'Savage' wedding photographer shoves stepmum for perfect photo

A determined wedding photographer, who pushed the bride’s stepmother aside to shoot the couple’s first kiss, is being called “savage” — but not in a bad way.

On Oct. 3, Kentucky wedding photographer Ashley Easterling posted the tense moment on YouTube, captioning it “with moves like Arya Stark.” The video reveals Lorna and Josh Gantt exchanging vows during their Sept. 8 wedding in a candlelit barn and Easterling positioning herself to capture their first kiss as husband and wife.

Suddenly, the bride’s stepmother moves in front of Easterling, blocking her shot; in return, Easterling knocks the woman aside and starts snapping photos.

On Sept. 13, Lorna posted the video to her Facebook page, writing, “Watch my photographer push my stepmom out of the way to try to capture our moment. She doesn’t find it very funny. But I do. Lmao Ashley is a savage.”

Easterling did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment, but she commented on Lorna’s Facebook post to explain what happened: “I politely asked several times for her to move. She popped off something smart…. I told her I was the paid photographer, then she told me I wasn’t doing my job and walked right in front of me. Nope. I’m paid to do a job, and dang it… this girl is doing her job one way or the other.”

The photographer added, “I’ve never in my life had to ask anyone more than once. This is a great example of why I say, no cellphones or other cameras during the ceremony.”

Easterling was congratulated by several for her ingenuity on Facebook: “I saw it and about died. I’m hiring her for all my photography needs!” and “She was so rude, I’m glad you pushed her away.” Fellow photographers also agreed that Easterling behaved appropriately, given the risk of missing her shot.

Unfortunately, the incident only increased the tension between Lorna and her stepmother, as the bride said on Facebook Saturday. “The viral video that was posted has caused a little bit of conflict between mine and my stepmothers relationship, this is nothing new,” she wrote. “We have always had a very rocky relationship and bumped heads a lot. She is terribly upset with the feedback of this video which is completely understandable.”

Lorna said that although she and her stepmom initially “laughed hysterically” over the incident, the family has since received death threats. Lorna also continued to side with Easterling due to what she described as her stepmother’s stubbornness. “As a little girl you dream of your wedding day — it’s something so special to you and you wait on this perfect day for a long time. I was already devastated because of the weather, I was devastated because I didn’t feel beautiful on my wedding day due to the weather, we didn’t get to do everything we had planned… and guess what? I would of been even more devastated if our first kiss wasn’t captured due to someone stepping in front of the camera.”