Facebook sure is a lot of fun, and aside from the fun of keeping up with friends and family, I have another reason to appreciate it: Julie Moon saw my ad for wedding photography, and hired me to tell the story of her wedding on Long Island, New York.
No problem, I told her. I photographed a wedding in New York City a couple years ago, have photographed there numerous times, and love working there.
I spent a few days in the city prior to the wedding, seeing Broadway shows and a Carnegie Hall concert (I actually performed there, but that’s another story…). Spent some time with friends, and a couple afternoons perusing the astounding Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. It was, in fact, the most fun I’ve ever had in New York.
Julie and David’s wedding was on Halloween–though not for the holiday, but for other scheduling reasons. My second photographer Rich and I headed out to Long Island on a day with a forecast for rain, yet the light was lovely, and the weather turned unseasonably warm. In fact, it was an astonishingly beautiful day in a colorful fall landscape, on the Northport Bay.
After photographing people getting ready at the historic Carr Bed and Breakfast, we headed to the church in Northport for the ceremony. Having said their vows, we headed past all the little trick-or-treaters in downtown Northport, down to the waterfront for portraits.
I really wanted to take David and Julie and their families out on the pier in this picture-perfect harbor. But as we stepped out onto the pier, we discovered that the wind was beyond breezy–it was downright powerful. Gale force. Epic.
So I took the family back to the park, off the water, where the wind wasn’t quite so strong. Once we‘d finished the group portraits, I asked Julie and David if they were up for heading back to the pier for some portraits. Julie looked at me and said, “I can tell you want to! And if you’re up for it, I want to!” So we braved the wind, walked to the end of the pier, and took some gorgeous portraits. I love working with subjects with moxie.
Their wedding reception was held at the nearby Northport Yacht Club, and included a couple of solo performances by Julie (a vocalist by vocation), and lots of dancing. We had a good time, and left with a load of great photographs. (You can view my Trailer of their wedding photo favorites.)
It’s always a delight to travel and photograph destination weddings. Most people assume that they’re stuck with local photographers for their wedding or assignment. But in this age of relatively inexpensive travel, it’s easy to import a quality photographer to cover your story, anywhere in the world. And when the time comes that you need a destination wedding photographer, anywhere in the world, you’ll know where to find him.
