portrait

Wedding: Joanna and David


I had the absolute pleasure of photographing the wedding of this lovely couple in June. Look familiar? You may recall their engagement photos ;)


Never know when you'll need a swiss army knife... let's just make sure the earrings don't impale the bride. Consider this a necessity for every wedding photographer's bag, along with 3 safety pins, 5 bobby pins, 2 extra batteries and 2 extra SD cards. :)


The lovely bride arrives!






Yes, it's possible. Add one of the people who set them up :)






A poem!





After their first kiss as a Mr. & Mrs.!














Best wishes and congratulations!


Engagement: Joanna and David


I'm sorry, does it get classier than this? 

I met Joanna through All Angels Church just over a year ago. She is a delight. So of course I was *so* excited to photograph engagement photos for her and her fiancé, David.


We started in the sanctuary, where David fell in love with Joanna. 
Right there, where they're sitting.
(There's some disagreement who was on the left and who was on the right - just go with it.)



From there, we went outside, to the sidewalk right next to the entrance - 


where David had proposed a few short weeks ago!


No shoot is complete without some middle-of-the-avenue shots, of course...


Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple :)

Cheers!

Portraits: Dan and Rachel, plus one :)


Good friends of mine had a baby earlier this year, and it's possible I've been desperately hoping to get a photo shoot with her since before she was born. Yep. Finally, the timing worked out, and baby C was all smiles the entire hour we spent in the park. Hurrah for happy babies! 

So much fun to photograph this beautiful family :)




This expression cracks me up :) 
 

Everything is perfect for me in this photo - the expressions, the composition, the colors, the lighting...
Love it. 
See you later!

Know someone who'd like some photos with their urban baby? Shoot me an email :)

Eight Things I Learned from Shooting Portraits This Weekend

1. Don't leave your ISO on 100. Set it to automatic, up to 200 or 400. I forgot this on Friday, but remembered on Saturday. Made a huge difference in the amount of exposure adjustment needed.
2. Zoom out more than you think you need to - this should help you always get the baby's feet in the photo when you're shooting quick. Definitely didn't do that, and could have gotten some great shots from it.
3. When shooting babies, bring a toy, your keys, and at least one solid color blanket. Ask the parents in advance how to best hold the baby's attention, and rope them in to help. They may be brilliant at this already, like the parents I worked with on Saturday :)
4. Scout your location at least an hour before your subjects arrive, and have at least 3 shooting locations in mind. I'm giving myself partial credit on this one, and realize now that it's even more important than I thought.
5. Solid colors are ideal for subject clothing. Textures are great, but keep the color monochromatic. Patterns can work, but simple trumps multicolor. This is intuitive to some people, like my Friday crew.
6. Be ready for serendipity.
7. Don't block traffic.
8. The Find My Friends app is basically the best ever.

Hey - will you be in NYC in September? 

If so, you should totally let me take your portrait. It's free for another month, then I'm planning to start "pay what you can" portraits in October.

Email me, we'll get something set up.

Seriously. Who doesn't want free pictures? Let's do it! 


Brunner/Wiley Wedding Finale

centerpiece

bouquet

sunset after setup

let them eat cake!

new name

getaway dress

getting ready at the church

exchanging letters
In case you missed part of the series: 
Part 1, Rehearsal  
Part 2, Bride and Groom
Part 3, Wedding Party
Part 4, Ceremony
Part 5,  Wedding Party
Part 6, Bride and Groom
Part 7,  Reception

mr. & mrs.
Best wishes to the happy couple!

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 7


The mother-son dance warmed things up, and the guests took it from there :)



Can you believe I got that shot? Me neither :)





The football is the small yellow smudge at the top of the tall tree in the second shot (right, above).




Cowboy boots abound - cupid shuffle to cha cha slide and back to country...


I'll finish this out tomorrow, for real. Just a few still lives you have to see!

Missed part 6? Why'dja do that? ;)

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 4


You know the shot you want to get, and the moment you realize you didn't get it? I've been going through that this week. Then I went back to my files today and find that I *did* get it, above. You don't get those moments every day, friends - what you thought was lost was never lost at all. 

I've added a few gems from the ceremony below. I'll be trying to keep myself to a theme each day for the rest of the week. If all goes well, we'll have some wedding party shots ready tomorrow...




People loved this, still laughing as the flower girls finish their walk down the aisle :)



I'm realizing that I love epic photography. 
I want the Moment, 
the expansiveness of the church where all lines lead to and focus on 
the bride, 
making her entrance. 

If only I'd shot this in manual. How'd we get down to ISO 1600 when we're at 5.6? C'mon. Open it up.

Brunner/Wiley Wedding Part 2


So happy to be part of my cousin Elise's wedding this weekend! Congratulations to the happy couple! 

We managed to miss the rain twice - it started coming down just as wedding party pictures were wrapping up, then cleared up for the reception and began seconds after the bride and groom departed. This photographer was more than happy to work with the epic storm clouds in this bridal shoot :)

See part 1 from this weekend here - stay tuned for more this week!