The Jump
Scotland Bridge Test Shot
This past Saturday I shot a wedding in York, Maine. I knew it was going to be a casual, backyard wedding and I didn't know much more than that. I really like to meet couples before shooting their wedding because obviously it helps everyone get comfortable with each other and it helps me understand the dynamic and the personalities of the couple. It's best if I can shoot an engagement session with them. If I can't do an engagement session or meet the couple in person then Zoom calls are pretty good. Not ideal, but at least I find out what the people look like so I can actually know who they are when I show up to their wedding. It's really hard when all I can get is a phone call, especially if it's just with one of them. That was the case for the wedding this weekend. I had a very brief call with the bride in January. I tried to take as many notes as I could, but it was basically "Mom and dad's back yard. She is shy." That's it. I knew it would be a little bit challenging to go into the wedding day with so little info and I was relieved and intrigued when a few weeks ago the bride emailed me and asked "Would you be comfortable with photographing us jumping off of The Scotland Bridge after the ceremony?" What a relief! Signs of personality! Now I was totally excited for the wedding. I visited Scotland Bridge a few weeks ago to scout good angles and light (documented in this newsletter from a few weeks ago).
Scotland River
The wedding day came and it was fun. The bride was not shy, she was fun and quirky, exactly the kind of person who would want to jump off a bridge in her wedding dress. I was eager to get to the bridge jump. The original plan was to do it right after the ceremony but the tide was really low at that time of day so we all decided to do it at the end of the day, close to sunset.
The reception was winding down, the cake had been cut and someone was making s'mores. I asked the bride if it was jump time and she said yes. I said I would drive down to the bridge ahead of them to find a good spot. Of course I was too eager and should have waited around longer because I got to the bridge half an hour before the couple and their massive entourage of family showed up. The black flies were out of control, the sun was setting rapidly, and there was a constant flow of boaters bringing their dinghies up the small boat launch. This all added up to a somewhat chaotic scene. I was ready to climb down to some rocks along the side of the river to get the shot but one of the bride's (possibly inebriated) uncles approached a boater who was unloading his wife and kids and asked if he could take him out on the water so he could record the jump on his cell phone. NO. I stepped in and said "Actually, do you think it would be better if I went on the boat to get some shots instead?" The boater and the uncle agreed so I got on the boat.
The first thing I noticed once the boat took off was that the current was pretty strong. Uh oh. I asked the boater if he thought the couple would be okay with the current. "If they're strong swimmers they'll probably be okay. I can go get them if there's trouble." That made me feel better.
The scene was still pretty chaotic. I didn't expect there to be so many family members there. The sun was fading rapidly. The black flies were giving me fits. The boat got into position and we give the thumbs up. Nothing happens. The bride is nervous. A cousin offered to jump in as a test. He did it and it was fine. BUT, ominously our boat started drifting because of the current. We have to circle around and reposition. The family was getting rowdy and again, my god, the flies. It felt a little out of control. We got back into position and I shouted to them that it's now or never. And.......it happened.
It happened so fast. As the photographer of course I was concerned about the shot, I knew the sunset was beautiful but it was getting very dark and with what little light we had the couple was back-lit. We were a little bit farther away from them than I would have liked. My batteries were both in the red. Did I even get the shot in focus?
Everyone was cheering and we headed back to the boat launch. I gave the patient boat man a business card and told him I would hook him up if he ever needed photos. I sprinted back up to the bridge to get shots of the soaking wet couple climbing up. But there's a problem. The groom has made his way to shore but the bride was still in the middle of the river, and she was drifting out with the current. See, there was a problem none of us considered. Wedding dresses are big and heavy. Also, apparently, very absorbent. Her dress got heavy making it hard for her to swim. Also, there was a ton of driftwood and river debris floating around, catching on the dress. The current was strong. All of this led to the bride struggling and getting tired quickly. Her family started to panic.
The boatman sprang into action and went out to get her. Her dress was too waterlogged for her to climb into the boat so she got a vest on and held a lifesaver with a line as the boat headed back very slowly.
She got to shore and she was fine. I repeat, THE BRIDE WAS FINE. A little shaken, eager to get her death-trap wedding dress off.
They were fine, they left happy. I will definitely NOT be doing another wedding dress into a river shoot. This was way too risky. I'm not a strong swimmer. I knew I wouldn't have been much help. If the boater wasn't there it could have gotten really bad. On the drive home I had to revisit all of the ethical questions that were constantly thrown at me in college. If you haven't had the pleasure of receiving a fine art photography education let me sum it up for your - Photographers are assholes and any photograph you want to take is unethical and you should quit. They weren't wrong! More that manual camera settings, studio lighting or professional practices, what got hammered home in every critique, term paper, and reading assignment was "Is this ethical?" and the answer was usually no. So I felt bad about taking part in a risky photo shoot. I will learn from this and try to make fun and exciting photo opportunities happen with less risky variables.
If you are an adventurous bride and want to do something wild with your dress I think jumping into a swimming pool would be fine. A lake without too much floaty stuff might be okay if there are people around who can swim well. Just splashing in the ocean would be perfect. If you are a bride and want to jump into any kind of water with your dress on be willing to ABANDON THE DRESS. I'm prepared to ask every prospective wedding client now if they are planning on jumping into any bodies of water from now on. I think it'll be a good ice breaker.
