“Second shooting has been such a huge part of my development as a wedding photographer,” says Elicia Bryan, who photographed this as a second shooter for Catalina Jean Photography (both of whom were chosen as 30 Rising Stars in 2018). “I think everyone should do it every now and then, especially if you’re hitting a plateau and want to challenge yourself creatively. Not only am I able to step outside my creative comfort zone for a little while, I’m also able to step outside of my normal way of doing things logistically and sometimes I learn some pretty great tips and tricks from my talented photographer friends.”

Back to the wedding. The couple had just been married in “one of the coolest-looking venues in New Orleans,” Bryan recalls. They were moments from signing their marriage license together, and Bryan decided to try to capture both that and the venue’s moody atmosphere. She framed the scene for both. “After they signed, I saw this moment unfold in front of me,” she says. “Sometimes you get something even better than you anticipated by simply framing the image and seeing what happens.”

(Shot on a Canon 5D Mark III and 24mm lens at f/1.4, 1/3200 sec. and ISO 100.)

Check out more Photos of the Day, and email submissions to rangefinder@emeraldexpo.com.