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

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

By Steve Burns

“Little White Rose”

Little white rose that I loved, that I loved,
Roisin ban, Roisin ban!
Fair my bud as the moring’s dawn.
I kissed my beautiful flower to bloom,
My heart grew glad for its rich perfume-
Little white rose that I loved.

Little white rose that I loved grew red,
Roisin rua, Roisin rua!
Passionate tears I wept for you.
Love is more sweet than the world’s fame-
I dream you back in my heart the same,
Little white rose that I loved!

Little white rose that I loved grew black,
Roisin duv, Roisin duv!
So I knew not the heart of you,
Lost in the world’s alluring fire,
I cry in the night for my heart’s desire,
Little white rose that I loved!

Dora Sigerson, (1866-1918).  A poet from, “The land of happy wars and sad love songs”, Ireland.

A short while ago I had the honor to photograph the wedding of Anne and Paul at the Fordham University Church on the Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx, N.Y.   And I will tell you that their wedding celebration was most definately not a sad love song!

The wedding mass was co-celebrated by Father Bill O’Malley, and Anne’s friend, Father Chuks Afiawari.  Their day was witnessed by the rounding up of the usual supects of close family and friends from around the golobe.  Their wedding reception was held at the New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon Park.  The New Leaf Cafe, a wonderful intimate venue, is one of Bette Midler’s New York Restoration projects, were private events are planned by Tiffany Hogan.

Anne and Paul:  “May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

These are just a few of the many images captured during their day…

Steve Burns

One of the things I love most about being a New Jersey/New York based wedding photographer is that there are a variety of cultures, venues, and most importantly, personalities to capture on wedding days. Wedding photography is reactive, intuitive, and aritistic.

Our job, without question, is the ability to enter into any situation and photograph it in the best way possible which suits our client’s personalities and environment while telling a complete story. It could be inside or outside, light or dark, rainy or sunny, cold or hot, previously seen or not seen. For example, it’s as lovely for me to photograph a wedding at The Pleasantdale Chateau in W. Orange, NJ, for the 30th time as it was the first time.

Each day to me is new and very different from the previous wedding, and each couple deserves a fresh, creative and artistic process that captures them! All of the following photographs I shot at The Pleasantdale Chateau during different seasons of the year, the first four being my most recent (and probably about my 30th there!) wedding from June of this year.

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.