Birmingham, Michigan Wedding | Nick and Taran

This wedding was a joy to photograph.  Nick and Taran are a very fun-loving couple that laughed together all day long and just had a great time together on their wedding day.  I started with Taran getting ready at her father’s home where she grew up.
Her sister helped her get dressed and the two of them shared some laughs.
Once Taran was in her dress, I used some soft window light for a beautiful traditional portrait.
…and then pulled out my lighting tools to create a more dramatic image that highlights her gorgeous eyes.  I love the mystery in this photo that comes from the play of light and shadow.
I followed a similar strategy with Nick, using some nice window light at first and then doing a more dramatic film-noir inspired portrait.
Nick and Taran decided have a first look and see each other before the ceremony.  It was a great moment and you can see how happy the both are in the images.  It’s amazing how much doing a first look can help people get past that initial nervousness and simply relax and enjoy the rest of the day.Just after the first look some light rain started to fall, but Taran’s sister was quick to the rescue with an umbrella!The wedding was at Beverly Park, which had special significance to Taran as it’s located in the neighborhood where she grew up and she used to go there as a child to play.  The ceremony was originally planned to be in an open outdoor area of the park, with the reception under the pavilion, but due to the intermittent rain and the soggy ground the ceremony was moved into the reception space.  Sisterly love!These two were so much fun to photograph.  I like the in-between moments of them goofing around just as much as the actual portraits.After some portraits we headed back to the reception area for speeches, dinner, and cake cutting.Toward the end of the reception, the sky cleared up and the sun came out, so we took advantage of the light.I loved all the detail in Taran’s dress so I took some photos with the direct sunlight to highlight the texture.I noticed some nice light coming into the reception space so I grabbed Taran’s dad and Nick’s parents for a couple of nice portraits.After leaving the park we headed to downtown Birmingham for some more photos in the awesome golden hour light before sunset.
Finally, we finished up with at trip to the arcade!  To finish of the evening we stepped outside for a few quick night time portraits.