This month, our Photo of the Day series will be taken over by Rangefinder‘s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography of 2018. The honorees can be found in our freshly published November issue, as well as in our full online gallery, which shows each of their submissions. For more behind-the-scenes insights on how they created some of their shots, follow us on Instagram, where the Rising Stars will be taking over @rfwppi all month long.

Last year, I started to shoot much wider than usual. I was looking at a lot of photojournalistic work—the film photos in Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War are mind-blowing to me—and I was drawn to photos that showed layers of story. Without shooting wide here, I would have possibly missed the guests looking on, the groom’s smile and the child’s laughter. More and more, I’ve learned to grab that wide lens, take a few more steps back, and see what enters the frame.

(Shot on a Canon 6D and Canon 35mm f/1.4 L lens at f/2.8, 1/4000 of a sec. and ISO 100. I actually shot this on Aperture Priority with the metering on center weighted. I commonly use AP with center-weighted or evaluative metering during harsh-light ceremonies so that I can focus on moments without having to constantly change camera settings as I move around during times when light can change from harsh front light to back light. Sometimes moments happen in a split second, and I don’t want to miss it or not have time to adjust my exposure.)

catalinajean.com | @catalinajean | Rf 30 Rising Stars Submission

Check out more Photos of the Day, and email submissions to [email protected].