Chris and Emi – Panama City Beach Wedding Photographer

Before the ceremony, I met up with Emi and her bridesmaids for a some group photos and bridal portraits. There was a nice grassy/wooded area behind her condominium that made for a perfect portrait location. The landscaping there was great and there were plenty colorful flowers to work with to get a nice shot of Emi and the bridesmaids. At one point I was straddling a stream in some slippery shoes while photographing the bride. Thankfully, I did not fall into the water and my suit and camera stayed dry. (Although I was sweating profusely at that point and a little dip in the water probably would have felt pretty nice.) We shot quite a few photos there and then I moved on to the guys.

I found Chris and his groomsmen at the bar relaxing before the big show. We snapped a few photographs there and then meandered outside to scope out some nice locations. I took a few of the more standard group shots and then it was time to be a little more creative. As we were cruising around taking photos, I noticed the set of stairs off to the right of the boardwalk. I thought this would be a cool place for Chris to be while the groomsmen stayed to the back of him on the boardwalk. The placement of the guys was perfect for a layered photograph. (I love to use layering in photographs.)

When we finished that setup, it was time for Chris to get a few portraits made. Some people are really easy to photograph and Chris is one of them. It is hard to get a bad photo of that joker!

Now for the wedding — that’s why we are all here in the first place. The ceremony went off without a hitch. Chris and Emi were a little back-lit, but that is nothing a decent photographer cannot overcome or use to their advantage. I photographed the quick ceremony, took a bunch of family group photos and then moved on to the fun stuff…photos of the bride and groom.

This is my favorite — photographing the love birds on one of the most important days of their lives. I say this often, but it truly is an honor to be a part of someone’s special day. Most of the time it is perfect strangers letting you into their lives for a very important sliver of time, but in this case…it’s family. Even better.

Chris, Emi & I (with the help of my lovely wife Kendra) went from the ceremony area and made our way down to the beach, taking photos all along the route. Chris & Emi were troopers and were game for any photo idea I came up with.

I had a great experience photographing the wedding at Watercolor. The only thing I love more than taking photographs is being able to take photographs for family and friends.