We had a great time photographing this Rock n’ Roll themed wedding at the famous Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. This is a grand old hotel, with beautiful but small rooms and small windows, compared to the newer hotels with large windows. Our approach for this wedding, and this particular couple was to be as inconspicuous as possible. We relied on photojournalistic techniques and “posed” or directed as few images as possible. That’s what our bride and groom requested. The groom is the drummer in the Metalcore band Atreyu, so they are used to crowds and excitement. We wanted to let them enjoy the day with their family as much as possible. This image was made right after the bride finished her makeup, I knew it was going to be a strong horizontal, tight image with low window light so I anticipated her looking up as I moved in front of her partially blocking the light. I took the photo as she made eye contact with the camera before she started to smile. I shot the smiling photo too, and it’s nice, but I think this one tells the story of that moment better. The couple loved it and chose it as a 2 page spread in their album.
Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, CA.