Father Daughter Dance in the Crystal Ballroom

As a Toronto wedding photographer and as a parent, I consider the father daughter dance one of the most important parts of the big day at King Edward Hotel. It is a symbolical passage of the daughter from the parents' family to her new one. Often, both the father and the beautiful bride breakdown in tears during this moment of the special day. I could tell you that on the day there was no person in the Crystal Ballroom who did not shed a tear.

From a technical standpoint, this was one of the most difficult images I think during the special event. The trouble was that the band installed up lighting that would cast a purple beam on the subjects on the dance floor. We, the photographers, did our best to block those lights by shooting from the right angle. However in many situations the beautiful bride and her father simply moved to fast so we could not block the purple light. This image is the result of that situation and it was simply impossible for me to colour correct it. As such, I tried an old trick and turned it into a black and white image. To capture this picture I used a Fuji XT2 camera on which a mounted a 50 mm F2 lens.

Can this image be improved? Absolutely! I wish I could have noticed the groomsmen behind the father and daughter. You can probably see, he's not paying attention, which decreases the value of the shot. In retrospect, I could have lowered my stance to avoid including him in the frame. While technically a perfect, this photograph has an immense sentimental value for the newlyweds.

Location: 37 King St E, Toronto, ON M5C 1E9.