Modern Same Sex Wedding at Eolia Mansion, Connecticut Fine Art Wedding Photography

RYALE_Eolia-001
RYALE_Eolia-02
RYALE_Eolia-02a
RYALE_Eolia-02b
RYALE_Eolia-03
RYALE_Eolia-04
RYALE_Eolia-05
RYALE_Eolia-06
RYALE_Eolia-07
RYALE_Eolia-08
RYALE_Eolia-09
RYALE_Eolia-09a
RYALE_Eolia-0010
RYALE_Eolia-0011
RYALE_Eolia-0012
RYALE_Eolia-0013
RYALE_Eolia-0014
RYALE_Eolia-0015
RYALE_Eolia-0016
RYALE_Eolia-0017
RYALE_Eolia-018
RYALE_Eolia-0019
RYALE_Eolia-020
RYALE_Eolia-0021
RYALE_Eolia-022
RYALE_Eolia-0023
RYALE_Eolia-0024
RYALE_Eolia-0025
RYALE_Eolia-0026
RYALE_Eolia-0027
RYALE_Eolia-0028
RYALE_Eolia-0029
RYALE_Eolia-0030
RYALE_Eolia-0031
RYALE_Eolia-0032
RYALE_Eolia-0032a
RYALE_Eolia-0033
RYALE_Eolia-0034
RYALE_Eolia-0035
RYALE_Eolia-036
RYALE_Eolia-037
For this bridal editorial we drew inspiration from two fashion
forward brides with distinct aesthetics combining their vision for
a gorgeous winter wedding. We wanted a very clean palette
playing with tone on tone in varying shades and textures of black and
white with pops of red, green and gold as the only color. In our vision
one of our brides was sleek and modern, choosing two architectural
dresses and simple nude Valentino pumps. Her bouquet and ring were both
structural and modern complimenting her aesthetic. We chose two sexier
illusion dresses for our second bride, pairing them with strappy gold
Jimmy Choo’s and a lush red bouquet and vintage inspired ring from
Claire Pettibone’s new collection for Trumpet and Horn. We were drawn to
the idea of two brides selecting their engagement rings from the same
designer so they complimented each other, while still feeling uniquely
them. We carried the juxtaposition of the sexy and modern aesthetics
throughout the details of the editorial in the tablescape and the
cocktail table with deep red florals with sleek marble chargers, and
jewel toned hors d’oeuvres in cut glass and white vessels. We ended the
editorial with a romantic horse and carriage, the perfect way to make
your wedding exit befitting for a Victorian Mansion, decorated in
architectural and minimal floral elements created by Ariel Dearie.

Event Design: Ebb & Flow
Floral Design: Ariel Dearie Flowers
Wedding Dress: Kleinfeld Bridal
Rings: Claire Pettibone For Trumpet And Horn
Catering: On The Marc Events
Makeup: Anjeh Bourne
Hair: Shavaughn Byrd
Invitations And Calligraphy: Written Word Calligraphy
Venue: Eolia Mansion | Chairs: Lillian August
Crystal Candelabra: Connecticut Rental Center
Horse And Carriage: Cedar Knoll Farm
Photography Assistance: Rachel Watkinson
Rentals: Ebb & Flow
Ribbon And Runner: Silk And Willow
Ring Boxes: The Mrs. Box
Wedding Dress #1: Gabriela Cadena
Wedding Dress #2: Rivini
Wedding Dress #3: Zuhair Murad
Wedding Dress #4: Tony Ward

Behind The Frame: For the Love of Grain

RYALE_BTF-008

As a film shooter it is no secret that I am a lover of grain.  I still remember the first photograph I ever developed myself in the darkroom, a photo of my dog of course, and watching in awe as the grains started to appear like magic on my photo paper in the chemicals.  I was so excited I actually yanked the photo out of the developer and rushed it out of the darkroom to get a better look at it, and it quickly turned purple than black since I hadn’t fixed it yet in the chemical bath- whoops!  I was 11, you live you learn!  Now I have a wonderful lab in California who develops and scans my negatives for me, but I still have that same excitement when I’m downloading scans waiting to see my photos.  For my particular aesthetic, color film really shines in natural light.  Film loves natural light and my color photos are all very fine grained images shot at 400 ISO.  The larger the number on the ISO the more grainy the film will be.  During the evening portion I like to shoot some dancing and cake cutting on ilford 3200, which creates this beautiful grain.  There’s something wonderfully timeless about shooting ilford 3200 because it easily looks like it could have been shot yesterday or 50+ years ago.  The ISO determines how sensitive a film is to light, the lower the ISO the finer the grain and the less sensitive it is, the higher the ISO the more sensitive it is and the rougher the grain.  I shot this with a video light at box speed, meaning I metered for the correct ISO, which was 3200 at F2 at 1/60th of a second.  If I had been shooting 400 speed film I would have needed to shoot around 1/8 of a second, which would have been too slow and the photo would be blurry.  One of the advantages to digital is being able to shoot at higher ISO’s without getting all the grain and that’s why I do shoot more digital at receptions, but I always take at least a few rolls of Ilford 3200 to create these timeless grainy photos.

Behind The Frame: Wedding Pups

RYALE_BTF-032

Is there anything greater than a puppy at a wedding?  It combines my two most favorite things to photograph!  Including dogs in the wedding day can be tough.  Dogs don’t always do what we want them to and seem to always do exactly what we don’t want them to do, like pee on a dress, poop in the aisle or munch on a bouquet.  However it can be totally worth it to get a shot like this and include your fur babies in your wedding day.  When photographing dogs and babies my number one rule is to get down to their level.  I have a few other photos taken from above that I do love too because you can see more of the Frenchie’s tutu, but the “hero” shot for me is this one, where I was laying down on the ground right at face level making kissy sounds and holding a treat above the camera.  As I’ve mentioned before, I took a few shots and this one was the winner for me because I loved the soulful look in the Frenchie’s eyes- as if she is reaching out through the photo and making eye contact.  The bride and groom are behind them so there is a hint of context even in the detail shot that these are the bride and groom’s dogs and I posed the female dog in front of the bride and the male in front of the groom.  Also a little tip to give to you clients- buy a cute leash/collar or use a ribbon as the leash on the wedding day.  Nothing ruins a beautiful composition like a bright red frayed rope leash in the background!