Wedding Photography Workshop at The Foundry in Long Island City

I hope everyone is having an amazing week so far! I know I am! =]

A little while back, I had the opportunity to join Mariana Martinis of Glyph Creative Studio and Jorg Windau of Windau Photography for their joint wedding photography workshop hosted at The Foundry. This incredible site is a former factory located in Long Island City, NY which was converted into a posh venue where many couples have had the privilege of saying I do.

With tall ceilings, natural light, exposed brick all around, indoor and outdoor spaces for cocktail hour as well as large and intimate ceremonies, it really brings out the creativity in any photographer who steps foot within their towering floor to ceiling doors.

I joined a group of other photographers who ranged in age as well as skill level, from amateur to advanced. We all had something in common, we are passionate about photography and eager to hone our talent and skills.

Just like doctors, lawyers and marketing gurus will take workshops within their profession, us creatives do the same thing. We all want to be instructed on new techniques as well as learn about and test out new equipment, all with the intent to further our careers.

I've known Mariana for over a year now and have worked with Jorg for several years. To have their different shooting styles and approach to photography in general combined into one kick ass workshop was exciting and intriguing to say the least. They make a great team and worked well off of one another.

We started off the workshop by introducing ourselves and sharing our level of experience within the photography field. We were handed our packets and broke off into two groups and began to shoot!

This was personally my first time doing a wedding photography workshop, so I wasn't sure what to expect, other than to hopefully learn something I didn't already know since I have been shooting weddings professionally for about 5 years and have roughly 80 of them under my belt. But I knew I had to step in and forget everything I had learned to make room for new information and not let what my old mentors words cloud my ability to absorb new material.

Once we began shooting, we were told to watch our instructors capture the bride and groom during a a very crucial moment during the wedding. The first dance. This is a time where you basically have zero control of your subject. They are dancing for the first time in front of a crowd of their loved ones, completely focused on one another.

This isn't the time to step in and ask them to smile or to make a certain move that compliments their form. You just have to find the best spot to stand without getting people in your shot. And most importantly, the most creative angles you can find.

I am not afraid to get dirty, so I will get on my knees and lay flat on my stomach if need be. I'm also pretty fearless when it comes to getting the perfect shot, so I'm always looking for a chair or ledge to perch on. Luckily at The Foundry, there are stairs you can safely climb up to get the eagle eye view I was hoping for.

Afterwards, we got the bride and groom separately and discussed bride and groom prep. These are the few hours before the ceremony or even first look begin, where there is so much emotion and preparation leading up to the big "I do's." We discussed getting the right shots without getting in their way. Especially since you will most likely be in a space where the wedding party and close family are getting ready and tensions are building before what they have been planning for months is set to begin.

We also discussed how this is the ideal and only time to capture the detailed shots. The bouquet, rings, invitations, shoes and jewelry. This happens to be one of my favorite moments at a wedding, where you can really be creative, and have fun with macro shots and more. Seeing as there were so many of us and time was limited, I waited until everyone had taken their turn, and then with just a few minutes left, captured just a few overhead shots of the entire set up. I even set up some pool balls with the current date for the other students to capture a fun and interesting shot.

We mainly focused on shooting the couple in different locations and even had the opportunity to capture some amazing decorations that were set up for us in advance. There was one unique room in particular where we had the couple within white arches in one of the rooms off to the side from the main entrance. I felt so inspired by the perfect arches, tall ceilings and natural lighting that made this happy couple stand out even more.

I usually love having different backgrounds to add variety for my clients to have for their album, but since this is a workshop and we had to stay where we were guided, I made sure to move around a lot and use what I had at my disposal. From blurring the bouquet in the forefront to just capturing the bride and then getting down low with my camera on the actual floor, it made for some fun and interesting shots.

Overall, I had a blast! I learned to play around with some new equipment such as gels for the flash which I know how to use and set up for other photographers but hadn't really implemented in my own work. It was a change of pace and I even made some new friends along the way. We were able to ask as much questions as we wanted from posing to marketing and everything in between.

The second day we discussed editing techniques and had our work critiqued by our instructors. They were graceful in their constructive criticism and offered suggestions on how to improve our work and discussed what we could have done differently. This made us more aware of our surroundings as well as more confident in our ability to speak up for ourselves.

I highly recommend taking a wedding photography course, whether you are a seasoned professional or just dipping your toes. Of course it ins't the same as actually working a wedding where there are hundreds of eyes on you, no do overs and constantly changing atmospheres, but it does provide you with the opportunity to add exceptional images to your portfolio as well as LEARN which is the most important part!

Thank you to Mariana Martinis of Glyph Creative Studio and Jorg Windau of Windau Photography for this unforgettable experience. And a shout out to one of Long Island City's premiere and most sought after venues The Foundry for allowing us to shoot in their incredible locale.