The company I shoot weddings for asked me to design a wedding album to ease their workload. The design part is easy enough. I know enough tricks in Photoshop to make light work of it and the new features of CS2 turn it into child’s play. But I didn’t shoot the wedding, so all these pictures are a random jumble of shots with no particular sequence (multi-camera shot, so I’ve got 1500 images to sift through and only 100 that the bride really wants anyway).

Part of my task is not only to create an aesthetic layout, but to tell the story of the entire event. A story I was not there for the original telling. So I have to use my eyes, my ability to read the other photographer’s minds (and trust me, you learn that trick really quick. Otherwise 80% of your shots end up with the other photographer in them), and my experience with how weddings go. I’m finding out that it’s a lot harder than I thought. Thankfully insomnia has been a frequent guest of mine.

This is actually my first album I’ve put together, but I’ve seen enough and have enough ideas on how to make it work. I love challenges and they’re even better when I get paid to do them!