Wedding House. July 13, 2014. Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photograph . © Click to enlarge. Re-post.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger
A neighbor who is an artist told us that he was getting married and that he was going to have the ceremony on Sunday, July 13, at the former Pine Tree Inn, now a private home, on the beach block of Main Avenue. He said that he was personally going to decorate the building. He asked if I would take a photograph of the finished design. Having obtained 400 yards of metallic strips, he personally hung them from the house. He didn’t want his name mentioned and he didn’t want us to take any photos at the wedding—just the house.
At first it seemed a bit odd, but I quickly understood that my photograph would be about the design. Period. It was also apparent that my photo would only work in the right light. When I first saw the finished design on Saturday evening, the challenge was evident, and I told him that sunrise might work to bring life to the situation. We also would need a breeze to add oxygen to the composition. We concluded that sunrise would offer the best light—- many hours before the ceremony would take place.
I arrived on the morning of July 13 at about 5:30 am. The light was flat but it was rapidly changing. Technically, an underexposed image would work best to bring out the brilliance of the metal strips. An occasional breeze would set it all into motion.
The photograph above was one of about 80 pictures with different compositions, motion and light. This one met all the criteria.
We hope he likes it. It was shot at 6:17 a.m. on the morning of his wedding—probably the first photo of his wedding day.
For the music it would be a love song without words in English and would have a rhythm to match the motion of the swaying sensual design as it moved with the sea breeze.
EDMUNDO ROS AND HIS RHUMBA BAND: “Te Quiero Dijiste” (“I love you, you said.”)
From the designer: “The photo looks great as does the post. Your readers might be interested in the fact that, all told, I used nearly 12,000 feet of ribbon. The weather was a little uncooperative in the morning (dousing us with a little rain) but the clouds broke and the sun came out right on cue at 12:30.
” A gentle breeze set the ribbons dancing and the result was better than I’d envisioned it.
“As you might imagine, 400 yards of ribbon took a whole afternoon to install and another whole afternoon to dismantle. Still, it was worth it just to see the expressions on the faces of passers-by as they made their way to the beach.
“Thanks for taking such a great photo.”