Hava Nagila & Photographic Karma: My Triple-Wedding Weekend

Triple-headers are all about sustained momentum--lots of energy bars and diet coke, and lots of driving. It goes something like, shootsleepshootsleepshootsleep. By the time it's over, I'm not sure what happened at which wedding, with the exception of a few key moments, and, of course, the photos. Here's a few of both.

friday night we were at the castle on the hudson in tarrytown, ny. here are a few of my favorites from the event:





saturday's wedding was in cold spring, ny at the plumbush inn, and was a great example of what i like to call photographic karma. here's what happened--last weekend i was just down the road from cold spring in beacon, ny, at boscobel gardens, and i had this idea for a shot of the bride and groom rolling around in the leaves. but it had rained earlier and the leaves were still wet, and the bride was, quite reasonably, concerned about her dress getting dirty. so, i had to let the idea go...but i've found, in my years of shooting, that the universe has an awesome way of aligning circumstances to let all my ideas come to fruition at some point. big up to the universe for a very quick turnaround this time, as i was able to get the shot i had envisioned last saturday at boscobel with dennis and lauren this saturday in cold spring. no rain, and a willing bride, and it turned out great.



their cake-topper--the original from lauren's grandparents' wedding--was a very cool way of incorporating family history into their wedding day (and on top of something that would be history by the end of the night).
sunday's wedding brought a different kind of photographic karma--the kind that i have nightmares about. it all started months ago, when i downloaded the famous jewish celebratory song "Hava Nagila" to my cellphone (it brings back fond memories from many jewish weddings). anyway, so here's the scene: it's halfway through the ceremony in a very large, very quiet, very formal church. i am crouched down in front of the eight or so groomsmen in the first row. it's so quiet....you could hear....a pin....drop...but that's not what happened. that would've been fine. instead, my phone (which is always set to vibrate) was in my suit jacket pocket when it decided to randomly and inexplicably begin playing Hava Nagila. now, since my phone's always on vibrate for the very purpose of avoiding a situation like this, it didn't occur to me that this intrusive and awful sound could be coming from me. i looked over at the groomsmen with utter disdain, wondering when they were going to turn off their very rude phone.....and....yes....i then...slowly....realized what song was playing, and came to the horrifying conclusion that it was in fact my phone. of course, upon noticing this the groomsmen all burst out in hysterics and i escaped through the side door, sorta mortified. for the rest of the night, i would be referred to as "hava nagila" by the bridal party.





of course, none of this would have been possible without my amazing associate shooter/assistant, and buddy, gulya, who has been surviving triples with me for almost two years now. thanks g!

till next time,
karen