The wedding slideshows have always been an excellent way to present a story of one wedding day. They feature the most important and the best photos of the wedding day which are then completed by music which in turn completes the whole story. My clients love them for the same reason; it gives them the opportunity to be reminded of their wedding whenever they want to, and are able to show their friends the short version of the event!
I also like making slideshows, having fun with them, trying new features and making it all fit together. I always hope that the clients I work with will enjoy watching their wedding photos as half as much as I enjoy making slideshows. Ever since I started making them, to my clients’ pleasure, I’ve only ever had trouble with one thing – background music. To use famous songs without permission, like most of the people do, seemed unfair and not ok to me, even though I tinkered with it, I admit. But it just wasn’t it, I wanted music which would describe me, my work, and would fit my weddings perfectly.
I’ve written about the event which had changed the entire 2013 for me, as well as the my way of life. In August 2013 I have received a National Geographic award in a photo contest I had entered called National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2013, and my photo was among 10 winning photographs. It featured a girl and a busking piano player in absolutely beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand. Even if you haven’t read the blog, you can imagine how the rest went, back then I couldn’t picture it in my wildest dreams – both reached out to me when they found out about the award from the media and I still keep in touch with both of them.
I know what you’re thinking now: what does that have to do with the slideshows and their background music? Well, the music for my slideshows found me through that photo. After feeling bad for not buying a single CD by Mathias Piano Man, who at our time in New Zealand to us was an unknown street performer with beautiful music, by the end of 2013 I had bought from my new friend the rights to use his music for my slideshows… With the money he received from me, he had partially financed recording of his new album.
The perfect circle.
I don’t really believe in destiny, nor that things happen for a higher purpose, but how could you otherwise explain this series of events which happened just as I had wanted them to, I’ll never know… Mathias’ music, amazing piano pieces with the air of ambiance and beauty to them are the perfect part of the story of my wedding photos.
What about my clients? They just loved a lot this little personal touch with such an amazing story attached to it. I especially loved it when I was contacted by a couple, a British girl and her fiancé from New Zealand, who were to be married in beautiful city of Marrakech, Morocco. It was that very story, along with my photos, which made them decide to have me as their wedding photographer in Marrakech in May. The wedding itself was so beautiful, simple and stunning! Sarah and Dan brought their families only for small symbolic wedding with ten participants all together. I loved their reason to choose Marrakech: they visited before and loved it so much they decided to go for the simple destination wedding there, without any usual decorations or as Sarah said: “I wanted Marrakech itself to be our wedding decoration!” Trust me – that city was a perfect decoration… And in the end, it was that wedding with its atmosphere and the feel to it that reminded me of Mathias’ music. Bit by bit, the pieces were coming together…
This is my first slideshow with Mathias’ music, many more are to come and you’ll be able to view them on my Vimeo channel, while the feeling that this is better, more personal and unique than any other music I could’ve picked for my wedding photos will long linger with me. The music brought me a new friend on the other side of the world and an associate, an exceptional independent artist whose work I can support and promote by buying the rights and using his music in the best possible way.
Mathias, thank you for your music; Sarah & Dan, thank you for the opportunity to make this slideshow!