"A fun moment from the very first wedding I photographed"
It was May 2015 when I shot my first ever wedding. And it is still probably the most special one to me to this date. Not only because it is the first but also it was for one of my best friends and I was also the Best Man.
I met Onur (the Groom), my namesake, in 1998 when he joined our class in 8th grade. At first we hated each other for a while. I think I wasn’t very keen on losing my popularity in the class and was a bit jealous that some other guy getting more attention (we were only 13:) Anyways, this kept going for some time and then one day, I don’t recall how and why, we started talking to each other. And noticed we have lots in common. We liked the same music, living in the same neighbourhood etc… Then we started spending all days together. Until we had to separate in high school. But still we would see each other a few times a week. We even started a rock band!
"Merve & Onur - 2015"
Fast forward to beginning of 2015. He said he proposed and they are getting married! And they asked me if I could take some photos on the Day. How exciting! I jumped right in and said “of course”. As a self taught photographer, I didn’t have any experience rather than shooting things on my surroundings but I had confidence and luck. I’ve spent my days and nights looking at other wedding photographers’ works to get some idea for the day, reading forums, blogs and lots of articles. When the day came it felt like I was born for this job. Everything went so smoothly and even on this date I still can proudly showcase the photos from their wedding on my portfolio. I will add a gallery of the day at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to have a look.
"Onur getting his boutonniere - 2015"
Then, with the confidence and portfolio I got from that day, I was able to get weekend weddings besides my day job in HR department of an airline company in Turkey. I believe the 2. wedding I photographed was the hardest one because I hadn’t met with the couple until the wedding day and I was a bit anxious if we would get along. But apparently (and luckily) they were very sweet and easy going. So it didn’t take me too long to get in the mood and start creating beautiful images.
This kept on like this for a while until we had to move to London in May 2017. This was a big opportunity for me to follow my dream to quit 9 to 5 corporate life and start doing something I have a passion for.
Then in the beginning of 2020! COVID happened…
I will write another post on “How did I survive as a Wedding Photographer in COVID” later.
Thanks for reading...
Merve & Onur Wedding - 2015
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