The Bride Checks Her Messages

AUGUST 2007 – The bride checks text messages on her mobile phone prior to her formal wedding in Munich, Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com

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The story behind the image

Did I mention that weddings are great and fun photo shootings? Exhausting, yes, but also inspiring, creative and unique. This wedding – one of my first weddings as a professional photographer – was not different. Next to the official shots I was free to capture the shots that were off the mainstream.

This is one of those images. Now, you might ask what’s so special about it? Well, back in 2007 the use of mobile phones had not been as ubiquitous as it is today. You couldn’t use them for web access or sharing images but for sending short (and expensive!) text messages. Being a heavy user of texting, Daniela, the bride, checks her messages, about an hour before her ceremony at the church is about to begin.

I love this image because of the slight blur of the f/2.8 aperture that directs the focus towards the razor-sharp eyes. Daniela’s smile is captivating, and the fact that she messages intensely on her wedding day made her a forerunner for the messaging frenzy that would begin with the adoption of smart phones several years later.

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The high resolution image

Capture Date & Time	18-AUG-2007, 13:19
Location	Munich, Germany
Camera	Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
Lens	Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM
ISO	400
Exposure	1/250 sec at f/2.8
Digital Image Source Format	Canon Camera RAW (CR2)
Edited Image Format	JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Dimensions	2336 x 3504 Pixels
Copyright	© by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com