Inspiring Wedding | Caracas, Venezuela

The more freedom you grant me as your photographer the greater the possibility of actively creating fine art to tell your wedding story. Exclusive wedding photography. Authenticity and naturalness

Things always happen for a reason, do not they? I really like the idea that when I do something, that something has repercussions for other future events to come

And that's exactly what happened for this wedding. I was not the photographer in charge of the wedding and I was not traveling to Venezuela to shoot any wedding, this came out later :-)

Besides photography, one of my great passions in this life is teaching, I like to be a mentor and help photographers in their evolution of professional and personal growth. When I teach (and shoot) I feel that I am in my own element. If you have read the book "The Element" by Ken Robinson, you know that the "Element" is that meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.

I am always ready and happy to travel wherever people ask me for help, and recently I had the opportunity to teach an intensive two-day workshop in Venezuela. The WS was hosted by two professional photographers based in the area: Carlos Peinado and Gabriel López, who sent me the invitation that I obviously accepted :-) While we discussed the logistics of the workshop in the official WS group on Facebook, it came out the opportunity for me to shoot a wedding in Venezuela when one guy kindly invited me! His name is Jesus Ochoa and he is an international award winning photographer based in Caracas.

I usually add a couple of extra days to any international trip I make, just in case; and on that occasion the wedding was on Saturday and I had planned to leave Caracas to fly back to Mexico on Sunday afternoon, so I could not ask for anything better! :-) I had enough time to do it, and I did, and I loved it! LOL

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Jesus spoke prior the wedding with Samantha and Victor (the bride and groom) about the opportunity to have a different point of view (mine) of their big day, and they accepted. Oh yeah! ... I didn’t meet them until the wedding day, first I met Samanta during the getting ready at the Eurobuilding Suites Caracas and later I met Victor at the church for the ceremony.

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My role? Second invisible independent photographer free of responsibility :-) Oh yes! Jesus has a whole team of people who help him with logistics, a second shooter and an assistant, so nothing was really required from me except to enjoy shooting.

“Simplicity is the key note of all true elegance” —Coco Chanel

I shoot all day long with my restless ninja style, only with a camera and one lens

I remember it was my Nikon D810 plus a 35mm F/1.8, and that was it. I did not bring all the gear I usually use for weddings because I did not need it for the workshop; but I was sure that was enough to tell the story of Samantha and Victor's wedding. Also, when I second shoot I can’t be intrusive, I have to respect the primary and second photographers because they are in charge, not me.

But, this is only one side of the coin! I mean, I can not get too close because I do not want to appear in the frames of the photographers or ruin their composition; but at the same time, when I second shoot I have more time to “invest” in some particular frame, time in which the main photographers may need to take the traditional must-have shots.

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If you analyze it from that perspective, it is a bit challenging, but it also highly motivates me! Besides, we all came out winners... The couple has more unexpected pictures as well as a different approach. And for all photographers, we surely enjoy working together as a team, understanding each other's way of working, learning new things, etc.

I am always very curious to live in first person a wedding in another country

So I could know what their traditions are, the wedding timeline and schedule, the food, the music and everything that is involved in such celebration!

What I liked most about this wedding:

Creative freedom.

As I said before, being a second photographer (or the third one in this case) gives me the opportunity to shoot in a different way, to focus on different kind of photos without thinking about what I'm losing or not, in a particular situation.

It really does not matter if I am the first shooter or the third, my way of working and my vision is the same: I always focus on the moments that tell the story, but when I do not have the responsibility to be the main shooter, I can be even more "playful" with the scenes to try to do something different. I always have fun when I shoot, but without the weight of responsibility, the rules are different and I can experiment more. Do you know what I mean?

— Honest Visual Storytelling.

That's why I prefer to work as a storyteller with a strong documentary approach and in case you like to pose or think you MUST have the traditional wedding photographs, you can always hire a second wedding photographer with a more editorial approach. And the combination of both styles could be a killer one :-)

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A fun and very distinct reception.

I also enjoyed the fact that the reception was completely different from what we know in the United States and Mexico, for example. It seemed that the cocktail lasted only a few hours, LOL. There was no formal table to sit in, instead there were many tables, chairs and lounge-style stools, but no assigned places; so people were free to sit where they wanted, change spots and mingle to meet new people.

The dance floor was always open, from the beginning of the cocktail until the end of the party. While there were different styles and kind of music, during all the different stages of the night ... A dance floor always open and active? I love it! :-)

Yes I do.

I am still very grateful to Samanta and Victor for their coolness, I enjoyed everything about you guys and your "alive wedding day"; I hope to see you soon ... in some corner of the world. Cheers! D.