A newly wed bride and groom contacted me to re-shoot their wedding pictures at Civic Center in San Francisco. They told me that their photographer lost their images from their original shoot. They also sent me a set of images I initially thought were only for inspiration. I assured them that I would be able to do what they wanted and then met with them on the a day of their choosing.
What I didn’t understand was that they wanted to recreate the inspiration images as faithfully as possible. Later that night, after sending them proofs, they expressed their disappointment. I panicked because I had shown them images as we worked and I didn’t think that my work was lacking. Eager to make things right, I offered to retake images the next day and they graciously agreed.
What they told me as we worked was that they wanted wider shots that showed them in the context of the wonderful architecture of the building. They didn’t mind that there were others couples and photographers working in space. We arrived early enough on the second day to be able to take wide shots in the space without too many other competing couples and their photographers. This was a good lesson in commutation for me.
