Gaby + Dan • Wedding

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One of the most risky things I've had to do with the start of The Orchid and me as a self-proclaimed newbie photographer, has been to get out there and shoot at real weddings. I've always been in love with weddings, even outside the photography realm. There's nothing like that one single day of two people's lives that changes them forever and marks the start of something completely unknown and beautiful and exciting to them. I've always enjoyed witnessing all the love, happy tears, and the countless smiles that happen during wedlock. Those smiles are particular, and they never happen the same again. As unique and special as I know that day is to a couple and their families and friends, to me being the one to capture those priceless moments during a wedding felt like something completely out of reach-- ever. I lacked the experience, the knowledge, and perhaps even the skill to even think of undertaking the coverage of an event so personal and meaningful. Not to mention weddings are most of the time huge social events, and I'm not a fan of crowds and loads of people watching me work. But I've always been devoted to capturing details and candid moments through my photographs. Be it through nature shots, photojournaling my personal life moments, or just impromptu portrait photoshoots, detail and spontaneity have always been my favorite things to photograph, and what involves more detail and candid moments than weddings? 

I've been following tons of other photographers' work for several years now, and I've slowly found myself become more and more interested towards portraiture and especially weddings. The keenness hasn't come to me that easy, though. I clearly remember the words of my friend Juan Gamundi (photographer), asking me a year ago, "So, Joan Hidalgo, I am wondering that... what are your concentrations of photography? Portrait, Architecture/Landscape, Conceptual art, etc..", and me not having a clue. I simply responded "I'm not sure. I like portraits."  Finding one's true vocation is something that starts coming to light through time. It's always like that with everything else. You never really know what you wanna do right away, it simply starts growing on you. Its been like this for me on the matter, and ultimately I armed myself with a little boldness and said to myself, "this is it, and I'm gonna do it." So hello to wedding and portrait photography!

I started looking for opportunities last August to work at actual weddings, and it filled me with joy when someone finally accepted to trust me with the job. I will never forget my first wedding gig. It was the greatest learning ground for me as a wedding photographer and for The Orchid's team members involved who were shooting video. It made our plans more real then they were before, and it was an eye-opening experience as to what we were getting into with working at weddings. That's why I will never forget our first wedding job, and I will be forever grateful to Gaby Sanchez for letting it be hers.

When I first met Gaby in person to talk about my interest in her wedding I was a little nervous and did not know what to expect. As I mentioned in and earlier blog post on The Orchid, at the beginning of my plans I still wasn't even sure what I was doing. All I knew is that I saw an opportunity to do what I wanted to do, and I went after it. As shy as I felt at first, I was immensely relieved when Gaby didn't flinch at all to agree to have me and the team at her wedding. She said she's always been a fan of my work and that she followed my blog, and the moment she spoke the words "I trust you", I gave myself the go, too. With great power comes great responsibility, but the excitement always overcame the fear and pressure!

The initial settlement was for The Orchid to produce Gaby and Dan's wedding movie only, since they already had a hired team of photographers that were going to take charge of documenting every special moment in pictures of the whole day. However, I couldn't resist the slightest opportunity to photograph as much as I possibly could before I was an intruder in the other photographers' territory. I asked Gaby if she could give me the chance to take pictures of her dress and wedding preparations earlier on the day of the wedding, and let me keep snapping photos every now and then in between video shots. As I wasn't the only photographer around, I felt -of course- intimidated and I also wasn't able to make as many pictures as I would have loved to. But I understood that this time it wasn't going to be my job to capture absolutely everything. I was still able to document many other details that were special about the wedding both on video and photo, and I'm more than happy with the results.

Thank you Gaby and Dan Ackerman for your help and appreciation. All of these photos have a little piece of my heart.

Make sure to Like The Orchid on Facebook if you haven't yet so you can be aware when Gaby & Dan's wedding short is up on Vimeo!

xx, J.

Pack your bags, 2014

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Earlier this month I got to spend one of the funnest days ever with some really special people. I'm always fond of adventures and quality time in small gatherings, and I think thats why I loved the small trip so much. One of Regis's friends has a beautiful country house on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa and he invited us and a few other friends over on a Sunday for a well-deserved break from the city and relaxing time to enjoy the season's weather. Regis had already been at the location during summer and had been eager for me to be able to tag along sometime. As soon as we got there, I immediately knew why. Carlos' (Regis' friend) Monteredondo house and land is the perfect getaway destination and an ideal get-together spot for a change. Vast acres of land, a lake, barnhouse, and the coziest, big wooden cabin all make up the Monteredondo landmark, and it its absolutely breathtaking. It is all surrounded by the region's mountains and hills, which adds to the astonishing panorama. As a photography enthusiast, I was thrilled to snap shots of all that I could, and I did. 

All the people involved have some of the best sense of humor I know, so we all had an exceptional time laughing, sharing, sipping on Honduran beer, and adventuring on and around Monteredondo. Not to mention one of the highlights of the day that included kayaking at the lake and three of our friends flipping over. THAT was truly something. Close to sunset we went up the mountain riding a Rhino kart, and even though we were nearly freezing cold, we all enjoyed gathering for pictures and simply enjoy the stunning view for a while. 

I was happy to hold my camera in my hands for the majority of the day, taking photographs and capturing moments and details of the location on video. I recorded some of our day talk and hanging out, and b-roll from indoor/outdoor details in hopes of putting together a short video of the whole day later on. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I decided to go with it and also give my post-production skills some practice. The final product is a cute -and funny- short movie of the highlights from our Monteredondo weekend. I'm excited to share this experience with my readers, and once again with the small group of friends who got the chance to live it with me. Moments and company like these make me love life more, and keep me looking forward for more impromptu trips [to Monteredondo :P] in 2015! I hope all is swell and my best wishes go out to all of you as we say good-bye to another unforgettable year. 

Watch "A Monteredondo Weekend" on VIMEO !

xx, J