DARK AND MOODY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Bend, oregon / nashville, tn WEDDING AND ELOPEMENT PHOtogrAPHY
Are you in to dark and moody wedding photography? Do you envision silhouette and low light wedding photography for your wedding or elopement? Meet me on the street and you’d think me an overall happy and positive person. My family, most of the time, might agree (thought it may depend on how well the children are listening and how often the dog has been under foot.) Given the “happy” in my life, I’ve often wondered why, when creating imagery, I’m drawn to mood, to the dark. I’m not referring to being drawn to bad, evil, etc, but a feeling less than bright and airy. After more thought, I’ve realized the absence of a bright and airy feel need not be void of joy or happiness. Perhaps my leaning toward a darker tone to imagery lies in a similar thread, the use of the cinematic technique, slow motion. I love how slow motion allows the viewer to take in elements that are too quickly overlooked by the distraction of real time. For me, darker, moodier edits make me look deeper at the image, at the emotion, at the light that IS there. I do shoot a large majority of light, bright and happy, but look forward to sharing this gallery of moodier images.
Annular Eclipse, Juniper Preserve 2023.
When you accidentally schedule your wedding on the day of the annular eclipse, you know your photographer is going to suggest a morning shoot to play in the light-or lack of it. These two were game and we played in the changing light for about an hour. Here’s a little BTS video we made.
An Oregon Adventure Session.
Lacey + Cody flew in from Las Vegas to Bend for an adventure / hybrid video + stills session. They were recently married and wanted to celebrate on a tour of central Oregon’s best. We took them underground, through rivers and to the peak of an active volcano.
Lacey is a cellist and played on the Lord Of The Rings / The Two Towers soundtrack-so you may feel some LOTR vibes.
Here’s a little reel of our adventure.
Chase And Kara, Pabst Brewery.
I’m always looking for leading lines and some of my favorites are cafe lights. We were walking back in from a portrait session and I saw the window with the lights hanging. I asked the couple to go inside and stand face to face in the window while Parker used a softbox that I triggered from my camera to create this fun moment.
Father / Daughter.
These dances changed when I had one (now two) little girls. I *may get a bit emotional from behind the camera. Here, I used one flash, camera left, to isolate the subject. While I know there was a crowd of people watching, you can bet Dad just had his eyes on his little girl.
From Under The Veil.
Any Harry Potter fans? From time to time, I’ll ask a couple to hide under the brides veil and pretend they’re under the invisibility cloak. Strange, this seems to be the only thing that happens. One very soft light from an overhead flash, created this dreamy, moody moment. Well, they had something to do with the moment too…
Couple On Fire.
Photographing weddings in Bend, Oregon, you’re almost assured to catch a Summer sunset with a forest on fire nearby. This particular image didn’t start out as moody as the edit. Sometimes I know when I make a capture there’s a moody direction waiting for the moment in post-production.
I placed the couple near a fire-pit which was lit for guests at their Brasada Ranch wedding. I loved how the flames in the foreground helped tell the story of the smoke filled sunset.
I’m a huge fan of silhouettes. Though you can’t see their faces, their body language speaks volumes of their love.
Waterfalls And Raindrops.
I arrive to a location early to visualize where striking images can be made.
Through the majority of the session we made images below the waterfall, however, I knew this was a shot I had to get.
Working through malfunctioning flashes (we always carry backups) and Parker’s (my Son and second shooter) oncoming flu,
we walked away with a memorable moody image that will last this couple a lifetime.
Suttle Lake Snuggle.
This image was created for a styled shoot for Wedventure magazine. This image was imagined as an “after party” moment. Friends and family have returned to their cabins, the sun has set and the only light left illuminates the romance the couple share.
The Cinematic Dip.
Most of the time, the dip is discussed before hand. Though the final location or direction can be pointed out, once people start dancing they could end up anywhere.
This is perhaps once of my favorite “dips.” He adores her, she trusts him. The definition and ability of the image to pull your eye right to her could not be done as effectively with natural light. Though there’s nothing wrong with natural light, I love to create my own light giving images, especially during the reception, a cinematic feel. Adoration. Trust. Emotion.
This is one of the defining factors that sets us apart.
The Floating Embrace.
The use of drones in portrait and wedding photography has opened up a whole new level of creativity for storytellers.
For this image, I had Tim and Naomi row out into the lake to get cozy while I tracked them from above with the drone.
Despite working against the wind and current, we came away with one of my favorite images in the last few years. My sweet wife wants to hang it in our living room. That’s not weird, because we love Tim and Naomi.