Little known fact: We own Central Park and have the authority to kick all the people out.
We sometimes wonder if we tempt fate when we tell couples we very nearly specialize in bad weather. Hurricanes, blizzards, floods — you name it, and we’ve navigated our way through them all on wedding days, and Mother Nature loves to throw it at us. For Jackie and Paul, we had another kind of challenge – a New York City wedding as August-y as it could be … hitting a heat index of 115 degrees right when we were slated to be walking around midtown on the way to the opulent Gotham Hall.
But if trapped in sidewalk-egg-frying weather, it helped so much to be in the company of a couple like Jackie and Paul, who not only took all this in stride, but were happy even to jump up on the hot hood of a taxi for a portrait. Armed with instant ice packs and unrelenting can-do attitudes, they kept focused on the things that really matter: their love for each other, celebrating that love with friends and family, and great air conditioning:)
We loved getting to know Jackie and Paul throughout the whole wedding planning process. From their engagement shoot where we visited their first date spot and home to their reception where sweetness abounded even with a serenade to Jackie by her dad, we loved it all. Thank you Jackie and Paul for making us a part of these happy days, and thank you to our good friend Jashim Jalal for all of your talent and help and planner-so-great-we-used-her-for-our-own-wedding Sara Landon at SL Events for bringing the awesome yet again.
Let me tell you a story about pressure. Pressure is when the bride for your January 2016 wedding first contacts you in April … April, 2009. Pressure is when said bride is also a wedding photographer … and goes on a wedding photography show … still years before she actually planned a wedding, saying that she would hire you for her wedding even if she had to wear a trash bag as a dress to do it.
That was the pressure of Anna and Kerry’s wedding. How could I, just some guy who likes to take pretty pictures of people enjoying themselves, live up to seven years of Anna’s hopes and dreams? I’m not sure I ever could, but thankfully I had an advantage that she never considered for most of that time … Tatiana, still the biggest secret weapon in wedding photography.
The biggest advantage, though, was the outsized personalities, hospitality, and general awesomeness of the bride and groom. Yes, we are blessed to have couples that seem to have a staggeringly high number of people maintaining their niceness through stressful, expensive wedding days, but it is something else when you find yourself using the bride and groom’s apartment as an ad hoc office the entire day after their wedding. Consider the smiles that you will see below, and consider how large they are despite their original venue being damaged by tornadoes right before their wedding, and that their gorgeous new venue, the Shangri-La Springs, was rained out on the morning of their wedding. Of course, there may have been some pent-up energy that was released when the sun peaked through the clouds, since at that moment Anna told the officiants to shorten the ceremony to exactly three minutes from processional to first kiss so they could run outside and soak it up.
It ended up being a beautiful day for them, whatever the weather. I barely remember the wetness, the dirty shoes … what I remember is the ringing laughter, the no small amount of tears, the beautiful decor put together by CocoLuna Events, and the bonds of new friendship I myself had made through this process. It was such a wonderful, terrifying honor … and thankfully, Anna got to wear a beautiful dress, and not a trash bag in sight.
There’s vintage, and then there’s Michelle and Matthew. A lot of people dress up in vintage clothing for shoots, simply because it’s fun and looks great. But when Michelle met Matthew, she was impressed by how he looked in the 1920s strongman-style swimsuit he was wearing. She runs a blog called My Vintage Love, so a good part of their central identity looks back about 100 years.
So when Tatiana Breslow and I thought through their engagement shoot for them, we centered around some bars with beautiful interior woodwork to play off their look. The Campbell Apartments are in Grand Central, so they have to be very careful about how much photography they let in — even with prior approval, we were allowed to shoot with our dSLRs for exactly 90 seconds. One of the photos below was taken with an iPhone 6+, and I wasn’t doing it just to be showy — it was all we were allowed to use!
In contrast, June Wine bar in my studio’s Brooklyn neighborhood was so nice and amazingly accommodating that it almost freaked us out. “Why are you so nice? You know this is New York, right?”
Advantage, Brooklyn.
It is such a great thrill to work alongside Tatiana, and to see how our businesses and lives will improve as we merge in the coming year, and the thrill doubles when we work with a great couple. This shouldn’t be the last you see of Michelle and Matthew.
The grass is always greener on the other side, and for New York photographers, with rustic wedding venues like Glynwood Farms we take that literally. “Wait, there are trees here? And fresh air? And not once has a security guard threatened us? What is this magical place?”
There are many ways to describe how great Heather and Aaron are, but let me try a very 2016 one: I’d totally listen to their podcast if they had one. You can’t talk to them for a minute without getting hit with how intelligent, funny, and kind they are, and what a good pair they make. Their friendship and connection was keenly evident all day, and that connection was the star even with the gorgeous farm surrounding and their wildly celebrating friends and relatives.
As always, a great day is made even sweeter when I can cover it alongside Tatiana. Thanks to Main Course Catering and Flowers by April for making the day even more beautiful and delicious.
At least three of the 10 funniest speeches I’d heard at weddings all year were at Miranda and Vanessa’s reception, and during the third I couldn’t hold back both a shocked laugh at some strange synchronicity: When Vanessa first met her future roommate (and speech-giver), she’d asked her: “Are you the bestat anything?”
I am fascinated by people who are among the best at things, the weirder the better. What drives them, how to their brains work, what are their daily lives like … these questions itch at me. I have an ongoing photography project devoted to it, but it’s been put on hold for … well … the entirety of my wedding photography career. Oops.
But life has a way of coming full circle, and this same career brought me to document the glorious wedding of Miranda and Vanessa. At the time, Vanessa had been alluding to her apparently masterful Minesweeper record, but in most circles she’s better known for poker. Suffice to say I made sure to never bet anything with anyone at the wedding.
And for at least this day, my questions were answered — what drives them forward is an incredible bond of love and joy, and deep commitment to friends from all circles of their live. It was as calm and beautiful a day as I’d ever had at Stage 6 at Steiner Studios, because for someone who has mastered a sport famous for steely intensity, it was simply … chill (for a wedding).
Miranda’s kindness and warmth kept things throughout the day, right to asking me whether I could teach them how to Dougie. Sadly it never played, but we shared a gorgeous night on the Steiner Rooftop. Thank you, Miranda and Vanessa, for having me document this day; you’re the best.
You don’t generally associate “Midtown Manhattan” and “chill,” but Allyson and Isaac’s wedding at the Bryant Park Grill managed to achieve that feeling with a keen focus on the big picture — whatever happens, they still get to marry their best friend. When I consulted with Isaac a couple days before the wedding and said “Unfortunately it looks like your wedding is going to be the coldest day in weeks, should we change anything?” He was able to just say “Nah, we’ll be good whatever happens.” Of course, in Manhattan it helps when everything is within walking distance from each other. Allyson got ready at the Bryant Park Hotel, which is as close to the Bryant Park Grill as it sounds — her hotel room, which doubled for the ketubah signing, actually looked out over the ceremony.
Isaac says:“Allyson has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met.” He loved the first look at Grand Central, which they chose not just for its beauty but because it has played roles in their daily life and the lives of their parents. He says “that was when it all hit me in the face, it was really happening, the best day of my life was finally here.”
Allyson says: “Isaac’s sincerity is one of the the qualities I love most about him. He makes everyone in the room feel special, welcome and wanted.” She also loved the raucous celebrations with Kinky Spigot and the Welders: “After dinner, I was dancing to ‘Boogie on Reggae Woman’ and totally getting my groove on. I turned around and saw the entire crowd on the dance floor having a fun time. Not a single person was seated. It was an awesome moment!”
I loved being able to share a day like this with Tatiana — our only problem is that the dancing was so much fun we wanted to be in it, but shooting a reception has a rhythm and a movement to it, to put us in the middle of all of the energy.
It’s not often that our in-season allows for destination engagement shoots, but the stars aligned for Sarah and John. They both had long histories with their families in Montauk, and we had a wedding the next day at Lord Thompson Manorin Connecticut — add a few ferries, and Montauk is kinda-sorta on the way (with extra excuses for seeing two sunrises on the beach with Tatiana, biking to the Montauk lighthouse … it helped tip the scales.) John’s family had made Fudge N’ Stuffa mainstay of their Montauk experience for many years, so we started in the small, incredibly accommodating storefront before making our way to the shore. Tatiana and I had at least as much fun as they did, and all of our equipment survived the experience, always a risk when you mix our “anything for the shot” attitude and the sand and salt water of a beach. We can’t wait for their August wedding at Carlyle on the Green!
There are some big changes afoot. People who know me well will likely find this to be the least surprising surprise ever. But now that I’m marrying one of the best wedding photographers in New York, and when we’ve found that we work exceedingly well together, it only makes sense for us to just … do that. So we are becoming something more. We’re still becoming, still in the chrysalis, since we are awfully busy right now taking care of our existing clients. We’ve finished up the contracts and made it official, but Marketing? Long-term strategies? Still working on them. Of course, this makes it sort of a fire sale, since 2016 couples who manage to book us before we manage to change our Web site are also getting in before we change our prices, effectively getting an extra wedding photographer with a spotless decade-long record of amazing customer service and photojournalism for free.
We’re also changing up our engagement shoot approach as well, with a bit more time and, well, a bit more photographer — and here’s an example of how it can all come together, a shoot Tatiana and I recently did in Long Island City. Noelia and Amadeo have personalities and smiles far too big to be overshadowed be all this news. They are born stars, and we were happy to shine a light on their connection. We are even more excited for things to come, more excited than we’ve ever been.
The classic, ideal Western wedding is sort of a palindrome: you start the day slowly building to the heights of finery, hoping to look better than you ever have in your life, culminating in the stunning formality of a wedding ceremony … and then you let it all go in wild revelry, a mash of joy and sweat and hairpins. It’s how we squeeze every last bit of happiness and camaraderie out of a single day, and Jackie and Corey’s wedding was an incredible expression of the form. Beauty? Well, you have a couple whose ecstasy (and every other emotion) radiates through their whole body, classic style,beautiful, well-thought-out details and all set in the stunning Lord Thompson Manor.
You know the Manor is incredible given that it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted … who not only designed spaces like Central and Prospect parks, but the area where I proposed to Tatiana. So it was wonderful to be able to share this day shooting alongside Tatiana and working with friends like Styles on B at this amazing wedding. I knew it would be a good crowd, when, within the first 20 minutes, I texted Tatiana “The guys are hilarious; they’re doing improv with all of the decorations in the room” and she said “Jackie is doing the same thing!”
Just when I think after 500ish weddings I’ve run into all of the challenges out there, life shows me how wrong I am … and I’m thankful for it. Without challenge, growth is slow and meandering.
On Friday morning, Tatiana and I got an e-mail from Kristin asking if we could do a long-exposure shot with shooting sparks. There were just a couple challenges 1) We had never taken this kind of photo before. 2) The wedding was also on Friday, and we were packing to leave.
Generally, photography tricks are modifications and extensions of existing techniques. I never would have thought up the so-called “Brenizer method” if I hadn’t already been experienced in regular panoramas, and while we’d never lit anything on fire and violently swung it around for a wedding photo, I was experienced enough in the other basic skills of night-time long exposures — such as exposing and composing a photo without being able to see anything that you’re doing — that we said we’d give it a try.
When pushing the envelope at a wedding, it is absolutely vital to manage expectations. I often ask couples if they want to take a given amount of time for something that might be awesome, or might be absolutely terrible. In the rare situation that we’re trying a new technique on the wedding day, we made absolutely clear that the result might be no photo at all, especially given that by doing this during the time of the reception we had time for only one frame.
That’s right — this photo is not only the very first time I’ve tried this technique but also, as of this writing, the last. Treading new ground on a tight time frame could only have been achieved with the capable help of Tatiana, who talked them through the posing and lit them with flash.
Important note: while I wasn’t sure whether we’d get a photo, I did make *really* sure that at least we wouldn’t set anything or anyone on fire. The bridge wasn’t just a pretty bit of symmetry for the photo — it also made sure we were surrounded by steel, concrete, and water. I was also farther away than it may look, though there is no such thing as too paranoid, especially when around highly inflammable things like lace (which we weren’t) or hair-sprayed hair (which distance and angle of velocity made exceedingly unlikely to get hit, but anything is possible, hence eager, informed consent from bride and nearby water).
Thank you Michael and Kristin for encouraging us toward creative and literal sparks.
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Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 II
Speaking as a groom about to plan his own wedding: Zal, you’re making it harder for the rest of us. First, the proposal: Both Dana and Zal are actors, knowing that Dana’s favorite movie was “Pretty Woman,” he faked an audition for her to go try out — but when she got there, all she found was that she had been put in the right place for Zal to come up, sticking out a limo a la Richard Gere. I knew right from this description that they were going to have a heck of a wedding, but this is only the beginning. Zal had been a member of the Broadway Boys performance group, and Dana knew that he had convinced them to perform at the reception … but not that he was rehearsed and ready to perform a few song with them. At every moment this sense of whimsy and delight at marrying Dana was written in exclamation points on his face, and in every aspect of planning. I got more involved in the planning of the day than usual, helping not just with the schedule and some of the other vendor recommendations (such as our pal Paul Hairston on video) but also things like lighting design, and loved it because both of their excitement even carried through the logistics.
It doesn’t hurt that Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center is a beautiful, dramatic place to hold a wedding. It’s also big. Really big. We were wearing fitness bands that day, and I’m glad, since both Tatiana Breslow and I hit all-time records. We’d love to shoot there again for that cardiovascular fitness, if not for the beauty.
How do you know a couple is really serious about this whole “together forever” thing? Three words: wedding ring tattoos.
If nothing else about Lisa and Patrick’s wedding was extraordinary, it would still have been one of my favorite quick stops in 450 or so weddings. Their gorgeous style presented an incredible juxtaposition against the calculatedly rough interior of the tattoo shop, but it was their sweet expressions during the process that got me. This is more than ink, this is the mark of a new life.
Then you add the hundreds of other touches that they put in to make sure that this wedding stood out: A 007 theme complete with ice luge and baccarat table (along with someone to explain to uncultured louts like myself how to play baccarat); wedding vows delivered by drone (which amazingly did not end in disaster, despite the rooftop ceremony); cake cut with a samurai sword, complete with lessons about how to draw a katana while wearing a tuxedo, and on and on. Tatiana Breslow and I had an absolute ball with this day and are so happy we can share it with you.
Sometimes love is stately, refined and intimate, romantic and quiet. Sometimes it is messy, raucous and public. The vast majority of wedding-related media focuses on the first aspects, but my favorite weddings are the ones that show both: Two people deeply, obviously in love, showing it through countless intimate, gorgeous moments together … and then, as they say, it all comes out on the dance floor. Weddings are public celebrations, so let’s set aside decorum and show how deeply, broadly, and loudly we care about our guests. Let’s get crazy.
Jennifer and Marc’s Central Park Boathouse wedding perfectly exemplified all of this. It was hilarious and heartwarming, wonderful and wild, and made full use of this strange but fantastic record string of nice-weather weekends we’ve been having. (I can’t tell you how much wood I knock on every time I talk about this.)
And I got to share it all with Tatiana, once again proving herself to be the biggest secret weapon in the world of wedding photography.
This is Harbour Island:
You see that tiny, glowing beacon in a place so quiet and dark and peaceful that stars New Yorkers have never dreamed of come out to shine? That is a place to get away, where a plane to a different plane to a boat to a golf cart will take you to beaches of pink sand, perpetually pleasant afternoons, and a simple feeling of “This is it. This is what it’s been all about. This is what you were waiting for.” Sort of like marriage.
I love when I get to shoot for the same family again. I’ve shot for sisters, brothers, and cousins of previous clients, but Ann and Bill’s wedding was the first time I got to photograph the wedding of the father of a previous client, Jessica. When you come out to a remote island and spend the day as two photographers among only 40 guests, you really have to integrate well, and Ann and Bill made it so easy. They were warm, as happy as you could imagine in such a perfect setting, and so deeply connected to their friends that the bridesmaids, daughters of one of Ann’s friends, felt like members of the family.
The wedding was perfect against all odds — the weather holding strong even though the eight weather apps my paranoia requires told me that it rained on every other Bahaman island at ceremony time. A raucous young brass band led the guests from an intimate dinner to a beach reception, which was more wild than 40 people should have been capable of. (This is another advantage to the highly-walkable, virtually car-free island: No reason to stop partying.)
It was an honor just to be here, a pleasure to spend the day with these people (some for the second time), and one of the highlights of my entire year that I got to do it all with the amazing Tatiana.
