How We Shot Ourselves (and Survived)

We recently decided to tie the knot this year, which raised all the usual anxiety-inducing questions: When? Where? What’ll we wear? Who do we invite? How big will the dessert buffet be?

Perhaps not surprisingly, our biggest worry was: How the heck are we going to shoot our own wedding???

Once we resigned ourselves to the fact that there was no way we could multitask that day, we set out to find the right photographer for our needs and aesthetic. After poring over hundreds of local photographers’ websites and dozens of wedding magazines, we now have greater empathy for couples the world over who struggle with this highly personal quest.

Since we can’t shoot our own wedding, we can at least attempt to take our own engagement portraits. So one sunny day, Chris packed up his Think Tank rolling backpack and we headed to always-photogenic Golden Gate Park. The squirrels were out in droves, the sun kept the fog at bay, and the light was stunning.

We created a makeshift studio next to the Conservatory of Flowers, Chris set the intervalometer, and we went to work. The hardest part? Directing ourselves and timing our actions with the shutter release. Note to everyone who wants to try this themselves: “Levitating” or jumping shots are best done in comfortable shoes and with someone actually behind the camera. Enjoy!