By Steve Burns

Good wedding photographers are a flexible bunch.  One day they are doing something one way and the next, due to a different set of circumstances, they are approaching things differently.  All the while they must have a certain consistency about what they do.

My taste, or style, in wedding photography is photo journalistic. However my earlier training in wedding photography was directed posed fashion(y) work. Constantly I find my self drawing on some of the skills I learned in my early years in wedding photography.  Some might refer to those skills and approach to wedding photography as classic.

The first time I met Lori was at her house just hours before her wedding.  She was stunning, and I realized that she had a certain awareness and confidence about herself.  When a photographer has the opportunity to work with such a bride, it is an open invitation to latch on to and work with their personality all day.  It can be a blissful experience.  Louis her groom was no different with his self confidence,  and  I thoroughly enjoyed working with the both of them all day.

Bellow are a few of my favorite images from their day.

As I was working on Louis and Lori’s images,  I found myself constantly being pulled back into frame of mind that called for a look from the early 1970′s.  A time where the film we had available to us had a slightly grainy, more contrast(y), but less saturated look to it.  Kodacolor 400 was such a film.  It is a feeling that I tried to maintain as I worked through the photographs of their wedding coverage.

The opposite of this look would be today’s overly used, heavily cooked,  contrast(y), and heavily saturated, totally rad look that in my mind calls attention to the post production of the images, as compared to the content of the images.   In essence I wanted to maintain a classic feel to the work for some very beautiful people.

Their wedding mass was held at The Church of The Assumption, Roselle Park, NJ with their reception being held at The Atrium in West Orange, NJ.  A special thank you goes out to the wonderful staff and management at the Atrium for being very helpful and accommodating that evening!

By Steve Burns

A ways back I covered a wedding of one of the leads from “The Phantom of The Opera.”  The newly married couple had a small intimate wedding.  Their wedding reception was held at the Westbury Manor on Long Island, NY.  At the reception places were set for 40 guests, with the music being provided  by a 16 piece swing band!  The happy wedding couple and that band elevated the wedding day experience of their guests from what would have been nice, to one that was sublime!

Music at weddings, as in life can leave one with many feelings.  It is not a visual thing, however it is something that  triggers things in the hearer’s mind that evokes emotion or feeling.  Well chosen music played at a wedding does exactly the same thing. It helps to support the days emotions.

Music can be loud, sharp, soft, sexy, sweet, sultry, romantic, brassy, sensuous…  You name it, and it can say it.

How music is delivered can also add to its impact.  As a wedding  photographer, I’ve witnessed weddings were music was delivered via an iPod,  from a DJ, to music performed real time by a band.  All of the mentioned ways of delivery can be done very well,  and all of them can have a significant impact on a wedding day.

One of the things that separates really good photography from OK photography, is that the former leaves you with the thought “this is what it felt like to be there,” vs. “this is what it looked like to be there.”

A responsibility of a good wedding photographer is to communicate to the viewer not just what the day looked like, but what the wedding day felt like.   You want to be taken back to the feelings of your wedding day when you look at your images.

When photographing a wedding, I’m sure to include something that speaks of the music presented that day, as it plays such a large part in the day.  I have to admit that I’ve never photographed an iPod at a wedding reception.  However  I take great, great delight in photographing a band!

Here are some favorites which when I revisit them, I feel as if they take me back to that day.

Working  the crowd at a wedding reception at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.

Sounding brassy at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.

A very hot wedding band vocalist at the Fresh Meadows Country Club.

Letting it loose at a wedding reception at the Ridgewood Country Club.

A sassy bass at the Chart House Restaurant.                                                            Enda playing for his wife at their reception, the Molly Pictcher Inn.

My hat is off to those that have come before, those that currently do, and to those that will provide the music which makes our lives so much richer.  Our world would not be the same with out you!

Steve Burns

By Steve Burns

A while ago I had the pleasure of photographing my dear friend Manny son’s wedding.

Karyn and George where married in a Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony at St. John The Theologian in Tenafly, NJ.

Their ceremony is one that I particularly love to witness.   It’s with good reason that I’ve fallen in love with the various aspects of, and the symbolisms in their service; having documented several over the years.

After their wedding mass, Karyn and George chose to have romantic photographs done at the beautiful Davis Johnson Gardens in Tenafly, NJ, a donation supported formal garden that loves to work beautiful brides and their grooms.  Without donations those lovely gardens would not exist.

The reception was held later that evening at the beautiful Graycliff in Moonachie, NJ.

Karyn and her girls getting ready.

Karyn, as a very beautiful bride.

Karyn being escorted down the isle by her father Carlos.

Karyn and George during their marriage ceremony.

Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony.

Beautiful late afternoon sun at Davis Johnson Park.

Karyn’s first dance with her now husband George, as their wedding guests look on.

And of course George and his uncle had to lead the cheers that evening!        Steve Burns

David’s earlier post about “how come you don’t call yourself a photojournalist”  is great!  I am similar in I don’t consider myself a pure photojournalist photographer,  but I find it amusing that some photographers I have met over time DO call them photojournalists yet they do more posing then me.   So getting ready, ceremony and reception – I have a Photojournalist attitude.. shooting as it happens

However I love playing with light..   capturing moments and having a good time at weddings.  Is that so wrong?

The following images were all taken at the Grand Colonial in Hampton NJ.

Josh

www.joshlynn.com

Where have the days gone where it was a real struggle to get a low light shot ? In film days photographers who used ISO3200 film would be called crazy by some… because the final prints would be so grainy. You either loved that grain or you didn’t. Even in “early” digital years (2001/2002 when every major wedding photographer was either switching to digital or was about to switch) using the equivalent of ISO3200 was only for the really brave ones. “Safe” sensitivity cut-off was around ISO800. So whenever you did get a really low light shot and you nailed the exposure and the sharpness was perfect… there was something sexy about that grainy look…

Nowadays the latest digital cameras became so darn good that you can comfortably work with the levels of light your eyes can barely see anymore. Yes, of course that is a good thing. It expands possibilities and gives us wonderful tools that can be used in ways never dreamt of before. On the other hand though… something is lost in those incredibly clean looking images shot in alomst complete darkness.

As much as I love technology… I think you get my point. The below images were shot on Kodak T-Max ISO3200 film during the wedding season of 2008. Just for fun, for myself and… for the clients of course:

Film… there’s something magical about that very word.

By Steve Burns

It’s confession time friends; I like food, good food. In another life, I’ve worked in several kitchens, and in this life I still enjoy cooking. I have several friends whom through the years have enjoyed sharing with me their expertise in cooking, and I truly enjoy sharing in their meals. I’ve learned a lot by doing so.

The other night after a long day working on wedding photography, I settled down to watch an interview on “Charlie Rose” with David Chang of most recently the intimate restaurant Momofuku Ko. I was mesmerized by that interview. During it David explained his philosophy in cooking, which also translates into his wonderful philosophy of life, and one’s pursuit of the endeavors in life, such as for me wedding photography.

He went on to explain that it is the details that count, but much more important it’s how you put your heart into it! You have to do it right. You have to honor it. You have to own it. You have to elevate yourself in your endeavors.

If you want to be the best, then that is your journey, but whatever your journey is, it is important to put yourself wholly into your endeavors as others will realize that; and by doing so they to will be elevated by those efforts as well.

I keep those thoughts in mind when I practice wedding photojournalism. I am thrilled when I see a bride, a groom and their families do the same regardless of their station in life.

Two cases in point, the first is about a bride who’s wedding I covered several months ago. Early in the morning on her wedding day, Rebecca was to be found at the local supermarket buying buckets of the most wonderful roses.

When I met Rebecca a bit later that day at the Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor, NY, she and her brides maids were making their own bouquets, and floral arrangements for her wedding that was to start shortly. Her energy, and warmth truly won me over, and the way she put her heart into everything that day carried me through my wedding photography coverage of her day.

Rebecca putting her heart into making bouquets for her wedding.

My Mona Lisa that day.

The second is about a bride, a groom, and the groom’s family whom may have been from possibly very different situations in life.

In this case the groom’s family did all the floral arrangements from the bouquets for the wedding, the floral arrangements in the church, to the floral arrangements at the wedding reception which was held at the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph, NJ .

The scale of their endeavor may have been influenced by the fact that Craig’s family operates Suburban Wholesale Florist in Chatham, NJ. None the less, they put their hearts into it.

Wedding reception table center piece.

Craig and Shannon.

So in weddings, as in wedding photography, and much more importantly as in life; the details may matter, but much more so it is how one puts one’s heart into what they do that matters the most. It’s one of the principals that all nine of us in the Group of 10 operate by. -Steve Burns.

By Steve Burns

There have been times when on the bottom of the Groom’s shoes the words “Help Me!” have been written by one of his groom’s men.   Instead on the bottom of Erica’s shoes were the words “Together, Kisses, You & Me, Passion, Love, Inspire, Fun, Us, Blessed, Happy.”  These words described exactly the personality of the couple and the character of their wedding day.

Erica and Aaron were married at the wonderfully intimate Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge, NJ this past Sunday.  It was a small intimate gathering of friends and family.  Many thanks go out to John Leitz there for providing us with a wonderful evening.

Small weddings, I find can be special.  They can be understated, elegant, intimate and sublime.  Their wedding was exactly that.   -Steve Burns-

Erica’s shoes, and her getting ready for their wedding ceremony.

Their wedding ceremony was made up solely of their desires and design.

Erica and Aaron enjoying an intimate dance.

Aaron’s father watching his son and new wife dance on into their night.