

And even though I have an idea of the shots I want to capture, each set of weddings photos I’ve taken over the years are different. No two contain quite the same shot, and yet they all tell a story of two people who love each other. Maybe that’s why I love taking pictures so much. In one photograph you can capture a look or an emotion in a way that writing just can’t show.

I’m always a bit anxious at the beginning, when I start shooting, but then I find that place where the camera becomes my eye. I view things through the viewfinder, as if life were always meant to be looked at through a rectangular frame. There is no separation between me and the camera. I am able to look at the way people stand, how they almost set themselves up to be photographed without even knowing they’re doing it. I see entire scenes in front of me that I might never see if I didn’t have the camera guiding me.

And then, as if by magic, my introverted self becomes an extrovert. I take pictures of people I don’t know. I walk around the room, snapping photos of things and people and I am unaware of the eyes upon me. I don’t care who is looking at me. All I care about is getting the shot just right. Finding the perfect light. Getting the photo that will one day live in a frame on a wall.

This past weekend I was able to capture the love my sister and brother have for each other, and show how beautiful they are together. I found my own passion once again for photography. I started to see things not as myself, but as the world sees things. Unbiased, taking everything in, down to the smallest detail.

I am so happy to have a new sister. And I hope that I have been able to capture all the moments and more from her wedding to last a lifetime of love with my brother-in-law. They truly were meant to be.