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  • Writer's pictureVitaliy Pysmennyy

So in June of 2016 I captured two weddings in a row where the groom was firefighter.

Updated: Apr 21, 2022

What I really enjoy about being a wedding photographer is my exposure to variety of people of different ethnicities and professional backgrounds. Few people can say they are as noble about saving lives as firefighters are. This wedding that was captured on the 11th of June, 2016 features Joseph and Nicole, a wonderful couple that to this day has me capture all family functions.

Cleveland couple sitting in the flats West Bank Shooters and Viaduct.
Joseph and Nicole decided to devote fair share of their day to photography. Their commitment shines through the sheer number of beautiful shots in this album.

The bride is putting on the dress and her wedding accessories.
Preparations are especially important to have complete story. Look at those shoes, I mean, damn girl, those shoes are fiiiine :)

Bridal close-up portrait the morning of the wedding.
What a gorgeous smile here. Simple shot, simply beautiful girl.

Bride with her reflection in the mirror.
The old adage goes, two brides are better than one

Father daughter reveal.  Father of the bride sees his daughter wearing wedding gown for the first time.
Father meets his little girl the morning of the wedding. Oh, what he must be feeling at this time.

Group portrait of the bride with her parents.
Morning time is a great opportunity to make some family portraits.

Family shots of bride's family including her siblings and parents.
We continue to explore the family dynamic with more shots of the bride with her close ones.

The groom prepares for the wedding by having his mother help put on cufflinks.
Now it's the grooms turn for some prep shots.

Groom's portrait the morning of the wedding.
A nice gritty portrait of the groom.

Groom opens gifts from the bride as other groomsmen react.
She wrote him a letter and made a gift. I always get nosy and capture all the text for them to immortalize these words.

Groomsmen with groom's gifts.
First time we see all the boys

Groomsmen and groom in main group portrait taken in the woods.
A simple direction makes for a great shot of all men.

Groomsmen and groom wearing glasses and holding beers in the woods.
Something less than formal.

Father walks his daughter down the aisle of a Catholic Church.
Here comes the bride.

Bride and groom meet for the first time at the altar.  Father kisses his daughter and greets his future son in law.
Josephs reaction is priceless here. I love how thoroughly everything is documented.

Family gives speeches during the ceremony at the altar.
I like having speeches in the wedding album, especially if it's close family members.

Groom puts on the ring as father blesses the couple.
The ring

Bride and groom light the unity candle at the church ceremony.
Lighting the unity candle

Bride and groom wait for being pronounced husband and wife.
Final moments before we walk out.

Bride and groom first kiss.

Bride and groom walk out of ceremony with a lot of joy and excitement.
Boom! We walk out married!

Group shot of all guests and the couple kissing outside the church.
Now this is a much more exciting kiss IMHO... I actually usually climb on top of the limo bus to capture shots like this one.

Newlyweds walk towards the limousine sunny day
Totally RAD

bridal party portrait at the altar.
We usually step back into the church to capture some of these fine classics.

Family group shots at the Catholic Church.
Now that we have captured individual families it's time to bring everyone together for these group shots.

bride and groom in the bucket of fire engine
This... is something you can only have if you routinely put your life on the line.

groom dip kisses the bride by the fire truck
I enjoy the colors that we have in these shots

bride in front of the fire truck
Cool stylized shot of the bride.

Groom twirls the bride by the fire engine
Honestly, I can't get enough of these gems. It must be my obsession with red color and people in general ))

bride and groom portrait by fire engine
A simple portrait

groom whispers into the brides ear as she laughs by the fire truck
With a little direction we turn it into a fun experience.

Bride and groom hold hands and walk by the Flats West Bank
This bridge is so CLE

Bride and groom by the blue bridge in Cleveland Ohio Flats
Gotta love downtown area. Beautiful architectural backdrops create visual experiences unlike any others.

Bride and groom sit by the pebble stones.
We don't have to travel far in between to get variety. All it takes is a little Vitaliy at your wedding.

Bridal party with arms linked walking down Cleveland downtown
Ah the good ol' "Let's walk with arms chain linked pretending (not) that we are drunk"

bride and groom holding on to each other laughing
I captured this one by those pebbles from previous portrait, but you wouldn't know unless I told ya ;)

bride kisses the groom by the Main Avenue Bridge in Cleveland Ohio
Another classic with a little twist from V.
Bridal party overlooking Cleveland flats
Group shots can be a little more creative than just standing in front of the camera

Groom carrying his wife away from the bridal party with a kiss
As part of storytelling I have him carry his wife to laughter from bridal party.

bridesmaids holding the bride
Fun shot that the girls requested.

We didn't get a chance to capture all the shots of groomsmen with the groom earlier, well, better late than never

groom kissing brides forehead as they sit on the grass
As we arrived to the reception we decided to take a couple of golf carts and explore the country club.

bride and groom sit in the meadow on a sunny day.
What a nice contrast from all the structural imagery that we experienced earlier.

bride and groom in the bog
Ok, if I see a bog, you're totally coming with me and we are totally doing something like this. Love the patterns of the many aquatic plants here.

bride and groom embrace for picture
If you haven't figured this out yet, these are the actual pages from the couple's album. The image you saw earlier is the one on the left side, and this is the right side of the book.

bride and groom sit in the meadow backlit by sun about to kiss
Notice that we break a small rule with this wedding album- we have no reception. It is totally your day, and it is totally ok to have just part of it commemorated with wedding album- you'll get all the rest of the shots anyway.


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