A May wedding in the high country

As promised last week, today's blog includes more photographs from the wedding I shot near Alpine, Arizona at Hannagan Meadow Lodge.  I had not been to this particular area of Arizona before, but had searched the internet for photographs and information about the lodge.  That way, I was armed with some facts before arriving on the scene.

At 9,100 feet elevation in the White Mountains of Arizona, Hannagan's is base camp for people from all over the Southwest who fish, hike, horseback ride, and snowmobile. The wedding I was honored to photograph was actually the first the Hannagan's staff had done.  Chairs were set up in front of a wooden platform or deck in an open grassy area between tall conifer trees.  The platform provided level ground for the ceremony itself.  Its proximity between the main building from which the groom and grooms men, parents, and grandparents were arriving, and another set of cabins from which the bride, her father, and bridesmaids were arriving, made it ideal.

As everyone who has ever tried to photograph anything at high elevation knows, the light can be stunning or it can be very unkind.  In tall trees, what I call "hatchet lighting" abounds - blindingly bright light combined with dark shadows.  It can make exposure a challenge.  A lens hood is invaluable and a photographer's best friend in situations such as this, and I was giddy to have one for my 70-200 mm lens.  The wedding took place at 3 p.m.  I had watched what the sun did the previous afternoon and had a basic plan for getting the best shots of the ceremony.  Here are a few of the results.

As you can see, the groom is partially in shadow, and the sun is directly on the bride's dress.  The lens hood kept the western light from hitting the lens directly, giving a softer look.

Although in both images, the western exposure amps up the whiteness of the bride's dress, the faces are in a soft complete shadow - almost the perfect light for a portrait.  Then, there are those winning smiles...

Compare that to the full, literally "in your face" light of the open meadow.  These shots were made almost two hours later than the others during the ceremony.  Very different but wonderful. 

Thanks, Cathy and Javier!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

wedding photography

Many photographers have expressed their disdain for photographing weddings.  The reasons are numerous and varied, but there are givens in the field.  The photographer needs to truly enjoy the company of human beings, and capturing their images.  He or she needs to be organized, have good communication skills, both verbal and written, and a wedding photographer must be brave.  I love photographing weddings, and even with my own failings, I still quaver with apprehension and uneasiness before the events.  I have dreams of being late, not being able to find the location, or worse still, not packing equipment or having multiple camera failures.  Years ago in Santa Fe, I drove by a church on a Monday morning and stopped to see what was going on.  It was a reshoot for a wedding that had happened over the weekend and the photographer had experienced equipment failure.  That is the ultimate nightmare for a wedding photographer.  But, despite all of these possibilities, once I get involved in a wedding, I love every minute.  And I particularly love the little surprises that occur and by dumb luck, I managed to capture.

The next couple of blogs will feature the wedding I recently photographed near Alpine, Arizona, at Hannagan Meadow Lodge.  Here are a few of the wonderful surprises.  In the first, I was shooting images of the wedding preparation and stumbled on this scene of the bride's sisters putting on eye makeup, in mirror image fashion.

No, this is not Johnny Depp, but the best man

A truly van Gogh-esque flower selection topping the cake

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

 

Here and there, this and that

Road trips are special.  Conversation is random and wildly varying, depending on the terrain, weather, people you meet along the way, and purpose of the trip.  Thoughts bounce around and exit via the mouths of travelers, and sometimes total quiet envelops the vehicle, leaving only the noise of the highway beneath the tires.  This blog features images equally random.

Fred and I took a road trip this weekend, for the purpose of photographing a wedding in Alpine, Arizona.  We drove along I-40 to Grants and headed through El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area, and onward through Quemado to the White Mountains of Arizona.  Here is a detail  from the Sandstone Bluffs area of El Malpais.

After departing El Malpais, we saw how extremely dry it is in western New Mexico. However, as the elevation increases and you enter the White Mountains, the dryness almost shockingly gives way to water, and, in comparison to the high desert below, lots of it.  But what we noticed next was unexpected -  the smell carried by the wind of burned forest, still hanging heavy in the air two years after the Wallow Fire, a devastating event that consumed over 538,000 acres in eastern Arizona.  Blackened, bare trees are everywhere. The Ponderosa pine, spruce, and Douglas Firs did not fare well.

But in many areas, the mountainsides are dotted with bright spring green.  Thousands upon thousands of young aspen are rising to their genetics as a succession species to help heal the land after fires.  The bark of many old and noble aspen was actually burned at the bottom but the trees still live.

                                                


Throughout the weekend, we stayed at the Alpine Inn.  Ann and Burke Masterson, innkeepers, are world-class hosts, and their breakfasts, which included the likes of homemade apple pancakes with cinnamon and vanilla whipped cream, biscuits topped with eggs, sausage, and chipotle gravy, and homemade apple strudel, kept us going all day!  We highly recommend staying at the Alpine and spend some time talking with Ann and Burke.  They have traveled widely and hold a real appreciation for the people and food of the countries they visit.  Here is a shot of their place.

The Mastersons as well as Lisa and Steve, owners of the newly opened and excellent Foxfire Cafe in Alpine, are four of the reasons why Alpine continues to thrive despite the fire.   

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image