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documentary photography true to life unstaged wedding Virginia

Katie and Will – Autumn Shendig at Little Oatlands

bride and groom unstaged moment blurry documentary style photograph in front of wedding reception tent at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - imperfect film photography look shot on voigtlander lens

Where do I even begin with this super cool and laid back couple? Well, heck. That’ll do just fine to describe Katie and Will. Among the top priorities for their day at Little Oatlands: – hanging out with their people, – carefree** vibes, – dancing ’till late to the tasty jams from Katie’s cousin’s band (Wim Tapley and the Cannons). And that’s precisely what happened. And it was glorious. — Katie even afforded me the ability to show up day-of knowing basically nothing about the plans, which is what sweet wedding photo dreams are made of. Seriously, I think my best work is done when I have no idea what’s going to happen.

**carefree – soon after arriving at Little Oatlands, we encounter Will. Shirtless, in his trunks, with their dog Lincoln, carrying a bottle of whiskey across the lawn – “This. This is fascinating. Uh. Is it OK if I take a photo of this?” I mumbled something to that effect Will answered by gesturing with open arms, unspoken words “be my guest” – also gotta love on the 16mm Fujinon here…So much context.

All the regular stuff here. But for now I’ll repeat it, for the keywords! Besides the obvious (portraits), and some light interactions with guests, this image set was recorded entirely hands-off, unstaged, uninfluenced, the honest, natural, undisturbed truth. At zero points do I stop and tell anyone how to stand or smirk or how fast to walk, where to toast or how to button their jacket. This is simply an organic free-range human celebration, recorded as though Aneila and I were street-photographer guests. Katie and Will went about their day while we roamed around looking for interesting photographic material and natural vibes. There is the occasional breaking of the fourth wall (guests noticing and interacting with the camera). I think it showcases the looser side of a personality. TLDR: this is the epitome of the product I will continue to cultivate: an uninterrupted wedding experience with an image set that honestly depicts the happenings within.

farmhouse wedding venue Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia
unstaged true to life black and white documentary style wedding photo of bride doing makeup in mirror at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia
family gathered at bottom of staircase before wedding at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
bride hanging out with parents in farmhouse with antiques at  Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
wide angle color photograph of groom and groomsmen hanging out under porch at white brick farmhouse at  Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
wide angle color photograph of groom and groomsmen hanging out under porch at farmhouse at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
wide angle photojournalist style photograph black and white groom in white suit directs people on where to go before wedding at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
family arrives on lawn and gives hugs - Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
groom and groomspeople lined up between hedgerow waiting for ceremony at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography wide angle photojournalistic look - true to life colors
black and white documentary style photograph of father giving away bride at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography - fujifilm acros simulation black and white film look
wide view of bride and groom standing at front of ceremony viewed between hedges at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography - true to life colors, shot on vintage voigtlander lens, leica look
wide angle color panoramic photograph of wedding ceremony at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
color photograph of groom smiling at bride during wedding ceremony at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
bride smiling at groom on september wedding afternoon at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
bride and groom announced for the first time after getting married at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
an in-between behind the scenes photograph of group photos next to the hedges with dog at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - unstaged wedding moment documentary style wedding photography
standard simple color portrait of bride and groom voigtlander lens vintage sharp lens
true to life color photograph of evening sun hitting white reception tent at little oatlands wedding venue - wide angle panoramic film look fujifilm pro neg high
blurry photo of bride and groom dancing their first dance at wedding reception at little oatlands - documentary unstaged wedding photography
true to life color photo of guests watching bride and groom first dance - documentary unstaged wedding photography
wide angle black and white photo of bride and groom kissing after their first dance at little oatlands - fujifilm acros film look - documentary unstaged wedding photography
exterior view of reception tent at little oatlands wedding venue - documentary unstaged wedding photography
bride and groom finish their first dance - documentary unstaged wedding photography
baby meditates in the sun on the lawn at little oatlands wedding venue - documentary unstaged wedding photography - fujifilm pro neg true to life film look - real wedding moments
wedding balloons with guests mingling at reception in the background - true to life colors editing wedding photographer - documentary style wedding reception photo
artistic color wedding photo of woman's shadow cast onto cocktail hour crossword puzzle board - true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia - dog sips at a guest's sparkling water photobombing impromptu group photo at wedding reception
true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia - guest breaks the fourth wall in sunset candid photo of guests during cocktail hour
true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia - bride plays with her ring while talking with guests at sunset
group photo blooper at sunset - true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
black and white photo of bride being goofy exiting the tent at wedding reception - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
bride and groom standard classic portrait at sunset - true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
film look film vibe intentionally blurry wedding photo with true to life colors - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
film look film vibe intentionally blurry black and white wedding portrait of bride and groom snuggling and smiling - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
film look film vibe intentionally blurry immersive black and white wedding portrait of bride and groom snuggling while groom carries bride across the lawn - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia - wedding photo taken with vintage wide angle lens
color photo of bride and groom kissing at sunset with farm field and crescent moon in background - documentary style photographer at Little Oatlands in Virginia
bride and groom unstaged moment blurry documentary style photograph in front of wedding reception tent at Little Oatlands Wedding venue in Leesburg Virginia - imperfect film photography look shot on voigtlander lens
documentary style black and white fujifilm acros photo of man in tuxedo making a goofy face at a wedding reception - wide angle lens immersive candid wedding photo
live band playing at a wedding reception shot on wide angle lens as viewed behind drummer - photojournalistic style wedding photo in black and white
documentary style wedding photo of saxophone player silhouetted in front of multicolored stage lights -live band at reception
Silhouetted against an ever changing backdrop of multicolored lights. This one photograph is among my top personal favorite work ever. Is it consistent with the “wedding look”? Not at all.
groom dances at wedding reception wildly swinging his white jacket around with guests reacting in the background - documentary style black and white classic direct flash wide angle candid immersive wedding photo
wide angle black and white photograph of wedding guests slow dancing at reception intentionally blurry to show movement - documentary style wedding photography

Categories
adventure fuji x nevada Personal

Winter-esk Ascent of Mt Jefferson

Late spring in the higher latitudes of the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest can be a wild ride. The weather patterns of the Basin and Range area offer some of the most dramatic visuals I’ve seen…great for panoramic landscape photography, especially black and white. We try to stop there whenever we can. Ever since our cross-country motorcycle trip back in 2018, Aneila and I had been dreaming of summiting Mt Jefferson (south summit). We simply weren’t prepared at the time, but this time we were.

I didn’t take many photos on the hike from 7000 feet to our camp at 10,000, but here’s a video showing the beautiful springtime atmosphere of Nevada’s finest alpine forest. It felt like we were in a movie about springtime with the budding aspens, green grass, flowers, and a trickling stream that intersects the trail about twelve times.

This campsite was the high point of our 2018 hike and it looked like an inviting spot to pitch a tent.