I’m thrilled to have celebrated and been a part of my little brother’s wedding as best man yesterday. For those wedding guests who are interested in the photos from the event, you’ll find them in this Flickr set. Special thanks to Brooke Pichette for some of the ceremony photos!
Here also you’ll find the prepared remarks for the best man’s toast I wrote and delivered amidst much revelry:
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! If I might have a few moments of your time to say a few words.
More than a few of you have probably noticed how much I use my camera. I’m an amateur photographer, with emphasis on the amateur part, and I wanted to share a few observations from behind the lens. Cameras can capture much more than we can consciously perceive. Our eyes see everything as a blur, a continuous flow, doubly so at a wedding, but the lens can capture the tiniest moments in time.
One of the things a lens can catch that our eyes miss are little expressions on our faces. Psychologists and behavioral specialists call these micro-emotions, the faces we make in between moments. We never see them. They’re there, and they may register subconsciously, but we never really see them with the naked eye. In those slices of time, everything is revealed, because we’re unable to mask our true faces, emotions, and feelings in the spaces between the notes of life.
Why do I bring this up? In the past day, I’ve had the chance to take plenty of photos of Steve and Mindy, and here’s what the lens shows in the moments between the chaos of getting married: they really love each other, very deeply and truly. The thin slices of time when no one is looking tell the reason we’re all gathered here today: two friends in love not just consciously, but thoroughly, in every way from the obvious to the subtle, from the conscious to the invisible. Love that’s apparent even when no one is looking, even when no one except the camera lens is even capable of looking.
Please join me in a toast to Steve and Mindy as we all wish them a lifetime of those little moments together. To my brother and my new sister, I celebrate all the moments you’ll share together – even when no one is looking.
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Great post Chris!
I really liked this part.
“One of the things a lens can catch that our eyes miss are little expressions on our faces. Psychologists and behavioral specialists call these micro-emotions, the faces we make in between moments. We never see them. They’re there, and they may register subconsciously, but we never really see them with the naked eye. In those slices of time, everything is revealed, because we’re unable to mask our true faces, emotions, and feelings in the spaces between the notes of life.”
I used to do a lot of wedding photography and for me THE GOLD was always in these micro-expressions. Any good wedding photographer can indeed see them and capture them if they are fast enough. These are the details that if properly captured make the difference between good and great wedding photography. Anyone can take a nice pose of the bride and groom when they are posing.
Catch the father’s tear as he looks at his daughter during the ceremony. That’s the gold for me because it’s true, it’s raw and it’s unposed. These micro-expressions can also happen without capturing the face. Catch the husband’s hand as it clasps his new wife’s hand. That’s also Gold.
The devil is always in the details – glad to see that you ARE seeing this.
Best!
Marko
“The thin slices of time when no one is looking” … is what really matters, right?
Great observation, great speech, Mr. Penn!
DJ Waldow
@djwaldow
Congratulations on your brother’s wedding. God bless the couple.
Micro-Emotions, this is a new thing for me, I may have to research it more.
I was looking at the pictures. There’s a person in this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/financialaidpodcast/5067674405/in/set-72157625008786261/
Is he Billy Zane? But he looks so much younger.