By Anne Ruisi
Shots of the bridal party, a mother adjusting her daughter’s veil before the ceremony and the happy couple cutting the cake are scenes every wedding photographer captures on the job.
Then there’s the Indian wedding where the groom got bucked off a horse during the baraat, part of an outdoor, prewedding groom’s procession, at an Over the Mountain hotel, photographers Kelli and Daniel Taylor recalled. That mishap wasn’t part of the wedding choreography and, luckily for the groom, a number of doctors were among the guests.
“Of course, he saw stars and they helped him, gave him some water and then things went on,” said Kelli, who, with husband Daniel, runs Kelli & Daniel Taylor Photography.
While that incident is definitely not the norm, it’s one of many memorable experiences the Taylors have encountered since starting to shoot weddings in 2005 as a sideline from their jobs at The Birmingham News, where Kelli was a reporter and Daniel was a photographer for the advertising department. He also was a photographer for Birmingham magazine.
The idea for starting a wedding photography business came about after the couple married in Daniel’s native Australia in 2004. They didn’t like what they saw from most of the mainstream wedding photographers at the time – images that were formulaic and forced. Kelli shared her ideas with their photographer, who was a photography school classmate of Daniel’s. They loved the end result.
“We knew the value of timeless, classic, real and authentic” images, Kelli said.
A year later when they moved to Homewood’s Edgewood neighborhood, some neighbors who saw their wedding photos loved them, and their sister approached the couple to shoot her wedding.
The Taylor’s wedding photography portfolio, which is on their website, kellianddaniel.com, does include the classic set ups, such as of the bride and her mother, the wedding party and the rings, but there is an elegance to the shots in color and black and white.
“You want it to still be a great photo 30 years later,” Daniel said.
Since then, they’ve developed their business into a full-time operation with bookings not only in the Birmingham area but in Atlanta, at weekend homes on Lake Martin, along 30A on the Florida Gulf Coast, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Colorado and Spain.
The brides and grooms who hire them aren’t the uber rich, Kelli said.
“These are professionals who see this an investment, who put value on the experience,” she said.
Photos Individualized
They coordinate every photo detail to prepare for each wedding, whether it is Over the Mountain or in the mountains of Colorado.
“We come up with the plan, the timeline, how to get there, where to go, what we’re going to do at that time of day,” said Kelli, adding that her background as a journalist is vital help in research and logistics.
It’s not just the big day itself the couple shoot. Depending on what a couple wants, every big moment of an engagement can be recorded, from the proposal to the rehearsal dinner, to the morning after and wedding brunches at destination weddings.
Personalizing weddings is a trend the Taylors are seeing, including men and women participating in nontraditional bridal party roles. A “bridesman” and “best woman” have stood beside the bride and groom, and pets are getting more involved in weddings.
“It certainly helps the vibe” at the reception, Kelli said.
What’s out these days?
“We’re not seeing as many garter tosses or throwing the bouquet,” she said. Some brides and grooms “think that’s old fashioned.”
The relationship with some clients lasts beyond the wedding. Some couples ask the Taylors to take Christmas photos, especially after they start having children. “For the first time we are doing a lot of family photos. There have been a lot of pandemic babies,” Kelli noted.
One couple whose wedding was one of the first they shot and who now live in Texas were visiting family in Birmingham for the holidays and asked the Taylors to take photos of them and their four children at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
“We’ve known and have been shooting for some of our clients for a decade,” Kelli said.
One of their memorable weddings involved an older couple who were high school sweethearts in Birmingham and had married but divorced years ago. They eventually remarried and had some of the same guests at their second wedding as they had at their first, including the bridesmaids.
“That was incredible – they even had their first wedding album. We used pictures from the first wedding album to make their second wedding album,”
The Taylors have developed a subspecialty in Indian and Pakistani weddings, events they love to shoot.
“It’s festive, it’s colorful, it’s so much fun and the food is amazing,” Kelli said.
Their trip to shoot a wedding in Spain came about because they knew someone who was getting married there and were asked to take the photos. What surprised them the most about the experience , Kelli said, was how late the reception went on.
“Daniel left at 1 a.m. and I made it ‘til three, and (the reception) went on past sunrise,” she said.
