Sometimes when it seems like everything is going wrong, things still turn out right, as southern California-based wedding photographer Rebecca Yale discovered during this shoot for couple Dina and Dustin.
“Dina and Dustin were getting ready in Battery Park in NYC and our plan was to take portraits at the iconic Dumbo waterfront in Brooklyn before heading to their venue, 501 Union, in Gowanus,” Yale explains. “The getting-ready part of the shoot ended up running over an hour late, leaving us only 20 minutes for all their portraits in Dumbo and then—in typical New York fashion—a car broke down on the Brooklyn Bridge and we got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic!”
When Yale and the wedding crew finally arrived in Dumbo, she had 7 minutes to do portraits of the bride and groom and bridesmaids. “The groomsmen headed straight to the venue and we had to push all family portraits to after the ceremony,” she says. “It ended up working out great and we were able to get beautiful portraits with the skyline and at Jane’s Carousel, but it was a lesson in thinking on my toes and shooting quickly!”
Yale has two favorite moments from their day, she says. “The groom’s niece was their flower girl and the the bride’s puppy, Mochi, was their ring-bearer, and right after the tea ceremony, everyone went into hiding as guests were starting to arrive for the ceremony. But we had the reception space to ourselves, so I pulled the bride and groom over with the flower girl and dog for a few photos in the quiet moment. The flower girl was delighted and I loved photographing her meeting the puppy.”
Her other favorite moment occurred after dinner. “A lot of the guests were still lounging at the tables and no one was up dancing yet,” she says, “so I pulled the bride and groom aside to take a photo of them dancing in front of the floral installation that had been done in their ceremony space. Their wedding party was nearby in line for the photo booth and all the bridesmaids and groomsmen ended up joining in for a big impromptu dance party. I love getting to see the bride and groom dancing with their wedding party, and it was so fun to have this private little moment of just them apart from all the other guests for a few minutes.”
GEAR OF THE DAY:
Cameras: Contax 645, Nikon Df
Lenses: Zeiss 80mm f/2.0, 55mm f/3.5, Nikon 35mm and 85mm f/1.4
Film: Kodak Portra 400 and Ilford 3200 developed by Richard Photo Lab
Lighting: Nikon SB 900 flash, two Genaray LED Video Lights
Miscellaneous: Holdfast Camera Strap