A wise person once commented to me that challenge and adversity are good for the soul. He also told me that there is a very fine line between a challenge and a pain in the _ _ _.
Sounds like a wonderful weekend with many growth opportunities. Thanks for sharing! Stan on 12/15/03 4:27 PM, Tanya Mayer Photography at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi all, > > well, yep, i have been very quiet these past few days - since Thursday night > to be exact, as a storm took out our telephone and internet access! I have > just now had it all re-connected only to receive 689 emails!!! BUT, I am > back with avengeance! > > GFM - well, BAD news guys and gals! After all of my efforts last week, > booking of airfares, taking up of very generous offers from PDML'ers etc, my > stupid sister (who you will soon find I don't like very much), has gone and > decided to get married to the guy she's been shagging for the past 4 weeks > (yep, you read that correctly!), and guess what day it is? 5 June 2004!! To > her credit, she HAS known the guy for most of her life, but the actual > relationship only began in earnest FOUR WEEKS AGO!! So, of course, I am in > big trouble for not wanting to shoot the "blessed event" in favour of going > to GFM, and so I have had to cancel my trip for fear of retribution from my > very overbearing mother who doesn't want anything to interfere with her > little princesse's "special day". (Yes, you do detect sarcasm and cynicism > there, long story, not relevent to this list). So, in exchange for an > international trip, yummy pizza, a squishy (but probably hilarious) road > trip, the ultimate in learning opportunities, and the company of 20-30 very > cool people, I get to spend the day taking photos of a person who I don't > like very much while being yelled at by a mother who doesn't like me very > much... On a brighter note, I may be able to enable my self with a certain > digital slr very soon, - in fact might do it just to spite them all, and > giver her her wedding pics on cd (she doesn't own a computer! lol)... > > So, again, thankyou all for your wonderful offers of accomodations, > transport and good-times, and I will try to organise it DEFINITELY for 2005, > and owing to the advance notice, may even be able to extend the trip to the > UK/Ireland, as I had originally wanted. > > Ok, so I did the MOTHER of all weddings this weekend - picture this for a > scene... > > Tanya drives 3 hours to wedding location, through torrential rain, and silt > covered and flooding roads (BARELY made it through - 1 metre high water at > one point). Tanya arrives at wedding location to find one very overweight > bride (she wasn't anywhere near as big when I met her a year ago) and 2 very > overweight bridesmaids - the weight thing isn't an issue, and please no one > be offended, but they were all squeezed into STRAPLESS dresses, about 4 > sizes too small and were "spilling" out everywhere, iykwim? Tanya also > finds a groom with NO TEETH!!! (Actually, he had ONE tooth which was BLACK), > who had a massive hangover and spent the entire day threatening to vomit and > burping through the whole ceremony (btw, he DID vomit later on, thankfully > not whilst my camera was pointed at him - I have a bit of a thing about > vomit and I would have ended up joining him had I seen/heard it)... Ok, so > as well, as their charming attire, the bridesmaids accessoriesed with > TATOOS - real ones, down their arms and one even had a big set of blue/black > angel wings in the middle of her BACK!!! > > It gets worse... > > It was a double wedding - two sisters getting married at the same time. > Well, the other photographer got the "good" couple - young, obviously in > love, and willing to have a great time. The other photographer is also very > well known and very GOOD at what he does, so I felt intimidated right from > the start (on a brighter note, I learnt alot from him though). My couple > wouldn't even do a bridal waltz pic cause they just wanted "to get p*ssed" > (their words, not mine)!! (I just KNOW that they will blame me for the > absence of this pic when the proofs come back). To make it even more fun - > my couple had a 2 year old and one year old TWINS! I defy anyone to do a > professional job of bridal makeup when the bride is holding two wriggling > babies on her lap who keep grabbing at the mascara wand as you try to apply > it! > > Then, it was time for the family pics.... > > Well, I had to "share" family members due to the double wedding and both > brides having the same parents etc. I am sure that I missed many shots that > I "should" have taken due to this constant "swapping" of people backwards > and forwards! AND the groom wouldn't even kiss or touch the bride!! Yep, > got some REALLY romantic shots....NOT!! > > On a brighter note, I DID get some cool black and white candids of the > little twins, BUT they had the junior bridesmaids dressed in hot pink and > white, (complete with eighties style puffy sleeves, and big toilet-doll > skirts) with the bridesmaids dressed in burgandy and gold! Not a great > colour combination for photos let me tell you!! > > On top of all this, this weekend was my 10 year high school reunion, which > yep, I WAS THE ORGANISER of! SOMEHOW, clever me, ended up booking it on the > same weekend as the wedding that I had to do a 6 our round trip for, so here > was I, having missed the reunion luncheon on Saturday afternoon, driving > back at cracking speed, from the wedding, at 10pm at night with some vain > hope of catching the closing minutes of the reunion dinner! Lucky for me, > my friends were very nice and held off for my arrival, then asking me to cut > the cake to thank me for my organisational efforts! They then presented me > with a bunch of flowers and a lovely necklace to say thanks for organising > the weekend etc. (Mind you, I had to race home and change out of my horse > poo covered/mud covered clothes - oh, forgot to say that the location pics > for the wedding were in horse stables that had been flooded by the > torrential rain, and that the bride had just "decided" to use half way > through the day!) The breakfast the following morning (Sunday) went really > well, as I was able to organise it all myself, and we had a lovely time. I > DID sleep 12 straight hours Sunday and last night though to recover from the > weekend's ordeal! > > I'll have to post the wedding pics when they come back, even if just to show > you guys what NOT to when photographing a wedding! > > Ok, I must go and feed my kids some brekkie! But, just wanted to let you all > know that I am around and recovering from a HUGE weekend... > > tan. > > >
