As wedding photographers, we can spend a fair amount of our time trying to blend in and to not draw attention to ourselves – To be positioned to capture a moment but it’s not usually involving us. We are often trying to present a view as if we were not involved.
There is a convention in cinema called The Fourth Wall. It refers to the invisible wall, the other side of which is the audience or the camera. Most of the time that Fourth Wall remains in place. Actors don’t allude to what is beyond it, but of course like all conventions, sometimes it gets broken. There are many moments in cinema where the Fourth Wall is broken, to challenge the viewer or involve them inside the action.
This image from the talented Daniel Ackerley-Holmes is all about the wedding photography Fourth Wall breaking down. Every person in the frame is reacting to him. They’ve stopped going about their wedding business and they are all responding to his misfortune as he falls backwards. But kudos to Daniel for some great lighting, for keeping shooting, and for fantastic framing. This shot really made me laugh and was 100% worth any injuries incurred.
Nikon D780 | Sigma ART 20mm | f5.6 | 1/160| ISO 400
OWN PRESET
What Daniel Said…
“I was mid first dance shooting with Molly & Chris at Island Hall, and I had decided I had enough keepers from inside the tent, so thought I would take the opportunity to nip outside for different angle while the couple were still up front on their own, so I could show off the cool venue and moment.
Just outside the tent was a slight slope, so I had to perch myself on it, and just as I found the angle I was looking for, my right foot began to give way, and as I was struggling to keep balance I saw that the couple & their guests had noticed what I was doing, and I managed to fire off a couple of frames just as I stacked it and went arse over tit, managing to capture their priceless reactions in the process!”