The Moments in Between

At a wedding Mark and I shot on Saturday, I was wandering through cocktail hour watching surreptitiously for hugging, laughing - those unprompted moments that are so difficult to capture because most people's natural instinct, when they see your camera, is to group together and smile directly into the lens.

At one point I was watching a guest take a picture of a group of her friends with her digital point-and-shoot. The women stood still, smiled serenely into the camera with their arms around each other's waists, and the photo was shot. The woman then put the camera down and the group immediately started cracking up over something one of them said. And I thought, this is a great moment that most people tend to miss. While it's nice to have that group shot that shows them straight-on, I think the moment that shows these women's spirit and the dynamic of their friendship is the unprompted moment of them laughing with each other, the one that comes directly after the photo the women were prepared for.

Of course I always shoot the posed group photos when asked, but I have also learned not to walk away right afterward. Because once the flash goes off and they see you've taken the picture, inevitably someone says something funny and the group will laugh together, or someone will give someone a hug. This happens in between formal photos too. The groom will give his new bride a quick kiss on the forehead, or the mother of the bride will give her daughter a proud, loving glance. These are always the moments in between. They are the moments that define a family, or a group of friends.

So here's something to try next time you find yourself in the middle of a bunch of posed pictures. Keep your camera up and anticipate the next moment. And watch -- those are the photos your clients will love the most.