I had the great pleasure to photograph the wedding of Suzanne and Michael Ettinger, at their beautiful home in Rhinebeck, NY. The way I came to know Michael, and to be his wedding photographer is one of the lucky stories in my professional life. Two years ago I had an exhibit of my work at Cinnamon Indian Cuisine in Rhinebeck. It so happens that Michael is a regular customer and friend of the owners, Shiwanti & Chaminda Widyarathna. Michael was about to open up a new office of Ettinger Law Firm in Southampton, Long Island. He was looking for artwork that had a cohesive look and theme, and made the delightful choice to have my photographs in every room of their beautiful offices.
This past winter, I was exhibiting at Chaiwalla, the wonderful tea house in Salisbury, CT. One afternoon I dropped in and owner Mary O’Brien told me that my lawyer friend had stopped in with his fiancee. That led to me getting to document their lovely wedding, with fantastic food from Cinnamon, of course!
Their plan was to have the ceremony underneath the large portico at the side of their home. This was a situation that presented the technical challenge of how to get better light on my couple positioned under the deep shade of the portico. I fretted about this a lot as there was no easy place to put additional strobe. Well it turned out that it was super hot–too hot to have people sitting in full sun. All the worrying I did about how to light them, and how to set up the groups outdoors was a big waste of energy because we ended up having to do the groups indoors, and the spot for the ceremony had to be under a canopy. I hope that I have learned the lesson not to obsess about things that haven’t happened yet!
I love photographing what really happens in life–the challenge of capturing real moments. I loved Suzanne and Michael’s unflappable ability to roll with what came. They look cool as can be, which they truly are!
We were planning to do the group photos outside, but it was too hot, so we quickly found a place to make it work inside
Food and settings by Cinnamon Indian Cuisine in Rhinebeck
- I love when a group photo shows people truly laughing. What did the bride’s brother-in-law (standing next to me) do to make them laugh so hard?
Hudson Valley wedding photojournalist B. Docktor specializes in capturing the spirit, emotion, and love of your wedding. Straight wedding, gay wedding–I’d love to photograph your wedding day and make images that will be cherished for generations–please call me at 518-329-6239.
