Three minutes before Nancy and Mathew’s ceremony began, they decided to do a first touch and read vows. Photographer Aly Kuler didn’t have it on his timeline.

“The event coordinator called me to come outside,” Kuler explains. “All the guests were seated and waiting for the groom to show up. I ran quickly to capture it, thinking it would be outdoors so I could just capture it with natural light, but they went upstairs to a dark room and once I got there I freaked out that I had no light with me!”

Kuler says he asked his second shooter to grab him an AD200 with a MagMod MagSphere and a MagGrid on it. “The bride and groom started reading vows while holding hands and I tried different ways of lighting while they were reading. I knew I wanted to make this scene more emotional and dramatic, so I had my assistant walk into the room from inside and point the light towards the bride’s face. It was a very natural, unposed and emotional moment. All I ever want with an image like this is to capture it in the best way to tell the story.”

Kuler says he loves this image because it’s very emotional. “The groom was saying a prayer while holding the bride’s hand; the tears made this photo even more powerful.”

The judges at WPPI 2020‘s Print Comp also loved this First Touch image, scoring it a 96 and giving Kuler a Grand Award in the Wedding category, under Wedding Couple Together, Wedding Day. Says Kuler: “The judges mentioned really liking the emotions in this photo, the lighting, and the composition, as well as the type of paper I printed on [Ilford True B&W, matte finish]. Even the chairman challenged the judges and said in this category, typically the bride and groom are posed with perfect lighting, but this photo is unposed and full of emotion.”

See the full list of WPPI Print, Album and Filmmaking winners here.

(Photographed with a Nikon D850, Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art, Godox AD 200 off-camera flash, MagMod Magsphere and MagMod MagGrid.)

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