The crying sister | Behind the image

This is the first in a series of “Behind the image” blogs, explaining why I love an image and why I took it.

So why do I like this image, well firstly its black and white. I love black and white imagery. I feel it gives almost any image a timeless look, no fake vintage or photoshop effects here.

The blacks within the image stand out at you almost jumping out of the picture towards you, the shadows add depth to the shot and slight highlights draw your eye to the subject, in this case the groom's sister.

She had just sat down after an emotional reading during the ceremony. I captured the moment, like most, in a split second. The venue didn’t give much room for movability, with a stretch and twist I pressed the shutter.

It sums up the emotion I love the capture at every wedding, you can still see her reading sitting neatly on her knee, her eyes looking down, desperately concentrating on the floor trying to gain composure with her hand brushing lightly the tear from her eye, without smudging her makeup.

In the foreground the bride and groom add to the image and give definition to her emotion, it doesn’t matter if you don’t see their faces, it’s not needed to portray the story within the image. The fact they are out of focus, on purpose, using a small aperture to reduce the depth of field helps focus your eye to the focus point within the image.

You can see the guest in the background focusing on the ceremony and the bride and groom, leaving the groom's sister to have her private moment to herself.

It’s moments like that that make my profession worthwhile and although an emotional moment it makes me smile with a warm feeling inside.