Anatomy of a wedding photo

Ever look back on a large group wedding photo and wonder who some of the people are? Before you lump the complete strangers into the "Unidentified Inlaws" bucket, I would suggest adding another classification: interlopers. Case in point? My cousin Jake.

Before I dive into the details, I need to share some context for the uninitiated. The Salt Lake Temple is a remarkable piece of wedding machinery. On a given Saturday, dozens of newly weds stream out of the edifice, each trailed by one or more photographers (and several dozen relatives with their own cameras). Given the finite number of prime group photo shot locations around the temple, several wedding parties typically queue in front of a good photo spot, waiting while a preceeding party is photographed.

The boredom of such moments is all but overwhelming. To cope, we dared Jake to pose in another wedding party's photo. He hesitated momentarily, but once the kitty hit $30, he was all in. Here is the sequence of events:

Jake makes his entry. Notice that he's one of the first ones in the photo.
Plenty of time for the crowd to spot this intruder.

Jake positions himself between different nuclear family groups.
Each family suspects he belongs to the other.

Jake feels smug as he blends in to the crowd.

With this caper fresh in mind, I recommend you carefully review any group wedding photos in your collection.