Shout out to Pamela Mathues

As a wedding photographer - there are weddings that come off without a hitch... and there are weddings that don't. My previously posted wedding of Suzy and Andrew turned out beautifully. Behind the scenes however... it was a little chaotic. Along with the last second venue change there were a lot of things going on personally. A family friend, Jeannie Haylett, passed away in a tragic kayaking accident the previous weekend. The funeral was that day at 1pm (and I went directly from there to the wedding). One of Jeannie and I's mutual best friends Amber, was scheduled to be my assistant for the wedding but given the funeral it meant adjusting plans a little. Amber's roomate is Pamela Mathues who I had never met. At the time of Jeannie's death she was away working on the river and had not a clue of what awaited her upon her return. She had mentioned once in passing to Amber that she had wanted to tag along for a wedding with me. When she emerged we asked her to do just that - with less than 24 hours warning. SO... here's Pamela...

I'm figuring - "river guide who dabbles in photos, wants to learn a little... newby with limited skills, great person to carry my umbrella and hold my remote flash". YEAH RIGHT! So Pamela shows up off the river - is so unprepared for shooting a wedding that she buys a pair of dress pants on her way to the wedding. On the way over we start chatting about her history. She mentions in passing she has been an animator for Disney. I ask what movies she worked on. She lists off all the famous ones from the nineties. Then I ask which characters she worked on at which point she *casually* lists off a pile of the biggest stars - including the junior version of Simba in Lion King (MY FAVORITE). ahem. I'm starting to feel sheepish about her being there to tag along behind little me. Then we get into a discussion about a celebrity who would be attending Suzy and Andrew's wedding and she says "My favorite celebrity meeting was princess Di - she brought her kids to the Disney Studio for a tour and even commented on my work". Oh my goodness. So I ask her how involved in photography she's been at which point I find out that the girl has assisted on tons of weddings and is a really good photographer herself. lol! Wow... I was so humbled. I sincerely started to wonder what she was going to learn from me. I think the roles reversed.

Pamela did a great job taking details pics while I was too busy fitting the "re-formatted" wedding photos together. She captured a lot of photos that I usually would have gotten but given the weather and lack of formal pic time to compensate for the adjusted reception times - she was there to save the day.

I just wanted to FORMALLY thank her and tell all you other photographers in Flagtown to use her if you need an assistant photographer. She's so great, so humble, and really talented to boot! Pamela - post a comment with your contact info if you want people to get through to you directly.

The above is a colage of my favorite pics that she captured that day...And my absolute fav of hers below taken of a bridesmaid and ?(her son)? looking of the Weatherford hotel balcony SO CUTE!