Luxury Wedding Venue Photography

Luxury weddings pull out all the stops when it comes to the venue and how it is customized for the reception. From amazing floral arrangements to the custom lighting, no detail is left unturned. Usually the wedding photographer is in charge of capturing the venue and details. However, with the primary focus of the wedding photographer on the bride and schedule slips, the timeline gets compressed when it comes to photographing the venue.

A growing trend, especially for high-end events, is to hire a photographer who is dedicated to photographing the venue and details. That is their sole focus and specialty. By obtaining a photographer who specializes in venue photography, one can expect a higher level of image quality and composition. Some photographers, such as James Cook Photography, specializes in photographing venues using High Dynamic Range technology. They even have a website dedicated to HDR Luxury Wedding and Event Venue Photography.

With the bride spending so much on the venue, it is reasonable to expect them to want to make sure they have the best pictures possible of the venue and they are willing to pay to get it. Many wedding coordinators are now suggesting this service. Not only does the bride benefit, but so does the planner by anticipating a need and providing expertise to their client. As a side benefit, the planner also has noticeably different photographs they can use in their marketing materials to help differentiate themselves from others.

HDR Background Images

The use of HDR Images for Backgrounds is a growing trend in portraiture. James Cook Photography is using this technique in their senior portrait work. They create their own High Dynamic Range backgrounds and them drop the subject on them. This composite image of two separate images provides a distinctive look and seniors in their market crave. These are premium images that are printed on metal to add to the boutique nature of this work.

One of the industry leaders on creating HDR images is Trey Ratcliff and you can view his work at on his website Stuck In Customs.

HDR Backgrounds in Senior Portraits

While this image looks like it was taken outside, in reality, this image was photographed in-studio on a white background.  It was then dropped onto a HDR background in Photoshop.  HDR, High Dynamic Range, images are photographs that are comprised of several photographs of varying exposure.    Using HDR as one of our methods for producing our senior portraits lets us stand out from the amateurs.  Besides producing images that are different, the other reason we like this is because we can shoot in-studio where the weather is always nice and we don’t need to travel to locations which improves our efficiency.

To view more of our images, you can visit our Senior Portrait website.

The Doli

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Rob and Lauren from 3point photography.   In the photographer’s own words:

As her father, mother, relatives and even her groom cried, this bride threw grains of rice over her shoulders to symbolize leaving her family home to join her husband. The ceremony, called the doli, is incredibly powerful and moving. You can even see her father in the far left of the frame, trying to hold back his emotion.
Afterwards she was carried away from the house by her male relatives and bid farewell. We will admit it, we got a bit misty-eyed ourselves. What an incredible ceremony! You can see more from this vibrant wedding at our site: www.3pointphotography.com

Green Mosaic

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from amazing photographer Alisha Clark. In the photographer’s own words:

I was shooting in St. Louis, when I turned a corner of the church and saw some bridesmaids standing behind this green mosaic screen while getting ready in a holding place. I immediately took the bridesmaids shot by reaction, but once I saw the overall scene this beautiful image of the bride’s sihouette came to me. I purposely positioned the bride where the light would maximize the silhouette, while I also left the stairs at the top of the image to lead the eye to the subject (bride) and more importantly it gives the shot an environment and context.

Monarch

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Justin Bowen.  Justin lives  in San Ramon, California and goes to the Academy of Art in San Francisco to study photo-documentary. In the photographer’s own words:

I was on a spontaneous trip to Kona, Hawaii, and had the privilege of staying with some friends that had thirty acres of untouched land. While on a walk through their property, I saw this butterfly sitting on a flower and thought about how perfect it would be in a photo, but I didn’t have my camera with me. I stood there a moment staring at it’s beauty and then ran as fast as I could to grab my camera. As I ran back, I turned my camera on and opened it to the widest aperture (f2.8) so I could blur the busy background. As I raised my camera to takes the photo, its wings started to move. I snapped one shot, and then it flew away.

One I got a chance to look at my lucky shot, it was one of the only times that I was completely satisfied with a photo of mine. I have never edited it or changed its composition. It was just amazing that I was able to capture the light hitting the stem and the background with its different shades of green when all I wanted was a picture of a butterfly on a flower.

Flower Market

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from West Coast photographer TJ Cameron.  In the photographer’s own words:

I was in NYC shooting the International Bridal Market when I shot this image.  One evening I headed down to the meat packing district with two models and a few dresses to meet up with Jason Groupp (http://www.jasongphoto.blogspot.com/) who played tour guide/photographer. We were nearing the end of the shoot when I saw this outdoor flower market across the street. I immediately visualized this image in my head and knew the colors from all the flowers would be a great background for this shot. I asked one of the models to start at one end of the market and walk briskly towards the other. There was just enough light coming down from the overhang to hit her side closest to me.  I stood across a busy street and the shot took three takes do to dodging cars and and timing it so she was in the spot I wanted her in without a car in the frame. Finally, for the third take we waited until traffic was stopped by the light and we got this shot.  The movement effect comes from panning my camera with the model as she walks down the sidewalk – keeping her sharp and blurring the background.

Lemon Haute Bride

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from New York visual artist Neil Cowley.  In the artist’s own words:

I was shooting a wedding in Palm springs and the desert sun was beating down on us so we stepped under the tree to relieve the  squinting brightness.  The yellow flowers and yellow lemons on the tree inspired me to find a contrasting color to set them off with drama deserving of this stylish bride.  To get the blue of the background I changed the color temperature of my flashes and lit up the bride to highlight the styling she chose in her dress. Creating unique images from the side moments of the wedding gives me great satisfaction in providing the bride and groom with something completely original.

The Calm

 Today’s awesome photography comes to us from southern California wedding photographer Floyd Palitang of f palitang photography. In the photographer’s own words:

This bride showed none of the nervous anticipation that others before her had displayed before walking out onto the center aisle. She was simply content to be fully immersed in the day which she had so meticulously planned. This image basically made itself as the bride settled into a sunny spot in front of a glass door.

Last Chance

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Orange County, Ca Wedding Photographer Miguel Pola. In the photographer’s own words:

It was labor day weekend, and a pretty warm day outside. All the groomsmen were fired up to get started on their photo session. The venue, The Mission Inn Riverside California. What a gorgeous place! That being my 3rd image taken for the day, I was pretty pumped up! The rest of wedding day photos were gorgeous as well.

Sisters

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Mary Beth Conner of Mary Beth Conner Photography located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In the photographers own words:

These two sisters were so much fun the day after Christmas. It was a pleasure photographing them and watching how much they enjoy being with each other. I just shot what I saw and had a great time doing it. This was shot late in the afternoon around 5:00pm at their grandparent’s home with my brand new Canon 5D. It was the first shoot with my new Christmas present and it was a great way to break it in. I used a 24-70 mm lens at 100 ISO. When I downloaded this from my camera it made me smile and I thought it would make others smile too. More photos can be viewed at www.marybethconner.com.

Dream Bride

Today’s awesome photograph is from Edmonton Photographer, Chris Uglanica. In the photographer’s own words:

While shooting at Avery Island, this bride took a moment to reflect on her upcoming day, and admire the beautiful flowers in her bouquet.  An amazingly beautiful bride to be in an amazing location make this shot an awesome photograph.

Love on the beach

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Edmonton based photographers Kenneth + Elaine Soong of Just Married Photography. In the photographers own words:

Lindsay + Steve one of our craziest couples this year, flew us down to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for their destination wedding and we had such a blast doing their photos. Talk about extreme clients! Lindsay + Steve enjoyed their time with us so much that told us they were up for something totally different and that they were up for going as far as soaking the dress. Be careful when you tell us that, because that’s exactly what we’ll do. After their photos were finished, our couple moved out to the beach to enjoy the end of their day while lying on the beach with the tide swirling around them. It’s a good thing our lenses were weather resistant since so much water flew up when the tide came in and hit our couple that her dress wasn’t the only thing soaked at the end of it. This image is one out of many with our couple finishing their session by swimming out into the big blue ocean up their necks, and all while enjoying each others’ love. Oh what fun!

Peace and Quiet

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Becky Waurio of Toute Ma Vie Photography which is based in Front Royal, Virginia.   In the photographer’s own words:

This image is actually from a bridal shoot, but it captures a highly sought-after time in one’s wedding day: a moment to breathe. Sarah was such a beautiful model. Fortunately, when she settled into this relaxed position, I was able to capture the beauty of it. This particular image was shot in the garden behind The Old Stone House in Georgetown outside of Washington, D.C.

It’s a Beautiful Life

Today’s awesome photograph comes to us from Alexis Achten of Jasmine Photography based in Porland Oregon.  In the photographer’s own words:

I love photographing mom’s to be. It’s such an important part of their lives and hearing all the stories about the couples journey to becoming parents is always a treat!  The majority say being pregnant is not so bad, this is somewhat of a relief to me for when I decide to have kids! (I’ll be honest, I’m scared to give birth!)

This image spoke to me to be distressed and have an antique look applied to it. I feel like now it is more than a memory but a piece of art. Thanks for looking!