Blog — christopher ruth

When you have a small wedding, as Kristin and I did (9 guests, all immediate family), inviting an outside photographer can spoil the intimacy that is the benefit of such a small gathering. Add that to the tiny budget that we wanted to work with, and that's the recipe for DIY wedding photography.

There are benefits and drawbacks of doing it this way. While I'll get to remember this day now through the lens of my own experience, the photographer's perspective had to be traded in for the groom's perspective. This means that photographs of people in particular were more personal, but less well-framed and artful. During parts of the ceremony and at other times I did surrender my camera to other willing family members, but since I have fairly advanced manual-only equipment (Zeiss Loxia 35, 50, and 85 were my lenses for the day), there are technical limits that got in the way.

In keeping with the frugality and creativity of the photography situation, decorating with wild daisies from nearby Wisconsin fields was another part of the beauty and simplicity of the day.

It's also true that most of the time my camera was pointed to my beautiful bride, so if other cherished members of my family are underrepresented in the final count of photographs, it can be perhaps understood that I only had eyes for one person that day.