A wedding photographer captured a stunning photo of a bride and groom kissing as a tornado raged in the background.
Chesna Clemmons tells PetaPixel that she wasn’t expecting any adverse weather conditions on the day of Daynnely and William’s wedding in New Mexico but was hoping for sunset photos after the ceremony.
“As soon as the ceremony was over, the weather started moving in and I was told there’s going to be a big thunderstorm,” Clemmons explains. “So I told her, I said, ‘Hey, we better go out and do some other photos of you guys before it gets super bad.”
The wind had already picked up and Clemmons was worried that rain would make Daynnely’s dress dirty. So, the photographer took the bride and groom outside into an open field beside the venue to take a few photos before dinner.
During dinner, Clemmons took a walk outside to get pictures of the venue but as she did so, her phone buzzed to say a tornado had been detected in the area.
“And so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ And I walked around wondering where this tornado is at and all of a sudden the clouds started forming and next thing I know the tornado drops,” Clemmons explains.
She rushed inside to fetch the bride and groom as Clemmons realized this was too good of a picture opportunity to pass up.
“It was just in the moment,” Clemmons says. “Nobody was taking cover, everybody was just in awe of what was happening right in front of us and so it was just a literal fluke. It was perfect timing, right place at the right time.”
The photographer says the tornado just picked up and left. “We never even had a drop of rain and we ended up just finishing the night dancing and cutting the cake like you would normally do.”
“The tornado was just an added bonus to the entire day and it was just a true blessing,” adds Clemmons.
More of Clemmons’ work can be found on her Instagram.
Image credits: Photographs by Chelsea Clemmons.
